When my lady friends wanted to go camping and biking this fall we were trying to figure out who would bring the stove. I quickly volunteered to bring my MSR WindBurner Stove Combo ($295.92). It was perfect for the four of us. It comes with a 2.5 L ceramic-coated aluminum non-stick pot with a folding Talon handle that was perfect for heating the water we needed for our coffee. It also comes with an eight-inch ceramic-coated aluminum nonstick pan that was perfect for cooking our eggs and pancakes. Both the pot and skillet sit on and lock into top of the MSR WindBurner Stove Combo.
What I Liked
Heat Adjustment
The MSR WindBurner Stove Combo has a radiant burner with a boil-to-simmer control and a pressure regulator for consistent performance. That means it has an amazing wind resistant stove that produces heat that is easily adjustable. It was nice to be able to cook my food and not burn it. I could fire up the stove on high for boiling water and use a lower heat for other foods like eggs and chili.
Wind Resistance
When I was camping with my lady friends it was rainy, windy and cold (not below freezing). We had no problems with getting the stove lit or keeping it lit because of the wind-proof radiant burner.
Stable Stove
I have three sons and they are always moving. With the tripod set up and the pans that sort of lock onto the stove, I am more comfortable using it around them.
Locking Strainer Lid
Usually when I camp I have to bring a strainer of some sort or I burn my hands and lose noodles trying to drain the water with the regular lid. This is awesome to have the strainer built right into the lid, and be able to have the lid lock into place so I don’t burn myself while trying to hold it. It also helped to poor the hot water into the French press for my morning coffee.
Locking Handle
The eight-inch ceramic coated aluminum nonstick skillet and the 2.5L ceramic-coated aluminum nonstick pot have a folding Talon handle. This handle opens up, locks into place and has a coating that does not get hot. I have used other pans where the handle moves and gets hot. That becomes an issue when you forget and you lose some of your meal or burn yourself. The handle also unlocks and folds up for easier packing. When you fold up the handle on the 2.5L pot it locks into the lid that is locked onto the pot. This is nice because then the handle won’t flop open.
Lightweight and Packable
The 2.5L pot weighs 12.2 ounces and the skillet weighs 7.7 ounces. They are very light for their size. The stove and an eight-ounce fuel canister fit nicely into the pot (shown to the right) and the lid locks into place on top of the pot. That makes it easy to pack into you kayak, car or backpack.
Felt Pot Protector
The MSR WindBurner Stove Combo came with a square piece of felt that is used to put under the stove and gas can in the bottom of the pot when packing it up to go. I was relived to find this in the box. I usually dig around my house in search of something to protect the pot with, and this time I didn’t need to do that. You can also use it to wash out the pan if you wanted to.
What I didn’t Like
Inability to interchange
The MSR WindBurner Stove, skillet and pot work great together! The pot and skillet have a circular addition on the bottom that sort of locks onto the stove for stability and efficient burning ability. They are an integrated system and do not work independently.
Non-compact skillet
The MSR WindBurner Stove fits into the pot with an eight-oz fuel canister nicely. Unfortunately, the skillet doesn’t fit in with the compact part of that. The pot does fit into the skillet but it has room to shift around and you would need to remove the handle (which is very easy). Just don’t lose the handle. I would also put some felt or other material in between the pans so the pot doesn’t scratch the skillet.
Final Thoughts
This set up is bigger and meant for a larger group of people (4-6). I believe it does this job well. I will be using the MSR WindBurner Stove Combo a lot in the future. It will be our go to for future kayaking adventures, canoeing adventures, car camping and group backpacking when having a bulkier set up isn’t an issue.
