MSR Whisperlite Review

"Product works great! Lightweight and puts out loads of heat. Great for cooking and boiling. Easy to set up and maintain."

"I backpacked with a friend who had a whisperlite for a few years before I bought my own stove.(Coleman ApexII). I cant understand why the msr stove is so popular. If all you want to do is boil water then fine but if you really like to cook outdoors the coleman is the way to go. Ive had mine for almost 10 years and in that time the only problem Ive had is with a broken o-ring on the fuel bottle. (which comes with the stove by the way-another reason I bought it). I can pack the stove a cutting board, handle, small bakebaker including the cover and diffuser in my MSR cookset! Forget the whisperlite and get the ApexII."

"I've used a Whisperlite for 15 years and love it. Simmering is very tough for some people because you have to read the directions. Evidently this is a problem for many people. There is a lag when you turn it down. If you turn it down where you want it, it will go out. Turn it off, wait a second, then open it up a bit. After a while it stabilizes to a nice, quiet simmer. Keep it clean and you'll get reliable, efficient cooking for years. Throw away the directions without reading them and if you're mechanically challenged you'll have trouble."

"Despite what everyone says, you can simmer on a whisperlight. It
takes some practice, but it can be done. Don't put too much
pressure in the fuel bottle and you will be allright. It is a sinch to
opperate and is easily taken apart to clean which is good because
it needs to be cleaned often. I definently recommend it because it
burns hot and uses little fuel. I haven't tried anything besides the
original model, but they look good on paper."

"I believe that this little stove is great, giving you the fire you need
while taking up very little bulk. The only one major flaw is that it
only has two settings. Off and Volcano."

"i don't recomend it, espicially for cold weather. while camping with
a group on the AT, three people brought one and not one worked.
it was about 15 dagrees and windy but otherless expensive stoves
worked"

"The MSR Whisperlite is the biggest pain in the #*#@ out there.
The camp I work for owns 18 of these stoves and after every trip
almost everyone of them is working like crap and needs to taken
apart and cleaned. Trying to teach kids how to use them the right
way(if there is a right way) is near impossible. I will admit however
that when you do get it running it burns like a jet engine, which is
great if all you need to do is boil water. Cooking real food on it
without burning it is an art all in it self."

"I used to own an MSR Whisperlite, but replaced it with an MSR XGK after a frustrating repair experience. The screw holding the porter vents in place loosened slightly, as screws are want to do, which greatly reduced the stove's efficiency. My local repair shop was unable to properly realign the vents. MSR later told me that it uses a computer to align the vents during manufacture and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to align the vents by hand. I have since purchased, and am much happier with, an MSR XGK. The XGK is reliable in all conditions, efficient, and well-designed."

"I found a great way to make this stove "simmer-able." Disassemble it, and insert the tail end of the tube through a metal tube about 1 cm long (I used copper plumbing tubing.) Drill holes to match the ones on the stove. Reassemble. It works like a Bunsen burner. When you block the holes by turning the tubing, oxygen is scarce so the fire is less hot. I also solder a heavy wire handle onto the tubing so I can turn it easier. It can get real hot. If you have any questions, e-mail me at ple@mail.sas.upenn.edu"

"I've heard all the complants about the Whistperlite stoves and it is all just a bunch of cr@p. I previously owned a Coleman Peak 1 stove and when the weather fell below about 40 degrees, It did not work worth a D@mn. The thing was almost unrepairable in the field. Anyways, about the MSR Whisperlite. I beleive when you are cold, hungry and in need of boiling water, the Whisperlite will produce every time. The entire stove is compleatly serviceable in the field and and 99% of all problems can be fixed in the field with the parts kit sold with it. My only complaint about the stove is the priming procedure. I have had far better luck with priming paste vs. filling up the priming cup at the bottom w/white gas and lighting it. Anyways, this is one hell of a stove if you want a reliable, light-weight, HOT, and stable stove."

"this is a great stove for the money and dont let anyone tell you that you cant simmer on the whisperlite i highly reccomend
this product to anyone who is looking fo a affordable practical and compact stove!!!!!! you can also email me jbirrell@mediaone.net thank you
sincerly james"

"I wholeheartedly feel that one can learn just as much from negative reviews as positive ones. With that said let me start by saying I hated this stove with a passion! I called it my “Conniption Fit Cooker”. I must humbly state that it was as much my lack of tweaking skills as it was the stoves shortcomings. I just couldn’t get this stove to do anything besides boil water. After taking it apart and cleaning it the stove never went back together quite right. It remained loose and sloppy. It won’t simmer under any circumstances for me (some have said to have figured this out and by doing so were whisked off to India to become all-knowing Dali Lammas and used for their wisdom). I even had the audacity to try and bake on it which was laughable! 80) If the rumors were true about the new Dragonfly’s simmering abilities I would buy that one. Having said all this, would I suggest to anyone to not buy it? No. The weight is good and the price is even reasonable. Just because one crackpot comes out and says a stove that 2 billion other hikers loves is no reason to not buy it. This stove simply didn’t fit my needs and abilities. 2 billion hikers can’t be wrong!"

"While thru hiking the AT in 94 I burned only one dinner on it, which happened to be the first night I set out. The "trick" to simmering is not having your fuel bottle to full, if that isn't possible because of the duration of your hike, then not pressurizing it to much is your only other feasible option. In the 6 months I used the
Whisperlite I only had to clean it about once a month.
While hiking the AT there were many a day and I mean many, that your hot meal at the end of a grueling day was your only reward. Whether it was sweltering or freezing my Whisperlite never let me down."

"I took two of these stoves on a philmont expedition and had nothing but trouble with them. They clogged very easily and the pump on one even broke. It did, however, boil water if we could get it lit and keep it going. I have personally seen people use this stove and have absolutly no trouble what-so-ever. I would not recomend using this stove unless accomponied by an expert or in case of life threatening emergency."

"I've had my whisperlite stove for over a decade now, and while it might not be the easiliest stove to use it is dependable and serviceable. You've got to be comfortable with you mission critical gear. I trust my whisperlite."

"this was my first "quality" stove i have bought ,the first time i tried it i caught myself on fire along with my garage ,after a few paniky moments it was out. since after reading the directions and taking my time i've found it to be a great stove , you definitly have to be careful though ,there is a simmer , i've found that if you dont have as much pressure it will simmer, also its kind of messy when your off doing somthing else it will boil over along with your food , black soot coats the stove also from the inferno setting ,the heat sheild gets a good splashing too. but if you have a close water source to clean with ita a great stove , I'm trying a "hike n'light" stove, cant wait to see if i can burn down my garage again .let you know about that at a later date.
Ken 11/26/01"

"I have used my whisperlite for over a year now in all kinds of conditions from pouring rain humid conditions to well below freezing. The Whisperlite has NEVER failed to light or burn any but the cleanest blue flame. There was even the morning last February when the fuel bottle was frozen fast to the ground and the stove primed and lit as if it were a balmy dry summer morning.

Simmering is not a problem if you do not pressurize the bottle too much. I have used the stove dozens of times and have not had to clean it once except for some superficial soot on the burner screen.

I believe that it is quite helpful to burn only MSR fuel. This may not be practical for some and the fuel is prohibitively expensive but it is FAR cleaner than the cheaper "Coleman" type fuels and ultimately much less trouble for your stove. The stuff does cost $4 - $5 per quart though.

By the way I have used and been quite satisfied with my Esbit, my Coleman Peak1 Micro Butane stove and my Olicamp Hummingbird Butane stove. They have all worked well for me. The latter three stoves are inexpensive to purchase but the fuel is even more expensive than the MSR fuel!

I hope i have not bored everyone. E-mail me!

green1@backpacker.com"

"I've had this stove for 2 1/2 years, used it @ 200 times in that period and never once had a problem, cold, snow, frost, heat, rain, wind...it never failed to light, prime and cook great meals...cooking on it an art and ya gotta watch and stir, but it is great due to its size, cost, and weight. I've never tried another, and really have no need to."

"My Wisperlite is the older non-self cleaning type. I have owned it 6 years and used it close to a hundred times in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. I've had no problems. I use it to boil water and like the fast results. I also like its light weight and windscreen. i couldn't be happier."

"Looks like a love it or hate it stove from the reviews. I love mine due to the minimal fuel usage and intense heat, and yes, you can simmer on it with minimal effort by adjusting pressure. I have mine down to a science, I know how many pumps will give me an inferno to get the heat I need to to bring a meal to temp and it burns itself down to a nice simmering flame at the right time."

"I have used the stove for many years and I do like the stove but there are a few problems with it the stove is so easy to take a part the it does not matter you can simmer with it but it in not as good as a dragon fly Burton optimism or snow peek because all of them have a simmer control the shaker jet is over tightened at the factory so it when it clogs the tube bends when you try to loosen to shaker jet try to keep the stove stout free it works so much better. if you take out the shaker jet needle out it will also work
upside down it works well when you are trying to bake cake or bread"

"So in summary of my own experience and of people's reviews, here is my take on the MSR Whisperlite:

If you are an analytical thinker who can read instructions, diagnose problems, and feel comfortable with simple repair work, then a Whisperlite will NEVER let you down. I dug my whisperlite (an old one, at that) out from under a foot of fresh snow (I woke up, stepped outside the tent - "damn, where's my stove?") at 10,000 foot altitude at a temperature of 5 degrees farenheit, and I had the tastiest bowl o' oatmeal on its way to my belly in about two minutes flat.

You must cultivate a relationship with this stove. It's all about Zen and the Art of Whisperlite Maintenance. Care about it. Speak to it. Listen to it. If you are willing to do these things, then you may fearlessly entrust your life to it. If and only if YOU are willing to get to know it, then there is absolutely no better stove that money can buy.

If, on the other hand, you're more domesticated in your relatinoship with the natural world and its laws, go with a Coleman stove. They're heavier, have a much narrower range of conditions in which they'll operate, are famous for rarely requiring any service to begin with (which is what their owners are usually betting on!), but certainly are MUCH easier to use than the Whisperlite. The one time I used a Coleman stove on a backpacking trip I felt like I had a big fancy kitchen at my disposal. Pre-pressurized fuel bottles, sophisticated valve control... the works.

So before you go and buy a stove, ask yourself what kind of person you are with respect to how you relate to things. The Whisperlite is pure functionality, where the functions for which it was designed include those of a serious backpacker. If all you really want to do is go on a few weekend trips with the kids and you don't have any 15+ mile days on your itinerary, a Coleman is worth the extra weight because of its ease of use. The failure rate on a whisperlite is extremely high IF AND ONLY IF you haven't taken the time to get to know it and study its manual.

Comments? Email me at jwp02000@pomona.edu"

"I've had my wisperlight for 2 years and its worked fine for up to 4 people for a week. it boils water fast and cooks great but you have to watch the simmer turn the stove to low and it will go out and if you don't catch it you'll have to reprime it. also you have to bleed the air (and some gas) to remove the pump"

"The new windscreens are useless, causing this stove to not work well in wind. It used to be among the best in wind. MSR quality continues to decline as they try to cut costs. Sigh."

"I've had my Whisperlite for about fifteen years. I rebuilt it once at the 12 yr mark, just as a precaution. I've used it extensively, all over the world. It's an original non-shaker and I've never had a problem. Burns unleaded in a pinch, just gets a little dirty. Want more even heat? Buy a cheap heat diffuser and throw it in your kit. They're in all gourmet shops and are used to simmer delicate sauces. Only cost a few bucks. I notched an aluminized steel burner plate to fit right onto the whisper. Works great and is a very stable platform. I take it off to boil water and put it on to simmer or cook. I haven't burned my Risotto since."

"Overall a very reliable stove, but I am sending mine in for repair now. Fuel will not flow even though the bottle pressurizes. I have always considered myself proficient at field repairs with this stove, but on my last trip I was cooking over a woodfire after the second day when my stove failed. Also, the plastic pieces on the pump assembly have a tendency to crack and/or break. This has happened to me and a friend of mine."

"My whisperlite has behaved itself for quite a while...until this last weekend. It worked just fine Saturday evening, but Sunday morning it dumped gas all over my hand (which can be a rather cold experience at -22F). When I turned the control knob, gas began pourning out of the pump assembly. I started over from scratch and got it started just fine, but then it started to leak gas again and the whole thing caught fire-stove, fuel bottle, pump, snow, and my hand as I turned it off. I had no oatmeal that morning, and now I have a melted pump and a cool story.

(A similar problem, but without the raging inferno, happened to the pump on a dragonfly my buddy was using the night before.)"

"Not a bad stove. I also use a Primus Technotrail which is a Butane stove & I've just been spoiled by its simplicity and speed. Concerning the MSR, I'm not a fan of having to get out the pump and then the fuel bottle and hook everything together, then prime it and wait for it to start burning, it just takes too long.
The positives are its Shaker Jet Technology and its all-around field maintainability. You can use it at high altitudes and you can also just look inside the bottle to see how much fuel you have. Also can use the fuel to start a quick fire in an emergency.
If you don't mind the hassle of set up then this stove could be for you, however I would buy the International b/c of its multi-fuel capabilities."

"The Whisperlite is amazing. Field repair is simple, boil times are good, and it can be used to achieve any type of cooking desired. Simmering is a sinch -- 3-5 pumps will do the trick. To bake, use the wind screen as a stand for your pan, elevating it about an inch off the flame. This helps to evenly distribute the heat and avoid burns. Another trick is to take a pot lid and place it directly on the burner, and then place your pan on top of that. Again helps to distribute heat. So no more complaints! Buy one and use it forever."

"I saw my first one of these in the late 80's on another AT hiker. We had an old Optimus that you put the paste on top of the tank to warm it up. Cool rig, until I saw the Whisperlite. We were starving, and this guy had his dinner ready a full half-hour before we did. I bought one as soon as I got home, and could never, ever be any happier. Simmer is sorta tough, yea, but when you wanna take the weight down in a pack, and pack a bulletproof stove, the Whisperlite is it. Buy the extra parts and repair kit and keep it in the bag. Any superflous fires and leaks are easily cured. I have only had to clean the tube a couple of times in near 20 years, and run Coleman fluid consistantly. The soot does buildup on the reflector, but is not a problem, as I store it in the aforementioned bag. I worry just a little about the plastic pump assembly, which is getting a little loose in it's old age, but it has not failed me yet. The thing is otherwise simple and well-built. I reccomend it to anyone. I don't understand anyone that has had operating issues. Mine has been from Guatemala to Fairbanks, sand, snow, saltwater, no sweat. I do want to try the Internationale someday. I always loved those old Coleman multifuels."

"As a backpacker who started out in the early 70's, and has used the old "blowtorch" stoves like the Svea, Optimus ("the tin box"), the Enders, & the Pheobus (625), (heavy as an anvil, but excellent), I have been impressed by the Whisperlite. I have had one for 15 years or so, and have only replaced jets, o-rings, and pump seals. It may help to have some mechanical aptitude, but the amount of service that can be done in the field with few to no tools will get you through, especially when you compare to the older stuff.
One reviewer wrote he didn't like the new Windscreens, when I first saw the heavy foil windscreens the msr folks were using, I folded up heavy duty aluminum foil over and over until I had a nice thick windscreen, and carried it with my old Enders & Pheobus stoves. Try it."

"Ok, here is what appears to be the minority opinion, so I quess according to Joseph Prows, I don't have the Zen thing happening. I had one of these years ago (maybe 22?) and could never get it to light with any ease at all. Fighting with a stove in the middle of nowhere is not my idea of a good time. It is super-light and minimalist, but not for those who want their equipment to work for them without having to study the manual and then bend to the stove's will. Replaced it with a Peak 1 multi-fuel and am extreamly happy."

"Great, durable, reliable stove. Do yourself a favor though, read the directions and use the stove before you go out camping. If you familiarize yourself with its operation, you'll have no problems using this stove for many troublefree years."

"I'm still trying to figure out why the Whisperlite is so popular. I've had mine for only three years and have had nothing but trouble with it. It clogs constantly, the priming procedure is a pain, and each Whisperlite seems to have its own quirks, which makes it very difficult to teach young people how to use them correctly. I have cleaned the fuel line numerous times, I have gone through umpteen fuel jet cleaning wires while out in the field, and have replaced O rings as well; and still my Whisperlite has been a poor performer. Any piece of equipment that requires this much maintenance in the field is not worth my time or money. While on a solo canoe trip in Algonquin, I met another solo paddler and we shared dinner one night. He had a Coleman Peak I Apex II...he had his dinner nearly finished while I was still fiddling with my persnickety Whisperlite. He politely stated that he couldn't figure out why the Whisperlites were so popular...I must say I agree. Sure, it's light weight, and finding fuel for it is easy, but if it doesn't function for you in the field, what good are those advantages? I know there are some Whisperlite users who have had no major problems with their stove; I wish I could say I were one of them."

"i have used this stove hard for 15 yrs now. except for o ring change it has worked great.
one tough little stove,although not for everyone as i have read here.
for me though it is the best thing to happen to backpacking, until the hennessy hammock came along."

"I have a whisperlite and used it on a remote hiking trip - it didn't work well and took forever to boil the water. I will have to do repairs on it and the same stove my brother had didn't work at all. Never rely on this stove without testing it first at home. This is a big disadvantage - I need to clean the orfice and change the O rings and I hope that does it. It is like a kid - you have to watch it closely. I love it when it works. It will take some time and effort to get it going again. Nothing to bag about."