Wood Burning Camp Stove

Wood burning camp stove efficiency is best when using hardwoods. 

Any log or tree on the ground is not normally dry. Only use wet wood if you cannot obtain dry wood.  Wet wood will smoke and will not burn hot.

Standing dead trees are usually the driest wood available.  However, never cut down a dead tree by yourself.  Cut down dead trees at your own risk, as it is very dangerous.  Always have a spotter watching the top of the dead tree.  Sometimes when a dead tree is about to fall it causes the top 5-10 feet of the tree to break off and can fall on top of you.  The result will be a major accident or death.  In 2004 the top 10 feet of a dead tree I was cutting down broke off and landed 3 feet from me.  I was very lucky I wasn't killed.  The top of these dead trees are called widow makers for a good reason.

If you use soft woods you will have to cut much more firewood and you will have more creosote buildup in your stove pipe and your spark arrestor will clog quicker.  Soft woods burn time is about 1/3 less than hardwoods. 

Stove Heating Duration vs Tent Heating Capacity:  To me, how long the fire burns at night is more important than tent size heating capability.  I need a wood burning camp stove large enough to burn all night to dry my boots and clothes during the hunting season.  I use a Wilderness 5 stove in my 12x14 tent to insure the stove burns all night to dry out my clothes and boots.  I reduce the heat on my Wilderness 5 stove by reducing air input on the air intake adjuster on the stove. 

Wood Burning Camp Stove manufacturers  inflate stove burn times 50-100%.  Highly inflated burn times are not accurate and have no correlation to stove efficiency. Be wary of any stove that has more than a 6-8 hour burn time listed. That info is not true and is false advertising. Only the largest stove size of each stove manufacturer will come close to a 6-8 burn time.

A stove burn time depends on the size of the fire box.  The more wood you can put in a stove naturally the longer burn time.  Bottom line, a small stove can't provide the heat or burn times regardless of what a stove manufacturer lists as burn times unless one model has a door gasket.  

When a wood burning camp stove manufacturer lists  "a hold heat time" it is somewhat misleading.  A stove only holds heat when the stove is burning wood. 

A gasket on the door makes the wood burning camp stove more efficient as rate of burn can be controlled better. 

Wilderness Stoves, Yukon Stoves, 4 Dog Stoves, and Kwik Kamp Stoves have door gaskets.