as some of you know I have had this MSR REACTOR stove now for about 9 months (i think, could be even longer 
). It has seen a LOT of use both at home, on the truck tailgate at jobsites, and in the woods when hiking or camping.
I have boiled at least a hundred liters of water in it for coffee/tea, have heated up 50+ packs of ramen noodles, have made 40+ pots of mac & cheese, soup, stew, bullion broth etc. I have used it to boil water for washing socks in the middle of the woods, to sterilize utensils and cups and have used it to steam out wasps from a tiny tool shed on a farm. It is very well made, very few moving parts. One can light it with a flint and steel, or a firesteel, or a lighter, or matches, or any way you can think of to make a spark.
one can boil 1.5 liters of waters, or one liter of water if adding freezedried food or ground coffee. There is a risk of overboil when adding dried ingredients to the boiling water, its best to remove the integrated pot from the stove to the side, add your stuff, stir stir stir and then put back on - at this point use the LOWEST setting or you risk charring your food and overboiling/overflowing the pot.
The MSR Reactor is extremely fuel efficient, owing to the ENCLOSED radiant burner that mates to the specially designed pot. The pot included is the only one that can be used with the MSR Reactor base, they are designed to work together. Some don't like this, i suggest they use a different stove if they plan on using more than one pot. People who like to simmer their food for hours will not like this system (unless you use the BRS&S (boil remove sit & soak) technique of cooking). The pot has an integrated windscreen, and on the bottom there are recessed fins that direct the heat up and into the ENCLOSED windscreen on the side/base of the pot, before exiting thru vents. This stove IS windproof, and will NOT flame out in heavy winds or heavy rains/snow.
This stove boils water FAST, and uses little fuel in doing so. I have gotten about 23 liters of water boiled on one iso/pro canister (225gram Lindal valve canister) in the summer and 21 in cold winter temps. Extremely fast and extremely fuel efficient. Any iso/pro canister with a lindal valve will work on this stove - Brunton makes a one liter canister that will boil over 300 liters of water.......
There are tricks to maximizing fuel usage, namely by shutting off the stove as soon as steam starts appearing on the top of the water (its extremely hot, enough to drink by this point) instead of letting it go to full boil and then having to wait for the water to cool down enough to drink. By doing this you can stretch the 225 gram fuel canister to over 40 liters of water “heated”. Me, i like letting the water boil, the stove makes a roaring jet sound
WARNING: not to be used as a tent heater or home heater, extreme carbon monoxide risk and extreme fire risk. If you pass your clothed or bare arm over the burner after removing the pot, you will get SERIOUS burns, or melt your clothing and possibly start a fire! If used under a lean to or camp cooking shelter, you need MINIMUM 8 feet clearance to the ceiling!)
COOKING in the MSR Reactor:
i'll be honest, the Reactor is a water boiler, plain and simple. If you like rice, and look away from the stove when its on, your gonna burn it. Anything starchy WILL BURN if left in the pot and the burner is on, even on low setting.....
the way around the burning is to cook as follows: use the BRS&S method. The what? BRS&S: "Boil, Remove, Sit & Soak" , basically boil the water until rolling, REMOVE the pot and shut off the stove. Mix in your ingredients and stir stir stir, put the lid on and LET IT SIT > there is enough heat left in the pot to finish the cooking for you. Every 5 minutes, stir it. Voila, hot dinner, no burnt mess.
The stove will hold up to TWO boxes of Mac and cheese. Fill with 1 liter of water ONLY, bring to boil, remove from stove, add a bit of oil or butter, and add the dry noodles. Stir stir stir, add your packaged cheese and spices, stir again, then put the lid on and let it sit (off the stove). The noodle will hydrate quite nicely, and swell up to just below the lid. Its best if you have a separate serving dish, especially if you adding sausages or cans of tuna etc.....
Overall i love this stove, it has been with me on a lot of dayhikes for making a FAST cuppa tea or coffee, and for rapidly sterilizing water. The ONLY thing i would change is is make the pot out of titanium, and I would like to see MSR make a "mini" Reactor system, for those of us who just want to make a cup of tea trailside.....
I did talk to the fine folks at MSR, and inquired if they were going to make a SMALLER, 1.5 cup size MSR Reactor...she told me its possible, but didn't confirm. I really really really badly want a SMALLER MSR Reactor, and i'm sure a lot of people would too.......perhaps you could all email MSR and flood them with requests for a smaller Reactor system!
thats my long term review of my MSR Reactor, hope you enjoyed it, please try out the Reactor if you can, it is an incredible system. I have gotten several SARtechs into this stove, simply because it heats up water for hot drinks FAST.
Bushman5
EDIT: i would like to add that i am in no way affiliated or paid by MSR. This review and my previous one is based purely on my own testing and experiences.
). It has seen a LOT of use both at home, on the truck tailgate at jobsites, and in the woods when hiking or camping.I have boiled at least a hundred liters of water in it for coffee/tea, have heated up 50+ packs of ramen noodles, have made 40+ pots of mac & cheese, soup, stew, bullion broth etc. I have used it to boil water for washing socks in the middle of the woods, to sterilize utensils and cups and have used it to steam out wasps from a tiny tool shed on a farm. It is very well made, very few moving parts. One can light it with a flint and steel, or a firesteel, or a lighter, or matches, or any way you can think of to make a spark.
one can boil 1.5 liters of waters, or one liter of water if adding freezedried food or ground coffee. There is a risk of overboil when adding dried ingredients to the boiling water, its best to remove the integrated pot from the stove to the side, add your stuff, stir stir stir and then put back on - at this point use the LOWEST setting or you risk charring your food and overboiling/overflowing the pot.
The MSR Reactor is extremely fuel efficient, owing to the ENCLOSED radiant burner that mates to the specially designed pot. The pot included is the only one that can be used with the MSR Reactor base, they are designed to work together. Some don't like this, i suggest they use a different stove if they plan on using more than one pot. People who like to simmer their food for hours will not like this system (unless you use the BRS&S (boil remove sit & soak) technique of cooking). The pot has an integrated windscreen, and on the bottom there are recessed fins that direct the heat up and into the ENCLOSED windscreen on the side/base of the pot, before exiting thru vents. This stove IS windproof, and will NOT flame out in heavy winds or heavy rains/snow.
This stove boils water FAST, and uses little fuel in doing so. I have gotten about 23 liters of water boiled on one iso/pro canister (225gram Lindal valve canister) in the summer and 21 in cold winter temps. Extremely fast and extremely fuel efficient. Any iso/pro canister with a lindal valve will work on this stove - Brunton makes a one liter canister that will boil over 300 liters of water.......
There are tricks to maximizing fuel usage, namely by shutting off the stove as soon as steam starts appearing on the top of the water (its extremely hot, enough to drink by this point) instead of letting it go to full boil and then having to wait for the water to cool down enough to drink. By doing this you can stretch the 225 gram fuel canister to over 40 liters of water “heated”. Me, i like letting the water boil, the stove makes a roaring jet sound
WARNING: not to be used as a tent heater or home heater, extreme carbon monoxide risk and extreme fire risk. If you pass your clothed or bare arm over the burner after removing the pot, you will get SERIOUS burns, or melt your clothing and possibly start a fire! If used under a lean to or camp cooking shelter, you need MINIMUM 8 feet clearance to the ceiling!)
COOKING in the MSR Reactor:
i'll be honest, the Reactor is a water boiler, plain and simple. If you like rice, and look away from the stove when its on, your gonna burn it. Anything starchy WILL BURN if left in the pot and the burner is on, even on low setting.....
the way around the burning is to cook as follows: use the BRS&S method. The what? BRS&S: "Boil, Remove, Sit & Soak" , basically boil the water until rolling, REMOVE the pot and shut off the stove. Mix in your ingredients and stir stir stir, put the lid on and LET IT SIT > there is enough heat left in the pot to finish the cooking for you. Every 5 minutes, stir it. Voila, hot dinner, no burnt mess.
The stove will hold up to TWO boxes of Mac and cheese. Fill with 1 liter of water ONLY, bring to boil, remove from stove, add a bit of oil or butter, and add the dry noodles. Stir stir stir, add your packaged cheese and spices, stir again, then put the lid on and let it sit (off the stove). The noodle will hydrate quite nicely, and swell up to just below the lid. Its best if you have a separate serving dish, especially if you adding sausages or cans of tuna etc.....
Overall i love this stove, it has been with me on a lot of dayhikes for making a FAST cuppa tea or coffee, and for rapidly sterilizing water. The ONLY thing i would change is is make the pot out of titanium, and I would like to see MSR make a "mini" Reactor system, for those of us who just want to make a cup of tea trailside.....
I did talk to the fine folks at MSR, and inquired if they were going to make a SMALLER, 1.5 cup size MSR Reactor...she told me its possible, but didn't confirm. I really really really badly want a SMALLER MSR Reactor, and i'm sure a lot of people would too.......perhaps you could all email MSR and flood them with requests for a smaller Reactor system!
thats my long term review of my MSR Reactor, hope you enjoyed it, please try out the Reactor if you can, it is an incredible system. I have gotten several SARtechs into this stove, simply because it heats up water for hot drinks FAST.
Bushman5
EDIT: i would like to add that i am in no way affiliated or paid by MSR. This review and my previous one is based purely on my own testing and experiences.
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