User Review: MSR SimmerLite

MSR SimmerLite
Above: The current SimmerLite, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed July 28, 2008 by beeman86

Rating:
Price Paid: $87

I'm a 50-year-old guy and just getting to the stage in my career that I have decent time off to start hiking and camping regularly again. Because I'm older (and hopefully a bit wiser) I'm really trying to watch the weight of my gear (unlike in my twenties when I lugged around 70 lbs of gear and took everything except the kitchen sink!). Compactness and weight are considerations then in choosing gear.

I bought this stove because I wanted to return to white gas to away from the waste of canisters produce, (although I do love the light weight and simmer capabilities of my Brunton canister stove!). I was willing to sacrifice weight and space to be a bit more "green". But I still wanted a stove that was fairly compact but had simmering capabilities. I bought the Simmerlite on a whim in the store after reading the box. I wish I would have done a bit more research first.

This stove is a great stove if you just want to boil stuff. It sets up very well and is easy to light but as far as simmering...forget it. Admittedly I have only played with it once since buying it but I tried for ages to adjust the flame to a simmer but could not.

One of the reviews here said that it simmers better once broken in. I'll try it out next week on a 2 week trip to Ft Mcmurray and Jasper in northern Alberta to see if it it does "break in" but if it doesn't it is going back for an MSR Dragon Fly which I do know simmers well. I'll update this review then.

User Review: MSR SimmerLite

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