The MSR Windburner Stove System...

 Outdoor themed Christmas gifts for Jon.....

I got my usual haul of tramping gear for Christmas and I thought I would have a look at one of the items I received. My partner Karen brought me a MSR Windburner/Windboiler personal stove system after several discussions about them over the last couple of months. I really appreciate the thought and love involved in this purchase...it is certainly a gift which will see much use.

Setting up the the MSR Windburner to boil some water

I currently own five other stoves but have long wanted to buy myself a personal stove system but could not justify the expense of these units. They are all expensive...ranging into the hundreds of dollars depending on the system you choose. 

The Windburner and other cookers of this type are self contained...all of the elements pack into the main pot to make one relatively compact package. I store mine in a lite weight sil-nylon stuff sack to keep all my camp cookery items together. 

The MSR Windburner packed for transport...

Let's have a closer look at the Windburner, discuss its use and how it will fit into my tramping style. 

The MSR Windburner stove system:

I have long coveted a personal cooking system after watching people using them in huts and campgrounds. In particular I was envious of a couple of my hut mates at Casey Hut last year who were using a MSR Windburner and an MSR Reactor stove. The short boil time compared to my Firemaple Ti stove had me curious as to how one could be incorporated into my tramping equipment.

I visited the new Casey Hut II in the Poulter Valley last November

The Windburner system contains the following items: a 1 liter hard anodised aluminum pot with carry handle sleeve, a burner head with simmer control, a hard plastic lid for the pot, a canister stand and a 500 ml hard plastic cup. You will add to this a lighter, 110gms Iso-butane canister and a drying cloth. 

The complete Windburner stove system.....

Here are some statistics about the MSR Windburner;

• 430 gm's without the gas canister, 550gm's with canister
• 1 liter pot as standard- also 1.8, 2.5 and 4.5 pots and skillet available
• excellent simmer control through quality pressure regulator
• Integrated 500ml BPA free cup
• Packed sizes is: 18cm(H)x 10.5cm (W)
• retail price is $299 New Zealand dollars at most outlets

An accessory I brought to compliment my Windburner is a new coffee mug..the Sea to Summit X Mug. My previous hard plastic mug could fit inside my old cooking pot but adding it to the bag I keep my Windburner in makes for a super bulky package. The X mug is one of those foldable silicone cups and folds down into a package about 5 mm thick. 

I will let you know how it works once I take it out for a trip. 

Sea to Summit X Mug...

The average boil time for a pot of water is much less with these personal cook systems as they have windshields and heat exchangers to more efficiently use the heat produced. These stove are hard for the wind to extinguish as the flame of the burner head is protected by the wind shield. Quicker boil times mean less gas to carry....and a lighter pack!!!

The heat exchange vanes on the Windburner pot...

I have seen tests where a pot of water can be boiled in less than three minutes on a personal cook system while your average canister stove needs 5-6 minutes to heat the same volume. The Windburner/Windboiler system is the most efficient of these with an average 2 minutes and 30 seconds to boil .5 liter. This is half the time of the similar Jetboil system.....

Detail of the Windburner stove system

The Windburner system can be packed away and stored inside the main pot....the burner head, canister stand, lighter and a 110gms Isobutane canister can be easily stored inside the pot. This means less bulk as the gas is not stored separately and the whole system is in one place ready for use.

Illustration of how the Windburner nests in the pot

 MSR recommend you use their proprietary gas canisters but in reality all the brands are the same size and the contents are similar so any type can be used. My personal choice is Kovea gas canisters as I seem to get longer burn times out of them. The Windburner will accept all three gas canister sizes (110, 230 & 450 gm's) but only the small ones will fit inside this pot...

Windburner stove accessories:

There is a wide range of accessories for the Windburner/Windboiler systems which can be used on either of these two systems. There are several different sized pots built to work on these stoves. The pots range from 1 liter right up to 4.5 liters with the 1 and 1.8 liter being the most commonly used. 

A wide range of pots exist for the Windburner system...

Another accessory for the Windburner is a French Press attachment to make coffee using your Windburner pot. These come in both 1 liter and 1.8 liter versions. You just add your coffee grounds to the hot water insert the press and gradually push it down to extract the final product. Sounds like a lot of faffing about too me but I am not a connoisseur...give me a nice 3 in 1 and I'm happy...

Coffee press for the Windburner system...

MSR also make a skillet which works with your Windburner/Windboiler systems...it has an integrated wind shield on the bottom to stop your burner blowing out. I have heard mixed reviews of this...it cannot easily be used with other cookers and is heavier than similar Jetboil skillets. 

The MSR Windburner skillet

You can use other pots on a Windburner but you need to buy a separate pot stand which fits on the burner head...the gap introduced by this stops the pot from extinguishing the flame. They cost about $40 NZ dollars and are available in store or online. 

Using the MSR Windburner stove:

These units are made to heat water for drinks and dehydrated/freeze dried meals..freezer bag meals like polenta, instant spuds/rice, cous cous and rice noodles are also an option. You can cook in the pot but it will not be all that easy as it is tall and narrow. This will probably affect the planning and tone of your tramping trips at least where food is concerned...

Personal cook systems work best with dehydrated meals...

Using the Windburner is easy...unpack the system, attach the stove to a gas canister, fill the pot with water, light the stove and fit the pot to the burner head. Pour the hot boiled water in that gruesome dehy meal and Bob is your uncle and Mary your aunt. 

Very easy to use, little to no clean up and everything is readily to hand. Simple as....

Unpacking the MSR Windburner system...

Unlike some other MSR stoves the Windburner does not have an integral Piezo igniter...you need to light the stove with an external flame. You can use a ferro rod, lighter or matches to do this or you can invest in a separate hand held MSR piezo igniter. 

I brought my MSR igniter from Bivouac Outdoors here in Christchurch for less than $15 NZ dollars and it will work most times. These igniters are not great in wind or heavy rain so always have an alternate flame source....a lighter or matches!!!

MSR Piezo igniter for canister stoves...

The head of the Windburner stove has a fantastic safety feature...a thin metal wire that glows when the stove is running. During the daytime it is very hard to see if the stove is burning on the lowest setting but this glowing wire is obvious. When operating at full capacity the whole burner head will glow....as seen below. 

The Windburner stove face in use...

There is a vented heat exchanger on the bottom of the Windburner pot which efficiently distributes the heat over the bottom of the pot. This helps to lower boil times as well as making the flame more wind resistant. 

The vanes distribute the heat more efficiently...

Going forward I will primarily be using the Windburner for short overnight trips and trips where I am camping and cooking outdoors. These stoves are almost impossible to blow out so they suit the rigors of camp cooking. the are also perfect for any Alpine adventures or tops trips where wind can play havoc with simpler gas canister stoves. 

The Windburner would be perfect for windy places like Travers Saddle...

The stove is heavier than my usual cook system (430 gm's verses less than 200 gm's) so not ideal for the Te Araroa or the Great Walks. Weight is important in both these situations so a lighter option would work best...

Most Great Walks have cookers provided...here Howden Hut, Routeburn Track

In those situations I will still use my Firemaple Ti stove, Sea to Summit cup and Toaks Ti cook pot. Talking about Great Walks...most have gas cookers provided so a pot and eating utensils is usually all you need to carry... check the facilities offered before you go. 

The Windburner stove in action:

I will put images of the Windburner system out in the field and in use as I gradually incorporate it into my tramping program. 

Watch for images of the Windburner in the field...

So far it has only seen action on my recent trip to the Abel Tasman Inland Track...

Brewing up using the virgin MSR Windburner stove near Wainui Hut

Please come back for more images soon...