MSR Windburner 1.8L Review – Heading For Adventure

Heading somewhere windy and cold? The MSR Windburner could become your new best friend. Capable of efficient and powerful boils, this stove had water for our coffee and freeze dried meals ready at a moments notice. We traveled to Patagonia this winter with the 1.8 L which actually has a boiling capacity of only 1 liter. In hindsight with it being only a two person backpacking trip the smaller 1 liter Windburner may have been a better option given its more compact size. The 1.8 L is substantially larger and at times was a pain to wrestle back into our packs. We often found ourselves with no need for the added water capacity of the 1.8L as most freeze dried meals require only around 2 cups of water. One bonus of this stove is its ability to store all the needed pieces inside, including the fuel canister. The stove is not large enough to store the extra large canisters but with the small canister and burner we still had enough space to store a small pouch with a lighter and cleaning supplies. While I love this stove for backpacking in extreme weather conditions because of its ability to boil water for coffee and rehydrating meals I do not think its the best option for the everyday car camper or hunting trip. The insane burner abilities make it impossible to simmer anything like pasta or soup. It also lacks the ability to use other pots or pans to cook different dishes. When cooking pasta I found it best to drop the pasta in the water at a rolling boil then cut the heat and put the lid on for a stew in the hot water. While this method took a bit longer than a typical pot of pasta, it was a nice change-up after a week of freeze dried meals. This stove was absolutely perfect for trekking in Patagonia because of its ability to stay lit in extreme wind. For camping and exploring in less extreme conditions I would recommend the MSR WhisperLite or PocketRocket. These stoves will be reviewed in an upcoming post so stay tuned!