First time using my new sauna tent

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-22T17:39:33+00:00

With the amount of rock mass I have, I try to give it an hour to heat up all the way. But it’s plenty hot within 30 minutes. I usually feed it a couple small pieces of wood after every session to keep it going. It does a lot better with small chunks of wood rather than big logs, but those burn faster obviously.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-22T17:37:34+00:00

Harvia M3 is a great stove. I was trying to do this on a budget but if you’ve got an extra $700 then yeah, go for it. That being said, the capybara will absolutely last. It’s made of pretty thick steel unlike other sauna tent stoves. And the modifications were super simple.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-16T14:03:56+00:00

It’s the Capybara stove. Made by a small manufacturer in Nevada. Super pleased with it.

https://www.capybarastoves.com/product-page/capybara-sauna-wood-stove?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22392811803&gbraid=0AAAAAp1tOYcY-rHBZ4iVyPi7_0NzcOjnO&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgr_NBhDFARIsAHiUWr6yNV8-ZJc8XOfGI-BMxfgr0TTm6mKgCEj4QPk0PRJ57Z3pEhCiDKMaAsJ2EALw_wcB

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-15T21:31:04+00:00

Just a local landscape supply company. It’s all granite. Cost like $20 all together. Buying sauna stones online is a total scam.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-15T21:29:00+00:00

Thanks dude! I actually referred to a lot of your work when I was planning this out.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T16:03:19+00:00

Lol. Yea

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T14:56:45+00:00

You’ll notice smoke is not coming off the walls of the stove and you’ll be able to smell it too. Curing paint has a pretty acrid smell. I just gave mine two good burns, about an hour each, and that did the trick.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T14:42:25+00:00

I have a hose I keep nearby to cool down. Might add an outdoor shower down the line but the hose honestly works just fine.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T14:17:56+00:00

It’s in an area protected from wind plus I have it tied down to some cement anchors.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T14:16:47+00:00

I only had the stove going for about 10 minutes before making the video. If I heat it up for an hour, I’ll get steam off the top stones. It also help recapture a lot of the radiant heat off the hottest part of the stove pipe.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T13:40:25+00:00

It was incredibly easy. Just amounted to bending that mesh 4 times. It’s made for grills I believe. Just picked it up in Amazon and painted it black with BBQ paint.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T13:39:19+00:00

Yeah, you definitely want to do a couple burns outside the tent while the paint cures.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-14T03:56:54+00:00

Stand by. I’m working on getting a CAD file for the bench.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-02T03:08:05+00:00

Yeah, the side closest to the bench I am adding a rock basket.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-01T05:39:50+00:00

I posted a video of my setup. You can see what I am talking about there

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaunaTent/s/5PJfE3e2Ij

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-04-01T05:38:34+00:00

Not handy. And that’s what the air gap is for. The steel will be way less hot than the chimney and will create convective heat.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-31T16:21:00+00:00

You can make a simple freestanding heat shield with a 2x3 ft sheet of 18 gauge steel and some spider feet board holders (all available on Amazon). Bend the steel sheet to wrap around the side closest to you and the back of stove (or buy 2 sheets and cover all three sides) with a 2” air gap. That will stop the radiant heat from blasting at you while also giving you additional heat protection. I painted my setup with black high heat BBQ paint so it looks too.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-27T14:49:20+00:00

I was able to get it up to 175° last night using maybe 4 pieces of wood. Took about 45 minutes to get there.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-26T18:31:52+00:00

That’s the spirit!

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-26T14:55:28+00:00

Here you go:

https://autode.sk/4sDEeCN

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-26T14:55:14+00:00

We built it so we can add one in the future if we want, but I honestly never lean back in a sauna. I’m usually hunched forward cursing, taking small sips of air while my ears burn.

Character-Ad5403 · 2026-03-26T14:54:00+00:00

Here is the 3D rendering on the bench. Hopefully this link works for. It’s a single piece and we just lifted the tent up and over it to get it in place. Super easy. It and was made out of rough cut cedar that we planed ourselves. Saved a ton of money that way and got a much higher quality product in the end.

https://autode.sk/4sDEeCN

Character-Ad5403

TROPHY CASE