My new Frontier Stove arrived today - it's all very exciting! I have a few questions for anyone else who has one.
1. Do you use other fuels besides wood? On the website they say that any type of solid fuel can be used, but the instructions which came with it recommend the use of dry seasoned timber only. Has anyone tried anything else, like coal or peat, and how do they perform?
2. What do you use to clean out the flue sections?
3. Will I need a different type of kettle? I don't want to burn the bottom out of it. There was a post recently, which I can't find, where someone mentioned the type of pans which are suitable for use over a campfire. On the Frontier, the hotplate cover can be removed, exposing the pan directly to the flames, so I need to check that out. Even with kettles and pans on the stove itself, I'm not sure how the temperatures will compare to popping a kettle on the suitcase stove.
I hope to try out the stove in the garden in the next day or two, weather permitting, which should burn off the painty fumes. Actually, I just want to play with my new toy!
Don't have a frontier stove but a general note on solid fuel stoves. To burn coal you need a grate as it requires air supply from beneath to fire for efficient combustion, for wood you do not need a grate and air supply from above the fire is fine for combustion. AFAIK the frontier does not have a grate. That said there are some folk on song of the paddle forum who have used their frontier to burn coal but have experienced problems with the flue sooting up. Coal also burns a lot hotter than wood so may pose problems for longevity of the stove.
For cleaning - a large bottle brush from a brew supplies shop should do the job
You really do need to fire it up outside and give it a good long burning, the paint fumes do stink A LOT and take a while to burn off completely but its a one time job and wont smell next time you use it. Make sure you have all the flue sections on though, we left a couple off when we had our first play with it in the garden and forgot that the paint has to burn off them too doh!
We have used ours with wood and We did once put a bag of bbq coals in which burned fine just left a lot of ash behind, we dont seem to get a lot of ash build up with wood.
The brush is a good idea for cleaning the flue, we were camped near a beach one time and running sand through them does a sterling job!
I love my stove and wont be without it now, nothing better then watching the rest of the campsite being cold wet and miserable whilst you have to keep the doors open because you are too toasty :)
For me I just use hardwood, chopped small to start and then progress to larger pieces as the charcoal build up. My efforts with other fuels have not been so successful.
Its also worthwhile to use a poker as the combustion occurs over the top of the fuel making a bed of unburned charcoal underneath. Riddling this to the top give a more complete burn and far less ash to tip out later.
If I don't run the stove briskly there is a lot of condensate in the top of the flue that can run down and out of the joints. My home brew flue set up is longer and colder than standard so will suffer more than normal. So much so that I have to sometimes hose out the sections before storage.
Sitting round the warm stove in the evening with the cold, wind and rain outside is really one of the best feelings in camping. The downside is they are dirty smelly things to pack away and really need to be stored in a heavy duty plastic bag when being transported in a vehicle.
enjoy
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"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell
I have used smokeless coal in mine, but I did fit a thick wire mesh tray for it to burn on. One fill lasted all night. As already posted, BBQ fuel forms a lot of ash.
------------- Canvas tent, paraffin light, petrol stove. Heaven
I'd rather be kayaking.
Spent up, not pent up, just had my new tent up.
Thanks for all the advice. I tried it out yesterday in the garden. Got it all fired up with kindling then added wood and it roared away nicely. The stove and the whole of the flue got extremely hot (that was with the door and damper open). I put a kettle of water on top but it never quite reached the boil sitting on the stove. I probably need to remove the hotplate and sit it directly over the fire.
I had some peat briquettes which I haven't tried before so added two of those. However, they gave off the most enormous amount of smoke and as it was a still afternoon I found the smoke kept falling rather than blowing away. I would probably avoid using them on a campsite as they're just too smoky to be neighbourly. The crazy thing is, to get into the pack I had to snip through a band on which was printed 'Irish Smokeless Fuels'!
I played around with the door and the damper at different settings, eventually closing both and leaving it alone. The flue gradually became cool enough to touch although the stove was hot.
At just after midnight there were still glowing embers in the stove and it was hot underneath. I'd lit the fire at 3pm and had it burning fast for quite a while so I was surprised at how long the heat lasted. I'll have to work out how much fuel to use if I want it to burn out by a certain time.
I can imagine that wet shoes would dry out beautifully if placed on the ground underneath the stove as there's plenty of heat coming from the base. There's a lot of playing around to do yet to find out how to use it properly, and I'm looking forward to being cosy and dry in my tent once I get it installed!
Quote: Originally posted by armchaircamper on 05/11/2011
I put a kettle of water on top but it never quite reached the boil sitting on the stove. I probably need to remove the hotplate and sit it directly over the fire.
Looks like you're already having fun and if its been really hot all that nasty fume will have burned off.
Kettles boil easily without removing the hotplate and there is room enough for the kettle and a pan to heat together. No reason to get the pot bottoms dirty. Repositioning will vary the heat from boil to simmer. Just use good dry wood and there should be no problems.
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"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell
As you were outside, the boiling time can be extended due to heat loss by wind chill. I had no problems boiling a kettle inside my tent on the back of the stove, but it is a lot quicker if used over the open hole. It will also depend where inside the stove, the heart of the fire is, giving the best hot spot on top.
I also intend to make a plate to fit at the front of the stove, just inside the door, to act as a stop for any fuel that tries to roll out at the front, when the door is opened. Perhaps two inches high.
Post last edited on 06/11/2011 09:41:17
Post last edited on 06/11/2011 09:41:53
------------- Canvas tent, paraffin light, petrol stove. Heaven
I'd rather be kayaking.
Spent up, not pent up, just had my new tent up.
we love our frontier stove - it was belting out the heat and cooked food and boiled the kettle no bother - fitted it to a 4mtr bell tent last week with two orange dektite roof flashings from ebay - tenner each (one inside one outside)
underneath it is a square of welders blanket also from ebay £10 a square metre - and the bottle in the background is homebrew wine lol
Did you find it got in the way in the tent? Is that it in its fitted location in your picture? What I was thinking was that even with the flue in position, the stove doesn't have to come directly out towards the centre of the tent but could be rotated to a variety of positions, if you see what I mean.
Your dog certainly knows a cosy spot!
I've just noticed - this is your first post! Welcome to the forum!
Sarah I have a wee box type stove which I use in the tipi. I had to beg borrow or steal a bit of steam pipe lagging to ensure the top hat at the top didnt burn with the heat off the flue (and that was a double section piece). I also made sure that the stove was located on bare ground & not the groundsheet as the heat going down the way was enough to dry out the wet ground! You may see what I mean in the photo. you can also see the heat discolouration at the bottom of the flue so you can imagine the heat generated inside the pipe!
That's a neat little stove, Jim. It's amazing the heat they throw out. Have you used it at any other Scottish campsites apart from the Red Squirrel? I'm going to try to get a list together of sites which allow them, and it doesn't necessarily follow that sites which allow campfires will say yes while sites which don't allow fires will say no. I've already found an exception in each case.
Sarah I have only ever used it at the red Squirrel. One thing worth noting is that the grass underneath would definately scorch if I didnt use the reflector underneath.
Weetabix, its from a bloke called www.kpwoodburningstove.co.uk/
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Topic: Frontier Stove questions
