Want to use new Titaniums rods obtained from this site as stakes to hold a fire and heat-resistant material in place for a stove windscreen. Needs to be at least 15" high. Aluminum foil, kevlar, treated cloth, recycled fire fighter clothing? If you have any ideas, sources please. This is for a base camp coffee can (2 lb) wood burning stove. Want to be able to roll up into small diameter "rod". The right material could easily be used in an ultralight setting around alcohol and cannister stoves. Thanks.

REI sells a 2'x2' Fire Blanket, which you could chop down a bit for your needs. There are a lot of mills that make Kevlar/Nomex blends for fire fighters, welding, etc. I'm not too sure about non-wholesale retailers or how much these fabrics weigh, though. A google for 'fire fabric' turns up a lot of sources.

I've seen a fire-retardance treatment spray before that you could use on cotton and some synthetics, I think the name was Fire Check. Might be worth looking into.

Or maybe peruse the aluminum flashing selection at your local hardware store.
-Mark

All good ideas.I plan to use a fire blanket for LNT purposes and visited the local REI but they did not have it in stock. I'm almost certain to order it since it is the only one I can find anywhere. If I could find a spray that would treat cotton or other fabric that would stand up to the heat and maybe a few embers for just one outing that would be satisfactory. A small burn hole or two would not be a problem. I have built rock wind screens but it's too much work and I prefer not to disturb anything. I'm trying not to bore everyone with details on another coffee can stove especially since it is for an extended stay, base camp stove. I've used a version of this stove for a month long trip in Oregon and it provides me unlimited hot water, cooking in general, and baking using the Backpacker's Pantry Outback Oven hood and six inch titanium tent stakes for a stand (less than one pound). I can collect enough sticks in 15 minutes for two hours of cooking. I had not seen anything on Fire Check. I'm trying to avoid aluminum or titanium sheets/flashing because I would need a large sheet that would generally be a pain. Thanks.

Edited by LoweJo on 11/05/2005 11:16:24 MST.

1. The fireproof fiber of choice these days seems to be Nomex from Dupont. Kevlar is also fireproof.
There is a comparison of the different fireproof fibres made by Dupont at
http://www2.dupont.com/Personal_Protection/en_US/assets/downloads/nomex/h94044flameresistantfabrictechcompchart.pdf

Their website has a bunch of distributors but I'm not sure about selling you the quantities you want. Tyvek is not flameproof so wouldnt do.


2. Jim Wood has a somewhat different take that might suit you at http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/KiteScreen/index.html

One problem I can see with his approach is excess bending of the fairly thin stakes with a good wind bringing the fabric too close to the fire.

Edited by steb5067 on 11/20/2005 20:26:51 MST.

Just passing this on, don't know if it is true or not, but thought it was worth the telling.
I heard that the Forest Service gets rid of their old fire shelters yearly - either giving away, throwing away, or selling for cheap.
Don't know what they are made of, and if you could make the material work, or even if you could actually get one, but it never hurts to ask...

Jim Wood has some great ideas for light windscreens (Reynolds Bake Oven bags cut open and taped together) using aluminum arrows as stakes/struts. He has done some serious testing and has shown that even Tyvek can be used without burning or melting if the windscreen is 6" or more away from the flames. For a windscreen up to 18" high this is a very practical and effective distance. I'm testing the Titanium rods and they work quite well but you have to secure the open ends of the windscreen (18" screen and 6" in the ground), but the ends do flap in the wind. The rest of the windscreen has held up well in some pretty strong winds. More later because I have only done some very preliminary testing. I think 10 Titanium rods at less than 2 oz total weight can make a sufficiently strong 18" windscreen using most any material but right now this is just an optimistic guesstimate. I'm going to keep testing but Jim Wood is really on to perhaps a better solution. The Titanium rods may be perfectly satisfactory in some situations for some individuals if properly configured.