iddoho's Full Review: MSR Whisperlite Shaker Jet Backpacking Stove
The MSR WhisperLite is good for the average 2-3 day camper, who cooks rice or spaghetti and makes coffee. It has absolutely no flame size control, which makes cooking anything more complex a real challenge that involves physically lifting the pot from the stove to get different heat. Or you can turn the stove off, which makes the flame die out slowly, gradually diminishing it. You have to keep turning it on, allowing some fuel in, and then turning it off again. It takes some practice.
The stove itself is a hassle to start. The fuel has to get hot enough so as to be in gaseous form, and until then it burns dirty, creating a lot of soot and smoke, and leaving the stove coated with charcoal black soot from this process. You almost always end up with dirty fingers. Also, until the flame is stable it can reach sudden heights of more than a foot, and I always fear a sudden wind will push the flame against the fuel tank and explode it. I've never heard that this has happened to anyone, though.
Another shortcoming is its unstableness. The stove and the tank are connected with this metallic fuel line, which is quite inflexible. This means that the tank and stove have to be positioned at exactly the same height, in a specific angle, otherwise the stove tilts, even 90 degrees (completely on the side).
On the plus side, the stove is really easy to handle, there's only one control, and everything folds up nicely into this compact little package. It's light, and has a shaker, which is a tiny needle in the fuel hole that cleans the inside of the burner when you shake it. It's a lifesaver if the stove happens to stop working in the middle of nowhere at 1:00 AM.
When you buy the WhisperLite you get a wind shield (very helpful), a heat reflector that doesn't do much, but is pretty cool and a small bag with different replacement parts. Let me add that in the two years I am using this stove, I haven't had to use a single replacement part.
For over 15 years, the WhisperLite(tm) has been the leader in backpacking stoves for its reliability and simple design. Shaker Jet technology makes c...More at Outdoorplay.com
MSR WhisperLite 2005 Backpacker Readers' Choice Award Winner The MSR WhisperLite keeps getting better and better. We know one guy who's had his for ov...More at Amazon Marketplace
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