msr capillary stove system

[larry savage]

Browsing the dec/jan issue of men’s fitness I found on page 58 the capillary technology stove system by msr. Stove,fuel-storage unit,screen, and insulated pot. 18.5 oz. melts snow and boils a liter of water in five minutes. They give a link to msr’s home page but I couldn’t find it there, hmmm.

[Rick Dreher]

Good question. I’ve lost track of this technology after MSR showed prototypes back in ’04. That they were’t very light and at the same time, projected to be quite expensive seemed to work against them.

MSR has a well-established reputation for being extremely thorough in developing their products before bringing them to market, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t still working on it. But I’d be equally surprised if the actual product represented my dream of a three-ounce, pumpless white gas stove.

[larry savage]

Working backwards, my best direction, I’d put the stove at 5.5-8 oz. You can’t tell much from the picture though the blurb said a pricepoint of about $170.00.

[David Lewis]

Last I heard they were seriously delayed… until like 2007 or something.

[Vick Hines]

Remember the Svea 123?
A capillary stove with pot, pot support and windscreen weighing 16-18 ounces, about 5 inches high and 3 inches in diameter. The difference is the SVEA was self pressurized. I guess MSR is trying to bring it back in a ‘modern’ version, huh?

Also see this reference to the MSR project:

http://www.defenselink.mil/transformation/articles/2005-06/ta060605a.html

You will have to search for “Capillary Force Vaporizer Fuels Pocket Stove”

[Douglas Frick]

> Remember the Svea 123?

Svea/Optimus 123, 15.7 oz (+3.0 oz for aluminum cup and handle). It’s not the lightest stove around, but that throaty roar is a welcome sound when it’s cold out. It uses some kind of fiber (fiberglass?) wick to bring the fuel up to the vapourizer.

[Anonymous]

Remember?? How can you forget?

The 123 is a classic I have one on display in my living room still works too!

[Vick Hines]

Roger,
‘…I have one on display in my living room…’

Why am I not surprised?

That Epic is now a fine bivy. Thanks!

Now if it will just get cold here….

[Anonymous]

Vick,

Glad to see that spare material went too good use. Post a picture or email me I’d like to see how yours turned out.

I’m happy with the way my bivy and jacket turned as well.

Regards

[Anonymous]

double posting

[Hikin’ Jim]

Did anything ever come of the MSR Capillary Stove?

[Robert Blean]

I sure do remember the Svea 123.

Most of us doing winter trips in places like the White Mountains and Adirondacks preferred the Primus 71L, though. That was pretty much the same technology, but with about twice the burn time (bigger fuel tank) — very handy when melting a lot of snow for water.

I do not think the wick was fiberglass — as I recall you needed to be careful to not burn the wick (by over-priming?) because that could ruin the stove.

As long as you are recollecting that, how about the Sigg cookset — and early Caldera in that the windscreen supported the pot and brought heat up along the side of the pot.

— MV

P.S. — sorry — I just saw the latest post and did not look at the dates on the earlier posts :(

[Devin Montgomery]

Here's what I know about it, taken from a posting I made on another thread here:

Last I knew, MSR had lost access to the ceramic wicks, and the stove hadn't performed as well as hoped. I may have read that they have again gotten access to the wicks, but I can't seem to find where. Here are three articles from other sites on it (it was originally developed as part of an army contract:
link 1
link 3

The also created a "heat exchanger cup" for the project, which I believe served as the basis for their Reactor cup.

[Hikin’ Jim]

Thanks for the links. Looks like a cool little stove — if they ever get it to work. :) It might be really light since it won't need valves, pump, generator, etc. Since we haven't heard much in the last 3 or 4 years, there must be some technical obstacle to overcome that they can't quite get a handle on.

[Hikin’ Jim]

There's a document dated 01/23/2008 on the Natick Labs (US Military) website with info on page 42 regarding the MSR Capillary Stove. This appears to be new information; the photos are a bit different than the photos from the postings of 3 or so years ago. See href=http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/media/print/FSE_2ED.pdf

In the comments, it states that the Army has a "production" run of prototype stoves for field testing. Hmm. I didn't know you could do a production run of a prototype. I hope that's milspeak for "we've got some unit's; we're playin' with them; we'll get back to you."

[M G]

http://www.dodsbir.net/SITIS/archives_display_topic.asp?Bookmark=30533

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Jim

URL not functioning.
I'd love to read the PDF

Cheers
[email protected]

[Tad Englund]

Roger the URL is
http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/media/print/FSE_2ED.pdf

or click here

[Hikin’ Jim]

Hi, Roger,

If you click on the link I posted, it does work. If you cut and paste it, leave off the "href=". Tad's link also works.

It's interesting to see it resurface. The current version looks quite a bit different than the prototypes I was seeing a few years ago. Looks a bit more robust. On the stove there appears to be an MSR Titan Kettle which would indicate that MSR is still the contractor. Judging by the photos, they appear to have dropped the "flux ring" type heat exchanger that I saw on some of the earlier models — although the verbiage still talks about a special heat exchanger mug. Knowing the army and its demand for flexibility/"field expedient" (improvised) solutions, they probably have come up with a stove that will work with a specialized mug, ordinary pots/mugs such as the standard army canteen cup, and the flow through hot water heater. That flow through hot water heater is intriguing. Hook it up to your Platy or Camelbak, and out comes hot water out of the other end.

I saw a posting by someone who claimed to be part of the test team. He said one of the technical sticking points was that some fuel leaks out (JP-8 is pretty nasty smelling) when the stove is off, apparently through the CFV element.

"Army PM CIE has procured an initial production run of prototype CFV stoves for field testing as an Individual Cold Weather Stove for use by troops in cold weather environments."

It appears that they've come a ways if they're in army field trials.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I saw the military is using both the MSR Dregonfly Multi-fuel stove snd the more troublesome Optimus Nova stove in leiu of an as-yet-to-be-produced MSR Capillary Force stove.

I own a Dragonfly and they're excellent, probably the best low simmering multifuel stove out there. I had to take an Oprimus Nova back B/C it wouldn't simmer low enough to bake with a fiberglass hood oven. But, with its many parts and need to attatch the fuel hose the Dragonfly is probably only for special units. i.e. it's not "soldier proof".

Eric

[Hikin’ Jim]

The army considers the MSR Dragonfly to be a "squad level" stove — in other words it is meant to serve a group. I guess they've got the MSR Dragonfly working on JP-8.

The capillary stove is intended to serve as an individual item, indeed it's nomenclature is "MIWH" which means "Modular Individual Water Heater."

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Guys

It still does not work for me. Sigh. Maybe it knows I am from Oz? You know, security and all that?

If anyone wants to email the PDF to me, it would make fun reading and be much appreciated.

Cheers
[email protected]

[Matt Lutz]

PDF sent. Please let me know if you rec'd it, the file was quite big and sending an attachment of that size may not be supported by my university's e-mail system.

[Jim W.]

A couple things to consider:

The military wants things that are sturdy and safe. It is probably a lot more rugged and heavier than if they were going for the backpacking market.

It's designed to burn the military all-purpose battlefield fuel that is basically diesel, so should work equally well with kerosene- but probably not white gasoline.

No separate priming fuel appears required "Convenient„„…The burner ignites with an MRE™ match." Is an MRE match one of the big windproof jobbies that might help with initial fuel vaporization?

Most importantly- note the in-line heat exchanger accessory designed to be attached to your camelback tube. My wife would love a system that warms her shower water!

[Hikin’ Jim]

Yes, the military wants stuff that's well nigh unto indestructible, BUT there's no reason MSR can't get the bugs out of the CFV technology with the army's research $$'s and then turn around and produce a lighter civilian version that runs on white gas.

An MRE match is basically a standard paper match. It's treated so that it's a little more resistant to humidity, but otherwise it's pretty much the same match that you might get if you got a little paper matchbook at your local liquor store.

[Author]

Posts