MSR Announces 'World's Fastest Stove'

Hot foot from the massive European outdoors trade show at Friedrichshafen last week, OUTDOORSmagic's special correspondent Oliver Nissen's been checking out the more interesting kit that's coming our way early in 2007 and first in the queue is MSR's answer to the integrated Jetboil cooking system.

The new MSR Reactor - above - consists of a very unusual looking burner unit with an integrated heat exchanger, an Auto-Start igniter, and a 1.7 litre pot and lid. The stove and a gas canister can be stored within the pot, with a handle folding over the lid to lock it down.

MSR says it's 'the fastest-boiling, most fuel-efficient windproof stove system available, able to boil one litre of water in less than three minutes.' What you really want to know though, is how does it compare to the Jetboil? Well, the claimed one litre boil times of the Jetboil system (with 1.5ltr pan) is four mins, while MSR claim the Reactor does it in under three with its slightly larger pan.

Efficiency is claimed to be 2.8 litres of water boiled for every ounce of fuel. That's approximately 100ml boiled per gram of gas - a very neat equation. MSR also says the stove delivers a consistent flame right through a canister's lifespan, promising further time and fuel savings for the user.

The ingenuity of the burner lies with a broad metal plate set beneath the grill. This plate heats up as flames lick across it, and soon glows red, heating the pot above.  This radiative heat transfer is unaffected by wind - or fans, above for that matter - in contrast with a typical burner which jet flames at the pot and up its sides and is thus vulnerable to gusts.

Details of the current MSR range at www.msrcorp.com