Carbon Felt Windscreen

"Do you think that a metal windscreen would reflect back more heat and be more efficient?"

Yes.

A flat black windscreen might be better at absorbing heat.

–B.G.–

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Thanks Bob, and that is what I figured. Earlier today I watched a YouTube video by Hiram Cook in which he did a comparison of a carbon felt windscreen and some other folding metal windscreen. There was about a 50 second difference in reaching boil times between the two, with the metal windscreen being faster.

But, I was wondering what those of you that have used carbon felt as windscreens, what are your overall thoughts on them?

Jeffery, thanks for that…I think… I don't see what that has to do with carbon felt windscreens…or maybe I am missing something?

Although I would like to point out that I am a fan of alcohol or solid fuel set-ups MUCH more so than canister… and I also love my TiTri Caldera Cone too… :) (but not with a canister stove…)

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It depends on your objective. I tend to design windscreens to control the flow of air into and out of what I call the burn chamber. I have found that the most efficient way to do this is with well-defined geometries. Performance repeatability is a major objective to my product designs.

I have seen carbon felt used as a windscreen and have tried using them myself. My opinion is that the material is too “limber” and I find that I cannot control the shape as well as I would like. It is also difficult to make defined inlet and outlet ports in the material. I have seen videos of people wrapping the carbon loosely around the stove with good results, however; there was no indication of strong winds being prevalent. IMHO, carbon felt is as effective as aluminum oven foil. The great thing about carbon felt is that it multi use as a windscreen and an oven mitt. The one overriding concern with carbon felt is that it wicks well (alcohol and water). Given all of these “concerns” carbon fiber windscreens have never come across to me as a clear winner. BTW, you can by a Tillman welding cloth for cheap to experiment with: 3' by 3" is under $25.

If your objective is to come up with a light weight windscreen titanium and Nomex 410 are good candidates. Keep in mind that these are my opinions and I do not offer carbon felt windscreens. If there was a strong demand, I would probably investigate the concepts in detail and offer a product. Jon, owner of FLAT CAT GEAR