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Howdy,

So, while browsing YouTube, I came across a guy (username: wawhiker) who uses a Seek Outside stove in both his MSR Twin Brothers and his GoLite Shangri-La 3. One of his stoves is a box stove, the other is the conical Big Sibling. What's interesting is that in both of his tents, he set his stove-jack on the side, instead of towards the top. He makes the argument that it increases usable interior space, and prevents sparks from falling and burning little holes in his tent(s). It looks like he uses the same pipe for both stoves, however, he has an elbow in order to direct the pipe out the side of the tent, instead of straight up. I'm curious if that pipe elbow came from Seek Outside, or if he made it himself? I've browsed the Seek Outside store website and I can find no such accessory for the stove pipe. I also noticed that Seek Outside makes the recommendation on the website that stove pipes go straight up, instead of out the side like wawhiker does. I'm curious is this just to increase heat since more pipe is inside the tent? Are there issues with sparks coming straight down and burning holes on SO shelters like I saw mentioned on YouTube? Thanks

Yes I have seen wawhiker videos. He does a great job with his videos.The advantage to the jack being in the center are increased heat from the stove pipe, better stability in the wind and no need to anchor the pipe outside on something. This makes the setup a little more fool proof for most situations. The disadvantage, is reduced space really and potentially sparks, although sparks are more about pipe length, wood type, and using a spark arrestor. The elbows, can be purchased at most hardware stores like True Value. Get a metal one if you go that route, as there are aluminum elbows available. We did experiment with making a titanium elbow at one point, but it was not worth it from a production stand point. We know of a few customers that use an elbow of some sort for various tents.

Regarding sparks, it is a bit all over the board. Most of it is related to wood type and pipe length. We have only had a couple customers that have reported any real issues and these were resolved by having a longer pipe. We have had many folks report using a stove daily for weeks without issue.

Thanks for the quick reply. So, I'm kind of curious, what stove pipe length do you recommend for a GoLite Shangri-La 3? I have one as well, newer model like wawhiker's. If I were to go straight up (obviously has to be a little off set to avoid the vents), would a 7 footer be overkill? I don't mean to bait you into answering a question about a tent that you all don't manufacture, but I never took pipe length into considerations s far as reducing sparks go. I added a medium u-turn with a 6 foot pipe to the shopping cart this evening but had a feeling I might check the forum first , so I'll wait to hear back on what you all recommend.

Oh, and if I was interested in sending my tent back to you guys to have the stove jack installed, is that a possibility? Would I just write a check and put it in with the tent? What (approximately) is the turn around time?

6 feet should be fine with an SL3. Yes you can send it us for installing a stove jack. We have patterns for the SL3 and SL5 already. You can order the stove jack install on the tent for $55.00 I believe and then have it shipped back with the stove.

So I realize this post is a bit dated but I thought I would add in my experience with this system.

I too own the MSR Twin Brothers and actually sent it to Seek Outside and had them install a stove jack for me. I use a Kni-Co Alaskan stove in it. Some might think that's a bit large but the Kni-Co Packer and Alaskan stove dimensions mainly differ from the 10"x10" face vs. the 12"x12". So nothing major here. I decided on this system based upon wawhiker's Youtube videos.

I use a different stove and the piping I did slightly different. I use an elbow right at the stove opening. It's a 90 degree pipe but you can rotate the pieces and make a 45 degree angle with them. I then reduce down to 3"s. Then I bought a 12"x 8.3' sheet steel roll and formed it into a long pipe. I think it's called shim steel stock and it's .006 in thickness I think. Anyway, you use a few metal rings to keep the pipe shaped when attached to the stove and then it rolls up and store inside the stove dramatically reducing carried pipe weight. I'd be happy to post pictures to anyone that is interested. I may do a Youtube video myself to show my setup this fall/winter.

The pipe I keep up with a tripod made in the woods or sometimes an aluminum tarp pole. It never gets incredibly hot toward the end and the stainless shim stock cools very quickly.

Anyway, the stove jack and all works great. If I made any mods I would install a guy line attachment below the stove jack on the tarp/tent to keep it more secure.

-riverhiker

I forgot to mention in my last post that I did modify the stove as well. I installed a piece of 18 gauge metal inside the stove with a 2" gap from the stove outlet. I did this to lower heat loss and cut down on sparks. Basically a poor man's baffle and honestly it has definitely worked well. Couple the long pipe length and the homemade baffle and this thing works well.

I also built a homemade pulk for this setup which is another reason for the particular stove. End to end it fits perfectly, mounted sideways, in my pulk taking up 1/3 of the space. The other 2/3 I use for my gear and dry kindling and wood to supplement the dead, downed wood I get out of the woods.

-riverhiker