Recently, I found myself having more and more reliability issues with my Primus Gravity MFii. Most of the time I used Primus Power Gas cans, but lately I switched to naphtha because the Army provides us with an endless supply of the stuff on exercises. I also found that the stove unit was taking a serious beating in my rucksack as the four legs are flimsy and prone to bending. The last straw was a total malfunction while heating up frozen rations in frigid temperatures. I’d had enough and I knew I needed a new stove for my upcoming foray into the Canadian Arctic with the Army.
I headed to my local outdoors shop and went instantly for the MSR Whisperlite International. A few key points made me choose this particular model:
During our latest Arctic exercise, the stove was constantly used for periods up to 10 hours straight. The tents were heated up with a M1950 Yukon stove fueled with kerosene but at -56 Celsius (-69 Fahrenheit) during the nights we had to have other heat sources around the tent to keep decent warmth. Even with that much constant use I didn’t experience a single fail for the entire 10 day period I was up north. Should anything have happened the MSR Whisperlite International is easily disassembled with two nuts for cleaning, oiling and re-assembling.
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Recently, I found myself having more and more reliability issues with my Primus Gravity MFii. Most of the time I used Primus Power Gas cans, but lately I switched to naphtha because the Army provides us with an endless supply of the stuff on exercises. I also found that the stove unit was taking a serious beating in my rucksack as the four legs are flimsy and prone to bending. The last straw was a total malfunction while heating up frozen rations in frigid temperatures. I’d had enough and I knew I needed a new stove for my upcoming foray into the Canadian Arctic with the Army.
I headed to my local outdoors shop and went instantly for the MSR Whisperlite International. A few key points made me choose this particular model:
During our latest Arctic exercise, the stove was constantly used for periods up to 10 hours straight. The tents were heated up with a M1950 Yukon stove fueled with kerosene but at -56 Celsius (-69 Fahrenheit) during the nights we had to have other heat sources around the tent to keep decent warmth. Even with that much constant use I didn’t experience a single fail for the entire 10 day period I was up north. Should anything have happened the MSR Whisperlite International is easily disassembled with two nuts for cleaning, oiling and re-assembling.
Performance-wise, the MSR Whsiperlite International has some serious output. I haven’t used many types of fuels, but on either Naphta or Kerosene I got snow to boiling water within 10 minutes. Keep in mind that this was in the Arctic at -50 celcius outside and only a thin canvas tent kept us from the elements. About 20 minutes were needed to heat up the frozen solid rations inside a large cooking pot.
The Whisperlite Int’l only works with the MSR fuel bottle (sold separately) and will not work with MSR Isopro cans. Should you want a system that runs both type of fuel source simply go for the Whisperlite Universal.
At a retail price of around $100 USD plus $22 USD for the 30 oz fuel bottle, the MSR Whisperlite International is guaranteed to not overstretch your budget and will last you for years to come. As well, the multi-fuel capability means you are more likely to always find a source. I know many of our staff here have used this exact model of stove in the mountains of Afghanistan. If you have a MSR stove story you’d like to share, please let us know in the comments below.
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