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  1. #1
    Custom made Survival Bracelets for sale. Check Home Page
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    Default DIY Windscreen questions.

    Just got my miniheat alky stove and love it. This is my first alcohol stove so I have a few questions. Now I have to make a windscreen. Question is, what is the optimal height in relation to the top of the pot? And how tight to the pot/stove stack should it be?
    I am working on a a few different material choices to test out (and actually found a few that can do some double duty (will share when complete).
    Thanks!

  2. #2

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    I made a DIY windscreen for my alky stove this summer - totally made it up out of my hat - so, very interested in the responses to this thread!

  3. #3
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    I made mine from aluminum flashing. It looks like a caldera cone but it's really just a windscreen. I put slots in the bottom and around the top to let air in and out. It's tall enough to cover 80 percent of the cookpot and completly surrounds it.
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  4. #4
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    Aluminum flashing, vented bottom, 50% coverage

  5. #5

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    I usually made my windscreens of a size so that they would just fit in whatever pot I was using

    typically I made them from aluminum can side walls, hole punched a bunch of holes in the bottom edge and aimed for a gap from pot to screen of no greater than 1/2 inch

  6. #6
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    Never had a problem with a piece of doubled over heavy duty aluminum foil made to have about a 1/4" clearance around the pot for my alchy. Not much of a DIYer so flashing may be better but this is cheap and easy.

    For a bit more lifetime on it, don't fold it up but rather roll it up so it goes around the outside of the inside of your pot.

  7. #7
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    I got one of those heavy-duty disposable oven drip pans from the grocery store and cut a strip from the bottom. Long enough to go all the way around my kettle with a 1/4" - 1/2" gap if I bother to clip the ends together. I used a hole punch along the bottom about 2/3 of the way around. Leave some unpunched in case you've got a brisk breeze and need the extra protection.

    I just fold mine and stick it in my cozy. Been using it for two years now and since they come in 2-packs, I have another pan as backup.

  8. #8
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    Same as Rocket Jones only my windscreen is used for my Esbit stove. Lighter than flashing, but heavier-duty than aluminum foil.

  9. #9
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    Same as Rocket, I made several windscreens just a couple weeks ago, AFTER we got the turkey out of the raw materials. Flashing works good too, there's 10 foot rolls at Lowes for 15 bucks, but these Turkey pan ones were free.

  10. #10
    Registered User Doc Mike's Avatar
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    It seems the best aluminum for wind screen is from craft stores. Its heavier and lasts almost forever.
    Lead, Follow, or get out of the way. I'm goin hikin.

  11. #11

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    The higher the windscreen comes up the pot, the longer it will hold the heat. The wind will steal heat away from any part of the pot that is not covered. You decide what's most important: thermal efficiency (high screen), weight (low screen), or somewhere in between.

    I got some titanium foil for my Esbit ti stove from Backpacking Light back in 2005. I'm still using it. It rolls up to the size of a pencil and can be adjusted from small size pot to big one and the ends are held together with a pair of small paper clips.

    The foil is no longer available from BPL. Titanium Goat has it, though.
    Last edited by Tinker; 12-20-2011 at 19:50.
    As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

  12. #12
    Just Hitting My Stride!
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  13. #13
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    I made my windscreen using an oven liner, which was the exact same material as my friend's store bought windscreens. I put my pot on my stove and left a 1/4 inch gap around the stove, I made the height so that it just came to below the handle of the pot. So far it works great! I might make a little more of a space around the pot than 1/4 inch, the handles of my pot got scorched on my last trip, but overall this worked great!

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