Hi Alan

We can simplify your rules even more:

A radiation shield is unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Don't use one.

Cheers

I have the Snow Peak windscreen, and while it isn't light, it seems to work well. It is very similar to the bottom portion of the pictured windscreen. However, it looks as though it sits higher, farther away from the canister, than the one in the pictures. Here's a pic of it; you can see the bottom of the burner head actually sits below the windscreen.

Hi Rowan

But what does it DO? It seems just excess weight to me.
Or is it meant to be the complete windscreen?

Cheers

There are several pieces and parts being shown here.

1. Anything that goes around the cook pot out about one inch is a wind screen, and it should shield the cook pot from most wind blowing horizontally at it.

2. The photo above shows a circular flame concentrator. It kind of keeps the most intense flame confined so that it heats the bottom of the cook pot. The geometry of the burner kind of dictates whether this is necessary at all. It should keep too much heat off the butane canister, but that may or may not be necessary.

3. A heat reflector is commonly found on a white gas stove, and it is also circular. It is generally found somewhat lower than the white gas burner, and it keeps too much heat from being lost downward. It is more useful in the snow.

--B.G.--

It doesn't look like it does much, does it? But it actually keeps the flame from blowing around in breezy conditions, and makes water boil considerably faster in both windy and calm conditions. (I haven't timed it carefully, that's just my impression from using the stove with and without the windscreen.)

Snow Peak refers to this thing as a windscreen rather than a flame concentrator, so that's what I've always called it too.

Edited by romonster on 06/18/2012 01:51:37 MDT.

This would seem dubious then

http://www.alpinsport-vertrieb.de/Ortik-Heat-It_1

(they do give a maximum usage ambient temperature of 25 degrees C )

The Ortik thing is probably meant for hanging off a piton on a rock ledge or in an ice cave.
I would imagine it is glass fibre fabric, fairly fire-proof.

Cheers

Interesting.

The user manual in English is here: http://www.alpinsport-vertrieb.de/01Eigenes/Downloads/HEAT-IT MANUAL.pdf

Edited by Scunnered on 06/23/2012 05:09:14 MDT.

Roger(Caffin) said "I would imagine it is glass fibre fabric, fairly fire-proof."

I was thinking of its total enclosure of the stove which seemed similar to the Original Posters windscreen and thus might have the same problem
(the instructions just mention using a moderate flame and only when ambient temp <=25 degrees C).

Hi Alan

> total enclosure of the stove
I do not think it actually encloses the underside of the stove and pot, so the gases can escape downwards. That's my memory of the Ortik units, anyhow. Not all that efficient, and maybe prone to a bit of CO, but hanging on a rock ledge ...

Cheers

Roger(Caffin) said "I do not think it actually encloses the underside of the stove"

It seems to be fairly closed off: was hard to find view from above photo but I found this utube (15-16seconds in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ6l7ezaO3Y

And this on Google images
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=ortik+heat%3Dit&start=276&hl=en&sig=118409185976851424867&biw=1024&bih=485&tbm=isch&tbnid=dHbNIMfgwJ2_KM:&imgrefurl=http://templug.jugem.jp/%3Feid%3D314&docid=eUxH0NhxJ7zAUM&imgurl=http://templug.img.jugem.jp/20100122_1047676.jpg&w=550&h=365&ei=V_XoT4eMCsLG8gO5yJj_DQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=707&vpy=191&dur=609&hovh=183&hovw=276&tx=171&ty=204&page=20&tbnh=146&tbnw=206&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:276,i:306

> It seems to be fairly closed off: was hard to find view from above photo but I found this utube
Ouch!
OK, dunno. Would not want to use it inside in that case - not without doing a CO test first!
Not my idea of safety.

Cheers