Best Ultralight Tent Stove

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Virginia
I've seen several discussion threads on ultralight tent stoves, but I've seen very little direct comparison of one stove to another.

Has anyone done direct comparisons of most titanium tent stoves? (Seek Outside, Lite Outdoors, Ti Goat, Kifaru, etc.)

I've used my buddy's Lite Outdoors cylinder stove a couple years now (circa 2014), and it works adequately but doesn't seal as tight as I would like at the pipe/cylinder junction.
 
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I find if it doesn't seal as tight as I would prefer, I just move the lowest retaining cable holding the stove pipe in place higher up and the pipe becomes a little larger
 

rino

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Just picked up a Tigoat small wifi. He shipped it super fast and the build quality looks excellent. What sold me was the flat top and ease of assembly (see their video). I was leaning toward the kifaru smith stove originally but the wires and round top lost out. I still think it looks like a great stove. Have not yet fired it up, will do within the next few days. I'm putting that in a Mountainsmith mountain shelter lt. Next year I'm planning on buying a kifaru sawtooth (will test the small stove in that too but I might need a bigger stove). For the small shelter the small wifi will probably do just fine.

The only cons I have with the wifi:
carrying case appears to be one size fits all... too big for the small stove. Not sweating this detail as I changed to a tighter fitting and lighter stuff sac. The other con would be that the stove pipe wrap also appears to be made to fit wider stove pipes (ie a little extra material). I'm guessing that he's going with one size only for the cases and wrap for simplicity of inventory. I do however like the way the stove pipe wrap works. It basically wraps around rolled up pipe, velcros tight and ends get rolled into the pipe thus keeping edges protected etc. I'll probably just trim down this material as I am always looking at trimming grams here and there.
 

colonel00

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A seal is not necessary and likely won't last long anyway. Eventually you'll probably get some warping in the top of your stove near the pipe. There are always gaps some it seems. Once the stove is going, the draft up the pipe should be pulling in air from not only your intake on the front of the stove but any gaps as well.

mfllood3800 has a good suggestion as well.
 

Beendare

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A seal is not necessary and likely won't last long anyway. Eventually you'll probably get some warping in the top of your stove near the pipe. There are always gaps some it seems. Once the stove is going, the draft up the pipe should be pulling in air from not only your intake on the front of the stove but any gaps as well.
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^agreed...good point.

i've used a few of these stoves designs over the years and you can't expect Iron stove type seal on .005" Titanium.

Its been pretty consistent for me; the heavier it is the better it is. I had one many years ago I made from a SS garbage can...worked well, but heavier/bulkier than the Shim Stock versions.
 
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Just picked up a Tigoat small wifi. He shipped it super fast and the build quality looks excellent. What sold me was the flat top and ease of assembly (see their video). I was leaning toward the kifaru smith stove originally but the wires and round top lost out. I still think it looks like a great stove. Have not yet fired it up, will do within the next few days. I'm putting that in a Mountainsmith mountain shelter lt. Next year I'm planning on buying a kifaru sawtooth (will test the small stove in that too but I might need a bigger stove). For the small shelter the small wifi will probably do just fine.

The only cons I have with the wifi:
carrying case appears to be one size fits all... too big for the small stove. Not sweating this detail as I changed to a tighter fitting and lighter stuff sac. The other con would be that the stove pipe wrap also appears to be made to fit wider stove pipes (ie a little extra material). I'm guessing that he's going with one size only for the cases and wrap for simplicity of inventory. I do however like the way the stove pipe wrap works. It basically wraps around rolled up pipe, velcros tight and ends get rolled into the pipe thus keeping edges protected etc. I'll probably just trim down this material as I am always looking at trimming grams here and there.


I'd be interested in your thoughts after using the small wifi. I was looking at it as maybe a good fit in my Silvertip, and only about 22 oz with 6' of pipe.
 
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Good thoughts, everyone. Thanks for sharing. No one's done a multiple stove comparison, though?

You can do this by looking at each one personally, and asking what do you need. We all need a little different boxes checked in our needs.
All of these will perform about the same, no one is probably gonna be any better.
You need to ask yourself, what is the most important thing I need.

here was my check list and why I went with Lite Outdoors.
(How ever I could've used any of them and been satisfied)

Ease of setting up ( quickly in freezing conditions where life and death matter)
Weight
Size of stove body length and diameter
Size of door opening to get biggest pieces of wood in
Customer service ( they are all probably decent)
Ability to control burn ( they are all decent)
Ability to keep forest safe and tipi unharmed by embers (they all have this cover)
Price

I cant personally afford to go buy all of them to compare, so I researched their specs, and marked the ones that checked off the most boxes in my requirements
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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In regards to the seal do you have the collar installed on the bottom that rounds out the shape? With that in place it seals up decently (minor gaps), if not it doesn't create a large enough diameter.
 
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A buddy with a stove is the best. That way he is the one who is messing with it and feeding it. I've found that stove owners (especially new stove owners) spend most of their time in camp playing with the stove. I'll help gather and process a big pile of suitable stove wood and that will keep them busy for a long time.

I have a SO Little bug out base-tarp-base set with a jack in the middle and I've used two buddies who have different stoves they brought. One older Kifaru oval stove (Similar to a Tigoat wifi) and the other a SO box stove. The box stove is heavier duty and easier to assemble and seemed to get longer burn times, maybe because it is tighter and easier to control air flow. It is comparatively quite heavy.

The Tigoat wifi seems to address the issues I have with the older kifaru oval stove and is probably what I would go for as its the best balance of size, utility and weight. The tiny wires the old kafaru oval uses suck, especially on the smoke stack.

The cylinder stoves are a good bit lighter still but I really like the flat tops and when you are rained in or hanging out after dark its nice to cook on and make quesadillas on.
 

Beendare

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Newbie here maybe asking a silly question but seeing that the Ti is only .005" thick, how are they for long term use? Will they "burnout" so to speak or maybe get thinner and possibly get holes.

That Ti is incredible stuff. ...you would be surprised how well they hold up. Stove life varies. If you heat that thing cherry red a bunch of times....it obviously has a negative effect and they deform to the point you end up replacing that piece. What usually goes on these stoves is the hole where the stack comes in. I had one stove for 4 years [about 12 weeks of burn time] and sold it still in decent shape...but it hadn't been overheated a lot.

Also, what really helps with these stoves is putting 1/2"-1"of sand or gravel in the bottom. Of course the creosote builds up in these something fierce...in the pipe also especially when you are in an area like our Alaskan drop camp with no dry wood. That standing beetle kill burns like a champ- pretty clean.....which helps with stove longevity.

To say they all burn the same- Nope, not in my experience...not even close. The bigger versions of the same stove will outperform by a wide margin. So take the small box vs the big box....burn time is much longer in the big. Same for the Lite outdoors cylinder type...an 18" dia will outperform by a lot. Its the burn chamber....too small and you have to constantly feed it.

Avg burn time for the small Lite Outdoors once its up and going for 20 minutes and you stoke it is maybe 1/2 hour. These little stoves are either feast or famine....burn really hot or go out. The bigger stoves are easier to regulate.

Last tip; I wouldn't own one of these stoves without a baffle.
 
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