MSR Reactor

Hello. This is my first post on this site. I have been reading reviews and posts here for a few weeks and it seems like a helpfull and friendly community. I have just got back into hiking and am planning on doing a lot of short backpacking trips this year. Three season and nothing at altitude.

I am looking for a stove for basicaly just boiling water for drinking and freeze dried meals for myself and my wife. I was going to buy a jetboil but where I live it is almost always windy so I don't think that is the best option. I have decided on the MSR Reactor but is there another stove I should look at, or any reason I should not get the reactor? Price is not really an issue. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Jett, and welcome!

My Jetboil works fine in all but the highest wind. The fins help to keep the flame under the pot, instead of out one side.

if you DO get one, you might have to change your screen name to jett -boil!! ;-)

LOL, I was thinking that as I wrote the original post. How do you find the boil times in the wind with the jetboil? From what I have read it very slow and inefficient except for in calm conditions. Thanks for the reply and welcome.

There is a comparison review of the Jetboil PCS, GCS, and Reactor on the news section of this site if you're interested. It seems pretty methodical, and leans very much towards the Reator for your circumstances. Personaly, I love the PCS, and have spoken highly of it in many threads, but I have never really put it to the test in high wind conditions.

Here's the comparison review of integrated canister stoves from 2007:

http://www.trailspace.com/news/2007/01/17/integrated-canister-stove-showdown.html

FYI, we're working on a redesign of the News section to make it more user-friendly.

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I'll pick up the Reactor this weekend.

I have both . Started with the JB .. moved to the Reactor . Glad I did !!!!!!

Last summer on a six day backpacking trip I cooked next to a guy who used a Reactor, and it works very well. If all you want to do is heat water, it would be a good choice.

That being said, my MSR Windpro stove coupled with a Jetboil GCS pot boiled water just as fast as his Reactor. I like it because it has great efficiency and is more stable than the canister-mounted stoves. You can use a windscreen with it, so it works well in breezy conditions. Total weight with windscreen is 21 oz.

You may also want to look at the Primus Eta Express and Eta Packlite. They compare with the Jetboil PCS and Jetboil GCS, respectively, and offer similar performance. I believe the Eta Packlite is better in breezy conditions than the Jetboil GCS.

buy a coleman peak 1 micro stove butane works better than my friends other brands any wind temp or cold and up to 9500ft .