Have you ever been on a camping trip, excited to wake up first thing in the morning and step outside your tent to greet the day, only to discover that it’s freezing cold and windy outside? That excitement temporarily disappears and is replaced by the desire to sip on a hot beverage before you start your day.
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Perhaps you’ve been hiking all day, you’re exhausted and hungry, and you just want to eat a hot meal before setting up your tent and retiring for the night. I can certainly commiserate with either scenario. Sometimes when you’re out in the wilderness, being able to eat a hot meal or sip a hot drink can make all the difference and give you the psychological lift you need.
The MSR WindBurner Stove may be just the thing you need for such occasions. In just a matter of minutes, the MSR WindBurner Stove can help you prepare a cup of coffee, a bowl of soup, or any other hot beverage you need to help keep you going on your next camping trip.
What To Consider Before Buying
The first thing you should know about the MSR WindBurner Stove is that it’s not meant for casual campers. If you only spend a couple nights under the stars every year and tend not to venture too far from the beaten path, it may not be worth the investment. There is a multitude of stoves that are less expensive and geared more towards novice campers.
However, if you are a serious, hiker, camper, or all-around adventurer, it may be the ideal personal stove system. When you need to boil water or cook a meal out in the wilderness, and you want to get it done as quickly as possible, the MSR WindBurner Stove may be the tool you need.
If you are a frequent camper and often need to boil water, the MSR WindBurner Stove is a device to consider. If your current camping stove struggles to perform in windy conditions, the MSR may be able to outperform your current option.
A Closer Look at The MSR WindBurner
The MSR WindBurner Stove consists of a one-liter pot, stove burner, a 4-oz. IsoPro fuel canister, and a cloth that protects both the burner head and the pot. There is also a 16-oz bowl and a handle attached to the pot that helps it replicate a travel mug. The stove also comes with a lid that features both sip and strain options, giving you flexibility on how to consume your beverages and meals.
There are several option accessories for the MSR WindBurner Stove that can increase the number of ways you can use it. The top accessories include a coffee press, just in case you can’t go hiking without a top-class cup of coffee, and a skillet, which can make it easier to cook out in the wild.
Pros:
- Compact setup with everything fitting into one pot
- Continues to function even in windy conditions
- Lid includes ports for drinking and straining to prevent messes
- Able to boil water in less than three minutes
Cons:
- Fuel not included
- May not work in below freezing temperatures
- More expensive than similar products
Features & Benefits
The MSR WindBurner Stove has a number of features, many of which are not found on similar products. Here are a few of the features that make this product stand out from some of its competitors.
Aluminum Pot
The WindBurner Stove features a pot made from lightweight aluminum. This helps to make the pot durable for repeated use. More importantly, it makes the entire stove light and easy to carry. All campers know the importance of packing as light as possible without sacrificing the essentials, and the MSR WindBurner Stove helps ensure you don’t have to carry too much weight.
Along those same lines, everything that comes with this product, including the fuel canister, stove burner, cup, and lid are all stored inside the pot when you’re not using it. As a result, packing the MSR WindBurner Stove takes up no more space in your backpack than a one-liter travel mug, making the product conducive to traveling as light as possible.
Heat Resistant Pot and Bowl
The pot and accompanying bowl that comes with the MSR WindBurner Stove are both heat resistant. The pot has a cozy wrapped in insulated fabric, ensuring you won’t do any damage to it when you’re boiling water. The bowl that comes attached to the pot is also heat resistant. In short, this is a product that’s durable and built to last.
Radiant Burner Technology
The MSR WindBurner Stove utilizes radiant burner technology that has a number of benefits. For starters, it helps to make the stove wind resistant, even after you take the pot off. This particular stove works, in part, by drawing all of its oxygen from ports that sit adjacent to the burner. This helps to minimize the effect that wind gusts have the stove’s efficiency.
Most campers are bound to run into blustery conditions at one point or another, which makes it difficult for stoves to maintain their heat. As a result, it takes longer to heat water and cook meals. But the MSR is a stove that can stand up to windy conditions without a drop in performance, which is not always the case with camping stoves.
The technology that makes the MSR WindBurner Stove wind resistant also helps it to boil water at a faster rate than most camping stoves. While camping, you can expect to boil water in your MSR’s pot in less than three minutes. This is even the case when the wind is a factor, whereas other stoves will take forever to boil water in windy conditions or fail to do so altogether.
Pressure Regulator
The stove’s pressure regulator is another tool that helps you to boil water quickly regardless of whether conditions. By being able to regulate the pressure, you can keep your MSR WindBurner Stove functioning at a high rate, even if you have a fuel canister that’s almost empty, are camping at high altitudes, or find yourself camping in cold temperatures.
The efficiency of the MSR WindBurner Stove also applies to fuel. Since water can be boiled in the pot in less than three minutes regardless of the conditions, the stove uses less fuel than similar products. As a result, you can afford to bring less fuel with you on your trip, which can lighten the load in your backpack.
Folding Canister Stand
One last feature that brings value to the MSR WindBurner Stove is its folding canister stand. It’s easy to overlook the stove’s stand, but in this case, it plays an important role in keeping the stove upright in rough terrain and windy conditions. As a result, you don’t need to back windscreens, which is another way the MSR helps you reduce weight from your supplies.
Alternatives Worth Looking At
If the MSR WindBurner Stove doesn’t appear to be the ideal fit for your camping needs, there are several similar products that will serve a similar function. Here are a couple alternatives.
Jetboil Zip Personal Cooking System
The Jetboil Zip is strikingly similar to the the MSR WindBurner. Both are compact items that can be stored within themselves for easy transportation and both are can boil water in a short period of time, making them both convenient for serious campers and hikers. Both will also stand up in the face of windy conditions and cold temperatures.
The biggest difference between the two is price, as the Jetboil Zip is on the low end in terms of cost, while the MRS WindBurner will cost a few dollars more. The extra cost is likely a result of the MSR being a little more technologically advanced. The MRS WindBurner also has better accessories that can enhance its capabilities.
Summary
When you’re out in the wilderness and you need to cook a meal or boil some water, you want something that’s going to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. The MSR WindBurner Personal Stove is just that product if you’re serious about hiking and camping.
The MSR Stove can boil water in less than three minutes, regardless of the wind, elevation, or cold temperatures. It’s lightweight and packs easy, helping you reduce the supplies you have to carry with you. Finally, the stove is compatible with great accessories that can help you cook a full meal or brew a great cup of coffee.
Click here if you want to check the price of the MSR WindBurner Personal Stove.
