UKC

Hi everyone,

I'm about to tae my stuff and go for a long trip to SouthAmerica, cycling fron north to South, and climbing the most emblematic mountains in each country,

Don't know which stove I should take with me, I have this options:
MRS whisperlite
MSR Dragon-fly
MSR XGK

thanks

In reply to Viejo:

XGK or whisperlite internationale. probably the XGK.

this is going to take a long time right? so surviving being stuffed in panniers will be more of the things life than chugging away in BC. pretty hard to beat the XGK for that.

sounds like a cool trip by the way.

In reply to Viejo:

Why only MSR stoves to choose from? Primus and optimus stove have metal pumps which are more durable and somehow they are lighter as well. The Plastic MSR pump have tabs that break and they use rubber, instead of a leather pumpleather(or whatever it is called).

If you have to go with MSR i would say the dragonfly, because of the multi fuel and simmer capability. It does sound like a jet engine though.

If you can go with a different brand, i would suggest a Primus Omnifuel, studier pump, good multifuel (also gas canisters) and simmer capability.

In reply to Viejo:

When looking at stoves it seemed all the MSR stoves with simmering ability were also less reliable. Somewhat stands to reason they would be.

I have a XGK, goes well Keep in mind without much skill you'll only be able to boil or burn things.

In reply to tjin:

My MSR pump is plastic and twenty years old and still works fine. It has a leather pump cup too.

Hi guys,

Thank you very much.

i've got an optimus nova, and I went to Ben Nevis and I suffer to cook my dinner, that day was very windy, and was a really good test, and it tooks me long time. I though I was gonna go to sleep without my well deserved meal/...jeje

other point its important, is the ability of simmering, I don't know if it is possible with the MSR XGK

How about water filters, do you know any nice??

not very expensive

In reply to Viejo: http://www.bwtechnologies.com/aquapure_traveller.html

In reply to Viejo: I've took a DragonFly to South America cycle touring for 6 weeks earlier this year, the other two are fine for boiling water, but if you want to cook on it you really need to be able to control the flame, which only the DragonFly allows.

In reply to Viejo:

XGK. It's by far the most reliable multifuel stove I've used. A friend of mine use his daily for 8 months when cycling across Africa. Not a single clog. I've used a few other similar models available in the market (Whisperlite International, Dragonfly, Omifuel, Optimus) and none of them handle dirty fuel as good. I prefer stoves without a simmer as it's less prone to clogging and easier to strip. When I need a dim flame I just turn the main valve off and then back on for a second just before it die down. It will produce some soot though.

The MSR pump needs regular (annual) O-rings replacement otherwise leaky O-rings can be very dangerous (don't ask me how I found out!). The very old style XGK pump is prone to cracks near the valve but the new pump is much more robust.

I've had the XGK II for 14 years and the XGK EX for a year. They are very similar but the EX is better in terms of stability and rigidity.

If you want a lighter multifuel stove I'd recommend the Svea 123R. Solid brass construction and self contained wind shield. It has a small self pressurised fuel reservoir and is very compact. It'll take an extra minute to prime but the stove itself is invincible and handles dirty fuel very well. Unfortunately mine was confiscated in an airport when they mistook the shape of the empty reservoir as a gas canister!

In reply to Viejo:

Of the three you mention I would probably go for the Whisperlight international.

I found the dragonfly had real trouble with dirty fuel, and constantly needs maintainance. XGK is good but burns v hot and not too good if you ever want to do real cooking. The Whisperlight is an all round great stove. More controllable than XGK and more reliable than the dragonfly.

Someone else mentioned the Svea 123R. They are great too, but only burn petrol/white gas. Make sure you get the "midi pump" as that gives them a significant power boost, especially when it's cold.