MSR Pocket Rocket

“I tried to make a little funnel-like windscreen that just cups the flame out of aluminum foil. It cut off the air intake which is at the bottom of the burner stem. I couldn't find any way to prop it up above the hole. I ended up making a bigger one (still funnel-shaped)that goes around the entire burner assembly and up around the bottom of the pot. Works great and also acts as a heat reflector.

Nigal, I remember you mentioning using a muffin tin for a windscreen. How did that work out for you?”

“Skull, you may not like my views on what should be done with TT but my windscrean ideas that I have stolen are working well for me.

I have a denatrilized alcohol stove; my pots stand and wind screen are the same thing. When high winds pick up I use the heavy duty Al foil. Just take a sheet of it about 2ft long and fold it in half until you get a working size. Use paper clips to hold it togethere around the stove, and for air. Use a hole punch to nock out some air holes”

“You misunderstood me, Tea. It's not that I agree or disagree with you. You do not speak for me.”

“The PR can take a pretty good wind. I've never bothered with a wind screen on mine and have used it in some pretty stiff breezes. If the wind get's that hard I just find a log or rock to get behind or in a pinch, lay my thermarest chair on its side.

Of course you did read the warning that came wtih the stove right? The one about making sure the wind screen, if you use one, does not completely surround the burner. Unless you like the sound of BOOM.”

“I wouldn't use an alcohol windscreen with a canister stove. The one Ice Tea mentions would turn a canister stove into a bomb because it would hold the heat in and overheat a pressurized canister of propane/butane. It could make a neat way to collect on insurance.

Skullcap, have you seen this: Homemade Canister Stove Windscreen


I don't currently own a canister stove, but this does look like a winner.”

“Right, that was the problem with the first one. It blocked the air intake and the fuel:air ratio wasn't right. Not only did the flame quality suck, but I could smell the unburned fuel accumulating. I'm going for increased fuel efficiency here, not explosive weaponry lol! I found that the funnel can surround the burner if it is open from the bottom and part of the way up on one side. I would prefer something smaller though.”

“Skully -

I have a Rocket. I never use a windscreen. What I do use to block the wind in a Frisbee. I never leave home without mine!”

“Thanks Sarge. I checked out your link. What I came up with is much smaller than the one pictured there.”

“As I looked at the thing I thought it was way too tall. I would get rid of the upper half, and probably use a hole punch to add a few air holes.”

“I used 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. I cut out a 12" diameter circle, then cut a 1 and a half in. diameter circle from the center of it. I ended up cutting out a section to shorten it so that it fitted closer to the burner and pot. What I ended up with is an inverted cone that fits around the outside of the pot supports. I rests on the collar just above the fuel regulator. I leave a gap running halfway up from the bottom where the two ends join. It extends about a half an inch above the pot supports and about a half an inch out around the bottom of my pot. I didn't see any way to make it smaller without blocking the air intakes.”

“Sorry, 'It rests...'”

“skullcap - what about punching a few holes in the part near the bottom ?”

“I may try that but I'm wary. It needs quite a bit of air intake and I'm not sure how much.”

“Plus I still want it to be effective as a windscreen and heat reflector. I think something like a muffin tin might work if I cut the entire bottom out of it.”

“I would suspect a pattern of say a dozen paper punch size holes near the bottom would provide enough air flow and not interfer with the heat reflection too much since the flame is considerably above the can where the cone is resting”

“I may try that.”

“I just saw MSR and forgot that they are making canister stoves now”

“Hey Skull, I'm still trying to figure out what problem you're trying to solve. Have you had the stove out yet? Mine has quite a few miles on it and I have never had a problem with wind. Seems like a lot of work, and a bit of extra weight for something you may not really need.”

“I'm trying to improve fuel efficiency and boil speed. Yes I've had it out several times now and in very windy conditions. Also in the cold. It seems to use much more fuel under windy/cold conditions and I'm trying to correct that.”

“Well, good luck and let us know how it goes. This is the time of year (out west anyway) when I retire the PR and take the Whisper Lite. Get's a bit too cool for the canisters.”

“ChinaChas,

that's what's been recommended to me as well. Buy a whisperlite for the winter. I have a dragonfly and have found that I despise component stoves. Plus I hate to add the weight along with all my other extra winter sh*t. Maybe a white gas stove? I'd like to make this one work if I can.”

“I don't think you'll get the canister stove to work well in cold or wet anyway,, I think the windscreen wouldn't do much good for you,, it might build up the unburned fuel something terrible. I heard a long time ago that pressurized gas, either butane or propane don't perform as well under freezing temps,, something about the expanding gasses supercooling the orifice, causing ice to form and block it a bit,, this could be why you have less heat output. I remember one time that someone had propane and couldn't get it to run right, 20 degrees and it was more like a candle than a stove flame, if you're worried about weight so much, maybe the alcohol stoves might work better for you, not much gets hotter than them!”

“I am seriously considering that alternative.

Question for the peanut gallery:

Do you think a hand warmer packet under the cannister would warm it without being too hot and causing a hazard?”

“I haven’t had a chance to make one yet. The one Rock posted looks pretty cool. This would seam to heat the outer walls of the pot as well as block wind. I hadn’t thought about a gas build up problem.

If it’s one thing you MUST try with a canister stove )I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, and keep saying it ‘til the day I die), Place the whole shootin’ match in an inch or two of water in a skillet/lid or pot. These things can run in nearly any temp just fine. Don’t take my word for it, just do it! You won’t believe the difference. 8)


BTW- thanks for the gear thread!”

“Yeah, you're right about the water. I tried it, it works. I think the gas only builds up if there's not enough oxygen to burn it. I think that's not a problem as long as the air intakes aren't blocked. I like the idea of a heat reflector (like the reflector pans in the stove at home, right?) so I may stick with the funnel. And it folds up pretty small.

I tried the muffin tin and it works perfectly. I cut a criss cross in the bottom and slid it down the burner shaft. It came to rest on the pot supports well above the air intakes and reached all the way to just under the top of the pan supports. It was a good, snug fit--no wobbling. It would work as a windblock.

Decisions, decisions...there is no one perfect solution...”

“I owe Mr.SgtRock an apology...

Sorry dood, I went into the Hiking folder of my Email and found your mail I moved to there. I said I'd send you a couple pepsi can burners if you'd like to check them out and you replied that you'd appreciate it. Sorry I forgot...I'll get them out to you asap!”

“No problem big guy. I've been busy with work and had forgot about it myself. I made a new superlight and efficent alcohol stove for solo backpacking stove using V8 cans. Check it out: Turbo V8 Stove

The instructions on how to build it are linked on the page. They are in Paint, I'm not only computerless at this time, but my digital camera is also dead.”

“I agree about the winter weight thing Skullcap but it's pretty much the price of admission around here. When you're talking about melting snow for water and very cold temps, a white gas stove (such as the whisperlite) gets the job done much more efficiently then any canister stove will. With the amount of fuel you go through snow camping, you'd be carrying multiple cansisters anyway which ounce for ounce of fuel add up quicker then a bottle of white gas.

Of course if I'm going to be going somewhere low and out of the snow and perhaps where it remains above freezing, I still pack the PR in winter.

Nigal, good tip, I might try that sometime. Makes sense that it would work, unless the water freezes. But then, at least you have an even temperture. ;)

SY, the PR works fine in the wet. I will personally vouch for that. Got some water in the burner once by leaving it out one rainy night, but I dumped the excess moisture and after a bit of sputtering it roared to life.”

“That V8 burner looks rad. I made a tiny burner last winter out of those "RedBull" sport drinkcans , but only use it in my dayhiking potkit.

My parents got a new scanner...which means I got their old one, YAH HOO! Tried hooking it up but there's no driver on my computer that'll work and i haven't been able to find a website that I could download one. Ugh! I'd send ya pics, but...”

“I found with Windows 2000 and XP they have some way of incorporating any TWAIN scanner into the system. The only scanner it wouldn't work with is a SCSI scanner because you need to set up the SCSI device first.

If you are using a TWAIN scanner and either of the two, you should be able to get it working without a download.”

“The scanner is a "Visioneer One Touch 5300 USB" scanner, and the program on CD is "Paperport Deluxe 7.0" and I'm using Windows '98.”

“Can other cannister stoves burn MSR isobutane?”

“Have you tried here: Visioneer 5300 USB”

“Gear - On my last trip, I bought a small Snow Peak Giga cannister for my Pocket Rocket. My problem was that with it being cold (about 20-30 degrees on average) that small cannister didn't work well at all (froze up real quick). I switched to a bigger one and it worked well after that. The guy at REI said that if the attachment on the cannister is the same as your stove, it'll work. If ya go with a small cannister in the cold, I highly agree with what Nigal said.”

“GS, as near as I can tell isobute is isobute is isobute, no matter who the marketing company is. They all contain the same mix. I don't use MSR cannisters with mine and it works just fine.”

“GS, I've used everything but MSR canisters and they work fine..the last one I used was primus.

Nigal - interesting idea on the water under the PR. Why does this make it work? I had a heck of a time in Shining Rocks with my PR because the temps went below freezing. I even put the cannister in the foot of my down bag and it still started out with a weak flame and then sputtered altogether.

Do you have to keep the stove in the water while you are cooking or just to light the PR? I only take one small alum pot to boil water and would probably have to double up with a second pot in the winter to try your trick.

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

Tex”

“From what I read on MSR’s site about it, the gas pressurizes in the can causing the temp to drop. By putting the can in the water the water, which is warmer than the freezing can, pulls the cold off the can and disperses it much better than the air around the can ca…can. I put it in the water and light it and leave it in the whole time it’s running. If you really want to see the difference use the thing until it begins frosting up and then set it in the water (use cold water to be safe). The difference is amazing! I’ll see if I can find the page at MSR so you can read it from it’s source.”

“No, No, No. I want to know if other cannister stoves can use isobutane cannisters, not whether the PR can use other cannisters.”

“I read somewhere that all the screwtop canisters are interchangeable.”

“i think the key is keeping the temperature even. i have piled snow on a small snowpeak cannister and it ran fine. the water should work better. in the evenings, i'll put it in my jacket pocket, for a few minutes, before cooking. in the morning, after pulling it from my bag, it cranks.”

“GS no worries, the only stoves they wont work on are the French Camping Gaz (those blue ones).”