This is my first and only camping stove. Everyone said it's the greatest stove made and that if I spent the extra $$ for this stove It would probably service me for the rest of my life under normal use. They were right! After only a few short hours of tinkering and familarizing myself with this stove I now feel as though it is an extension of me. The simplicity and durability assured me it was a great choice. Let me tell you, as an African-American who dropped out of school at the age of 15, this is truly an easy and safe stove to operate. Why others have problems with it remains a mystery to me. I had to demonstrate only once before my kids picked up on its ease of use.

Customer Service

MSR sent me a free maintenance kit! I heard they have an excess stock of the kits because no one needs repairs due to the extremely low failure rate of the ultra-reliable whisperlite

Similar Products Used:

My friend has one of those gas leaking, blue, French canister stoves, and aside from the difficulty of finding the fuel for this stove, this stove cannot be separated from the fuel canister once the stove punctures it. What a pain! The Snowpeak brand stove which can be removed from its canister when not in use is a better choice for that kind of stove I hear.

My experience: our Gaz Turbo is humming away, cooking our dinner when my nephew runs over screaming "Help! We've got a problem over here!" I run to see what's going on, and there's this poor guy holding a flaming Whisperlite, huge flames leaping from it's little red bottle. I grab it, throw it down behind some rocks and smother it with a towel. This guy has burnt hands, etc., and is a little flustered so we offer him the use of our stove, which he refuses. Guy ate PopTarts for dinner. Turns out this was the second time an
O-ring failed on his MSR Flamethrower: here in the mountains and before in the backwoods. Now THAT'S where you want some nice 3rd-degree burns!

Shortly thereafter I was offered a free Whisperlite which I accepted, played with and, after spraying myself with white gas a couple times, promptly gave away. Guess it could be me, but I've seen too many other cases where the design of this unit plays against itself. Nice bottles, though ... I use one to carry fuel for my Svea 123.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

Gaz Turbo - easy, non-explosive.
Svea 123 - buy it. Dependable and cool.

With energy prices increasing, I invested in this fine portable camping stove. I figured with the money I can save from not using my household Whirlpool brand stove I can give more money to the synagogue. Nothing warms my heart more than the cheery hum of the whisperlite stove at the crack of dawn while preparing my tea and bagel every morning. This stove is truly a workhorse gem sent from God himself. I valued the stove at 4 stars because of its high retail price. Luckily for me I have connections that charged me only their wholesale price.

Customer Service

Still humming without a hiccup

Similar Products Used:

None

I paid $130 for this piece of trash from an online retailer. Every summer my family goes on extended paddling trips on the Minnesota / Canadian border.

The last thing I want to deal with after a long day on the water with tired hands from gripping the oars, and worn out feet and shoulders from portaging, is dealing with an overpriced, flimsy, slow to fire, cookstove.

I shelled out the bucks for this one, reading all of the rave reviews for it online, figuring I had found something special. A stove that would set me free, a stove that would bring me to an eternal Shangri-La or fill the need of hassle free performance at grub time. I knew that lugging big coleman's around wasn't the trick. I wasn't a fan of using zip stoves, nor did I like the idea of the small "bus" that is the Optimus series.

The cute little red fuel bottle, brass parts, and cozy stuff sack was greeted by much glee from my wife and children. They knew that was the one. Sort of shining like an Apple in the Garden of Eden, they lured me into purchasing this stove serpent. Now after nearly three years, hundreds of shouted obscenities, burned meals, titanic like soot, broken o-rings, cracked plastic pumps, torn windscreens, clogged jets, spilled fuel, and jeers from fellow paddlers, the whisperlite has run its course and now rests with the rotting coleman's in the basement. I can't believe I got rooked into the hype and that I forked over $130 for this beast.

It has been a source of shame over the winter, and I am now looking for a replacement. I have heard the MSR dragonfly is quite exceptional, that it is sort of a cross between an Apex and a whisperlite, which both leave me chilled to be honest. Paddlers have even spoke of the new Optimus Nova, which is evidentally a refined, machined, flawless "whisperlite" clone.

I just know that if you want to shell out the big bucks that you might as well drink some Drano clog remover. Sure it will clean you out, but it will leave you feeling hollow inside...just like the Whisperlite.

Customer Service

Customer service were always nice. They were very eager to sell their parts to me. It was almost as they knew that I would keep coming back for more.

Similar Products Used:

Big Clunky coleman's, zip stoves, trioxane fuels.

The whisperlite saved mine and my family's lives while crossing the border during the wet El Nina spell a few years ago. Using siphoned gas from parked cars along the way, we were comforted by this stove's warmth and the immediate service to our canned foods we brought along. After 8 wet long days we were finally picked up by our new employer in america on a jeep road by the p.c.t. outside of Campo,CA. Also, it's quietness saved us from the border guards searching for us.

Customer Service

this durable stove needs no service

Similar Products Used:

tuna can and chili can multi fuel stoves

Hold your horses Lance. Calling the whisperlite the "best stove out there" is a bit extreme.

As a 30 year navy veteran and now retiree, I saw plenty of action with the early UDT and later SEAL team units. Early military stoves left alot to be bargained for, but it wasn't until the introduction of the 550B-749 in the late 80's did everyone begin to understand the critical deployment issues of an effective small unit/deployment ration heater.

SEAL units actually looked very hard at the MSR products and the whisperlite, but the weight listing of the Whisperlite was deceiving. Product specs say it is 14 oz, but this is not true. Once you tack on an extra 1.6 oz for the windsreen parts, a 4.3 oz for the fuel bottle, and a .8 oz for the stuff sack, the entire deployment product of the whisperlite comes to a whopping 20.7 ounces, which is the exact specifications sans .1 ounce of the 550B-749.

Granted the weight may be similar, but the Whisperlite does burn kerosene, mo-gas, jet fuel, chainsaw oil, alcohol, leaded, unleaded gas, and lamp oil as efficiently as the 550B-749 does. Also the whisperlite takes priming whereas the 550 doesn't. To call it the best stove out there, considering it is more expensive than a 550 is also not true.

Thus MSR was not awarded the contract, however Coleman was and the 550B-749 entered production and military service. It is still the #1 choice of SEAL teams, Army Rangers, Airborne, Mountain units, and other para-military organizations around the world. Why do they choose the 550B-749 ? Because it is the best. Hands down. No one can touch these stoves. For $58 from a local military PX these stoves can be had. If you can't get one, have a friend in the military get one for you. They are completely self contained, anodized, corrosion proof, built in windscreen and fuel bottle, pot supports, and all of this comes in weighing 20.8 ounces.

It is no wonder there isn't a review forum on here for the 550B-749 as produced by Coleman. For many years this has been a secret treasure for military servicmen and women from all branches. I hope everyone will be able to find one of these magnificent stoves.

Similar Products Used:

M42, M47, MSR, Optimus, 550B-749

This is it! The best stove out there. It's time tested for reliability and it has kept on whispering all these years. Some have expressed problems with the highly durable plastic pump, but it's safe to say these people are entirely too rough and careless with their lightweight gear. I bet these same people also have broken tent poles, snagged zippers and alot of ripped fabric. You gotta be a bit more careful with lightweight gear. If you find it a necessity to roughhouse your gear then your better off with Army surplus. tip: vasoline works great as a primer and many other duties

Customer Service

best in the business!

Similar Products Used:

various coleman stoves and of course the Svea 123 that lasted only one year before becoming junk

This whisperlite really is an outstanding stove. I am not sure how environmentally friendly spilled Benzine is as PetaPam suggests, but overall the Whisperlite is #1 in my book. It is lightweight, flimsy, cheap, mass produced, but that makes it such a winner. Only 14 ounces and you won't even know its in your pack. Toss a tiny 11 oz fuel bottle on and you are moving through the country side.

I use this stove in the Hill Country near Austin quite a bit. As for cooking I never need to simmer. All we do is heat up cans of wolf brand chili. Since most serious outdoors folks couldn't give a rip about simmering, it doesn't really matter. There is nothing like a trip at night, and the blow torch of the whisperlite illuminating our campsite. Most cowpokes know we are all business when they see that flame. I have never taken it to high altitude, just on climbing expeditions in Llano, Huaco Tanks, and other parts around Austin. I can honestly say this stove gets a #1 star rating in both categories !

Customer Service

excellent customer service.

Similar Products Used:

Coleman424 (dual fuel weighs about 30 pounds) not good for backpacking

Lightweight, extremely reliable, low price and very durable are a few mentions of this marvelous stove. Remember: It's important people understand how to use a stove properly in the backcountry, because there is no room for open campfires in our wildernesses any longer. The whisperlite is the only tree friendly stove that is reliable.

Similar Products Used:

Svea 1..2..3.. fall apart

I love my whisperlite stove, however the post below makes me grimace, remembering when my split pump broke on me in Mombasa which is in East Africa. Unlike the post below, I was without my super glue. I had forgotten to take my superglue into the bush. When the pump breaks, and you are in the field, then the whisperlite isn't very good. I remember a companion saving the day with his Svea 123. I will have to remember to take superglue next time. Also, packing in priming paste is a good Idea too. I like the sound of that. It may also be a good idea to buy a full parts kit for this stove when it breaks and after you have bought all these products the stove begins to become expensive. Maybe I thought it was expensive because I had to pay duty taxes on mine.

Similar Products Used:

None