Installing a Flashing Kit in a older Tipi or Touring Tent

Setting Up a Wood-Burning Stove in Your Tent: A Step-by-Step Guide

So you want to use a wood-burning stove inside your tent? You’re in the right place! Once you’ve experienced the cosiness of a ‘hot-tent’ setup, you’ll be glad you persevered with the installation process.

While our new range of Homecamp Classic Bell Tents come with their own purpose-built stove flap, older (pre-2022) tents, including our Tipi and Touring Bell Tents, will require you to cut a hole in your tent before installing a flashing kit to use with your stove.

What is a Flashing Kit?

A flashing kit, or stove jack, consists of a heat-resistant silicone sleeve that is secured to your tent with two stainless steel rings and wingnuts. The silicone sleeve protects the tent from hot flue pipes touching the canvas. For extra safety, we recommend using a double (or triple) wall pipe section at the point where the chimney pipe exits the tent.

The beauty of using a flashing kit is that you can control the position of the stove inside the tent. However, it does come with the seemingly daunting task of cutting a hole in your beautiful new tent! Luckily, there is a fail-safe way of installing the kit that will make this process a breeze.

Follow these easy steps, and you’ll be hot-tenting safely in no time.

What You’ll Need:

  • Quality canvas tent
  • Flashing kit
  • Sharp craft knife
  • Marker
  • Wood-burning stove with pipe sections
  • Double (or triple) wall pipe section
  • Fireproof mat
  • Carbon monoxide alarm

*Note – Our Tent & Stove Bundles include everything you need to create a quality hot-tent setup from start to finish.

Step-by-Step Installation

Step 1: Get the Stove in Position

  • Position the stove inside your tent, ensuring it is safely away from the tent wall. The ideal distance typically ranges from 50cm to 80cm, depending on the size of your tent and stove. You want enough room to move around the tent safely without the hazard of being too close to a hot stove. Having the stove closer to the centre of your tent is more efficient for heating but less efficient for managing space.

Step 2: Mark the Exit

  • Measure where you would like your stove to stand and consequently where your flue will exit the tent. We strongly recommend using a double-wall pipe section at the point of exit. It’s a good idea to first set up your stove outside the tent to measure the height from the bottom of the stove feet to the midway point of your double-wall pipe; this will help guide where you will cut the hole.
  • Once you have decided where the hole will be, unscrew the bolts from the kit and hold one of the stainless steel rings (or the rainproof plate) against the canvas, marking where the holes are located. This will be where the screws will go. Rainproof plates are included in our tent and stove bundles.

Step 3: Make the Cut

  • It’s go time. Let’s secure the flashing kit to the tent. With a sharp craft knife, make small holes in the screw marks with the knife. Clamp the two rings on either side of the canvas with the silicon on the outside. Push the bolts through and screw them into place.
  • Now that the kit is secure, cut through the tent around the inside of the ring, making a neat hole, before pushing the flue sections through the flashing kit from the inside. Your stove will now be securely in place and ready to light up.

Step 4: Fire it Up!

  • Add your flue pipe sections to complete the assembly of your stove and light it up! Please note, new stoves often burn with dark smoke on first use; this will diminish with subsequent burns. Ensure that your tent is well-ventilated and always have a carbon monoxide alarm installed to monitor air quality.

When Not in Use

If you want to cook outside or don’t intend to bring your stove on a short trip, sealing up your stove jack when you’re not using your tent stove is easy using a Flashing Kit Rainproof Plate. Simply install the rainproof plate over the opening to keep your tent secure from weather elements.

Further Reading

Explore more about hot-tenting and how to make the most of your wood-burning stove setup in our guide: How to Hot Tent – A Guide to Camping with a Wood-Burning Stove.

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