Does anyone have this foldable Coghlan's stove windscreen?

http://www.coghlans.com/products/windscreen-8566

It says it's 10 inches tall. My application calls for something 5 inches tall. Does the construction of this Coghlan's product allow you to cut it in half (with tin snips, Dremel Tool, hack saw, whatever) and have it still stay together solidly as a functional unit (two separate units actually)?

Alternately, I was going to use some sheet metal or non-galvanized roof flashing cut into appropriate sized rectangles and "hinge" them together with the metal tape that they use on heating and air conditioning ductwork. Would that tape hold up to the high temperatures of a Trangia alcohol stove burning behind (and close to) the windscreen?

My intent is to make a hex-sided surround windscreen for a Trangia burner - except I'd leave one side open, by using only five panels to build the "hex" surround. Then I'd drill the horizontal center of each panel an inch of so down from the top so I could insert three heavy wires into the structure to make an internal pot support (the support would be triangular in shape). The Trangia burner is about 2" tall, and I'd want the pot to sit about 1-1/2" above the top of the burner, and then have the windscreen extend another 1-1/2" above the bottom of the pot. Hence the 2 + 1.5 + 1.5 = 5 inch height I'm looking for.

If I was going to make this thing from scratch, I'd want each of the five panels to be 5" tall by 3" wide. The Coghlan panels are 10" tall by 3-1/2" wide from what I've read. Close enough, if I could cut their height in half.

There is always the Trangia Click stand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4T0h-bjs0E

http://www.clikstand.com/p_clikstands.html

Would the difference in time, tooling and effort be worth it by modifying the Coglans Windscreen?

I have said device the net went down while getting it.
5 panel nothing special windscreen, Did you want 1/2 of mine when i'm done cutting it?.
Got it as a christmas gift and not used it since, i'm keeping half for windscreen use pm an address sir.

Lee

This one on eBay is about right. I'm sure that there are more choices if you look for them.

The Clikstand does have an excellent reputation and is specifically designed for the Trangia burner (or the Evernew titanium equivalent), but the Clikstand is stinkin' expensive. (grumble)

If anyone would like to sell me their Clikstand, drop me a PM.

HJ

FWIW I've made perfectly functional stove windscreens from so-called turkey basting pans, those $2 disposable aluminum pans you buy to hold turkeys, BBQ etc. Its generally heavier than tin foil, yet cuts with a scissors, you can make a hex sided or omni-sided screen, whatever you want. And if it ever fails - just buy another $2 pan and make another.

made a trifold pot stand/windscreen for my Trangia, used some galvanized sheet steel with a pair of holes drilled near the edge(about 1/2 the diameter of the split ring from the edge)... 4 small split "key" rings to hold the 3 panels together...folds relatively flat...most of the time I use the Swiss volcano stove, opened to allow the Trangia to slide in thru the loading port

I use these a couple of these sheet metal squares with my Trangia, bent a bit, and held together with a spring paper clamp:

Is that a mini Trangia behind that sheet metal?

HJ

I wonder if this Coghlan windscreen would be a good choice for top-mounted canister stoves?

Thanks for all the replies everyone! That Clikstand looks nice, but it is a bit on the expensive side. Still, it looks like a well thought out design. There are many good ideas presented here. I just need to get on the stick and try a few out to see what works best for me. Thanks!

I use something like that, BUT be careful. Overheat an upright canister stove, and BOOM!

I've got an article coming out in Seattle Backpacker's Magazine on exactly that topic on August first if you can hold out a few more days.

HJ

Looking forward to it; I'll try to be patient . Thanks.

Now, THIS burner_holder/stove/windscreen is impressive. Until you see the price!!!

http://www.kuenzi.com/home_e.htm

Take the Swiss Franc (CHF) price and multiply by 1.25 to get approximate US dollar price as of 7/2011

Can't get the site to come up...

HJ

How about the Honey wood burning stove, which will double up to take a Trangia burner. Still costs around $60 though + $25 shipping to the USA.

http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product397.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8DkRwhwLnk

But then when all is said and done you might as well just get a Swedish Army Trangia set for around $20 (this includes everything including the fuel bottle and the Trangia Burner)

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=197767

Good luck on getting a complete Swedish military "Trangia" set up for $20 in the US unless you just get really lucky or something.

Not much for cooking compared to a real Trangia, but very popular with the bushcraft set. The mess kit itself is very solid.

HJ

Luckily in the UK, we can still get un-issued Swedish Trangia Mess Sets for around $20 and even the heavy duty Stainless Steel (MOD) versions for about $27.

http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/a...ish-303378.html

The Swedish Army Trangia sets are very flexible and have a similar capability to the Trangia 27 versions when it comes to cooking. The sets are very robust and have capabilities over and above the Trangia 27 ( i.e can be used for baking in the embers of a fire) and is still functional when the alcohol fuel runs out (create a small fire inside the windshield and the pots can be used much more easily over a camp fire than a 27 pot or pan). The downside is that the Stainless Steel Swedish Trangia is about a lb heavier than the Trangia 27.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-GHZ-l_tGw

The fact that they are cheap also means that they can be abused without worrying. Some folks would be unwilling to stick their $140 titanium pots and pans into/over a open fire.

Yup, that's exactly what it is.

yes i have one but i don't take it canoeing anymore as it does not pack well.

so i take this one,in the photo it's just being used in a back yard test of a older model alcohol stove.the screen is from a MRS stove.the aluminum is thick but soft and can be bent into shape.it also opens up to form a circle shield around a burner.i can fold it over many times and being soft it is less likely to punch holes in the plastic food bags.

Nice Turm-Sport!

Do you mean the Swedish military mess kits?

HJ

OK, as promised, it's August, and now my article on windscreens in particular and fuel economy in general is out on Seattle Backpacker's Magazine: http://seattlebackpackersmagazine.com/2011/08/02/three-times-the-fuel.

I've written a blog post that goes with the article. The blog post discusses a few alternatives, including some that may not have occurred to you (they didn't to me): http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/08/windscreens.html

HJ

Great article and blog post Jim! Thanks for posting the links here. My daughter uses an upright cannister stove and I'm going to have her read your words of wisdom regarding windscreens and poential heat buildup around the cannister.

For kids, it always sinks in deeper when someone else, besides dad, tells you something like this. Thanks for being that "someone else"!

p.s. - my daughter is smart, she listens to most things I tell her. "most things"...

lol.

Well, in that case, glad to be the "other" voice.

I definitely recommend the use of a windscreen, BUT with due caution. As long as you monitor the canister by touching it and it doesn't feel hot, you're no where near the danger limit.

I put this in as a footnote in the article, but it's a nice succinct statement of the essentials of stove fuel economy:
-Turn it down! A low flame is much more efficient.
-Use a lid. Escaping steam = escaping heat = wasted fuel.
-Use a windscreen.

HJ

Many thanks to leeman for sending me half of his cut windscreen. It will work perfectly for what I want. Thanks Lee!!!

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While researching these windscreens I stumbled upon woodburning stoves as I surfed the net. I found what looks like a fantastic one for a very reasonable price. I just ordered it from the builder. It's actually a pre-production prototype, but the same as the production models that will go on sale in a few weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/user/fireboxstove#p/u

I can't wait for it to arrive!

Interesting! I love wood burners even though they're generally illegal in Southern California.

The guy has a lot of chutzpah running his stove in dry grass like that.

HJ

Very interesting design. It looks like the designer has some experience with sheet metal working and has tranferred it to his camping. I bet he has his own metal stamping machine (or access to one) to stamp cut the pieces and then a bender/folder as well. The points he makes about the versatility (adaptable to use other fuel sources and different size pots) shows that he has a background with several fuel stoves. I've never heard of this Eco brick - what's it made of?

Dried Sierra Club members?

HJ

I liked Ben's stove (the one I just bought - for $39.99 + $5.20 shipping) better than another somewhat similar one I found (for approx $150): http://www.kuenzi.com/home_e.htm

I like Ben's design better. It seems sturdier and better engineered. His is not ultralight for backpacking, but I was not after ultralight. It is made of 18ga stainless steel.

Ben is planning to go full production on his shortly. He will be building a website at http://foldingfirebox.com (the website is not online yet). Sales will be from that website once he's up and running. I lucked out and contacted him at just the right moment I guess, because he had a few prototypes available and was willing to sell me one. He had the prototypes on eBay, but his listing there has expired. Ben said he did not expect a big (if any) price change once these were full production.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150636253020&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

(I don't know why the above link is not clickable - cut-n-paste of it works fine.)

Eco Brick = pressed hardwood sawdust: at Tractor Supply

It looks like it doesn't fall apart like those pressed wood fireplace logs.

Sue

I really like a windscreen, "fire bucket" that is shown on Jim Wood's site - [url=http://jwbasecamp.com/][/url]

It is extremely cheap and lightweight, basically made from a length of aluminum roof flashing and a few odds and ends. I have found it to be very effective, especially with a Trangia. It can be used with a variety of other stoves as well. Weight is somewhere around 3 oz.

The only drawback is that it uses separate screws and nuts to assemble in the field, so it is a bit "fiddly."

Yeah, there's all kinds of cool stuff out there. So many stoves; so little time. Sigh.

HJ