MSR  WhisperLite Universal Stove

I still have my original Whisperlite, which I bought in 1989 and which still works nicely, but it only burns white gas. The reason I bought the Whisperlite Universal is because it provides the option to use white gas, kerosene or canister. I’ve used the white gas and canister so far and it works beautifully with either, providing a hot, blue flame, which quickly boils my water. It will be my winter stove, where I’ll be melting snow as well as heating my water for my meals and drinks. I’m very pleased with the quality of the build and I appreciate that it’s field maintainable. It’s a great stove!

While not as easy or convenient as an iso stove like jetboil or pocket rocket the whisperlite is important to have if you expect very cold temps, high altitude, or may travel to any area where iso is not available. With the universal you get the option of running any fule which maks it great if you may not have easy access to standard iso or white fuel but can get gasoline or kerosene

If you camp in locations other than continental USA, fuels differ and you MUST have a stove able to operate with those “different “ fuels! This type accommodates those.

Great stove. Well built and completely versatile. I own several MSR stoves and they always perform well.

I do not recommend either of MSR’s Whisperlite stoves. Our old faithful Dragonfly started to leak after 20+ yrs so it was time to replace. REI didn’t have any in stock so we first tried the Whisperlite Universal. We, along with most people I believe, buy these types of stoves to use white gas or a liquid fuel not the canisters. It comes from the factory set up for the canisters so you have to change the jet assembly which is not easy. Does not include good instructions for this task. After 2 YouTube videos we were able to install the proper jet for white gas. Unfortunately the stove was faulty. It would light only the bottom, never engage the fuel in the upper cup. Within 3 hrs it was returned to REI. We exchanged it for the Whisperlite International. It lite and seemed to be okay when we tested it out at home. The first night on our backpacking trip it worked okay, not great in comparison to the Dragonfly, but managed. The next morning it took an extremely long time to boil water for coffee. Not acceptable. We used it for dinner, but by the end of cooking the dish, the stove went out. Could not relight it. The following morning it would not light either. Back to REI. At this point, REI had stocked the Dragonfly so we were able to purchase one of them. It works so well and is far superior to the Whisperlites. Two faulty Whisperlites is proof of a poor product from MSR. Additionally the 3 legs on the Whisperlites are not stable. It won’t sit flat unless you have a heavy pot on the stove. Or as one Youtube person said, put a rock on one of the legs to hold it down. That is just not a good design. Check out the solid leg base on the Dragonfly!