I used this stove in maine for a week on the Appalachian trail. It worked great. Didn't take long to boil water and easy to use. Fairly light weight too.

Similar Products Used:

coleman something or another

Very good hot burning reliable stove. The only real downside is it's inability to consistantly simmer. Weight is reasonable and the stove is fairly stable even on uneven surfaces. My stove is over 10 years old and have no problems other than normal maintainance replcement of worn o rings.

Customer Service

I called MSR to inquire about maintainance. They informed me about a pump reblacement exchange option. I had the older yellow pump body. the exchanged it for the new red ( more efficiant) pump body for $7.00 . I considered it more than fair. Overall they were very helpful and informative.

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MSR Dragonfly, Svea 123, Optimus 8R,

This is a nice stove--if you need to do some blacksmithing or perhaps melt rocks in the backcountry. But for cooking? Acetylene torches have more delicate flame control. Cleaning soot off the damn thing ain't no fun either. MSR obviously sold their souls to the devil to make these stoves popular.

Similar Products Used:

Camping GAZ, Coleman Peak 1 (oy! that's an even crappier stove), MSR rapidfire.

What junk! I used this piece of crappily molded tin for 3 years before I finally got smart and found the ease of a Camping Gaz 270. First off, white gas is evil--as an environmental engineer, I spend $millions on cleaning up gasoline spills to supposedly protect human health & the environment. Yet, when I go backpacking, I end up spilling or leaking white gas (which is about 3-12% benzene, a known carcinogen) all over the place and exposing myself to worse chemical than the typical Superfund site. On the positive side, as a Beavis-like pyromaniac, I gotta love the eyebrow-scorching cold starts of this stove. And finally, the surface-of-the-sun level of heat this thing puts out is really good at turning the bottom 1/4-inch of food into permanent black carbon coating on your pots.

Similar Products Used:

Camping Gaz 270, MSE Rapidfire

I was happy with the weight and the size of the unit. Lighting it on the other hand is quite a task. You must prime the cup, light it (hoping not to burn the hair off your hands)and then turn the gas on just at the right second. If you don't turn it on just at the right time you have to do the whole process over again. I;ve been using this stove for three years now and have yet to master it. Its time to buy something else.

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None

I would not recommend buying this stove. It does not have good flame control and seems like it was thrown together. Do yourself a favor - buy something else.

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Optimus

I bought this stove used (6 yrs old) from an acquaintance. It is my first backpacking stove. I didn't try anything else before buying this one. It works like a champ. It did take a couple of sessions to get the hang of lighting it after it's primed. Once that was done it is no problem. I would strongly suggest taking it in your driveway to get used to it before you are out on the trails. The biggest compaint that I have is the amount of time it takes to get the stove going, especially if it does't light correctly the first try. White gas burns well and is easy to get. If I were to buy a new stove I would probably get another whisperlite shaker jet, because it has been very reliable, light and easy to use and clean.

Customer Service

Make sure to read the instructions carefully. Clean regularly. Use fresh gas. Make sure to prime correctly. You won't be disappointed.

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None

Rented one, liked it, bought one. Priming: read the manual - someone tried to help and lit it without reading the directions. ""Interesting!""; no casualties, but could have been very serious. OTOH, read, practice, and it's near idiot-proof. Use the windscreen even with no wind: controls temp better, uses less fuel. If careful, you don't have toxins all over.(""Eco-pure"" alcohol has poor heat, stinks. Tried compressed gases; OK, but not as hot and leave a canister disposal problem.) Simmer a problem? For any camp stove, use a diffuser under pot (half an old license plate is light and works fine) or learn to double-boil (put your delicate whatever in a small pan, and float that inside a larger boiling pot used for hot water/pasta/ cleanup: presto, no overheat). This stove is reliable, very wind-resistant with practice, field maintainable. Think the clip-on base plate option a good idea for steadiness with large loads, but it adds much weight and seems overpriced; going to make my own. Light soot cleans with sand and grass in moments; heavy soot is a broken unit or ""pilot error"". Users should know that lightweight pressurized stoves are NOT tiny kitchen appliances you just switch on and off.

Customer Service

so far no need.

Similar Products Used:

Coleman two-burner gas stove, GAZ, other backpacking unit on a mini CG system, propane grill

The whisperlite is a fantastic, easy to use three season stove. It simmers just as well as it boils and makes cooking a breeze no matter where you are. If you don't plan on leaving the country, don't bother with the international either. White gas is easy to find and handle, and its really all you need!

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None

Why would anyone bother with these stoves? They are 3X the price of a good working Gaz or Primus. You have to prime the dumb thing and wait for it to flare which makes cooking around a tent impossible. If it goes out you have to let it cool down for ten minutes before starting it again. It is not adjustable at all and takes for ever to respond. If you turn it down to simmmer, you have to hover over it and make sure it doesn't go out. It can take up to 30 seconds for the stupid thing to go down after you turn the knob.

Similar Products Used:

Gaz and Primus