My "go to" liquid fuel stove

I have never really given up backpacking. The first few years after I married my wonderful wife, our outings became mostly day hikes that could be done in the area. I still managed an overnight trip occasionally. I took my young son on several trips where he carried a small day pack, and I carried everything else. I still remember our first overnight trip. I was so worried that he have a good time, and that I was prepared for any emergency. I carried an 85 lbs. backpack. Of course my son was about 5 years old at the time.

When my son entered scouting in the mid 1990's and I was ask to tag along as one of the "dads", I began to inventory my gear. Several years at a desk job had convinced me that I was no longer willing to carry an 85 lbs. backpack. One of my first gear changes was, once again, a stove.

Doing some research and visiting several outdoor stores, I discovered MSR stoves. There was a very limited backpacking stove selection in most stores, and most of the stoves being sold were canisters stoves. Not the canister of today, but canisters that had to be pierced when attaching the stove, and could not be disconnected until the canister was empty. Very few liquid fuel stoves where on the shelves in my area.

MSR was well represented, and as I did some investigations, I was impressed by the ability to field maintain the stove. A maintenance kit could be purchased and carried. The fuel container could be attached, detached, refilled for each trip. I decided that I liked the Whisperlite International stove. I thought the ability to use kerosene was important since it was less volatile that white gas. I soon purchased the Whisperlite International stove.

Two decades later I still have that original stove. I have never had any field issues with my Whipserlite. I have used it in sub-zero weather, altitudes about 12,000, and one week long outings using less that 5 oz. of fuel. I have learned that using kerosene is not something I would recommend. It is messy. Priming the stove is difficult because kerosene need a higher temperature to vaporize. It leave a heavy soot on the stove. I would only use kerosene if no other fuel was available!

Until recently I had great faith in MSR and their product line. In recent years it seems that the product quality and product selection has diminished. I have no hard facts to back up the decline in quality, other than several product failures I have had in the last couple of years with new gear. I must note that MSR has been quick to replace the failed gear, but that didn't help much when my new water filter failed on the second day of what was supposed to be a four day outing! I like to blame this on their acquisition but a larger company, and on more worry about the bottom line as big companies seem to do. Don't get me wrong, their equipment is still better than almost any other equipment that I have compared it to. Just maybe not, in my opinion, what it once was, or still could be.

Would I recommend a MSR Whisperlite International stove? Yes, I would. The stove meets and/or exceeds expectations and is still my "go to" stove. At about 15 oz. (in the pack weight) it is not my lightest liquid fuel stove, but neither is it my heaviest, and I am not counting my Peak 1 stove.

3 1/2 minutes to boil 500 ml water using 1/2 oz. (15g) of white gas in a MSR Titan Kettle.

Note: Some time ago I started tracking my fuel use by weight, not volume. I made things simpler for me. I could weigh the fuel bottle or canister on any scale and know how many boils (meals) I had in the bottle and how much weight I was adding to my pack. No conversions to specific weight and volume required.  So when I say 1/2 oz. of white gas, that is by weight!