As the name suggests, tent stoves are built with tent use and camping in mind, offering the ability to stay warm and heat food or water while minimizing your exposure to the elements. In this guide we’ve taken a look at some of the best tent stoves on the market to let you generate heat on the go and keep the cold at bay, whatever the weather.
Whether it’s for pleasure or as a matter of necessity, camping in challenging climatic conditions can be a tricky business.
If you find yourself pitching shelter in a cold environment, a high performance expedition or cold weather tent is going to go a long way to making things easier as well as more comfortable, but there are always going to be other considerations that need to be taken into account and at the top of the list is generating heat for warmth, cooking, and boiling water.
The primary role of a tent stove is ultimately to allow you to quickly, easily, and safely generate heat when you’re camping, on the road, or in the wilderness.
The secondary role once this is achieved is of course, to allow you to heat food and water.
With this in mind, a high quality tent stove is a natural component not only to an outdoor camping loadout or bug out plan, but also as a redundancy in any home preparedness strategy, allowing you to maintain a level of readiness at all times.
What to Look for in a Tent Stove
When it comes to choosing the best tent stove for the job, the good news is that there are only a few essential considerations to keep in mind and questions to ask when finding the best solution.
- What does it weigh?
- How large is the tent or shelter you intend to use it with?
- Does it assemble/disassemble easily?
- What is your budget?
Many of the best tent stoves and camping heaters will clearly address these questions in their design and outside of these areas the biggest fluctuations between various options will revolve around the number of additional components or accessories they come with.
The Best Tent Stoves and Camping Stove Solutions
We’ve taken a look at the best tent stove solutions on the market to help you find the best fit for your requirements.
Whether you’re looking for a stove that you can throw in the back of a vehicle, one that’s light enough to carry on foot, or a heater that you can call on at home if the grid goes down, we’ve covered every angle with the stoves that we looked at.
The tent stoves in this guide are widely thought to be some of the top choices out there when it comes to delivering high quality performance without breaking the bank and each will represent a good choice for getting some serious heat on the go when you need to call them to action.
Guide Gear Outdoor Wood Stove
This wood fired tent stove is built with galvanized steel with a heat-resistant finish to maximize its ability to cope with high temperatures.
On top of this, the design utilizes a hinged door constructed from cast iron with the addition of easy-control ventilation holes to manage the stove without any fuss.
Detachable legs and nestable pipes allow the stove to pack inside itself for maximum portability which is a real bonus if you’re looking for a tent stove that’s easy to store and transport.
The top platform of the Guide Gear stove is perfect for keeping pans hot, allowing you to boil water and cook food on a solid surface that makes short work of the task.
Learn More About the Guide Gear Outdoor Wood Stove Here
Winnerwell Woodlander Medium Tent Stove
The Winnerwell Woodlander is undoubtedly one of the best tent stoves on the market, delivering that perfect combination of performance and portability that make it the natural choice if you’re looking for a camp stove system that’s designed to grab and go.
Built from 304 stainless steel, the Woodlander’s construction is designed to be durable meaning it wont corrode or rust in even harsh outdoor environments.
As a recreational wood burning tent stove, the Woodlander is ideally suited for use in small spaces and shelter situations including canvas tents, teepees, and shacks.
In terms of portability, the Woodlander features a 4 folding leg design that collapse flat under the stove while the chimney pipe sections can be disassembled and packed within the stove body itself. Combine this flat-pack design with side shelves which double up as carrying handles and you’ve got a tent stove which is ideal for carrying when you need to move out.
Learn More About the Winnerwell Woodlander Medium Tent Stove Here
Camp Chef Alpine CS14 Heavy Duty Cylinder Tent Cabin Stove
A steel wood burning cylinder stove designed for heavy duty use, the Alpine CS14 is well suited for use in a range of back country scenarios whether you’re out in a suitable tent or a cabin.
The Alpine CS14 comes complete with a damper, internal log grate, spark arrestor, and accessory shelves as well as five-piece nesting pipe.
When it’s time to move out, everything is designed to pack up inside the body of the stove itself for quick and easy transportation on foot or into the back of a vehicle as well as making storage a piece of cake.
A generous cooking surface combines with a door damper to minimize cooking stress, making the job of food prep when camping a simple affair while the stove itself is designed to incorporate an additional wood stove water heater with space to store this when done.
Learn More About the Camp Chef Alpine CS14 Heavy Duty Cylinder Tent Cabin Stove Here
TMS Portable Military Camping Wood Stove
This wood fired camping stove is a great choice if you’re looking for a multi-purpose tent stove for carrying out any task from cooking your food to heating your shelter (and yourself).
A compact form factor makes this stove a good option for vehicle transport as well as integrating a design that makes it easy to carry and store.
Utilizing a rolled steel construction, the TMS Portable Military Camping Wood Stove is super durable while remaining simple to assemble, use, and pack up when you’re done, with the whole thing fitting neatly into the stove body while the hinged top grate doubles up as a carrying handle.
In terms of features, the TMS stove includes a spark arrestor for additional safety, removable cooking tubes on each side of the stove, front and rear air flow regulators, an easy-access tray for removing ash, and stove tools.
Learn More About the TMS Portable Military Camping Wood Stove Here
EcoZoom Dura Rocket Survival Stove
Weighing in at a mere 17lbs, the EcoZoom Dura is a lightweight survival stove that’s built to run off of whatever biomass fuel you have to hand, allowing you to build up serious heat quickly with just twigs, leaves, and larger branches or wood fuel.
While slightly different to other stoves in this guide, this camping stove is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a system that will get you cooking in next to no time in either an outdoor or emergency situation where you need heat quickly.
A rocket stove design means the EcoZoom Dura uses minimal fuel to get up to heat and is highly efficient when it comes to cooking quickly, allowing you to cook an entire meal with less fuel.
The Dura features a number of useful design additions that make it well suited to practical use in a variety of situations including stainless steel side carrying handles wrapped with silicone for grabbing even when hot.
Learn More About the EcoZoom Dura Rocket Survival Stove Here
The Best Backpacking Stoves and Compact Camping Stoves
Another approach to generating heat for cooking or boiling water on the go, backpacking stoves and gas powered compact camping stoves are an excellent solution when it comes to lightweight heat generating with pocket-sized portability.
Small enough to throw into your backpack or even into a larger pocket in your clothing, the best backpacking stoves are quick to set up and get going, easy to put away when you need to move on, and super effective for rapidly boiling water or heating up food on the go.
Utilizing either propane or solid fuel, the versatility of portable camping stoves is their biggest strength allowing you to get up to cooking heat in next to no time at all.
When paired up with a freeze dried meal kit or MRE solution and a compact cooking and eating system, a portable camping stove provides an essential foundation for ensuring access to reliable heat for cooking and boiling in pretty much any outdoor environment.
If you’re looking to put together a lightweight bug out bag or simply want to find the best compact camping stove for a weekend excursion or for hiking, then these backpacking stoves are some of the best in the business when it comes to finding that perfect balance between ease of use, efficiency, and lightweight portability.
Jetboil Flash Camping Stove Cooking System
The Flash Camping Stove system from Jetboil has a well-earned reputation as being one of the most efficient and reliable backpacking stoves on the market with its ability to boil water in around 100 seconds.
A push button igniter and color changing heat indicator are just two of the features of the Flash that contribute to it’s user-friendly design and the performance of the stove is increased by the inclusion of an insulated cover around the 1-liter cooking cup which ensures what you heat up stays warm, no matter where you’re using it.
Quick to assemble and pack up, the Jetboil Flash is self-contained and weighs in at around 13.9 ounces (393 grams) which is a godsend when it comes to packing up your bag – particularly if storage space is at a premium or you’re looking to travel light.
A ton of additional accessories go a long way to making the Jetboil Flash a comprehensive cooking system if you’re looking to maximize the utility of your stove on the road or trail and include additional elements such as pot supports, utensils and even a coffee press to provide full culinary coverage whether you’re in the backcountry or just your backyard.
Learn More About the Jetboil Flash Camping Stove Cooking System Here
Solo Stove Titan Woodburning Backpacking Stove
The larger version of the original (and excellent) Solo Stove, the Titan is an excellent backpacking stove which is as beautifully simple in theory and operation as it is in looks and practicality.
Taking advantage of gasification to generate serious heat without excess smoke, the Solo Stove Titan is fueled by organic matter such as twigs, wood, pinecones, and leaves meaning that you can get cooking without the need to carry canister fuel along with you.
Boiling 34 fl oz of water in around 4-6 minutes, the patented design of the Solo Stove Titan allows it to burn much cleaner than other stoves of this type while also increasing the efficiency of the system for generating heat, allowing a more complete burning of fuel.
As with the best portable camping stoves, the Solo Stove Titan is built around a nesting, self-contained design that allows the system (which includes a stove pot) to be packed up together, minimizing the packing footprint when it’s time to move out again.
Learn More About the Solo Stove Titan Woodburning Backpacking Stove HereThe Last Word
With all of our guides, we reference as many expert sources, real world user opinions, and verified reviews as possible so we’re able to provide the most relevant and educational information on finding the best emergency generator systems for every situation.
Choosing the best tent stove is never a one-size-fits-all activity with individual budget, specific requirements, and personal preferences sometimes varying considerably between people, locations, and uses.
With these considerations in mind, this guide looks to provide advice on our own opinions of the best camping stoves and outdoor tent stoves available today, however, it’s always important to carry out your own due diligence to find the best solution for you when deciding on a tent stove solution that’s the perfect fit for your situation.
