MSR Dragonfly Stove: Owner Review
 
Tester Bio

Name:  John E Musser
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 0" (1.83 m)
Weight: 205 lbs (93 kg)
Email address: jemclimberATsbcglobal.net
City, State, Country: Pharr, Texas, USA
Date: May 26, 2004

Backpacking Background:  I started out "heavy-duty" backpacking when I was
in junior and senior high schools. Most of the trips were all around Europe
with my scout troop. Once I was through with school I took my blushing bride
on a primitive trip. Forecast temps: lo/60 F - hi/80 F (lo/15.5 C - hi/26.7 C). Actual temps: lo/20 F - high/30 F (lo/-6.7 C hi/-1.1 C) and blowing snow. We packed it in and I haven't convinced her to schedule another trip into the snow country.
 
In the intervening years, I have confined most of my exploits to areas within 600 miles (966 km) to 800 miles (1288 km) of home. This means I get few opportunities outside of the State of Texas or Northern Mexico.

Now we're free of children (mostly) and make quite a few trips ranging from
day tripping to trips reaching a week or so. I generally hike in areas where water is ALWAYS an issue. Most of the areas I frequent are desert and rainfall is infrequent except for the seasonal monsoons. Water is almost always placed in pre-planned drops for re-supply as the trip progresses. Additionally, cycle touring has turned me into a moderate "gram weenie" in order to be able to handle more water and increase endurance. The terrain I encounter mostly is moderate Texas hill country and Big Bend NP, TX, to northern Mexico.

Backpacking Background applicable to this test:  I regularly go on cycling
trips ranging from 1 to 7 days as well as backpacking trips from 1 to 5 days.
 
Review of Mountain Safety Research Dragonfly Stove http://www.msrcorp.com/. MSR is well known for outdoor equipment from the simple backpacker up to high-end expedition products.

I have had my Dragonfly since February 2001. At the time of purchase, I was more than a little concerned about the weight of the entire assembly since I was going through major pains to reduce the carry weight of my pack. I had really one major demand. The stove had to reliably simmer. On several of the stoves I looked at this was much easier said than done. I settled on the Dragonfly after a thorough search into multi-fuel stoves.

The Dragonfly comes packed in its own stuff sack that holds the stove, pump, aluminum wind deflector and spare parts kit. I also purchased an aluminum leg stiffener/reflector as an additional accessory. The weights for the Dragonfly as listed on the MSR website are: Minimum Weight: 14 oz. (395 g). Packaged Weight: 18 oz. (510 g). The weights of the various components as measured by me on a postal scale are:

Stove complete w/o pump 11 oz / 300 g

Pump 2 oz / 50 g

Stuff sack/spare parts kit 4.5 oz / 130 g

Leg stiffener/reflector 2 oz / 50 g (Optional)

Full 11 oz. MSR Fuel cylinder 11oz/325ml contents - 2.8oz/79g cylinder

Out of the stuff sack the Dragonfly presents itself in folded mode that reduces the storage space by about two-thirds. The stove itself is of an aluminum base and stainless steel wires for the stove/pot support. Included with the stove are a heavy aluminum windscreen, plastic pump assembly, one 11.5 oz (340 ml) and a rebuild/spare parts kit. The spare parts kit includes everything on the Dragonfly, including lubricants. I have not needed any spare parts in 3 years of use except for the pump that I will explain more about later.
 
By the very design of the MSR Dragonfly it makes for a superior platform for stability of cooksets. The pot/stove supports fold away from the body to give six points of support on the ground as well as for pots. The diameter of the supported area is approximately 3 in (7.6 cm) to 12 in (30.5 cm). It also has an integral simmering valve in the fuel line. MSR states that the Dragonfly will operate on white gas, kerosene or unleaded gasoline.  In a stored condition the stove occupies an approximate 6-inch cube. Fuel cylinders occupy additional space.

I go though several small steps before use. First I unfold the legs of the Dragonfly from their stored condition. The stored condition is according to MSR 1/3 the size of the operating stove, next is to fill the separate MSR fuel cylinder 11.5 oz (340 ml) with 8 oz (0.2 l). The amount of fuel used to fill the bottle is arbitrary, but one that I have become accustomed to, making fuel management easier to keep track of. I fill the bottle once each morning of a backpacking trip and have more than adequate fuel for my daily cooking activities. Finally I screw in the pump and attach it to the stove's fuel line.
 
Lighting the Dragonfly couldn't be easier. First I make sure the main and simmer valves are shut off completely. I just pump the stove 30 strokes, open the main valve a couple turns and crack the simmering valve just enough to allow a small puddle to form around the burner cup on the top of the stove, light it and allow it to burn off. When the fire is nearly extinguished, I crack the valve again and the stove will almost always light without flaring. From there I adjust the simmering valve for flame as needed. I’m careful not to let in too much fuel at startup. The flareup can be excessive (I had one that reached about 2 ft (0.61 m) and we were scared a plenty). But in 3 years its only happened once. Time needed to go from full throttle time to boil 1 liter of water as follows.  With an ambient temperature of 76 F (42.2 C) the water boils in 1 minute 48 seconds to a full rolling boil. When the outdoor temperature drops to 42 F (5.6 C) degrees the boiling time increases to 2 minutes 30 seconds. MSR markets the Dragonfly as having superior simmering characteristics. Surprisingly, when the Dragonfly was turned down to simmer it only added a minute to the boiling time (and a VASTLY quieter camp). The highest efficiency I witnessed was with a full 11.5 oz (340 ml) cylinder and on the slowest simmer the stove ran for 6.5 hrs.
 
I found a small flaw in leveling the wired legs the Dragonfly is equipped with.  If camped on the rocks like is common at Enchanted Rock, S.P., TX and Big Bend, N.P., TX it is a little difficult to steady the legs on the rocks. There just isn’t any soil or gravel to work with. My answer was to buy the MSR Trillium accessory base. This allows for a rigid base for all three legs. It is a heavy aluminum assembly of 3 pieces that spread out in a fan shape to a circular pattern. The base is punched with lightening holes as well as keys to fit the legs of the Dragonfly stove. I think they should make it part of the Dragonfly package but alas that would increase the price. In its favor though, the stove base does fit most of the other MSR stoves out there.
 
The stove has mostly been run on stove fuel (white gas). I had to use some old unleaded gasoline once and the stove tended to soot a little. The Dragonfly comes equipped with a MSR innovation called a shaker jet. It is basically a floating needle in the fuel feed just prior to the burner jet. Cleaning a shaker jet is as simple as a little shake and feeding it some good fuel! On a home trial only I have tried to run the stove on alcohol with mixed results. The heat output is noticeably lower, and that is at sea level. Sure burns clean though.

I have cooked a myriad of meals from dehydrated fare, to raw foods, to pita pizzas.  Fuel consumption is significantly less than my previous stove.  The Dragonfly has been a joy to cook with. It has only one major flaw. The original plastic pump broke apart (the ears that hold the plunger in) in the middle of a 5-day trip. We managed to keep it going by pumping very carefully, but it was more than a little disconcerting. MSR's Customer Service came through and sent a new/upgraded model at no charge except for return freight. The replacement pump arrived within 5 days. Not too bad support for a 3-year-old product.

This stove has seen much use. If I were looking for a lightweight, stable platform multi-fuel stove, with simmering capability all over again, I think I'd still buy the Dragonfly. The only reservation I have concerning the stove is the plastic fuel pump MSR features on all its stoves.