Best MSR Stoves: Reviews by OutdoorEquipment.com

msr stoves

OutdoorEquipment.com experts rate the best MSR stoves. Reviews include MSR Whisperlite, Windpro, XGK, Pocket Rocket, Dragonfly & other MSR camping stoves.

If you’re a hiker looking for super portable, incredibly lightweight cooking stoves, then MSR should be your brand of choice.

We won’t go so far as to say that MSR makes the best camping stoves in the world–they’d sure have a fair fight from Coleman in that title bout–but they do make some of the best backpacking stoves on the market.

These are ultra lightweight stoves that can fit into a corner of your pack and go with you wherever you want to go. Even their gourmet cooking machines–like the MSR DragonFly and the MSR WindPro–are small enough to travel light.

And if you think the gourmet models are portable, you should check out the Simple and Rapid Cooking lines. Stoves like the MSR SimmerLite, MSR WhisperLite, MSR Reactor Stove, and the MSR XGK Stove are positively miniscule in construction.

But don’t let that fool you: they’re as powerful as the mountain is tall, the sky is vast, and the ocean is deep.

  1. Top 3
  2. Reviews
  3. Buy ‘Em!
  4. History

Best 3 MSR Stoves: Reviews & Ratings

MSR stoves are among the finest in the world when it comes to backpacking portability.

There are three main categories in the MSR catalogue:

  • Rapid Cooking
  • Simple Cooking
  • Gourmet Cooking

Each series has several different models that have attributes making them suitable for the type of cooking the name implies. As with other manufacturers of camp stoves, some models are much better than others. But as a whole, MSR stoves are among the finest on the market today.

In fact, the lineup is so good that it becomes a difficult task to choose just three models to refer to as the best. So, instead, let’s take a look at the three models that are the bestselling. After all, part of what makes a camp stove great is that a lot of people are buying it.

In no particular order, here are the three bestselling MSR stoves and why we think they’re worth your time, attention, and, yes, even your money.

MSR WhisperLite Backpacking Stove Review

There are a number of things that make the MSR WhisperLite one of the absolute best backpacking stoves in the business. For starters, this is a tough little bugger, capable of taking a severe beating without being truly damaged. Drop it, step on it, crush it under your pack–it’ll still work just fine.

Another fantastic feature of the WhisperLite is its versatility in the fuel department. No matter where you are in the country or the world, you can find something to feed the WhisperLite. While many camping stoves rely on propane and nothing else, this model will gladly accept the following:

  • Kerosene
  • White gas
  • Unleaded car gasoline
  • Diesel
  • And even jet fuel to create some cooking heat
  • Oh, and of course, propane

Because of these advantages, the WhisperLite isn’t the most lightweight MSR stove, but at less than a pound, it’s still small enough to go mostly unnoticed in your pack.

Some of the MSR Whisperlite’s best features include:

  • Tough self-purging pump
  • Priming wick for quick lighting
  • Windscreen included
  • Self-unclogging construction


Learn more about MSR Whisperlite Backpacking Stove

MSR Dragonfly Backpacking Stove Review

Some campers are okay with cooking a can of refried beans on the one setting their portable stove offers–not many, but some. Most of us, however, can appreciate a machine that offers a bit more subtlety in its heating abilities.

After all, everyone who cooks regularly knows that every meal has its own preparation personality, its own heating needs, and its own methods of creation. So a stove with one heat setting just won’t cut it.

Fortunately, the MSR DragonFly stove doesn’t have this particular problem.

Instead, the DragonFly is one of the world’s most customizable and adjustable backpacking stoves made for gourmet backpacking chefs.

There are two valves that operate the stove’s control, one for the flow of the gas and the other for the size of the very precise flame. With this kind of specificity, you can cook absolutely anything to perfection.

Like the WhisperLite, this is also a super versatile machine, able to take on a variety of different types of fuel from a variety of different sources.

A few of the Dragonfly stoves other great features are:

  • Two separate control valves
  • Poppet valve on pump for leak control
  • Included windscreen and heat reflector
  • Foldable legs for added portability


Learn more about MSR Dragonfly Backpacking Stove

MSR Pocket Rocket Backpacking Stove Review

Even though most of the products in the MSR stove catalogue are super lightweight and compact, some people may find a few of them to be too bulky for the kind of backpacking they had in mind.

That’s what the Pocket Rocket is for. This is a powerful camping stove that can almost fit right into your back pocket, it’s so small. The 3-ounce model measures in at 4″ x 2″ x 2″ and yet offers a heating time of just under a half an hour–and that’s with the flame going at full blast. You can easily boil a pot of water on the Pocket Rocket in less than five minutes.

The Pocket Rocket is the premier camp stove model for those who like to preserve as much space as absolutely possible in their pack and pockets, but still want a cooker that can get the job done.

The Pocket Rocket’s design also features:

  • Super lightweight construction
  • Serrated pot-holding supports
  • A foldable, compact construction
  • Incredibly easy ignition system

Learn more about MSR Pocket Racket BackPacking Stoves

MSR Stoves: Summary

Are these the best camping stoves in the industry? That’s a question that’s often debated but never unanimously answered. Some say yes and some say no. But when it comes to backpacking stoves, there’s a collective YES shouted from the masses.

These are ultra lightweight, incredibly portable, easy to use camping stoves that will make your meals in a jiffy without ever adding unnecessary burden to your pack. If you’re in the market for a new backpacking stove it would be criminal to not at least consider buying an MSR stove.

A Brief History of the MSR Camping Stove

Before being passed to REI in the 1980′s and finally Cascade Designs in 2001, MSR–or Mountain Safety Research–was a company owned and operated by founder Larry Penberthy, a man whose life had become devoted to the creation of safe and effective outdoor gear.

Penberthy made ice axes, tents, and more, but one of his best innovations was in the area of camping stoves.

Eventually, MSR did get passed around to larger parent companies, but the products have never changed names or decreased in quality.

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