I’d like to offer a follow-up to my “Amateur Radio Review of the 12×12 Cabin Lodge Bundle” from last July. Often, new gear performs well at first, but its true quality only becomes clear over time.
Although I used the tent four times last season, this review focuses on my October setup for the Pennsylvania QSO Party contest. This was the first time I used my Spruce Cylinder stove and - more importantly - the first time my wife joined me for an overnight stay in the tent.
Bottom line: everything worked great. Having my wife there made erecting the tent and the outside vestibule (which we call the “porch”) much easier with an extra set of hands. From start to finish, setup took about 45 minutes.
Once the stove was assembled and installed, we inflated a double-size air mattress. While the mattress filled, we arranged the small amount of furniture we brought and set up the radio equipment for the contest. My wife wasn’t thrilled that there was no carpet, so she drove to a nearby Dollar General and returned with a 7×9-foot area rug for inside the tent and a smaller 3×4-foot rug for the porch entrance.
While she was gone, I raised my antenna - a homebrew G5RV dipole - stacked firewood in the porch area, and got the stove going. The temperature was about 45°F, so heat wasn’t strictly necessary, but it added to the comfort.
During the contest weekend, temperatures ranged from the mid-to-high 40s during the day to the upper 20s in the early morning. We woke to frost each morning - chilly, but not severe. I brought roughly 50 logs of hardwood (mostly ash and oak, with some maple mixed in) for the three-day stay. Running the stove continuously, we used about 36 logs, leaving some to spare. My wife handled most of the stove tending and found it easier to manage than our large wood stove at home.
My only minor observation - though not necessarily a criticism - is that previous pack stoves I’ve used included a chimney damper, which helped regulate burn rate, especially overnight. That might be a useful consideration for future refinement. I have reached out to Kodiak for their thoughts.
My wife, who is not particularly outdoorsy, packed as if we were expecting –10°F temperatures and five-foot snowdrifts. Of course, that never happened, and she used only a fraction of what she brought. More importantly, she had such a great experience that she’s already committed to joining me on future outings - as long as we’re using this tent and stove that is.
Looking ahead, I plan to apply for a Pennsylvania elk permit this coming season. I can guarantee that the Kodiak 12×12 tent, porch, and stove will be part of that hunt.
Keep up the great work, Kodiak.
73 & God Bless From NE Pennsylvania
JohnyMac, KC1FWU
