MSR Whisperlite: There as to be a better way...

[hikingfish]

So I'm preparing for my first winter camping season. I'm planning on sleeping outside this weekend (either at Enfin L'Hiver in Montreal or in the parents backyard). I was preping my whisperlite and I figured...there has to be a better way or doing this...

The windscreen is a pain to install (so flimsy), I couldn't imagine lighting a match or lighter with mitts on...and inserting the stove's fuel line into the fuel bottle is kinda tricky too.

Anyone has any tricks or cheap alternatives?

Thanks!

Fish

 

[Rick]

hikingfish,
Others may disagree, but I have never (Other than the first few times years ago), used the lower windscreen on my whisperlites. I use the large standing windscreen and that is about it.

I do have a very lightweight wood platform that I put the stove on in winter to keep the legs from sinking in snow - I was never inmpressed with the MSR folding platform. (I always dig out to as much solid ground as possible unless the snow is more than several feet deep).

I use a couple of those little spring clips (swiped from from the office) to keep the standing windscreen connected as a full circle.
I lift the windscreen, prime some fuel into the prioming cup, light it and put the windscreen back on. Once the fuel in the priming cups has burned down (15 seconds or so, I turn up the valve and light the burner - I find it really foolproof and second nature after years of doing it.

I use a little spittle/saliva on the male end of the fuel line connection to help slide it smoothly into the female end of the pump assembly.
If you are new to a whisperlight, get lots of practice, you'll soon find that it is a trusty and worthy winter companion (Like I said others may disagree )

 

[DougPaul]

I carry a corrugated cardboard covered in aluminum foil base for my MSR model G (predecessor of the XGK). Should also work for a whisperlite.

EMS sells a butane lighter with an extendable-tube burner. Allows one to light the stove and keep one's fingers away from the burner: http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_...folder_id=282574489160712&bmUID=1134062620180 Warm it in your pocket before using.

I cook wearing wool gloves. (Synthetics might melt if they touch something too hot.) Adequate finger dexterity and my hands stay warm enough.

Doug

 

[hikingfish]

EMS sells a butane lighter with an extendable-tube burner. [...] Warm it in your pocket before using.
Doug

Hi Doug,
Very interesting little gadget. I have one at home that sort of looks like that (got it at the dollar store). It's completely useless the second there is a bit of wind. Is this EMS one usable in windy situations?

I also liked the paper clip idea. Just went to the office supply locker and "borrowed" one.

Fish

 

[DougPaul]

Very interesting little gadget. I have one at home that sort of looks like that (got it at the dollar store). It's completely useless the second there is a bit of wind. Is this EMS one usable in windy situations?

I've had no problems with it, but I haven't had it too long and haven't tried it in any high winds.

It uses a piezoelectric igniter and tends to fire a puff of flame out the end. My guess is that this will work well when igniting fuel in up to at least moderate wind.

Doug

 

[nartreb]

I've used one of those lighters. Wind wasn't a problem. Don't light it until it's touching the base of the stove. The stove should be behind a windscreen, right? (You won't heat your food much if the flame from your stove is lying flat in the wind.) Unlike matches or thumbwheel lighters you don't worry about moving the flame to the stove - the lighter's got piezo ignition. My main complaint was that I used up all the butane in one week of camping . It's supposed to be refillable but for some reason I couldn't figure out how to do it.

For short trips in cold weather I'm leaning toward the stoves with those metal cans of compressed butane, or even a JetBoil. Fewer parts, faster to light, most available with built-in piezo ignitor.

 

[kmac]

So I'm preparing for my first winter camping season. I'm planning on sleeping outside this weekend (either at Enfin L'Hiver in Montreal or in the parents backyard). I was preping my whisperlite and I figured...there has to be a better way or doing this...

The windscreen is a pain to install (so flimsy), I couldn't imagine lighting a match or lighter with mitts on...and inserting the stove's fuel line into the fuel bottle is kinda tricky too.

Anyone has any tricks or cheap alternatives?

Thanks!

Fish[/QUOTe

Practice makes Perfect~ : )

I store the pump mechanism in an old sock so that any fuel residue doesn't leak out in the storage bag after removal. You can also use the sock to remove any residue from the stove.

My only complaint with the stove are the legs on the burner, they are very difficult to move into place, other than that it's a great stove. Just keep practicing, the more you use it the more comfortable you'll become with it. Have fun this weekend!

 

[hikingfish]

I've used the stove several times in summer, it's just that all the summer annoyances become major problems in winter time ;-)

 

[Pete_Hickey]

.... that all the summer annoyances become major problems in winter time

Like the unexpected one in the very cold temperatures. You have to warm up the feul before it'll light. You can put out matches in the feul in the priming cup if you are not careful. At these temperatures, lighters don't work unless they are kept warm.

 

[Rick]

Pete's theorum: "If a string has one end, it has another."

I guess...... sometimes though, you just don't want to know what's tied to the other end !!!!!

 

[Rick]

....You have to warm up the feul before it'll light. .... You can put out matches in the feul in the priming cup....

"Feul" .... don't let the Canadian spelling of "Pete's Winter Cocktail" throw you off.

 

[Remix]

This is a great reason to wear thin liner mitts-- I dont have any trouble working my whisperlite with them.

I agree that the windscreen is a pain. For that reason, I will try to shelter the stove from the wind if possible.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I have the original base windscreen around here somewhere, never used it. I made my own by connecting 3 pieces of 18ga aluminum at the center of one end with an aluminum screw, then drilled channels so they'd line up with the legs so it locks right in. It folds out like the MSR high-speed-low-drag $20 base, but costs about $1. I drilled holes in it, enough so 2 people can use it as a cribbage board with some matchsticks and it also does triple duty as my hand collander for pasta. The aluminum screw doubles as a makeshift repair should a pack strap break (tri-glide), and I actually had to use it once this past summer.

I love the stock upper windscreen and cinch it tight around the pot, so it gets almost all the heat. Never had a problem with it or the base, and find they work well everywhere.

 

[blacknblue]

Yes, it can be tricky to use the stove, especially below zero when you don't want to remove your gloves EVER, but I've found the Whisperlite to be the more reliable performer in cold weather. Mine's about 8 years ago, I think, and other than regular maintainence, the baby keeps on going even below zero.