What do you burn

[TexanSam]

Hey guys, when camping with a stove in your tent, what do you burn to keep that thing warm all night?

The reason I ask is because it looks like I'll be spending 3rd rifle season in Colorado at 9000 feet and I imagine it'll be a tad nipply after dark. I have a pretty heavy duty camp chef brand stove for my kifaru 8 man tipi, and last time I used it was in the gila in October. We pretty much were limited to burning pine and the occasional oak brush and had to get up every 2 hours or so to add wood to it to stay warm.

I though about bringing some good ole fashion mesquite since that's all pretty abundant around where I'm at, and it tend to burn hot and last long but idk if taking foreign wood to a national Forest is the best idea, plus it'll smell like a West Texas barbecue for miles. I think I've heard of bringing charcoal or something, but idk if that would work either.


Oh and to clear things up, we're looking at camping at a campsite, not backpacking in

 

[WyoDoug]

Better check forest service regulations. Like hay for horses, there might be similar restrictions on wood you bring with you. I always cut wood at camp and use that but never thought of using wood I burn at home for that.

 

[TexanSam]

Better check forest service regulations. Like hay for horses, there might be similar restrictions on wood you bring with you. I always cut wood at camp and use that but never thought of using wood I burn at home for that.

Yeah, I'm not too familiar with the area, but I imagine that the wood up at high elevation will probably be somewhat quick burning.

 

[Scarey]

Burn your stove down to coals. Push all the coals to one side of your stove. Either stick the biggest round that you can fit inside of your stove or stack your stove as full as possible, don't leave much room for it to breath, shut the damper down and it should smolder most of the night. You may have to feed it early in the morning.

 

[pojoaque40]

Aspen actually burns pretty hot long and clean, but you've got to add it to an already hot fire. As WyoDoug mentioned, i think if you imported mesquite you'd hear about it from someone official.

3rd season CO at 9k will be cold, but nothing that should keep you from sleeping well, especially in a tent with an occasional stove. What does the rest of your setup look like? Bag/liner, pad/cot, what clothes you sleep in, etc?

 

[SFC B]

If you have a grate you can bring some lump coal to burn at night....and it will get HOT. We cut at camp and it is a mix of pine, spruce and aspen. Personally I think your best bet ( and what I do) is to have plenty of sleeping bag and not worry about the stove until time to wake up. Fire up the stove in the morning and the tent will be warm pretty quick. The idea of running a stove all night is very unnecessary unless it is ridiculously cold. We hunt higher than that in 2nd season and it has never been needed.

 

[Clam]

At the cabin, we did what scary describes above for years with pine and fir. Usually we would reload the stove once during the night and first thing in the morning.

I have always wondered about using different types of coal. However, some coals are not compatible with wood and some stoves. Maybe do a little research.

 

[375H&H]

Multi fuel stove with wood during the day and coal at night.

 

[Ajax2744]

My brother learned the hard way. Don't burn coal, despite the president claiming it's "clean". It clogged the stovepipe screen and pumped the smoke back in the tent. Luckily they all woke up the next morning despite mild carbon monoxide poisoning and some vomiting and headaches. Let's just say they didn't hunt the next day and now bring 2 carbon monoxide detectors in the tent when they go to bed. But hey no one ever said he was the smart child in our house...
I would get the fire hot and down to embers and just throw good solid log in it typically would last at least until early morning. A good sleeping bag will get you through the night.

 

[Sweede82]

Aspen is great, it burns really hot so you can stoke in down, pine works well too, just make sure you clean your spark baffel/chimney every couple days, and the wood is dry.

A couple years ago on a idaho deer/ elk combo hunt it got cold enough to freeze our veggie oil solid, anyways at 9000' and those temps it was very difficult to get updraft if the wood wasn't extremely dry and the chimney wasn't clean.

Sounds like a fun hunt, have fun.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

If you have a grate you can bring some lump coal to burn at night....and it will get HOT. We cut at camp and it is a mix of pine, spruce and aspen. Personally I think your best bet ( and what I do) is to have plenty of sleeping bag and not worry about the stove until time to wake up. Fire up the stove in the morning and the tent will be warm pretty quick. The idea of running a stove all night is very unnecessary unless it is ridiculously cold. We hunt higher than that in 2nd season and it has never been needed.

We usually only have a morning fire,lump charcoal is cheap and does get really hot.
Small propane heater is less work.

 

[Werty]

Personally, if I would burn what the local area offers, less stuff to bring. I bring 2x4 kindling for fire starter. If hell bent on bringing some, I would bring some night logs, one big piece for each night. With that being said check the laws.
I find it easy to run a propane in the morning, "unless your an early riser". I dont run a fire at night, I don't like getting up at night. I also dont have to gather as much wood. With all this being said, I try not to be at camp much.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I get 2x4 ends from a local truss factory nearby for free. Its kiln dried so it burns MUCH hotter and MUCH longer than other wood. Works way better than any other wood I've ever used in a tent. The comparison is night and day. I realize not everyone has access to such a thing, but if you can find it it's definitely worth hauling it with you to burn or at least supplement the wood you cut in the field. And its clean wood so you wont have to worry about transporting it to another state.

 

[nvhunter07]

I use whatever the hardest wood I can find on the mountain usually mahogany for me. Usually burn down some aspen wood before bed and then stuff the hardwood in on top of the coals and turn it way down. That will last most of the night and will have good coals in the morning to toss a piece of aspen in and open it up.
Don’t see why bringing some mesquite wood would be a issue especially if it’s dried and split. Invasive trees usually aren’t the problem. If you you do call the forest service to ask I’d love to know what they say.