Tentipi Eldfell Pro Stove

[DaveS]

Thought I'd formally write a few words on the stove as I've tried it a few times now although not yet in the Tipi so more to come on that front.

The stove comes in it's own specially built box.





All the flue bits are packed inside the stove for easy transport. The main flue section packs inside itself, however as this is the 9 man Tipi it needs two extra pieces so that it pokes through the rood of the tipi.





The stove in the box is reasonably heavy, I would guess at around 15KG, possibly slightly lighter.

It lit easily and the heat coming off isn't too fierce and is nicely controllable with the front air vent.

It boiled water fairly quickly.


You can pack quite a few logs in.




The whole stove and some of the flue has now turned a nice copper colour. The whole stove seems very well made and excellent quality.

There are some nice design touches, i.e. the legs are just the right height, in that they protect bare grass underneath but aren't too ungainly.

The one stupid thing they have missed is a way to remove the ash, its quite fiddly to do. A door underneath would have made all the difference.

[DaveS]

Oh forgot to mention we've built a seat top for the top of the empty box, turning in to a good seat. We made it out of an old headboard and just cut the size down and changed the fabric over. This then just sits on top and makes it very comfortable.
Without it you need to very careful when sitting on the box as the plywood is quite thin and flimsy.

I also forgot to mention that there is enough room in the stove for a fire lighting kit in a tin, plus room in the box for a small hand axe and a pair of gloves, which is pretty much everything you need.

[Boris]

Goodness. I hadn't realised how high the flue would be.

That timber looks like it has be lying on the forest floor for a good while and is pretty damp. The stove did well to burn it. It will be interesting to see how long it runs for on some seasoned hardwood.

[DaveS]

Goodness. I hadn't realised how high the flue would be.

That timber looks like it has be lying on the forest floor for a good while and is pretty damp. The stove did well to burn it. It will be interesting to see how long it runs for on some seasoned hardwood.

I would guess about 3.5M.

Yes the wood was damp. We picked up some freshly cut Ash or Sycamore today, not sure which. I refuse to buy any logs so we have to see what's about. :-)
I've just stuffed it full again to leave it overnight and see how it goes.

[DaveS]

We've just come back from our first real world test with the stove.

It performed faultlessly. It was an absolute revelation to be warm over night and be able to cook meals using the spare heat.

I would without doubt say that this has extended our camping all the year round now.

We used it from about 7pm through to 8 or 9 the next day often cooking breakfast on it, and boiling kettles on it for an evening cuppa.

At some points we were far too hot and had to have all the vents open with the heat it was kicking out. It was bit like a sauna!!
The best bit was that the other half was very pleased with it. Result!

Some more pics I took.

[Boris]

Looks great. So it it hot enough to sizzle the obligatory Sausage bacon and eggs on in the morning?

I also take it by the rugs underneath there was no dropping of hot bits or ash. Did you have to carry the stove outside to remove the ash or was there another way?

[DaveS]

Looks great. So it it hot enough to sizzle the obligatory Sausage bacon and eggs on in the morning?

I also take it by the rugs underneath there was no dropping of hot bits or ash. Did you have to carry the stove outside to remove the ash or was there another way?

Bacon and eggs no problem but you'd need to shove a few logs on. We found that around 06:00 was the right time to do this. The stove was still hot enough to light the new logs, but it needed some new logs on to keep the heat going as quite often it was cold that time in the morning. Any later and you needed kindling and paper to get it going again, which was no problem. This then provided enough usable heat between 8 - 9'ish to be able to cook breakfast.
We also tried to keep a kettle on the go all the time so that we weren't wasting the heat and could have hot water whenever we wanted it.

Re the rugs underneath they are a Coir type matting and believe it or not they are doormats sewn together to make a hard wearing rug. Mrs S has the marks to prove it! Any sparks wouldn't really do anything on this matting and protect the groundsheet. We didn't have any trouble with sparks or anything dropping out, such is the design.

Removing ash could be a pain, but my FIL suggested using an empty bean can and a metal bucket to remove some each day and stored it in. We did find that removing a days ash was a good idea as it restricted the air flow, and on the day that we didn't do this the fire struggled to get going. So I would suggest always doing this, the morning after so to speak.
The bean can worked really well as it's just the right size, although the metal bucket is essential as the ashes can still be quite warm, as my plastic bucket now knows!
So my cleaning kit now comprises of a brush, bean can and metal bucket.

[Mabels Old Man]

Looks good, could have tidied the tent before taking piccies!

Did you have any trouble with condensation with the single skin?

[DaveS]

Looks good, could have tidied the tent before taking piccies!

Did you have any trouble with condensation with the single skin?

Condensation! Nope. Mind you it was about 300C most of the time in there!

[DaveS]

Just a little note to say that we've used the stove quite a few times now. We tend to use it even though it may not be that cold. I like the atmosphere that it creates and when its warmer it doesn't matter if it goes out. We just start it up again for breakfast.

Anyway the reason for posting is that a rivet has popped on it. This is a real shame and whilst doesn't affect the stove materially it does let extra air in that will mean it burns more quickly. So we need to get it fixed. I've contacted the Stunning Tent Company where we got it from and there's no problems, they are very happy to arrange a repair.
So I will take some photo's to show where it has gone and we'll see how the repair goes.
It obviously quite a minor repair but needs sorting before we go on much further.