What are the reasons to paint or not to paint a winter camping wood stove? I have a new stove and wonder if it needs paint or not.

You don't have to paint your stove if you don't want to, but if you paint it, she'll look better and will fight off some rust.

However, you'll have to let it "season" first. New stoves have oil from the steel on them, so light several fires and let it be for awhile. It will turn different colors which is normal, and probably have some surface rust. I painted mine after my first winter's worth of fires, primarily to make it look nicer.

When ready, lightly sand any rust off and paint it with heat resistant paint like Rustoleum barbeque black spray paint. It makes it look better and will help you fight off rust. Rust is hard to eliminate completely, you'll get rain water running back down the outside of your stove pipe.

Awbrown is giving you some great advice, fire it up gently, and slowly let it come to full burn. This will keep the stove from warping. After you get a couple of good burns in it, clean it and paint it. Keep it painted and in the spring make sure the interior is clean of all ashes. Then spray the inside with vegetable oil or Pam to keep it from rusting.

Have fun!

Thanks for the advice. I am setting up the tent and stove tomorrow and making my first overnight. The low is predicted to be 9 degrees which should be a good test of gear, etc.

quote bobbernumber3: "Thanks for the advice. I am setting up the tent and stove tomorrow and making my first overnight. The low is predicted to be 9 degrees which should be a good test of gear, etc. "

It's a good idea to fire up the stove and stove pipe for the first time outside the tent. It might get a bit smoky from the oils, and the galvanizing on the stove pipe needs to be burned off. At very least, provide plenty of fresh air ventilation for that first burn.

quote awbrown: "

quote bobbernumber3: "Thanks for the advice. I am setting up the tent and stove tomorrow and making my first overnight. The low is predicted to be 9 degrees which should be a good test of gear, etc. "

It's a good idea to fire up the stove and stove pipe for the first time outside the tent. It might get a bit smoky from the oils, and the galvanizing on the stove pipe needs to be burned off. At very least, provide plenty of fresh air ventilation for that first burn."

Was about to post this about the paint giving off an odor. Excellent advice. I touch up both of my house woodburners every season and I make sure the wife and son are gone. Can be nasty depending on how much I painted.

I hit mine with vegetable oil spray inside and out , no paint. has taken on a dark almost black color over the years. Kni-Co Alaskan 6 years old.
CB

quote Cedarboy: "I hit mine with vegetable oil spray inside and out , no paint. has taken on a dark almost black color over the years. Kni-Co Alaskan 6 years old.
CB"

I spray the inside of my stove in the spring with Pam (veggie spray) when I pack it away for the wet water season. Its nice to get it inside the nooks and crannies to keep the off season rust away.

quote awbrown: "

quote Cedarboy: "I hit mine with vegetable oil spray inside and out , no paint. has taken on a dark almost black color over the years. Kni-Co Alaskan 6 years old.
CB"

I spray the inside of my stove in the spring with Pam (veggie spray) when I pack it away for the wet water season. Its nice to get it inside the nooks and crannies to keep the off season rust away."

Does the oil get smelly/smokey when you light it after oiling it?

yeah, but its not usually too bad. Some folks will light their fire once before putting in the tent, but I just open the door of the tent for a bit.

I purchased a stove from Don at Four Dog Stoves for this past season's deer hunt. As instructed, I lit a couple fires in it outside before using it in my canvas tent. Well, first night in the tent I woke up about 2am and couldn't open the doors fast enough to breathe fresh air...apparently I didn't do a good enough job of burning off the paint and the fumes about choked me to death! My advice would be to burn it SEVERAL times outside before using a wood stove in your tent. The stove worked like a charm after that and I can't say enough good things about Four Dog Stoves; I love mine!! I really get a kick out of cooking on it and the baffle works great for retaining heat and minimizing sparks up the chimney.

Smells like french fry until it burns off. Made the mistake of using WD 40 the first time.......BAD idea! Just leave the tent flaps open for awhile, then all is good.
CB