Bell tent stove???

[Orangesarenottheonlyfruit]

I have a 5m soulpad bell tent that has done sterling service over the last three years. It really is fabulous BUT can be nippy in the evening. I was wondering if anyone had a stove in theirs? I have a 18month and 4yr old DDs so am a bit worried that they might burn my beautiful tent down themselves.

Anyone have one that can advise??

[SalAbility]

Hi Oranges. We've got a Frontier one and love it. We used it for the first time in a proper camp (vs just trying it out) for a camp between Christmas and New Years. You wouldn't believe how cosy it makes it inside!

Ds is 3 and a half and he's fine with it, but I'm not sure whether an 18 month old would understand staying away yet. It's highly unlikely that they'll knock it over as 3 legs + flue opening makes it very stable. They can however still burn, of course.

[Orangesarenottheonlyfruit]

oh thanks Sal. we have a woodburner and an open fire at home so hopefully I can discourage DD2 from going too near.
the frontier one looks much cheaper than the soulpad version, suddenly all seems a rather wonderful idea. Oh am full of exciting spring/ autumncamping ideas now!

[SalAbility]

It's lovely. Very portable, so it definitely won't last as long as a cast iron burner, but then again, it's something completely different. Storage is very clever - the flue sections all fit into the stove itself for transporting, and the legs fold back in. We store ours in the box it came in to ensure it doesn't make other things dirty. Another thing is that it's quick to cool down once fuel has burnt out, so we had a fire in in the morning we packed up. Let me know if you'd like more info or photos, I can put some on my profile for you.

It's so exciting to see the camping section active again! Have you booked anywhere yet or in planning phase?

[Orangesarenottheonlyfruit]

Just had a real look at the site Sal. It's awesome! Lots of questions:

Do you leave it alight when you go to sleep?
Also how long does it take to heat up? Do you use it for cooking on?

I'm so so excited! It suddenly makes our annual Welsh camp seem less weather dependant.

[SalAbility]

Yes, we left it burning. Had a log properly burning, made sure the door is on latch, and then we left it to burn out. Personal choice though - it would be safer not to, but when very cold we'll do this. It is however (even if you don't go to sleep if alight) essential that you have a working carbon monoxide alarm. We also have a fire extinguisher, fire bucket, knife etc in tent. Hopefully we'd never need to rely on any of those, but I think it would be irresponsible without.

As soon as the log is properly alight, it generates a lot of heat. I think to be safe I'd say 30 mins, max. What we do is to light the fire a short while before we go back into tent, as we keep the tent open for ventilation whilst starting the fire. It's not dangerous lighting it whilst closed, but I don't like the original smoke if everything closed up. Once the fire is properly alight you don't have the smoke coming out anymore. This might however just be my rubbish tent stove lighting skills, as it was the same when we lit fires in yurts.

We haven't used it for cooking in the tent yet, but we will make hot chocolate for early morning lie-ins and cook marshmallows over it next time. Again, we haven't used it for that, but you can remove the round stove plate thing and fit your kelly kettle over it to boil water, apparently. I love making a fire in kettle outside, but it would be nice if you want coffee inside or want to refill hot water bottles inside whilst you've got the fire burning anyway. Before we installed it in the tent, we did however make toast etc on it outside - we used it outside until I had enough courage to cut the actual hole.

Here is a review with a lot of pictures irl.

[Orangesarenottheonlyfruit]

Thanks Sal. I had discovered that review, it is very useful, especially in persuading my husband.

I think we might get one but with all the safety kit that you suggest. It would be so nice to have somewhere to cook warm to sit etc if it is pissing down outside. I am feeling a bit jaded about camping after a couple of really really wet camps but there is no way we can afford any other type of holiday whilst the kids are small so it's down to me to think of ways to make it lovely. Booze normally helps no end!

BTW is that you're flicker pitch on the frontieer site of the bell tent with the lovely dog?

[SalAbility]

It's a pleasure. No, not my tent - I have one scruffy toddler, but no dog.

Extending the camping season was one of the main reasons we got one. It was so nice being able to just arrive at our favourite site without a booking and get our usual spot. In summer, you have to book months (sometimes a year, it's madness) in advance without knowing if it's going to be a horrible raining weekend.

[welshman2012]

Just found this page whilst looking for a stove for my tent. I actually found this after I had already purchased one. I paid a bit more that the Frontier stove but our Bushmaster camp stove is awesome! keeps our 5m Bell tent nice and cosy and we cook everything on it. Best of all the factory is in Lancashire and you can go along and buy all the parts you need.

www.vestastoves.co.uk/shop/Bushmaster-camping-stove