MSR WhisperLite Stove

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Mountain Safety Research
WhisperLite Shaker Jet
Backpacker's Stove
Reviewed by: Bill Ames
Where to buy: Appalachian Outdoors or any store with backpacking gear
Cost: $60 +bottle, $5-$20

I needed a lightweight stove for making hot beverages and heating food, and I've found it a little awkward to build fires when backpacking.

The MSR brand of backpacking stove is just what you need, although there are a few drawbacks.

The stove works off of any 'white' gas, like Coleman fuel or unleaded. Bottles to safely carry the fuel are available in a number of sizes and match the stove.

The design is simple enough . . . tripod legs fold up around the burner and a dongle connects to the matching fuel bottle. A foil shield keeps things from blowing up.

Lighting the stove takes some mettle, as the fuel literally drips into a cup under the burner. you need to light this to pre-heat the burner. A small pump and regulator on the dongle bring the fuel out well enough, but after lighting, it's very easy to get a nice yellow fireball.

I would not recommend using this on anything but a flat surface outside of your tent!

Once the burner is pre-heated, the top of the burner can be ignited, and a nice, focused, blue flame comes out.

It takes about 5 minutes to bring a GI canteen cup to a boil, although I would recommend the MSR "Espresso Star" accessory for some stability. The stove is really designed for pots and pans, and not something as small as a cup. The Espresso Star is simply a flat piece of steel with notches designed to fit the wire feet of the stove. It adds a lot of stability, although it is costly, at over $10. The 'espresso' name makes it sound like this is something for brewing coffee, but it's not.

The advantages of this design over butane or propane are several. First, the fuel is cheap and lightweight. Second, the flame will burn in any weather and does not need to be regulated. Carrying enough propane or butane for more than one or two uses is burdensome and heavy. 11 ounces of fuel was abot 10 times more than I needed on my last overnighter--the bottles are very light, too. With propane, you'll need to haul around that bottle, and with butane, you'll only get a cup or two heated before packing out the empty container.

This design has been around a long time, and I think I can get to like it. "Old timers" swear by this model for its durability and ease of repair and maintenance . . .

For another web site with good information on other MSR stoves and climbing gear in general, click this link:
MSR Stove

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