That first winter I did manage a test run to check all systems and make some improvements to my wood stove set up. In February 2022 I set up the shelter & stove in my backyard and camped overnight. This gave me an idea of stove performance, space, equipment required, amount of wood needed to last overnight etc.

The shelter is 6.5' tall so there is plenty of headroom, even in the corners.

This small inexpensive woodstove came from Princess Auto, I modified the stove by adding 45º bends in the stovepipe so it would exit through the window opening via my stove jack, built a stronger door, and designed a better drafter. A simple welding blanket provides protection and an air gap for the shelter wall, plywood made a steady base for the stove.

The four windows are held in place by Velcro.

I had this stove jack custom made in Portugal Cove, it's a fire/heat proof material that keeps the hot stove pipe safely away from the tent material. It's made the exact same size to replace one of the windows and also attaches with Velcro. This way I can setup the stove in 4 different locations inside the shelter, or reinstall the window on trips where I'm not using the stove.

I made up this very bright LED light strip kit with parts from princess auto, it is powered off a small 7.5ah 12v alarm battery. It  works great especially at night, it's held temporarily in place with zip ties on each outing.

This 90x90" shelter is just big enough for my oversize cot, leaving plenty of room for a folding table, stove and gear.

The shelter also works amazingly well as intended as a non heated day use shelter. In February 2023 I finally had a chance to use it on the pond in -16ºC and high winds.

The shelter performed fantastic. Just breaking the wind made a huge difference in comfort.

If you have one of these or similar shelters, I highly recommend this Woods drill adaptor for installing the screw in ice pegs. These are a PITA to install by hand in hard ice, but the drill adaptor worked fantastic and made the task effortless.

This insulated shelter compared to my old Rapela non insulated shelter is much nicer to cook in. The insulating layer prevented frost from building up inside even with the kettle boiling! All in all this is a fantastic shelter for the money. There are lots to choose from bigger & smaller, insulated and non insulated, simply pick the best unit for the number of people and what kind of adventures you want to try out.

Cheers, Mike