Some numbers to consider:

-fully tricked Megalight (linelocs, center guy points each with 12′ of line, stove boot): 29 oz

-homemade wood stove (Walmart can): 16 oz

-5 foot long, 3 inch diameter stainless stove pipe, with spark screen, end ring, and three cable rings: 15 oz

Installing the stove boot is easy. I bought a half yard of the material, which weighed 20 oz (!), from BearPaw Wilderness Designs. Starting with a 10.5 by 9 inch rectangle, I sewed it first to the inside of the center seam, then out from there, trimming off the one odd corner. Once that was done, it’s easy to cut out the now redundant silnylon, fold the edges back over, and double stitch. The small webbing loops are to allow a strap or cord to hold the flap down in high winds.

The jack adds around 3 oz.

It is pretty neat to get the pipe red hot and not burn down your highly flammable shelter.

The stove is a lot rougher, but the HPG instructions linked to above are pretty straightforward, as is getting the pipe rolled longways the first time (three hands would be ideal). After a few burns rolling gets easier.

The question now becomes whether the added weight and (especially) bulk will be worthwhile. The stove should serve a variety of purposes; cooking, snow melting, warmth, gear drying. When and how well it will work for each of these is less clear. Cooking in your tent in Grizzly country is not recommended most of the year, so a more traditional stove will be needed April-November, or perhaps the wood stove will work for cooking absent the pipe, over in the next bunch of trees. The larger problem is that thus far the amount of heat I’ve been able to get out of the thing has not impressed, the above photo was the best I’ve done, and did not last long. Perhaps time will bring improvement, but I suspect I’ll need to buy a larger stove made of a more conductive material.

My greatest hope is that I’ll be able to generate enough heat during the dead of winter to make hanging out pleasant, and drying gear pragmatic. I don’t think the wood stove will make it possible to bring fewer clothes or less sleeping insulation, but if it widened the margin of error/comfort that would be most welcome. Time will tell.