Stove and stovepipe placement in a Snowtrekker Tent

One question we get asked with some frequency is how a stove and pipe should be placed in a Snowtrekker Tent, and can I run a vertical pipe in my tent.  The quick answer is twenty inches from all sides of the tent is the minimum distant for the stove to be placed. Stove pipe orientation depends on your tent and what style of pipe exit was designed for that tent to use. 

This post is going to go a little more in detail and the two styles of pipe exits we offer, vertical and horizontal and what each style means for stove placement and pipe exit. As a note, all tents are shipped with a diagram that explains the proper stove setup for that tent.

Horizontal Exit:

Most of our tents are designed to have the pipe exit horizontally.  This allows the stove to be positioned at an appropriate distance from the canvas of the tent while still maximizing useable space inside the tent.  The stove is placed near the door to keep the mess of a wood stove away from the portion of the tent that you spend your time eating and sleeping in, this also maximizes the amount of space for you and your gear at a safe distance from the stove. This style of pipe exit also has the added benefit of keeping sparks and creosote farther away from the canvas of your tent.

  When placing the stove and pipe in a tent designed for a horizontal pipe exit you have two options.  The first option is to place the elbow as the first section directly off of the stove and adjust the angle until your pipe exits through the stove jack, the second option is to place your first section with the damper in your stove, the elbow next adjusting to get you pipe to exit the tent at the correct angle while making sure your stove is at least twenty inches from all walls of the tent. The second option can be very helpful or even necessary in deep snow if your stove is placed below the level of snow your tent is set up on. A key piece to keep in mind when using a horizontal exiting pipe is you will have to support the pipe outside of the tent.  This can be as simple as a few crossed branches wired together that you find on site, or what we have switched to, a pipe support ring from Brautigam Expedition Works. It is VERY important to note that if your tent has been designed with a horizontal pipe exit it is not intended nor is it safe to run a vertical stovepipe.

Vertical Exit:

The only tents we have designed for a vertical pipe exit are the High Country line of tents and the Divide series of tents we designed for Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas.  The reason these tents can run a vertical stovepipe is due to a complete redesign in how the tent is cut, and how that cut allows the sides of the tent to be pulled out, this allows a vertical pipe to exit the tent while still maintaining the correct twenty inches from all walls of the tent.   The stove placement is by the door like our horizontal exit tents for the same reason to keep mess away from the living area and provide maximum safe usable space inside the tent. The tents we have designed to have a vertical pipe exit do not need to be supported in the same fashion as our tents with the horizontal exit.  However, you will need to always use a spark arrestor as it is much easier for an errant spark to fall on your tent when you have a vertical pipe.  You also need to be more conscientious about keeping your spark arrestor clean, so it does not clog with creosote and drip on your tent.  We have found that a spark arrestor like our helix is ideal for this style of pipe exit because its positioning in the pipe keeps it hot enough that creosote does not build up and plug it.

If you already own a Snowtrekker Tent and are uncertain about how you are supposed to run your stove and pipe or wondered why they are designed like they are we hope this helps clear up any confusion. 

New customers may be wondering which is better.  It may be a touch quicker to set your stove up with a vertical pipe, but if you are using a stove pipe support ring it is nearly as quick and easy.  We have been using our horizontal exit tents for decades, and our vertical pipe exit for the last few years and have found that if we have good wood, cut and split to the appropriate size and manage our fires properly there is not any noticeable difference in performance from either style. Once you get a proper setup dialed in either style is very intuitive to use and really the choice comes down to personal preference and the style of tent you choose.