insulating the barrel?

Hi newbie here, I'm planning to build a RMH for our home in Maine. Shouldn't the barrel around the burn chamber be insulated? This should make it safer and also increase the draft by keeping the exhaust gases hotter.

I did a search in the forum but only came up with one reference. I would have thought it would be a fairly common question.

Hi Brad;
The barrel is usually left exposed to provide quick radiant heat.
By safer, I assume you mean accidentally touching the barrel?
Children and some adults quickly learn what "Hot" means!
The draft is not a problem with a warmed-up RMH.

Recently, more and more folks are building a batch box design rmh and utilizing a brick bell (stratification chamber).
This design rarely uses an exposed barrel but it does take longer to feel the heat.

I remember asking a similar question to Matt Walker a while back. Here was his response on an episode of Stove Chat: