If you cook with meths or solid fuel then you’ll know how important it is to have a decent windshield … without one you’ll be waiting along time for a brew! The usual solution is a foldable, foil affair. They generally do a good job of keeping the breeze of your stove and they’re also light … what’s not to like?
This is Vargos take on windshield design, it’s aluminium rather than Ti which is quite unusual for a Vargo product but it’s hardly heavy at 36g (my foil windshield is 34g).
It’s constructed from five plates that hinge together, so it’s easy to get a ‘snug’ fit around your stove or open it out as the conditions dictate. Each plate has a cut-out both top and bottom. The bottom cut-outs obviously allow air to your stove, while the top ones are there to allow you to use it as a windshield come pot stand … it’s strong enough to support your average size cooking vessel but don’t go mad! Each of the five plates is 80mm x 80mm, so the overall length is 400mm so it should be big enough to go round most things.
So is it any good? … I’ve used it in some pretty blowy conditions and as a windshield it’s performed as well as any other. As a combined windshield/pot stand it’s also been fine, just as long as your pot is wide enough to sit on top. It’s certainly light enough and would seem a little more robust than a foil equivalent … so yes, it is good. The only criticism I have is the width when folded, at 80mm it’s just slightly too wide to slide inside the majority of solo sized pots. If Vargo made each plate 10mm narrower it would still function perfectly well but would be much easier to pack … giving each plate a ‘little bend’ to slightly curve them, would obviously achieve the same result ;o)
Avaliable via the magic of the internet in black, blue and silver for about a tenner.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.