Cylinder Stove

[Midwest Firecraft]

Anyone use a Cylinder Stove? Looking at the Hunter model for my 10 x 15 Outfitter. I'm looking for a long burn time with air tight door. Claims 7-8 hours. I like that it is has a 10 gauge top and 12-14 gauge in other areas and USA built. It is heavy and and not SS, but If it looks like it would hold a lot of heat with that thick of metal. Looking for first hand experience, especially compared to a kni-co Alaskan.

[brianw]

Just remember that burn time is a function how much wood the stove holds, the density of that wood and how dry it is. The more dense the wood the more BTUs it will produce. The material the stove is made of and it's thermal mass characteristic, in my opinion, don't matter that much than the first 3 items I mentioned.

Cheers

Brian

[Midwest Firecraft]

I have the medium Kni-co stove for my 10x10 High Country. With unsplit oak on a hot coal base I can get 4 hours in zero degree weather(Don't know if temp maters.) Hoping that with a longer, taller firebox I could get 6-8 hours, but would like to know people's first hand experience with the stoves before I purchase.

[Bearpaulsen]

I'm late to the conversation, but I can answer your question. We've used a Hunter for the past few years. Cylinder stoves are well made. Yes, they hold heat longer due to the greater mass. More so, the door doesn't warp over time the way the Kni-Cos do. Dampering the stove from the front, without a door leak, and in addition using a skewer damper on the pipe allows us to use less wood, because we have better control. With either stove we let it go out overnight.

We get 3-4 New Year's Trips out of each Kni-Co. Each trip is ~3-4 weeks. By the 3rd or 4th trip Kni-Cos are distorting so much I worry about whether the stove will go another trip. Kni-Co's are well made, and they're much lighter. We use the stoves hard. I've owned 3 Alaskans. The third one has at least one more year. The Cylinder stove shows no deformation after 4 trips, but that's not surprising given how much heavier it is. Cylinder stoves are much more challenging to transport on a sled because they are so much heavier. Don't underestimate the weight of the shelf and pipes - it's a ~50lb package. The sled with the stove is downright dangerous on the Tusc portage hill.

[Midwest Firecraft]

Bear,
Thank you for your detailed response. I have never had a problem with my kni-co warping, but I likely don't have the hours you do. I also make sure to keep the temp within the "yellow" as to not overheat the stove. Do you think the extra mass of the Tundra with 18 gauge steel at 43 pounds would be a happy medium?

[Bearpaulsen]

I don't have experience with the Tundra. Given the weight and gauge of it, it is likely between the cylinder and the alaskan. As to which it'll behave closer too, who knows?

Yes, we sometimes run stoves hot, which is certainly the time when the metal is stressed, and then warped. We're definitely not gentle on the stoves.

[Tim]

I'm really late to this conversation, but I run a Cylinder Stove and also have a Kni-Co so will add my two cents. The Cylinder Stove is the Outfitter model, which is the next larger to the Hunter. I use it to heat a 14' x 16' Davis wall tent. I use the Kni-Co Alaskan Jr. to heat a Snowtrekker 9' x 11.5' Basecamp.

As has been pointed out, there are several variables at play that are likely more important than thermal mass of the stove. I can confirm that I have had situations where beyond 6+ hours there can still be substantial coals remaining in the Cylinder Stove (e.g. tennis ball sized, fresh wood ignites without too much huffing and puffing). Those scenarios involve burning a full load of dense hardwood during average temps of -10C (~14F), running the stove in the lower parts of the yellow zone on the thermometer.

I have no regrets on the performance of either stove in the tents I mentioned, which I use for entirely different purposes. The CS Hunter seems like its burn chamber is well-sized for the 10x15 ST Outfitter, but it is definitely a weighty beast, so you'd need to consider your travel scenarios carefully. Also figure out how you'd mitigate the CS sinking into snow. Those legs are solid but not designed for snow floatation. I set mine up on bare ground for fall hunting. I haven't set it up in deep snow, so can't comment on whether forcing the legs down into the snow will get it stable enough or not. I suppose you could drill the legs out to accommodate wire to lash horizontal branches to help it float better on snow (?)

[Midwest Firecraft]

Thank you for the detailed real world response!

[Scoutergriz]

a huge problem with any stove is conduction, those steel legs can conduct heat downwards, melting out their own support, What I find makes a huge difference is to cut out a piece (1-2") out of the leg about 2/3rds down and adding a piece of hardwood dowel or block as a thermal break. this combined with some sort of reflector and insulator, I use a piece of 1/4" plywood with foil on one side and reflectix on the other, and hinged to fold to fit into the stove to block any radiant heat, can make a huge difference. When doing this I find minimal meltback under the stove itself and often end up with a raised pad under the stove surrounded by a melted moat around the stove itself after 3-4 days.