# Woodstoves aren't very stealthy, huh



## Llewellyn Gatliff

Hey. I'm new. I'm heading out next year and I really want to put a woodstove in my truck camper, but they're not very stealthy, are they. Smoke pouring out the flue will draw attention and it generally means someone's home.

I'm planning on boondocking around Truckee/Tahoe and it looks like I can find free sanctioned places to overnight in the winter between Sno-Parks, dispersed camping, truck stops, and casinos and such.

I really don't want to pour money down the propane hole, but how much unwanted attention will y'all think I'll get just cause I have a woodstove? Enough to forgo the whole idea?


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## ped

might want to think about wood stove in a tinder box camper....not to mention carbon monoxide. maybe if you had a bus.

A little buddy catalytic heater consumes about a 20lb tank on low in 100hrs. burn it at night only along with hot water bottles and a good sleeping bag.

bulk filled tanks you're looking at $40 ish a month

GET A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR (and a good fire extinguisher)


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

Thanks! That's good advice. I've been using my Little Buddy for a couple years now in my Suburban and it works. Mostly. And I hear you about the fire hazard of a wood/coal stove, like a marine stove. Plus that free fuel thing is really enticing.

I'm more wondering about attracting unwanted attention.


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## ped

http://www.livinlightly.com/off-grid-heat-small-wood-stoves/


I'm mean are stuck in a place you need to be stealth? You got options for legal areas. You're allowed to boondock on nat'l forest land. BLM - $180 for 7 month permit.


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## Mankini

Llewellyn Gatliff said:


> Thanks! That's good advice. I've been using my Little Buddy for a couple years now in my Suburban and it works. Mostly. And I hear you about the fire hazard of a wood/coal stove, like a marine stove. Plus that free fuel thing is really enticing.
> 
> I'm more wondering about attracting unwanted attention.



Much depends on what sort of fuel you use. Oak, hickory, mesquite, coal, will not give you away. Pine, cedar, and other trash wood will DEFINITELY give you away.


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

ped said:


> http://www.livinlightly.com/off-grid-heat-small-wood-stoves/
> 
> 
> I'm mean are stuck in a place you need to be stealth? You got options for legal areas. You're allowed to boondock on nat'l forest land. BLM - $180 for 7 month permit.


That was a good article just for the comment section alone. Thank you.

BLM land is such a foreign concept to me. We don't have anything like that here in Kentucky. They allow camping in the winter? California seems to have an awful lot of rules.

I mean stealthy in that a woodstove would stick our like a sore thumb. I,can just hear it now, "Oh you're that crazy lady with a woodstove in her truck camper." I'm just not a big fan of notoriety.


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## ped

where you is in ky?

BLM has what's called LTVA (long term visitor areas) where you camp over the winter. Basic sites with water and maybe dumping.

https://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/camping/LTVA.html

then there's the slabs.

then you can legally camp on forest lands for 14 days per ranger district....many camper longer. just move every 2 weeks for resupply and you can smoke a flue all you want.


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## ped

NM see you're in louisville. Im in cincinnati right now.


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

Mankini said:


> Much depends on what sort of fuel you use. Oak, hickory, mesquite, coal, will not give you away. Pine, cedar, and other trash wood will DEFINITELY give you away.


Oh yeah I hear ya. Good point. What about the charcoal from the campground fire pits? Know anything about that? I've never used it as a fuel source alone before and I wouldn't be able to tell what kind of wood it used to be. I understand it burns cleaner longer in a marine/tiny stove. Does it get stinky, smokey?


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

ped said:


> where you is in ky?
> 
> BLM has what's called LTVA (long term visitor areas) where you camp over the winter. Basic sites with water and maybe dumping.
> 
> https://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/camping/LTVA.html
> 
> then there's the slabs.
> 
> then you can legally camp on forest lands for 14 days per ranger district....many camper longer. just move every 2 weeks for resupply and you can smoke a flue all you want.


Well that's reassuring! Thanks for the links.

My Mamaw lived in Ft. Thomas. How you like Cincy?


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## ped

meh looking leave


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## Mankini

Llewellyn Gatliff said:


> Oh yeah I hear ya. Good point. What about the charcoal from the campground fire pits? Know anything about that? I've never used it as a fuel source alone before and I wouldn't be able to tell what kind of wood it used to be. I understand it burns cleaner longer in a marine/tiny stove. Does it get stinky, smokey?




Charcoal is one of the best. Mind what Ped said about CARBON Mono.!!!!!!!!


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## ped

but all of it is moot if you drive to the damn desert


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## Mankini

ped said:


> but all of it is moot if you drive to the damn desert



I use high wind areas and places with heavy foliage to disperse fumes and smoke.


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## ped

of course there's no wood around there lol


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

Mankini said:


> I use high wind areas and places with heavy foliage to disperse fumes and smoke.


Oh brilliant!


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

ped said:


> of course there's no wood around there lol


Yeah, I'm heading way north towards Truckee.

I'm not a big fan of Cincy or Ohio for that matter. The gaslight district is cool, but I've never gotten a good vibe from the people in that town.

Except at Bogart's. Lol


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## ped

me either


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

Mankini said:


> Charcoal is one of the best. Mind what Ped said about CARBON Mono.!!!!!!!!


Yes sir, I do take that very seriously. I vent my window in the Suburban when I use my Mr. Buddy propane heater, but I hate the smell and condensation. And it's such a bitch to light if your hands are cold I have to light it with a stick lighter.


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## roguetrader

in the UK / Europe about 99 % of 'alternative' vehicle dwellers have woodburning stoves and it rarely causes problems, even in towns and cities.... they're only dangerous if not fitted properly... if you have enough space why not fit both sources of heat (gas heater / woodburner) and then use whichever is appropriate for your current park up.. for me burning wood is way better than gas heat - no condensation, wood is free, you can cook / heat water on the top and they are so cosy - nothing better when the weather is shitty.... one issue is the legality - no insurance company in England will insure a vehicle fitted with a woodburner - if you mention it to them the gigs fucked - bye bye insurance policy BUT the police make no problems about them generally..... one final point - OK you are advertising your presence with smoke coming from a flue but straight people need to have their perception of what is acceptable challenged as often as possible - i know the law is different in the US but the idea of having to stealth camp 100% of the time pisses me off : cowering inside in case someone see's you in there - i'm proud to live in my box truck


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## Mankini

roguetrader said:


> in the UK / Europe about 99 % of 'alternative' vehicle dwellers have woodburning stoves and it rarely causes problems, even in towns and cities.... they're only dangerous if not fitted properly... if you have enough space why not fit both sources of heat (gas heater / woodburner) and then use whichever is appropriate for your current park up.. for me burning wood is way better than gas heat - no condensation, wood is free, you can cook / heat water on the top and they are so cosy - nothing better when the weather is shitty.... one issue is the legality - no insurance company in England will insure a vehicle fitted with a woodburner - if you mention it to them the gigs fucked - bye bye insurance policy BUT the police make no problems about them generally..... one final point - OK you are advertising your presence with smoke coming from a flue but straight people need to have their perception of what is acceptable challenged as often as possible - i know the law is different in the US but the idea of having to stealth camp 100% of the time pisses me off : cowering inside in case someone see's you in there - i'm proud to live in my box truck



I was there recently and asked about fireplaces. People looked at me, shocked, and were like "Thats bloody illegal! Environment, yknow"....!!!!...Cant be completely true, can it?


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## Llewellyn Gatliff

Oh wow, I never even thought about the insurance. Great point.

I'll have propane heat too, in case I need to supplement.


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## roguetrader

@Mankini - can you explain your above post a bit more - i'm not sure what you mean !


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## Mankini

roguetrader said:


> @Mankini - can you explain your above post a bit more - i'm not sure what you mean !



Disregard that. Silly. Some friends had said most newer homes were going in without fireplaces due to city smog laws


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## roguetrader

with you now, probably true although plenty of well off folks get fancy modern wood stoves fitted nowadays - presume they OK if up to code - i think burning wood is considered greener than coal.....


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## Mankini

roguetrader said:


> with you now, probably true although plenty of well off folks get fancy modern wood stoves fitted nowadays - presume they OK if up to code - i think burning wood is considered greener than coal.....



Yeah!! The ''modern'' ''clean'' alternatives involve hydraulic facilities and the fossil fuel industry...


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## atlas

Burning wood is basically carbon neutral. Or, so I've heard.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7m8g28


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## dprogram

Llewellyn Gatliff said:


> Hey. I'm new. I'm heading out next year and I really want to put a woodstove in my truck camper, but they're not very stealthy, are they. Smoke pouring out the flue will draw attention and it generally means someone's home.
> 
> I'm planning on boondocking around Truckee/Tahoe and it looks like I can find free sanctioned places to overnight in the winter between Sno-Parks, dispersed camping, truck stops, and casinos and such.
> 
> I really don't want to pour money down the propane hole, but how much unwanted attention will y'all think I'll get just cause I have a woodstove? Enough to forgo the whole idea?


If you make a rocket stove you shouldn't have to worry about smoke...


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## that one guy

Don't forget you've got to go out and collect fire wood, witch often needs to be cut or broken into stove lengths, not something you'd want to do in walmart parking lot.
Or if you buy bundles of wood its so dry you can run through 2 - 6 bundles a night depending on when/where/why (winter/summer, north/south, cooking dinner, merryment with guests)

Conversely it'd be just about the best thing ever for times you'd drag your shit out into the woods though.


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## NBDDreamer

I like the smell and the romance of a wood burning stove, but I only use 21 dollars worth of propane a month in the van running a furnace , a stove and a refrigerator. It's a nominal cost for a ton more convenience. 

I'm sure if I had less resources and lived in a more extreme climate, I'd consider it.


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