I love my stove as long as I'm not using it to try and simmer anything. The heat is either on or off. It is also much more economical than the propane or mixed fuel bottles. It will take any fuel you can find, but I prefer good old white gas straight out of the red Coleman can. Other fuels get lots of soot on the dishes which is alright if someone else is cleaning them.

BE SURE TO REPLACE YOUR O-RINGS. I had an incident with a cracked O-ring that (in the middle of a 100 mile backpacking trip) as I was turning the stove off spit fuel straight into the flame. The flame promptly went back up the squirting fuel and back into the 3/4 full bottle. My quick witted counter part then proceeded to dump 2 Nalgene bottles of water on to the GAS FIRE. This caused the fuel and flames to run off the rock and under a nearby tree. Once again my quick-witted friend did a dim-witted thing ha proceeded to scoop dirt (smart) onto the fire with my water bottles (not so smart). We let the fire burn out on it's own, then assessed the damage. All the pots were charred black, the cap for my newly aquired MSR Miniworks filter was melted, and the no trace camping policy was ruined by the black marks around the tree's base (luckily the tree it's self was saved).You may think the stupidity was over, but it was not just yet. Our dim-witted friend was not yet done. He proceeded to clean the two Nalgene bottles in the nearby lake. This would be fine in the high Sierras but this was at the foot of North Sister in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area where Giardia is a major concern. Luckily I wasin a large group with a stove that I could borrow for the rest of our trip.

Customer Service

The customer service was great. I took it back in to where I bought it, they called MSR and the company told them to give me a new stove right there while the store sent it back in.

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My Friend's Peak One stove with the fancy pants mixed fuel system is a little bit safer but much more expensive to run.
My MSR Miniworks filter is great and inexpensive too.

Excellent stove for the money. Jet needs to be kept clean to get a consistent flame. Easy to take apart. Nice an lightweight. Never had a significant problem with it in seven years.

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I bought this at the last minute when my parent's 1970's era Olympus just about burnt down the house the day before I left fo Colorado. No time to research but I'm fairly satisfied with the stove. I have no need for flame adjustments so that's not been a problem for me. I have, however, had a lot of problems with the legs getting bent. The pump can be a pain to unscrew as well. Overall, a pretty good stove. Just needs a little sturdier construction.

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My Whisperlite is pre-shaker jet. Only ever failed me once (in Winter). I suggest completely stripping this stove down to it's parts in the comfort of your home, and really understanding how it works, it's simplicity, and what parts might cause what problems. This also makes maintaining in the field less intimidating. Aside from learning how to prime and light, the only complaint anyone has (after their eyebrows grow back)is simmering. If your stove is slow to react after turning down, it NEEDS TO BE CLEANED. It will still work with a dirty jet, but it requires excessively high pressure to overcome the restriction. When the stove is turned down, it will not respond until the fuel line full of high pressure gas has burned down. Regulating a dirty stove means constantly turning the valve up and down, giving the fuel line and burner shots of high pressure gas that then have to burn down. To simmer, you need a large reservoir of LOW pressure gas in your preferably 1/2 full fuel tank, and a clean fuel line and jet. Occasionally giving the pump another stroke whenever you hear the flame start to sputter is all that you need. And with a clean jet, your stove will turn off when you turn it off. And you have to be impressed with the windscreen that folds and unfolds - forever.

Customer Service

Haven't used them yet, but I think I will to order a new fuel line to upgrade my stove to a shaker jet generation.

I work in a camping store and of all the stoves we sell, I hear the most complaints about the whisperlites. Personally, I've had to blacken several pots on the fire because the whisperlite failed. It's prone to fuel line blockage. It has an extemely limited flame, the fuel line is too short thus lends to the instability of the stove. The plastic pump breaks easily which makes for pressurizing the stove a bit hard on the hands. The stove is also very tempoeramental with its fuel types. If you use msr whitegas and then coleman, the stove doesnt react well. After a failed priming attempt, jyou have to wait for awhile before you can retry in order forn the stove to cool. msr should redesign their stoves completley.

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Primus (mfs), various colemans, peak 1

A nice little, lightweight stove. Easy to service in the field and light enough to backpack with. The system of filling the primer-cup with fuel, then lighting before turning the gas on is finicky and can lead to flare-ups. Otherwise no major complaints.

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Coleman Peak1

The no frills way to cook when you can't carry the coleman. Never a problem past the entertainment of the fireball. Had to replace the pump after a little too much abuse.

Outstanding all-around stove. While I've used other stoves such as the Coleman Apex and the MSR Dragonfly, the only feature I miss on this stove is ease of flame adjustment. What's given up in simmering ability is made up in the power to reduce a kettle of snow into boiling tea in a little bit of no time. I've heard the stories of clogged fuel jets, but I've never had a moment's trouble with mine. If you're in need of an inexpensive, dependable, simple heat source, I couldn't recommend any stove more highly.

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Coleman Apex Stove

starting this stove takes some time to get used to. spend the extra cash and get the international model.

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Whisperlite International

The most versatile stove I've used. I took for 14 days on a sea kayaking trip in Prince William Sound, AK. It never failed me, even in the worst rainstorm of my life. Doesn't have the best gas modulation, but then again, if you're looking to make a red wine reduction sauce with this stove, you've got other problems. The set-up is intuitive and it takes an idiot of immense proportions to break this thing.

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