How hot do hot tents get?

RCB

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Apr 1, 2018
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CO
Having never slept in a floorless shelter with a stove, I've always wondered how hot they can get, relative to outside temperatures. Depends on a lot of details, no doubt, but would like to hear about how much a difference it makes from folks who've done it. Does it just take the edge off? Or can you hang out in your underwear when it's freezing outside the tent?
 

Deere83

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Jan 30, 2016
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Western colorado
I have a seek Outside 6 man with a medium stove, it is much warmer inside. Sometimes the stove won’t melt the frozen condensation on the bottom foot around the edge but the higher up you go the hotter the tent is.
 

bj00pb

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Feb 10, 2020
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3 of us spent a few nights in a kifaru 4 man, with a liner this year during Colorado 2nd season. Lowest temps were two days at -5... sat inside with just base layers on once the thing heated up.
 
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92xj

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Apr 22, 2016
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E.Wa
30 degree day
Cimarron
Wifi stove running wide open
Temperature was taken 24" from peak and 12" from stove pipe
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92xj

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Apr 22, 2016
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This was a test and miserable. I would never run it that hot while actually out hunting/camping. I had to lay on the grass and reach my hand up to just breathe, I was dying! I held this temp for 8 minutes, before I had to evacuate and breathe cold air. I wanted to know if the shelter would hold up and I had zero issues with the tent and stove running at this temp.
 

Jn78

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May 9, 2018
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You can pretty easily get t-shirt warm inside when it is below freezing outside.
 

Poser

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Dec 27, 2013
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Durango CO
While i’ve never stripped down completely, you can definitely hangout in your baselayers and barefooted while it’s well below freezing and there’s no reason for it to be any warmer.

Where’s the tipping point where it’s just “warm enough to not be cold?” I have no idea and don’t suspect I’ll ever find out I’m SW CO even at high elevation.
 

SteveCNJ

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I found you can be really warm if you want to get up every hour. I didn't really need to as we had good sleeping bags. A stove that could keep a good coal bed for a longer time would be great. Have the SO xl.

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Sadler

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Dec 17, 2016
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Washington
I’ve been in my underwear on top of my bag in my sawtooth with a stove blazing while it was 25 outside. It sucks when the fire dies and you’re still in your underwear asleep on top of your bag though...
 

Aeromoto

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Jul 11, 2018
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2 years ago in a wall tent (not a backpack tent) at 10K in CO and a LARGE stove (took 2 people to lift), it was around 0-10 degrees right before we went to bed. One of us had a thermometer and it registered in the mid-80s. So pretty dang warm, almost uncomfortable.
 

NorthernHunter

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Mar 16, 2020
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I have a cimarron and large stove from SO. This year was about 10 degrees and when you ran it wide open initially it got too hot to be comfortable. Damper everything down with a good bed of coals and a log just small enough to fit and you have 2-3 hrs of 70 degrees or so.
 

Moserkr

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Feb 26, 2020
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Mountains of CA
I have a cimarron and large stove from SO. This year was about 10 degrees and when you ran it wide open initially it got too hot to be comfortable. Damper everything down with a good bed of coals and a log just small enough to fit and you have 2-3 hrs of 70 degrees or so.
Id say that sounds about right. 60-70* in subfreezing temps. Above freezing and you can easily heat yourself out, or sleep on top of your bag. When it was 0* in a blizzard we maintained comfortable temps inside and i never felt cold in a 20* bag. My favorite thing is stoking the fire before crawling out of my bag in the morning. Usually throw some water on too so my coffee will be ready right as I roll out of bed. I will take spiders n bugs crawling on me over not having my hot tent. Its a game changer.
 

NorthernHunter

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Mar 16, 2020
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Id say that sounds about right. 60-70* in subfreezing temps. Above freezing and you can easily heat yourself out, or sleep on top of your bag. When it was 0* in a blizzard we maintained comfortable temps inside and i never felt cold in a 20* bag. My favorite thing is stoking the fire before crawling out of my bag in the morning. Usually throw some water on too so my coffee will be ready right as I roll out of bed. I will take spiders n bugs crawling on me over not having my hot tent. Its a game changer.
Right there with you. I had a 30 degree bag and didn't regret it. If not for the stove i would have been miserable. Outside of that being able to dry clothes is next level.
 
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Keep stoking it and you can sit around in your underwear. But you gotta keep stoking it. Like someone else pointed out, with a good bed of coals and filling the stove with some good wood, you can get a couple of hours. Burning pine is more of a flash in the pan.
 
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