SectionHiker.com Backpacking Gear Reviews and FAQs 
Reflectix Home Insulation is great stuff for making homemade MYOG backpacking projects. Consisting of bubble wrap sandwiched between two layers of tin foil, it’s relatively inexpensive, easy to find at home improvement stores, highly malleable, and thermally efficient.
I’ve also been using Reflectix for the past several years as an insulated pot stand for winter camping to prevent my stove from sinking into the snow, when run for the long periods of time required to melt snow for drinking water.
Weighing just 1.3 ounces, my pot stand is simply two pieces of Reflectix Insulation that have been duct taped together to form a slighter thicker insulation barrier, as well as a protective envelope for transporting objects with sharp corners like the folding wind screen that I use in winter because it folds up so compactly.
While my homemade Reflectix Insulated Stove Stand is starting to show some signs of wear (the duct tape is peeling off), the two layers of Reflectix have proven marvelously resistant to burning or melting when placed under a stove, and the bubble wrap in between the two metal layers has not melted, even when white gas has been spilled on it and ignited.
Before trying to make a stove stand out of Reflectix, I tried to making them from wood, dry-wall, and plastic, with little satisfaction because they would either burn, melt, or were to rigid to pack easily in a tightly packed winter backpack. If you’ve been struggling with the same problem, I recommend giving Reflectix a try if you need to insulate your stove from the snow.
Written 2015.
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Gosh. That’s an incredible simple solution to a problem that has been vexing me for years! I’ve got to try this. How expensive is a roll of Reflectix?
It usually costs between 8-15 bucks a roll depending on how much you buy. I also use it for making freezer bag cozies, and I have friends who wrap their 3 season cook pots with the stuff when they want to rehydrate a meal in the pot.
Here are a few more links about how to use Reflectix to make your own gear that you might find useful.
https://sectionhiker.com/myog-caldera-cone-cozies/
https://sectionhiker.com/diy-freezer-bag-cooking-cozy/
You’ve probably solved this by now, but I get my Reflectix from a local (not a chain, but maybe chains would have it) building supply store. I buy the 2 foot wide stuff for about $1.50 a linear foot.
Philip, Reflectics is great stuff. I use it under my sleeping pad in the winter. Not sure of the additional R-value but I can sure tell when I slide over to an unprotected spot.
I’ve been wondering about using insulation products like this or some of the rigid foam stuff as a sleeping pad, so it’s interesting to hear your experience. This article (linked to from the Amazon link in the blog post) says an R-value of 1.04: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/bubble-wrap-duct-insulation-good-idea. However, the manufacturers claim R-6 when there’s a thin layer of air between the duct being insulated and the Reflectix, and also claim that R-value testing doesn’t properly account for the ‘transfer of radiant energy.’ So it seems like how the material is applied and used matters.
I bought a roll at Home Depot and I’ve made several coozies with it. Would it work on your fuel bottle instead of duct tape? Home Depot also sells an aluminized tape that I use to assemble the coozies instead of duct tape.
It would work as long as you create a tube-like sleeve rather than taping it onto the bottle, since it would get torn off when you go to stuff it into your tightly pack backpack. Note (I know Grandpa knows this already)- when wrapping a fuel bottle with Reflectix, you’d be trying to avoid getting frostbite on your hands from touching the cold metal bottle rather than to keep the fuel warm.
On my last winter trip, guthook created thermal sleeves like this for his Nalgene bottles to keep his water warm and it worked pretty well.
You may not need to buy a whole roll. Look into using a cheap car windscreen shade made from the same material. Also Dollar store version are thin foam and foil. Use a few layers. Cost a dollar.
I’ve used reflectix for cozies (freezer bag, pot and water bottles) for years but never considered that it’d be usable that close to flame. Thank you!
It’s not coated with tin foil, or even aluminum foil, it’s a metalized plastic film. I think a couple layers of heavy duty aluminum foil might be a better choice, and is way cheaper. On the other hand, if the pot stand hasn’t melted by now, maybe it won’t.
It hasn’t melted yet and it won’t rip the super thin nylon garments I pack it with.
My local Ace hardware sells reflectix by the yard. One yard (3’x4′ since the roll is 4′ wide) cost $1.25 and has made several pot cozies with plenty left over. I’ve found reflectix tape holds better than duct tape. Your results may vary