I'm entering my second year with my Dauntless. I have the Flexburn version of the stove, without a catalyst, so that's where I'm coming from.
I find that the stove needs a LOT of kindling and small stuff to get started and build up a bed of coals before putting on typical firewood sized splits. The manual actually states we should be using 4 pounds of kindling and small stuff each time we're lightign the stove. I'm actually going to be adjusting my firewood harvesting techniques to ensure I have more stuff that's closer in size to my wrist, rather than those big monster chunks that we love to toss in before going to bed.
I haven't had any problems with draft or backpuffing, thankfully. My stove lights easily and stays going as long as I use a lot of kindling and small stuff.
After lots of experimentation, I now rarely close my damper unless the fire is very hot (550+ measured from the griddle top, which is where the manual says we should be taking temp readings). I'd say 80% of the time I'm using the stove with the damper OPEN. When running like this, I can close the air intake almost all the way and end up with my desired type of fire (nice and warm, good even burn for a few hours before adding more wood...I believe that's what we call "cruising" on these forums).
As the stove has become broken in, I've noticed that gaps have appeared in the gaskets around both panes of glass on the front door. In both cases I was able to solve the problem by loosening the screws and repositioning the glass panels. FYI - you all might want to look closely at your glass panels to make sure they're airtight.
Overall we're still pleased - the stove is visually beautiful and my wife likes to remind me that it's essentially an end table for 6+ months out of the year.
