charcoal briquets in a tent stove.

[lodgepoleJoe]

Just curious if anyone has tried briquets in a tent stove. Was thinking it might be a way to keep a fire longer at night.

 

[Falcon75]

I haven't but one way could work is to do a snake method but would have to have a clean stove so they wouldn't all light up from coals. I think this would work better for cooking a brisket than heating a tent.

 

[Seeleylakehunter]

Nope but I ate the heck outta some beans before bed and that worked alright.

 

[Redman]

Nope haven't tried it. I have however found that finding some flat rocks to build a fire wall around the stove on my light weight titanium stove acts as an insulator and keeps the heat in longer. Just be careful on the construction so they don't collapse and smash the stove.

 

[BuzzH]

Just curious if anyone has tried briquets in a tent stove. Was thinking it might be a way to keep a fire longer at night.

What kind of stove?

 

[pre6422hornet]

Yes. It was not a good outcome for me (us).

Last night of CO third season in 2002. We were in a 12x15 wall tent with a wood stove. I was the only flatlander in camp out of 3 guys. I was from Ohio at that time, they were both from Denver. The last night we had all tagged out and we were going to break down camp the following morning. I had been taking Diamox all week to help with altitude issues, and was having zero problems. Since we didn't want to haul anything we didn't have to back to Denver, we had a bag of Kingsford that we were going to use to cook outside but never did. We loaded the stove with wood and when it coaled up and everyone was ready to hit the cots, we threw all the charcoal in.

Fast forward to 1:30 am and I wake up with the most intense headache and wanted to vomit. I literally stumbled out of my cot, unzipped the tent and stepped outside. Within seconds of breathing the cold mountain air I started feeling better and within 10 minutes I was feeling pretty normal. I propped the door of the tent open and allowed it to air out. It was at this time my partners woke up and they had headaches as well but not the migraine pounding that I had.

Not sure if we were experiencing some sort of CO poisoning or what but we all basically said never again. And no we did not have any heavy drinking going on before we shut the lights off.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

Yes. It was not a good outcome for me (us).

Last night of CO third season in 2002. We were in a 12x15 wall tent with a wood stove. I was the only flatlander in camp out of 3 guys. I was from Ohio at that time, they were both from Denver. The last night we had all tagged out and we were going to break down camp the following morning. I had been taking Diamox all week to help with altitude issues, and was having zero problems. Since we didn't want to haul anything we didn't have to back to Denver, we had a bag of Kingsford that we were going to use to cook outside but never did. We loaded the stove with wood and when it coaled up and everyone was ready to hit the cots, we threw all the charcoal in.

Fast forward to 1:30 am and I wake up with the most intense headache and wanted to vomit. I literally stumbled out of my cot, unzipped the tent and stepped outside. Within seconds of breathing the cold mountain air I started feeling better and within 10 minutes I was feeling pretty normal. I propped the door of the tent open and allowed it to air out. It was at this time my partners woke up and they had headaches as well but not the migraine pounding that I had.

Not sure if we were experiencing some sort of CO poisoning or what but we all basically said never again. And no we did not have any heavy drinking going on before we shut the lights off.

That doesn't sound good at all.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

What kind of stove?

Its just a little kni-co tent stove.

 

[BuzzH]

Its just a little kni-co tent stove.

Yeah, I was going to suggest burning coal, but my wall tent stove is a little more substantial than those. I burn probably 100+ pounds of coal a year in my wall tent stove. Essentially light one fire for as long as I'm there. Always enough coals to get it going and holds enough heat to last 5-6 hours at night. Usually have to get up once in the night and load the stove if using coal. If not, its every 3-4 hours depending on the type of wood and usually have to about start from scratch.

Can't provide much as to the charcoal deal with your stove.

 

[MTLabrador]

Yeah, I was going to suggest burning coal, but my wall tent stove is a little more substantial than those. I burn probably 100+ pounds of coal a year in my wall tent stove. Essentially light one fire for as long as I'm there. Always enough coals to get it going and holds enough heat to last 5-6 hours at night. Usually have to get up once in the night and load the stove if using coal. If not, its every 3-4 hours depending on the type of wood and usually have to about start from scratch.

Can't provide much as to the charcoal deal with your stove.

What kind of coal are you using? I’ve thought about trying it in my heavy Davis stove.

 

[BuzzH]

What kind of coal are you using? I’ve thought about trying it in my heavy Davis stove.

Lump coal from Sheridan...had some friends bring some from North Dakota this year as well.

I've bought some in Arco Idaho in the past.

Getting low, will try to pick some up going through Sheridan here soon. It sort of goes to chit if you don't burn it within a couple years (crumbles), so I don't keep too much on hand. Maybe a couple hundred pounds at most.

 

[nontyp]

Yeah, I was going to suggest burning coal, but my wall tent stove is a little more substantial than those. I burn probably 100+ pounds of coal a year in my wall tent stove. Essentially light one fire for as long as I'm there. Always enough coals to get it going and holds enough heat to last 5-6 hours at night. Usually have to get up once in the night and load the stove if using coal. If not, its every 3-4 hours depending on the type of wood and usually have to about start from scratch.

Can't provide much as to the charcoal deal with your stove.

Hadn’t ever thought of coal. That’s a great idea. Where do you source it? do you have to be careful not to overload the stove?

 

[BuzzH]

Hadn’t ever thought of coal. That’s a great idea. Where do you source it? do you have to be careful not to overload the stove?

I usually put half a dozen softball sized or so pieces on right before I hit the rack along with all the wood I can fit as well. I damper the stove down about as much as I can too.

Never had any trouble...see my last post for sourcing.

 

[elkantlers]

What kind of coal are you using? I’ve thought about trying it in my heavy Davis stove.

I've used coal in a homemade tent stove several times. The stove is pretty sturdy and can handle the high temps that coal puts out. I love to see the orange glow after crawling into bed for the night.

Around here, you can buy lump coal for $30 a ton.

As far a charcoal, I would think that if you have it in a stove that has good draw you should be fine.

 

[MTLabrador]

Lump coal from Sheridan...had some friends bring some from North Dakota this year as well.

I've bought some in Arco Idaho in the past.

Getting low, will try to pick some up going through Sheridan here soon. It sort of goes to chit if you don't burn it within a couple years (crumbles), so I don't keep too much on hand. Maybe a couple hundred pounds at most.

I’ll have to try it. Might be nice for camping on the prairie too. @JLS and I stole an old pile of fenceposts for firewood while chukar hunting and accidentally burned a bunch of treated stuff. I don’t think we hallucinated...

 

[Hem]

I have used briquettes in my wall tent stove with no problem at night. I don't go crazy with them, though. I also like to keep a side window cracked for fresh air near my head.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

Yeah, I was going to suggest burning coal, but my wall tent stove is a little more substantial than those. I burn probably 100+ pounds of coal a year in my wall tent stove. Essentially light one fire for as long as I'm there. Always enough coals to get it going and holds enough heat to last 5-6 hours at night. Usually have to get up once in the night and load the stove if using coal. If not, its every 3-4 hours depending on the type of wood and usually have to about start from scratch.

Can't provide much as to the charcoal deal with your stove.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check into getting some around here to try. The only reason I was thinking about charcoal is because I've never seen coal around here. The charcoal briquets probably have added chemicals too.

 

[JLS]

I’ll have to try it. Might be nice for camping on the prairie too. @JLS and I stole an old pile of fenceposts for firewood while chukar hunting and accidentally burned a bunch of treated stuff. I don’t think we hallucinated...

Smelled like shit, didn’t it?

 

[MTLabrador]

Smelled like shit, didn’t it?

It was bad. Whiskey helped though.

 

[Gellar]

A couple weeks ago on the seek outside Facebook page forum they were talking about using a lump of COAL to keep the fire going. The seek outside people did not recommend it, but there were a few people who said they do it.