Owner Review - MSR WhisperLite Internationale™

Personal biographical information:

• Name:  Josh Cormier
• Age: 25
• Gender: Male
• Height: 5’ 11” (1.80 m)
• Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
• Email address:  swifteagle1 at hotmail dot com
• City: Los Gatos, California
• Date: 28-Aug-05

Backpacking background:

I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 11 and have been camping and backpacking ever since. I like to do challenging trips ranging from week long to weekend in mountainous areas. I would classify my gear as mid weight although now I am trying to move more toward lightweight. I now go backpacking at least once a year in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as monthly car camping trips with the Scouts.

Product Description:

Specs:

·         Claimed Minimum Weight: 11.5 oz (330 g) includes stove and fuel pump

·         Claimed Packaged Weight: 15.5 oz (460 g)

·         Measured Packaged Weight: 12 oz (340 g)

·         Manufacturer's web site: http://www.msrcorp.com/

·         Year of Manufacture: 1995

·         MSRP: $ 79.95

My Description:

This is a one-burner stove that has folding wire legs. The legs slide into notches in the top of the stove to set the stove up. To take the stove down, the legs slide out of the notches and fit together on one side of the stove. The stove runs on many kinds of fuel from white gas to kerosene to unleaded gas. The stove is named international because of its ability to use many different fuels that can be found when you are traveling worldwide. For a complete list of useable fuels visit the manufactures web site. The stove comes in a nice heavy-duty bag made out of thick rip-stop nylon. The stove folds up to fit in the bag with its windscreen, heat reflector, fuel pump and repair kit. Included in the repair kit is a tool for removing the spray head, a kerosene spray head, a tool with a tiny wire attached to it for cleaning the carbon out of the spray head orifice, and an extra o-ring.  There is enough extra room in the bag to keep a waterproof container with matches in it. When everything is in the bag it makes a nice compact bundle that fits easily into the side pocket on my backpack.

Setting the stove up takes a few minuets and a little bit of thinking. First the pump must be screwed into the fuel bottle, which is sold separately. Next the stove legs must be unfolded and slid into their groves. Finally the fuel line must be connected to the pump and the wire holder slipped into place.

My procedure for priming the stove would be as follows:

1. Turn the valve counter clockwise ¼ turn or until fuel starts to seep out
2. Allow enough fuel out to barely cover the bottom of the bowl (don’t fill the bowl)
3. Turn the fuel off and light the fuel in the bowl
4. When the flames are almost out turn the fuel valve back on slowly
5. If liquid fuel starts to fill the bowl again turn the valve off and follow step 2 above
6. Once stove is lit turn the valve to get the desired heat, do not turn more than 3 revolutions 

Note: The stove I used was bought before the shaker jet model was produced. Later it was upgraded by me to include the shaker jet. This review describes both, and gives a good account why the shaker jet is a good addition.

Initial use:

I bought this stove right after I returned from summer camp years ago. I stayed at the beach for a week right after I got the stove, which was a good opportunity to get the hang of using it. Connecting the hose to the fuel bottle is a bit confusing even after using it for years, but knowing what the connected product looks like helps. Putting pump in the fuel bottle, opening the stove legs, and connecting the hose to the fuel bottle took all of 2-3 minutes. The next step was pumping the fuel bottle with 20 pumps, no problem. When I went to prime the stove is where I encountered my first problem. Turning the fuel on, I filled the small bowl at the base of the stove. Here’s where things went wrong. After lighting the fuel in the bowl the large, seemingly uncontrolled flames were somewhat unexpected and almost made me panic. Remaining calm I took a step back and waited, as the fuel in the line started to heat up it squirted more fuel into the already full bowl. As a result the bowl overfilled, spilled fuel on that table and caught the table on fire! I quickly picked the stove up by the fuel bottle and placed it on the ground. Once the fire was under control and the stove was preheated, I placed it back on the table, turned the fuel back on, and the top burner lit. Once the top burner was lit I placed the stove back on the table and opened the fuel valve another crank. When the stove is at full blast it sounds like a miniature jet engine, and boils water fast.

Field use:

Despite the eventful first use of the stove, I kept it and have continued to use it over the past 10 years. I have used this stove in elevations ranging from 7 ft (2 m) above sea level to 8,700 ft (2,700 m) above sea level. I have used it in warm weather to cold snowy days; it has been my constant companion on backpacking, car camping, and beach trips.

One of the trips I took this stove on was a 50-mile (80 km) backpacking trip around Yosemite National Park. We had pleasant weather all week except for the last day when we had rain and hail early in the morning. Despite the cold wet weather the stove performed as normal. Later in the trip I noticed as I was priming my stove that the fuel was not shooting straight up into the top burner as it was supposed to, but rather to one side. Great, now I’d have to take my stove apart and clean out the jet, which was clogged with carbon resulting in the improper fuel spray. Taking the stove apart was pretty easy for me since I am a pretty mechanical guy. I simply looked at the stove and decided what needed to come off in order to get to they part I needed. First I unscrewed the priming pan from the bottom of the stove with my hands. Next I removed the fuel line from the bottom of the stove. Then I took the tool that comes in the stove repair kit and being careful not to bend the fuel line, unscrewed the jet. Now I took the other tool that has a tiny piece of wire on it and poked it through the hole. I tried to clean the jet with the wire from both sides to scratch as much carbon off as possible. Putting my stove back together took a little time as I had slightly bent the fuel line and now things did not want to line up, as they should. Once the stove was back together I primed it and lit it with no problems in time to make my breakfast. I had to do this stove cleaning 2 times during the trip, which was a pain and made me look toward getting the shaker jet model.

Right after this trip I went into my local REI store to gaze jealously at the shaker jet model stoves. To my surprise they were selling just the fuel line assemblies from the shaker jet model stoves. These fuel line assemblies have a different head for the fuel to spray through that contains a cleaning “shaker”. This “shaker” has a tiny needle on the top of it that scratches the inside of the spray head. Whenever you move your stove this needle scrapes carbon off the inside of the spray head removing buildup. This is the only difference between my model and the shaker jet model. This fuel line assembly I could afford, so I bought the shaker jet fuel line for my poor stove. Getting home I fitted the new shaker jet fuel line in place of my old one, it fit fine. Next I took my stove outside to test, so I could see how it performed. It fired up like normal and ran like it was brand spanking new. I used to always have to tune my stove before every trip by cleaning the jet and running some gas through it. Ever since I put the shaker jet in I have never had a problem, or have had to tune it before a trip.

On another backpacking trip after I had installed the shaker jet fuel line I went with a group into Emigrant Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to a place called Granite Lake. Although it was late August we encountered about a foot of snow overnight. I left my stove out overnight as I usually do since moisture and cold don’t seem to bother it. Getting up in the morning after a miserable night I found my stove cold and covered with snow. Shaking the stove off and clearing a place for it on a rock I primed it like usual and fired it up. It worked fine and made me a cup of hot chocolate before I could say brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, ok so it only heated the water and I had to add the chocolate myself, but I was glad it worked so well. One thing I did notice about my stove on this trip was that the o-rings have a tendency to leak after a long period of non-use.

I would not normally put other people’s experience in my review but I believe this is an important lesson. Someone I know was tuning their stove for a trip and did not connect the fuel line correctly. As a consequence the fuel valve unscrewed from the pump and caused a huge fireball. Please always make sure the stove is properly connected and DON’T fully unscrew the valve. Knowing this I still love and use my stove and have had no such issues, I just follow basic safety rules for my stove operation.

These rules include:

• Always make sure flammable things are cleared from the stove area
• Think about how to put out a fire if one started
• Think before acting
• If unsure about something, ASK or don’t do it
• Never leave the stove unattended

Pros:

• Cools off quickly
• White gas can be used as a cleaner or as fuel
• Heats water fast

Cons:

• Instructions are not so easy to understand leading to incorrect initial lighting of stove
• Stove pump rings can leak after lengthy non use providing possible hazardous situation