Considering a Portable Woodburning Stove? | Outbacker Stoves

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Hot Tenting
One of the cosiest ways to extend you camping outside of the summer months is often referred to as ‘hot tenting’ this is typically incorporating a stove into your canvas tent.

The Outbacker stoves range are portable log burners that are designed to be both lightweight and compact as well as being very durable. When the stoves are being stored or transported, the flue sections can be packed away and stored inside its belly. Some have a handle on its side to make transporting it even easier and also also come in their own travel bag. These lightweight style of stoves are so portable you really can take them anywhere you want to. Having a flue makes them ideal for being installed in fire retardant shelters such as Tipis, Bell Tents, Yurts and even sheds! For fitting, flashing kits are used so that they can correctly be installed with the flue going out the roof of the shelter. This means that the stove can be utilised for heating as well as cooking.

Which Stove?
When camping out of season, after a good canvas tent and a warm sleeping bag, a decent camping stove is probably the next bit of kit to consider. With a portable wood burning stove, if you are a creative cook you can knock up a hot meal when night falls, or simply to warm your tent and start the next day with a comforting cup of hot coffee.
When choosing your stove, there are many shapes and sizes (and prices) of stoves on the market, that picking just one can be pretty confusing. Luckily, we’ve got a good selection for every occasion, budget and colour.

What size do I need?
Do your research. Stoves vary in size and heat output, from the smallest stove that come complete with it’s own holdall; or the larger stoves that have an oven, which allow you to cook pretty much anything you would at home (within reason!) If you’re on a weekend expedition, either alone or with a partner, a simple wood burning stove will usually be more than adequate. However, if you’re wild camping or heading on a longer expedition, a lightweight stove designed to work even in terrible weather is worth paying a few extra pennies in our opinion. Another factor to consider is how small the stove will pack down to. A stove that neatly packs away in a carry case or into its own box with all the poles inside is ideal for storage as well as ensuring none of the poles get lost in transportation.

What wood / Fuel do I need?
Hardwoods are generally better for burning in wood burning stoves than softwoods. As a rule of thumb hardwoods are produced from slow-growing deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves) and therefore the logs have a greater density than the faster growing softwoods from evergreen trees.

It’s a good idea to have a go at setting up your new camping stove in the back garden at home. This will be less frustrating than realising you don’t know how to work it when you are miles away from home cold and not knowing how your and new stove works.

To light your fire, place firelighters, or paper, and dry kindling wood inside your stove. Kindling wood is very dry, small pieces of wood and twigs that will catch alight easily. A successful fire initially requires plenty of kindling to establish a hot firebox and warm the chimney to aid flue performance.

Flashing Kits
The essential kit required to fit a stove to your tent; the flashing kit allows you to cut a hole in your tent to use your stove safely if your tent doesn’t have a pre fitted fire retardant flue flap. The flashing kits are made from vulcanised rubber and can be used at temperatures up to 300 degrees. The kits are available in three sizes, depending on your tent size and the stove you choose.

Accessories
As well as your stove, it can be worth investing in a few accessories such as water boiler. These usually have 2 metal clips that fit around the flue and sit on the top of the stove. We also recommend a heat protection mat. These will protect your flooring around the stove area from any hot embers and heat.

Remember always take precautions when using a stove in your tent:

Check if the canvas on your tent is rated as fireproof, people do use stoves in untreated canvas tents, but take should take extra care.
Put a fire guard around the stove if camping with children or pets as the stoves’ surfaces get very hot.
Protect your groundsheet with a flame-retardant heat mat, in case hot embers escape.
A spark arrester on the top of the flue will stop hot sparks landing on the tent
Do not leave anything combustible near the stove
Keep a fire extinguisher to hand.
A carbon monoxide alarm inside the tent is recommended.

Ensure your tent is well ventilated. Check that your tent has ventilation, designed to let the air flow through, so you have a constant supply of fresh air.