Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska rain jacket question

I used a very small wood stove in my 10x10 Arctic Oven. When we did our annual Kodiak hunts we would carry 2 or 3 of those large "fireplace" logs. Just chop off a small hunk with a hatchet, toss it in the stove, add some driftwood, light, and interior of tent would get hot and dry.

As far as polar fleece sleeping bags. We used them inside the sleeping bags as a liner. When we exited the bag in the morning we pulled out the liner so it could dry while we hunted.

Ive done the fireplace logs in treeless country as well. Like you said a chunk goes a long way.

Ive also spent more than few nights in Bomshelters and its amazing how warm and dry a white gas stove and lantern can make it

I will say that the compressed wood bricks from the mill will blow you out of an 8 man TP with titanium stove it gets so warm. Thats all we take anymore if we aren't backpacking in to base camp. A blow torch to start.

that sounds nice too. fuel is the issue. No complaints from the pilot boss flying 25 pound propane in. OTOH ....

I wish we had an 8 or 12 man IMHO. I have a 6 down south and its great for stuff especially when you have wood.

Was not aware mills did compressed. Not sure if there is a mill anywhere close to us but will look into it. for other issues when allowed.

Calvin, are those wood bricks something you get from Viking?

In southeast, I can tell you that a seek outside tipi with liners and a nuway stove is perfect. You get to dry everything out every night so you can have fun getting it all wet again the next day! But how nice that is for morale to warm up, get dry, and hang out. After a typical day deer hunting we get back, check the boats, hang the meat, then change into dry sweats, t-shirts, and crocs to loaf around, often while it pours outside. I will say that with the tipi, don't bother with one unless you get the liners as well.

In regards to rain gear, it kinda depends on the day. If it's a true soaker I'll put the kuiu stuff on but most of the time I find myself just wearing wool. In the steady light rain we often have it takes a real long time to soak through and even then stays comfortable. Plus it's real quiet. The Asbell pullovers are outstanding! Another thing I like about wool is sparing unneeded wear and tear on the ridiculously expensive kuiu rain gear.

Problems I need to solve: My old stash of swedish army wool pants are about tuckered out. What do you guys like? I'm looking hard at the Johnson's stuff. Lowa boots with lug soles are fine for traction and ankle support, but suck for the noise they make as brush and stuff skitters along the outside of the sole as you hunt. I want ankle support and traction without noise.

Yup. I would cut them down on the power bandsaw at home and re-tape the outer wax paper packaging up with duct tape into various size chunks to use as either easy start tinder or larger, longer burning fuel blocks for the middle of the night refuel. It was easier to pack that way, and it reduced the amount of wood I'd have to find and cut on site.

Double up. This is the best I have too.

Its rare that this isnt good enough, and when its not it means I am in and out and changing and moving instead of just out and moving. Double up. keep it on.

Reading the rest to see if there's other good solutions/i9dea/ advice.

Yeah the bricks are from Viking.

2 fit in the stove nicely. Last 3-4 hours and 8 bricks to a box. We go through a few boxes a week as we don’t burn all night. Only works on boat based hunts and not backpacking hunts.

We have done more than a few 2-3 inch a day storms in the 8 man. A cot is definitely your friend. The rainforest sucks in Oct.



We found the only semi flat spot on a little island for camp. Have used that spot 3x now.

We are boat based so to speak, but everything flies to Cold bay to start with. Not cheap. Then it flies supercub to the boats and thats an issue.

Hence the thought of nuway. Don't need the stove to sleep with. Can easily handle that down to zero without issues. But in the tent it would be nice to run it enough to cook, clean up, change, etc... and hopefully dry things out.

Since we have and keep lots of 5 gallon propane bottles around Cold Bay thats the route I think

I am not a cot man at all. I don't like floors in tents. But this fall I tried a cot again in a Stone Glacier and dang I was either beyond worn out from 2.5 months of hunting or my body now can sleep on a cot. So cot thing is on again at least.

That pop up would be cool. Probably last a day or so out there. LOL

Yeah my buddy bought the pop up one year. We tied it down pretty good. Nice to have a place to pile gear that isn’t in the tent.

https://www.amazon.com/Haiou-Chemic..._=fplfs&psc=1&smid=AKB6XYB4P5BFQ

Something like this is what I was thinking

For sure. We probably get fired if we walked up to the super cub with one. I"ve often thought though, set em up pretty low and tied up good they would make a good semi shelter.

I use ice fishing pop-ups on hunting trips as my cook shack and food storage. The right models will even stand up to the winds you enjoy on the peninsula. I've spend a few nights in them over the years after the wind destroyed my sleeping tent, always set up a hundred yards or so from the cook shack, in case Mr. Trouble comes for a midnight snack. My favorite is a five sided model I found at Cabelas. It's the perfect size, but is almost as bulky as those canopy pop-ups. My old Eskimo ice fishing pop-up is perfect for a solitary hunt or emergency bivouac tent, and it's much smaller and lighter. It fits on the Argo like a glove.
If your old bones are starting to like cots, but you still need to go light and not bulky, take a look at the Big Grizzly cot. Put a GI pad on it, and it keeps you warm, dry, and off the rocks and roots. That company even makes a smaller version called the Voyager. I carry that one sometimes in an emergency bivouac bedroll.

The Arctic Oven we use is 12x24 with the vestibules at each end.

The Iditarod is run at crazy low Relative Humidity. Frozen wet stuff sublimates a bunch of water just due to the RH. They also use smaller tents.

I have camped frequently at temps well below zero and have burned a ton of propane doing it. It is not a great way to go IME&O.

Jeff
I have a couple "backpacking" cots for you to try... very low to the ground, but very light because of it. The better one is more than long enough for me and extra wide. The smaller one is ok for me, but barely. They weigh about the same, but the smaller one takes up less space in the plane...

I would bet I have spent at least 2,000 nights in a Bomb Shelter and probably half that in an Arctic Oven. I have tremendous respect and love for both.

Innocent question... what about coal?

IIRC we were using a three-burner Nuway. It is a 3 burner, just not positive of the brand. But we are in a 12x24...

Yeah, that's huge......nearly 3x the floor space of the AO10. It must be pretty bulky & heavy.

A little research is eye-opening...
coal is 10.5-14.7 k btus per pound. (I confused temp and mass when considering the viability)

Propane/Butane is 21.4 k btus per pound

Both require the bottle return, whereas coal just burns. The empty bottle is 13.5#. It is easy to argue the additional running around to buy propane and the temperature concerns making coal a better deal...

Flip side: Bigger bottles are more efficient... smaller, not so much. Also, coal must burn hotter. There are too many variables to begin to consider the differences.