DIY Aluminium Foil Windscreen

Recently I re-organised our 2 person backpacker Kitchen Kit and found we have forgotten something, a windscreen. Our current MSR and folding windscreen could not fit in the Kitchen Kit so I decided to DIY one using Aluminium Foil.  

The construction is rather simple, takes some measurement and just fold the windscreen to shape. I decided that the height of my windscreen to be around 15cm heigh. When I folded the Aluminium Foil in half, it was around the heigh....perfect!!

Initially, I had only used 1 layer of Aluminium Foil and found if was too flimsy so now I had used 3 layers instead, when folded in half that makes 6 layers thick. You can use more if you want but I will go with 3 layers.

 Fold the layers in half

 fold the edges 

 I further folded the edges 45 deg so that the pot handle is not in a way

 PERFECT!! Time for outdoor test

 For storage I folded the Windscreen to fit the Kitchen Kit packing

 Lighter than my MSR Windscreen 

Final weight for 2 person Kitchen Kit, it will be lighter if I use Alcohol Stove

UPDATE FEB 2013 WARNING!!

We have tested the Aluminium Foil Windscreen and found that it radiated to much heat and melted the stove piezo igniter. The gas cannister was hot, good thing it did not explode. If needed to use in such setup, suggest to open up the windscreen and let the heat out. Ideally this windscreen will be very useful with alcohol stove as it will radiate the heat to the stove and increase the fuel efficiency.

I have made some modification to the windscreen by adding vent hole at the bottom, hopefully this this help to cool it down.

 melted piezo igniter, stove still can be used just without the igniter