How good is the MSR WindBurner in the wind?

okay, maybe fully enclosed like caldera cone isn’t recommended, better to have a slot to access the valve and ventilate

I’m still in winter mode when the problem is under heating

You definitely want to feel the side of the canister down below where the fuel is inside the canister and make sure it’s not hot

Right, on living dangerously there, David. I DIYed an aluminum screen with little paper punch holes along the bottom, connective tabs to link the ends and a big hole for operating the valve. The tabs were iffy, the big hole ripped wider, and the thing became more of a hassle than anything.

The caldera cone method def look nifty, but by the time you raise the bottom high enough to not be bomb-worthy AND to operate the stove, how effective would it really be on a gusty day? Not to mention the dexterity required to reach under the cone skirt to operate it. With the BRS & old Pocket rocket I wound up building rock enclosures for it every campsite. With the Soto, this hasn’t been necessary. Its a mighty little burner that has performed well for me in gusty conditions. Surprisingly so. Still, if you can fashion a better screen, I’ll try it.

Some interesting DIY windscreens for canister-top stoves:

I made a tall, three-sided windscreen from the last video. Gets blown around in the wind without additional supports. I’m working on an easy modification that might fix that.

Personal trial-and-error experience: Aluminum roasting pan metal hanging from the pot supports and too close to canister stove flames (similar to first video, except they used steel) results in the lovely smell of burning aluminum plus holes in your windscreen. Not recommended.

— Rex

Mudjester, Jon Fong makes the Ocelot windscreen for  Soto, MSR, BRS stoves. See flatcatgear.com. Works great.

Mudjester, Jon Fong makes the Ocelot windscreen for  Soto, MSR, BRS stoves. See flatcatgear.com. Works great.

+1.  Haven’t had the opportunity yet to field test my Ocelot windscreen for my PRD, but it is an elegant design, IMHO.

Thanks Bill & David ~ Jon has an impressive inventory of windscreens for a bunch of kits, which look to be just great. But he doesn’t make one for my kit: Soto+.6L Evernew pot. Apparently, my little pot is too wide, as he focuses on mugs. So I look forward to seeing what David Gardner can come up with.

I’ve also learned that a short, wide pot is more efficient that a tall, thin mug. Who knew? I prefer my kit because I don’t like drinking out of Ti/al; and am good with a slight weight penalty carrying a resin cup. No burned lips or metallic taste & stays hot longer. Even better, I can eat my tsampa-oats with tea = lap of frickin luxury…

Jon FongBPL MEMBER
David, Stove performance in the wind is actually an interesting topic. It really depends on where your cooking system is located (preferably at ground level). Classic fluid dynamic will say that the steady state velocity at the ground is zero. I have done several field measurements looking at the air velocity from about chest height down to the ground. Depending on the substrate, I have seen a 3X to 10X reduction in wind velocity at ground level. So it depends where you place your stove and where you are measuring the wind. 4.4 mph at chest height will not have a great effect at ground level. This is why it doesn’t make sense to raise your stove up on a bench or table to cook.

So it depends where you place your stove and where you are measuring the wind. 4.4 mph at chest height will not have a great effect at ground level. This is why it doesn’t make sense to raise your stove up on a bench or table to cook.

Classic fluid dynamic will say that the steady state velocity at the ground is zero.

It would seem that remote canister stoves, being the closest to the ground, have an inherent wind advantage. The Soto Fusion Trek stove is pretty close to a remote Windmaster, but 6.3 oz?!? I wonder what a BRS conversion would weigh…

Mudjester – is this the 0.6L Evernew pot you have? From your description I assume it’s not this one.

Soto Windmaster arrived today. Let the fun begin!

Well, once you go remote you can have a full windscreen and life is good.  My 2 cents.

David G – yes, that’s my baby, and I don’t mean maybe.

I also saw it on Flatcat and thought that boded well, but Jon clarified its too wide for the ocelot.

– Ken Bradford (aka mudjester – which is not, as might be expected on this site, a trail name. Just an old folly from the early internet days I feel fits the scene here ;-)

So it depends where you place your stove and where you are measuring the wind. 4.4 mph at chest height will not have a great effect at ground level. This is why it doesn’t make sense to raise your stove up on a bench or table to cook.

 

Classic fluid dynamic will say that the steady state velocity at the ground is zero.

Put your stoves on the ground…..no gadgets needed. Do as Roger does, small piece of aluminum foil around 3/4 of the stove….works for him.

Spend the money….get a Jettboil

I skimmed this thread, wondering the whole time why there is any need to do better than boil a pot of water in less than 2 minutes? Which is how long the MSR Windburner takes, even in wind. Seems more than adequate to me. Save weight elsewhere.

If it’s windy, it can blow the flame completely away from the bottom of the pot.  Easily twice as much fuel required.

If you had a 4 ounce canister for one night, it wouldn’t matter much.

If you had a 4 ounce canister for 4 nights, with a windscreen that would be adequate.  Without a windscreen you’d need 2 or 3 canisters.  A canister weighs 7 ounces, so you’d have to take and extra 7 or 14 ounces.

A simple windscreen weighs maybe 1 ounce.  That could save 7 or 14 ounces of weight.

You can put the stove where the wind is minimal.  Construct a windbreak with rocks or logs for example.  Then you could get away without a windscreen.

The windscreen is convenient.

If you look at the OP, it is really about wind robustness and not time.  The MSR WindMaster is truest fantastic in the wind.  Jet Boils don’t come close. My 2 cents.

Wouldn’t it be great to get $170, 15.3 oz, Windburner performance from $70-$80, 5.3-5.6 oz, DIY combo (500 ml toaks mug + BSR + Ocelot/GOLD Gear semi-integrated ti windscreen), the only difference being a small fiddle factor?

Leaving aside all issues of cost, weight, and efficiency, a self-contained “windproof” cooking system can be a critical survival factor in various worst-case scenarios. True, piling logs, stacking rocks, digging a pit, propping a pack, careful site selection, separate windscreen, cooking on the ground, in a vestibule, etc. are good 99% of the time. I’m most interested in a system that also works for the additional 1% of emergency scenarios.

Maybe it’s because I’ve done a lot of backcountry winter camping, trekking and camping above treeline, alpine camping, and camping in various other barren, windswept locations like treeless islands and deserts. As well as injured and/or immobilized in such conditions several times. When all else fails and no other solution is available, when you’re soaking wet, getting hypothermic to the point where you’re shivering uncontrollably and can barely move your fingers, immobilized and without shelter, a windproof cooking system can save your life.

If you can get that kind of performance from a system that costs and weighs less, why wouldn’t you?

[Mic drop]

My choice

So it depends where you place your stove and where you are measuring the wind. 4.4 mph at chest height will not have a great effect at ground level. This is why it doesn’t make sense to raise your stove up on a bench or table to cook.

Classic fluid dynamic will say that the steady state velocity at the ground is zero.

Looks like a Reactor System.  That works fine as long are you’re not in an area where there are bears present.  In those areas, your kitchen should be around 100 feet away from where you sleep and hopefully downwind.  My 2 cents.

Roger’s input on windscreen for remote canister fueled stove:

Your canister is half way between upright and inverted.  Is it feeding liquid or gas?

My canister?
It was a new one, full. Liquid feed.

Cheers

Here’s that modified three-sided windscreen I mentioned last month:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/yet-another-diy-stove-windscreen/

— Rex