User Review: MSR WhisperLite

Summary

This stove is light and fairly easy to set up and use.

The Whisperlite is another one of the many backpack stoves on the market. I think it is a good stove, not the hottest/highest temperature in this day and age, however still a good stove. There are several small parts to keep track of with this stove and you will want to carry a small repair kit with spare parts. 

You will find that with stoves as many other backpack items there are devout followers and to even mention another brand/style is blasphemy. So try to borrow or rent several types and brands to find the one that is your best fit. You will find that this type of fuel stove is highly packable, burns hotter than most other types, and  will heat more liters of water per liter of fuel than most other types of fuel used for cooking. 

I have a collection over 20 backpack stoves including the Whisperlite. My first stove was a well used WWII surplus pack stove, it is dated 1945 and is still in good working condition. The Whisperlite I have is from the early 80's and it too still works like new. I mention this to say,  try several and pick a good one.  It will last a lifetime with proper care and maintenance. If the high prices of new stoves are out of reach, you can find a quality used one at an affordable price  If it has been taken care of it will serve as good as a new one. 

One word of caution. Beware of stoves that can only be used with that manufacturer's type of fuel canister. If it is discontinued you will not be able to get fuel for it and it will become useless. If you decide on a canister stove get one that will fit the standard canister tap or that has adapters so it can be attached to standard thread canisters.