Or YADIYSW, for grey-haired fans of YACC.
Very rough tests, no field experience, probably been done before, could be optimized, good enough for me.
The concept is pretty simple. Start a with an aluminum roasting pan from the supermarket, cut, fold, and crimp, and end up with this:
The stove with canister sits on the bottom tab, holding the windscreen in place when it’s, you know, like windy.
Brought about 600 ml tap water to boil, and high-simmered for another 15 minutes. Canister never got hot to the touch – barely warmed up at all.
Ran more informal tests using a box fan:
Approximate times to reach vigorous boil from about 600 ml tap water.
2:15 No fan with windscreen
3:45 Fan with windscreen
5:45 Fan without windscreen
All tests done at the same half throttle, so fuel consumption should be comparable to boil time. Tests designed to see if the idea is worthwhile, not for comparison to other tests.
Windscreen weight: 33 grams
Final folded size: 125 x 190 mm
Construction time: About an hour.
Notes:
– Trim and flatten the roasting pan into one big rectangular sheet of aluminum.
– Don’t worry about exact dimensions.
– Metal snips and a hard straight edge are your friend.
– The tall side panels should be a little narrower than the tall back panel, to make folding for storage easier. I fold the bottom flap in first, then the side panels.
– To start construction, I tri-folded the aluminum, then cut off part of the side panel bottoms to make the bottom flap. Along the way I folded over sharp edges about 6 mm, mostly to prevent damage to my fingers.
– The bottom flap is about 60 mm deep, which fits well under my MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe on a 110 gram canister. The outer flap edge is under the center of the canister, with the back panel not quite touching the back stove arm. Most upright canister stoves have similar dimensions, but check before measuring and cutting.
– In case it’s not obvious, put the back panel into the wind, with the stove valve and pot handles downwind. It’s easy to move around if you forget, and the windscreen never got too hot to handle.
– The PRD piezo igniter is opposite the valve. It’s easy to lean the back panel, click the igniter, then push the panel back.
– In general, this windscreen should accomodate a wide range of stoves and pots. Might need tweaking for something unusual.
– No, the folded windscreen doesn’t fit inside my pot with the lid on. I’ll need to carry it elsewhere.
– Probably won’t last forever. Easy to recycle, easy to build a new one.
– All the usual warnings apply. Don’t be stupid!
– What doesn’t work: leaving the short side panels on and folding to form a three-layer aluminum base. Too lumpy, makes stove and pot less stable.
– Also doesn’t work: no bottom tab/base. Blows around in the wind too much.
– I was a bit disappointed that the windscreen didn’t have a weak Moulder effect. Might paint the windscreen interior black, hoping it will warm the canister some, but not too much.
— Rex
