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Thread: How to reduce visible smoke from a fireplace or wood shove?

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  1. #1
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    How to reduce visible smoke from a fireplace or wood shove?

    I was wondering if anyone has used or has heard of a method for reducing smoke from a fireplace or wood burning stove to minimize your detectable presence in an area.

    I understand a small ember fire produces less smoke but sometimes in sub freezing weather larger fires are called for and have a greater chance to expose your position to others.

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    Catylitic converter.
    Last edited by Heavy Metal; 09-26-11 at 16:13.
    My brother saw Deliverance and bought a Bow. I saw Deliverance and bought an AR-15.

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    Tagging for interest
    "Intelligence is not the ability to regurgitate information. It is the ability to make sound decisions on a consistent basis "--me

    "Just remember, when you are talking to the average person, you are talking to a television set"--RDJB

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    Quote Originally Posted by Heavy Metal View Post
    Catylitic converter.
    How do you use it?

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    Same way your car does.. But I don't think it will reduce smoke.. Especially in a cold weather environment

    Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

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    Don't burn stuff that's wet.
    Don't burn tires or other petroleum/rubber products.
    Don't burn your vanquished enemies.

    Aside from that, if you are really trying not to be detected your best bet is to use a flameless ration heater. This is followed fairly closely by using an isobutane/propane stove, since it doesn't smoke unless you burn your food to the point it is unfit for consumption. Alcohol stoves are another good option, as they burn cleanly, although I prefer isobutane/propane personally.

    If you must build a fire, night time is really your best bet. It needs to be an "Indian fire"- just big enough to cook and heat with, and nothing more. Conceal it with a fire wall, if you can build one in short time, or among thick trees. Your smoke won't be visible at night like it is during the day, so you only have to control the illumination which on the ground where you have a much better ability to control it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by lamarbrog View Post
    If you must build a fire, night time is really your best bet. It needs to be an "Indian fire"- just big enough to cook and heat with, and nothing more. Conceal it with a fire wall, if you can build one in short time, or among thick trees. Your smoke won't be visible at night like it is during the day, so you only have to control the illumination which on the ground where you have a much better ability to control it.
    One way to limit the illumination is dig a small elongate hole, insulate bottom and sides with sticks, stones... build you fire inside.
    Make the elongate side face the wind.

    Make your fire on the base of a big tree, the branches and leaves will spread the smoke.

    Different fire building techniques give differing degrees of light/smoke.

    The teepee or piramid gives more light. The star gives less light and smoke, but depends on thick logs. Lots of red-hot stuff, excelent for cooking and warmth. Low wood consumption.

    Look at the the old boy scout books.

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    The only way to reduce it is to make sure your chimney height is correct for your installation (proper draft), your stove or fireplace has sufficient air for good combustion AND well seasoned proper wood.

    Some woods burn with more smoke than others, dry seasoned wood with a low moisture content is the best.

    From a survival standpoint, you don't want any undesirables to "see" your smoke, but one thing to keep in mind whether anyone sees it, they WILL smell it, and there are other things to consider.

    Bad guy #1, "Those houses look abandoned, lets move on."

    Bad guy #2, "I am not so sure...I think I caught a whif of wood smoke....Yep, look right there at the 3rd house, all the other roofs have snow all over, that one has a big bare dry spot a couple of feet around the chimney, someones home....mount up!"

    Smoke is one thing....there are other variables unfortunatly.
    "Disperse you rebels!, Damn You! Throw down your arms and Disperse!"....British Major Pitcairn at Lexington, April 19th 1775

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    Good epa or catalytic stove, properly seasoned wood, proper draft, and appropriate burn temp. I ran an englander nc-30 at about 600 stovetop, 21" of triple wall chimney 6 feet above the peak of my roof and about 6 feet out (this exceeded building code and provided great draft), and burned well seasoned (1+ years) wood. Other then the smell, having a clear roof, and having tons of split wood on my property, you would have never known I heated with wood.
    Acta Non Verba

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    Quote Originally Posted by grr-usmc View Post
    But I don't think it will reduce smoke..
    Yes, it will reduce smoke. Smoke is simply an unburned gas, so if you burn that gas, you won't have any smoke...

    The fact is that smoke will burn, if it is ignited properly, so if you use a catalytic converter in your stove, the smoke (unburned gases) will burn (and leave you with little to no smoke.)

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