Winter Wildernest Camping

[damion]

This is started by the fact I am going to be doing some serious winter ski area camping in my wildernest.

I have an old tent wood stove and am toying with the idea of installing it inside my wildernest. I have full size 8' truck bed so size should be ok. And don't need to have the stove fully blazing. Just a nice slow burn all night to keep things from freezing inside.

The stove uses 4" pipe I was going to run through a wall thimble for something I would create to place in one of the side sliding windows (window slides open, place faux wall in place, run stove pipe through).

Was going to then use sheet metal over insulation board for protection against sides of truck bed/wildernest and floor. Use metal straps to hold stove down to sheet metal, insulation/frame.

So I was wondering what extra/other safety ideas you guys would have to recommend to help make this a reality.

Thanks

[damion]

ha so no responses. Not even if I am crazy or not.

What about using a small kerosene heater instead?

[mfeuer86]

Sounds like a great idea. I don't know enough about the heat against the bed and the fumes, but let us know how it works out. I am interested in the same.

[damion]

Well I've decided to steer clear of the idea for now. Mostly because of the tent being urethane-coated nylon which would easily get holes if stray spark were to get to it.

If at some point I replace the tent fabric, I may try to go for the cotton canvas duct fabric with water and fire proofing with a stove jack plate.

But there are some nice and relatively small stoves out there. And I think if you even just threw some charcoal in a small stove, it would give you some cooking space, and keep the whole thing warm all night.

So instead I am looking at a ventless propane or kerosene heater. leaning more towards propane provided it can keep me warm at high altitudes.

[damion]

Ok, so I modified the message topic to hopefully generate some more ideas for the true purpose which is to use my wildernest through the winter.

So this last weekend, I used a heavy duty 10'x12' tarp over the top as an extra fly. It worked great for the most part. Opening and closing the wildernest seemed most likely I would get my bedding wet, so I left it open. While I was gone during the day, the fiberglass ribs bowed in and I accumulated some snow on the roof of my tent. This could become problematic if much more was accumulated. While it was bowed out during the night, I could hear the snow sluff off of the tarp. Perhaps because the heater inside was helping make sure the snow melted.

So I was thinking of replacing the fiberglass with 1" wide aluminum strap that would fit into slots made where the fiberglass poles were. This would hopefully prevent it from rolling and bowing in. Any thoughts?

In addition, what other ideas might people have for extra insulation. Should I build a 2nd cover to slip over the outside of the wildernest?

[Law Powell]

If you can create a space between a waterproof cover and the Wildernest fabric you will have some insulation value to keep your heat in. For instance, some giant bubble wrap, a Thinsulate blanket, Hollofill batting attached to coated nylon tarp, etc. Also insulate the fiberglass sides and the metal pickup box.

If you install a stove which burns fuel and uses oxygen, be sure you allow combustion air to enter your tent (or you will die). This will create a cold draft. Better, find a stove which has a connection for a pipe to the outside to admit air directly to the firebox. What will you burn? will you stack firewood inside your camper? What about wood pellets?

[joeyhc]

Mr. Heater Buddy heater! That's what we use. Approved for use indoors.