Hello friends in this video I will show you how to heat up a camping tent with a
Finnish-style log stove also known as a Finnish log torch there are several
methods to heating up a camping tent without a portable metal stove you can
set up a long log gap fire outside the tent just close enough so that the heat
would radiate through the tent wall also you can heat up a large rock and bring
it inside the tent you can easily find a large rock in the root ball of a falling
tree even in a snowy forest but this video will demonstrate how to heat up a
camping tent using a stream of warm air from a metal pipe running through a
Finnish log torch I have already tried this method using traditional campfire
but was not happy with the results this time I'm using a Finnish torch with a
curved pipe as a modification to the prior method I should say upfront that I
was pleasantly surprised how well the tent heating method worked this time
first of all we will need a metal pipe for our experiment
I used the curved steel pipe from the headrest of a vintage metal bed the
headrest was rusty so it took me some time and effort to disassemble it into
parts and clean them both outside and inside okay now we have all we need to
conduct the tent heating experiment in the snowy forest a pipe thermometer and
wood
I stashed a few dry segments of a fallen fir tree last summer so we could
save time on cutting it now I left the wood segments wedged and suspended in
the original log so they could stay dry
now we need to make a Finnish log torch the log torch unlike the Finnish log
candle keeps all the fire inside the wood segment it burns
slower and more economically to maximize the economy and duration of heating are
the two characteristics I want to achieve in this project there are many
ways you can make a log torch but I'll use the easiest one it is about 10
degrees Fahrenheit -12 Celsius outside and all the moisture in the wood
freezes so it becomes fairly easy to chop wet wood as the frozen moisture
swells the log from inside however my log segments are dry because they were
kept suspended above the ground so it isn't that easy to chop them without a
wedge to make a log torch tent heater you need to chop a segment of wood into three or four large pieces and remove the cool portion of each piece
just enough so that you could loosely feed the pipe inside the formed channel
because I was chopping wood for two log torches (for two experiments) I got warm
real quick my trusted Billinas #9 Finnish axe rose to the challenge I think
it is one of the best multi-purpose axes out there I even used it to build my log
cabin at Ladoga Lake traditionally you would reinforce a Finnish log torch with
viza a rope made from fir branch I will leave a link to my video about how to
make such bushcraft rope below this time however I will use my homemade clamper
and steel wire as it is a lot faster time is valuable in the northern winter
forest because the day is short and I need to
assemble two log torches and my tent before dark the reason I need two log
torches is because I need to test two metal pipe shapes a single-bent pipe and
a u-shaped pipe we will try a u-shaped steel pipe experiment first obviously we
would have to insert the U-shaped pipe into the torch's triangular opening
before clamping the torch assembly once I added legs to this log torch it became
heavier but it is still fairly mobile I can easily pick it up by its legs and
carry it to the tent in order to heat up a tent,
well, we need a tent))) this means it is time to set up my tried and tested tent
model UP5 it is a spacious camping tent for five people almost a small studio
apartment with no pesky neighbors and a great location however it won't be easy
to heat up such a large space which makes the experiment even more
interesting and trustworthy my double wall russian-made tent has an
umbrella-like frame that allows you to set it up quickly now it is time to fire
up our log torch as I said earlier I nailed three legs to each log torch for
better air flow and stability next I cleared a small spot from snow so that
the log torch wouldn't fall on the tent once the snow melts under it I didn't
have a shovel so I just stomped and pushed the snow aside with my legs I was
glad I had my custom tailored gaiters on they prevented snow from getting into my
shoes and getting my feet wet I will leave a link to the gaiter template below
in case you're interested as you can see I nailed the legs with their longer
portions at the bottom and checked the torch assembly with my weight
however I decided to install the torch upside down to use its longer leg as a
pipe support this way the metal pipe will be suspended in the air and it will
not press on snow under the torch or the torch's inner burning part I made a V-cut
on the tip of a former leg and now the heating pipe is well secured you can
also use two nails to secure it if you don't have a sword to make a V-cut the
easiest way to start our log torch is to plug the central hole at the bottom
with a piece of bark then stuff it with dry branches and wood chips it only
takes one match to start the fire then I didn't do a great job chopping and
reassembling the log segment into a torch with no radial gaps
this means the fire will eat up the torch faster through those gaps which is
why I put some snow in them to prolong the torch's life once the log torch
reaches its cruising temperature you won't see any flames outside the torch's
walls inside will slowly burn which in turn will heat the fresh air inside the
pipe that is flowing up to the tent note the fresh air gets into the pipe below
the level of the log torch preventing any carbon monoxide from mixing into it
it is freezing outside and the long aluminum pipe cools off quickly if the
first pipe segment is too hot to touch the second segment that is closer to the
tent is noticeably cooler to improve the torch's efficiency I decided to move it
closer to the tent and this is where I made a mistake I didn't push the legs
all the way to the ground and I faced the consequences later
my tent has two entrances so I could use one door to run the heating pipe through
and use the other one for all other needs note I'm not forcing the airflow
in any way yet the airflow is significant I'm using a small feather to
demonstrate it admittedly my tent is large and it will take at least an hour
to heat the top through such a small diameter pipe without supercharging this
is why it's still freezing inside the tent but I make it to wait to see if
this tent heating method works so I decided to take a short nap in my cozy
sleeping bag I was napping for at least an hour and a half before I got out of
the sleeping bag to measure the air temperature the air got really warm
inside the tent even though I forgot to close a small chimney hatch which means
it would have been even warmer inside once I put my shoes on and looked
outside I saw that the log torch fell on its side because I forgot to push its
legs all the way to the ground the log torch melted snow and evenly which
caused it to topple I'm glad I didn't put the torch too close to the tent as it
would have burned a hole in the wall
even though the toppled log torch could have still worked longer I couldn't wait
to test a single-bend-pipe design of this method so I prepared and fired up
my second torch to save time I used the same legs with nails but this time I used
my clamper to reinforce the log torch over the legs as well which pulled the
log pieces together even tighter resulting in smaller gaps between them
thus resulted in longer burning time also thanks to the additional metal wire
clamps the torch ended up being extra strong I got a little carried away
jumping on it to demonstrate its durability ))) I think I might adopt this
simple idea of just clamping parts together with steel wire to make
primitive log furniture for my cabin I hammered two nailes at the bottom opening
to prevent small branches from falling through it it was easier and faster to
start the fire without a U-shaped pipe sticking from the opening another
advantage is you can easily move a burning torch from one place to another
something you couldn't really do with a burning campfire this is why I decided I
like the single-bent pipe method better because the U-shaped pipe cannot be
removed from the burning torch if needed it is 10 degrees Fahrenheit -11 Celsius now the efficiency of such a log heater depends greatly on the
temperature gradient in other words the greater the temperature difference
inside and outside the tent the better the air flow will be I reached 57
degrees +14 Celsius inside and that is considering I didn't call the second
door fully so there is a 47 degrees Fahrenheit 25 degrees Celsius
temperature gradient to be honest I didn't expect such an impressive result
I would dare to suggest you can reach tropical temperature values in a small
tent the temperature of the air coming out from the pipe is definitely higher
than 140 degrees Fahrenheit degree +60 Celsius unfortunately my
thermometer scale maxes out at 140 Fahrenheit
+60 degrees Celsius here are a few words about the methods safety firstly there
is no fire inside the tent secondly there is a constant fresh air flow
coming into the tent you are totally protected against carbon monoxide
poisoning because the pipe gets the fresh cold air below the level of the
burning log torch also a log stove can be used for cooking food even while it's
heating up your tent I personally like the single-bent pipe modification of the
method better you can put the pipe in or take it out at any time which makes it
easier to start the fire to cook certain dishes or to carry a burning log torch
to another location however the U-shaped pipe scheme gets
the fresh air from the side and if a small burning ember falls through the
torch you won't smell any smoke inside the tent from my experience even if that
happens you can barely smell any smoke inside the tent so my conclusion is this
it was an interesting experience and successful experiment it is labor
consuming but safe and effective besides carrying three short metal pipes
is a lot easier than carrying a portable metal stove while traveling in the snowy
wilderness I think this method can be further
improved if you have any thoughts how you can make it even more efficient
please write it below I would love to hear your suggestions lastly if you
extinguish a locked torch a little before it is fully burned you can get
yourself an unusual piece of primitive furniture I haven't quite figured out
how I could use it let me know if you have any idea what can be done with it
the log torch idea has a lot of other practical applications for example I
recently published a video about an original bushcraft dish that I called a
vertical shish kebab it is a skewered spiral potato with a
hot dog inside I have grilled the dish on the campfire
many times and always found it delicious however the vertical cooking method has
its advantages firstly you don't have to rotate the skewer yet the dish
cooks quicker and more evenly secondly skewered dishes cooked in the vertical
stove taste better than kebabs cooked on traditional grills regular kebabs
drip fat on the coals causing it to taste and smells slightly burned while
kebab dishes cooked in vertical stoves do not drip fat on fire but rather self -basting which enhances their own taste when I cooked my skewered spiraled
potato dish the seasoning fat ran down the potato as it cooked basting it with
meaty taste I don't think I can go back to traditional horizontal grilling a
more detailed instruction on how to make a vertical stove and prepare food in it
can be seen on my video: Swedish Torch/ Stove Vertical Cooking / My Bushcraft
Recipes the link is below if you liked this video perhaps you could share it
with your friends let good people watch good videos this is Max Egorov, st.
Petersburg, Russia and a final note I only produce one or two videos max a
month and if you don't want to miss new content like this you can click on the
bell reminder for notifications I hope to see you back on Adovoko MAKES
