Don't remember what I payed or where I bought it. The stove is about 10 years old, a pre-shaker jet stove.

I've had no problems w/ the stove save one: the split pump lever came apart. Superglue fixed it.

The stove has performed in excellent fashion: it has boiled water quickly, lit without flare-ups, and been plenty stable. It has typically been used in winter or winter like conditions: from minus teens in the Canadian Rockies to high altitude cold in Ecuador. Nary a problem. There was a fuel purity prob. in Ecuador, but that was from using kerosene that was none too clean.

The windscreen, IMHO, is perfect. While other stoves have smallish screens that protect to some extent the flame, the Whisperlite's screen not only protects the flame, but also serves to reflect radiant energy back toward the pot to speed cooking, and back toward the fuel hose, ensuring efficient atomization of fuel in biblical conditions. As for being a "laughable" screen, well, the simple are easily amused. Mine has been folded, flattened, squished, and spindled, and still it marches on. Better yet, it can be shaped to whatever my given needs are. It is also light weight.

I have used on occasion priming paste. No big deal. And I wasn't so wanting in fortitude that I found the priming paste weight disabling.

Very field serviceable: in Ecuador I tore it down completely in only a few minutes to clean out offending kerosene spooge.

10 years of reliable excellent service me thinks a good deal makes.

Customer Service

None.

Similar Products Used:

Bibler hanging stove: when it got cold or the gas pressure went down, this thing started to suck.

Optimus Hiker (I think): the size of a small bus. Reliable though.

The previous negative reviews reflect individuals who obviously do not understand the working of a gas stove. It's typical modern day mentality; no patience, no time and a lack of ingenuity. Those people need to stick with their canister gas stoves or the all too simple alcohol burner. The whisperlite is no doubt the best liquid gas stove made in terms of durability and price value.

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dragonfly, trangia, snowpeak, zip stove and esbit

I too was disillusioned into purchasing this stove. Not perhaps as much as Dave is, nor do I dislike it like Brad does.

The stove has some good points, light weight, field fixable, simple construction, easy maintenance.

However, there is too much trouble with stove flareup. Unless you have priming paste (which adds to the overall weight if you include it) you are supposed to fill the priming cup with gas and hopefully get the generator warm enough to light the stove properly. This sounds easy enough ,but in a tremendous wind, or a heavy snow fall, this just doesn't cut it. If you can light it in this manner though, this in turn ends to tremendous amounts of soot, stove flare up, wasted fuel, and a tremendous hassle. It leaves you wondering what possibly led you to purchase this stove to begin with.

Brad is correct in saying the windscreen is a "laugher". I was sort of amused with it myself.

However, Dave is correct in the overall build of the stove being sturdy.

I just know that in travels in the northwest and in Alaska, that the whisperlite has been very difficult to deal with and tempermental. That is not to say that a little work on it and patience, you won't get it to fire well, but why do you have to pay for that ?

That I think is where the dissillusionment comes with the whisperlite. If you know how to hold your tongue just right, are packing in some priming paste, and are standing on your head, just as the sun is at a particular azimuth, your whisperlite can perform astoundingly well. However, in most circustances it doesn't, and there are better stoves out there that can do the exact same job, for about the same amount of money.

I for one haven't melted my whisperlite down for the same fear that Dave mentioned due to its possible reincarnation and seeking out the original owner..aka Terminator II.

I would however advise against spending your money on this stove. There are better choices out there, and no I am not suggesting canister stoves either.

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None

I thoughly enjoyed the previous review. And as Brad points out so nicely, there is one characteristic that makes the venerable whisperlight such a quallity stove. You just can not kill it. It is a highly efficient old friend that always performs. It has been the next generation Svea 123R. The gas stove by which all others are still compared.
To start it without a flairup and play with it's "simmer" shows outdoor expertise. Like using a manual camera instead of an automatic (ie canister stove).
If you own a whisperlight, it will never let you down, unless you divorce it as Brad did. I'll bet that his stove is emerging as we speak - reforming itselt as in Terminator II and looking for another buddy to camp with, or better yet, looking for Brad himself.....

Customer Service

None, my whisperlight just keeps on going...

Similar Products Used:

None

I have owned my whisperlite since 1987, and have used it everywhere from the mountains of Kenya, the deserts of Egypt, the Wind River Range in Wyoming, the Tetons, Colorado, West Texas, South Texas, north Georgia, Maine, and portions of the AT.

I can honestly say this is the stove I love to hate. It is the stove everyone tells you in a great stove. It always gets good reviews, and folks have raved about the whisperlite for years. However, I think most of this is bunk and hype. After nearly 14 years I can honestly say that the Whisperlite and its Shaker Jet brother are the worst piece of mountaineering stove equipment ever manufactured.

Lets start off with the cons first.

1. Volcano like mode. There is no simmering with ths stove.

2. Stove flare up. Better watch out as priming this stove is a major league nightmare. It may seem fun at first, but after 14 years you will want to strangle its inventor.

3. Flimsy, depression era windscreen. This windscreen is a true laugher. It may actually be the only part of the stove that makes me smile. After shelling out $69 for this in '87, I remember laughing the first time I saw it. I still laugh. What a sorry excuse.

4. Reflector (see item 3)

5. Small burner rests that are wide apart. Pot stability is fine if you have a large pot, however if you want to boil a cup of water, forget it. The rests are too wide apart to place a standard metal cup on it.

6. Everyone is always raving about how this stove is very field fixable. Well when someone accidentally steps on it with a crampon on Rainier and breaks the flimsy plastic pump, its over right there.

7. Poor customer Service. MSR is BRUTAL. What a sorry excuse for a company. My first stove in '87 had a braided nylon fuel delivery tube. Evidentally this stove was recalled several years later. Interestingly enough, even though I had sent it my customer service card, the Customer No Service department at MSR said it had been too long since the recall and would not get me another fuel line. Even though I had bought the stove in Atlanta, GA, the REI in Denver just swapped out stoves for me and I didn't even buy that from them. I am a member of REI, but the MSR experience with their Customer No Service department left me ill and dissatisfied.

I have tried other stove and they are all fine to a degree and I own them such as the Optimus 8r, Primus Yellowstone Light, Coleman 400a, Peak1 Multi fuel and the venerable Svea 123. I guess you could say I am hardheaded, but it suprises me there are so many positive reviews of the Whisperlite Shaker Jet on here. Honestly these are posts from folks who have pride in their piece of trash stove. Go figure.

If you have any experience with these stoves or if you don't, always remember the guy or gal with the wisperlite is the first to catch something on fire, the last to get their stove started, the first to have their windscreen tear, the first for fuel leaks, and the first to curse at their stove.

This is embarrassing as an experienced mountaineer to tell you what my new stove is now, but it is a Coleman Apex II. It looks like a whisperlite, but it is cheaper and better....and has even been with me now on trips throughout the world.

Where is the whisperlite ? To be honest I took it to an iron smelter and they tossed it into the molten pit. I figured it to be so worthless, that I would have been ashamed either to let someone have it for free or to con someone into buying it from me.

BEWARE OF THIS STOVE !!!!!!!!!!

Customer Service

See the above desription of my encounter with the Customer No-Service department of MSR.

Similar Products Used:

Optimus 8r, Svea 123, Primus Yellowstone Light, Coleman 400 A, Peak1 Apex II

At the recommendation of a close friend who takes backpacking and hiking rather seriously, I purchased a Whisperlite stove. I also purchased some Crown brand fuel at the same time. At home, I actually read the instructions and attempted to get the stove lit. After several unsuccessful attempts I began to suspect the fuel, so I went out and bought a can of Coleman brand. Bingo! On the first attempt, I the stove lit up, no problem.

Perhaps I didn't get the right type (i.e., "White Gas") of fuel the first time. Or perhaps there is a difference between Crown and Coleman?

Anyway, the stove performed very well once I got it lit. I've read other comments about not being able to "simmer", but I was able to get it to a rather low flame (at 500ft sea level).

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None

I recently bought a MSR dragonfly, after haivng owned a whisperlite international for 7 years. Why did I do it? I thought I might like the option of simmering. Big deal. I prefer the whisperlite for its ease of use, reliability, superpower flame, and its nearly indestructable. I've used it in all weather, from January to December, in daylight, in dark, at high altitudes, and in my dorm room in college. It has never failed me. OK it failed me when I first bought it, but that was because I am an idiot and I had no idea how to get it going. But once I learned it, no problem. I think that it came with a wick for priming - I say toss that out and just leak a little fuel into the cup and start it that way. Maybe you all know that trick already.
GREAT STOVE. Go get em.

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MSR dragonfly
Peak

I have not used my Whisperlite Shaker Jet many times yet, however, so far easy to use. Easy to set up, easy to light, very stable, very light, very convinient and I LOVE it. I do not understand people who have had problems lighting it or those who found it unstable. . Boilers FAST. Have heard that it is impossible to get to simmer, so I can't comment on that yet.

Hasn't given me any problems yet what so ever. So far so good. I am a beginner when it comes to light weight stoves, so if I can do it, anyone else could.

Used it in -30 (C) and lit without hesitation.

Customer Service

Contacted MSR to ask a few questions and they were very helpful.

Similar Products Used:

None

All I can say about this stove is that I have owned it for more than 20 years and have never had to do any maintenance other than clean the jet. I have used this stove in temps from 90 to -10 and it has never failed me even though I have been anything but kind to it. Okay, so you can't get it to simmer and it tends to flare up a bit when you first start it but it is compactable, light and DEPENDABLE!! If I could only buy one stove the whisperlite would be my choice.

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None

I did a lot of research and the MSR
Whisperlite seemed a good stove to get.
I have done research im my state and found that MSR is easly found so if
parts are needed it would not be hard
to get. I always used a campfire to
cook and thought a stove would be better for snow camping. I did not try
the stove out before my first camping
trip with it "BUT" it worked just
perfect! It was windy and the screen
worked great and no burned meals. The
only thing to make it better is if the
fuel bottle was included with the stove
for the same price. An awesome stove!!

Customer Service

No need to contact them "but" I have been told they are very helpful.

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