WINDSHIELD WARNING

Many manufacturers of tower type burners (where the stove is screwed directly on to the cartridge) recommend that you don't use a windshield. The reason for this is that the heat build up can be so high there is a good chance you could cause the cartridge to explode.

I can remember once telling a guy from MSR how I'd used copper pipe to heat my gas cartridges in the Alps and how the cartridge had got so hot its O-ring had melted. The guy just looked at me and said "Dude (he didn't actually say dude), you're not even supposed to leave a gas canister in a hot car."

Any user knows that without a windshield you're just wasting fuel, as a windshield can knock a minute off a stove's boil time. Nevertheless the warning is warranted in this case. The best thing to do is arrange the windshield into a U shape, allowing excess heat out, but keeping the wind off. If the wind is blowing from several different directions enclose the stove but make sure you keep a good gap around the edge's pan (one inch), or better still modify your windshield by cutting one-inch serrations along the bottom. If you don't own a windshield then the MSR windshield (available as a spare for around £10) is well worth buying.