The New (for 2012) Whisperlite Universal

I took the MSR Whisperlite Universal out to the East Fork of the San Gabriel River today for some field trials. The more I use it, the more I like it.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

Does the stove operate with the gas canister inverted? It has a pre-heat tube so I'm assuming that it can. Does MSR have an official position on inverted canister operation with this stove?

If it does then this stove would replace all my other liquid fuel and remote canister stoves, reducing the clutter in the gear closet, which is a good thing.

How much does it weigh?

I would say that it does.

Weight is listed as 10.9oz.

Barry:

Yes, the stove’s coupler rotates freely which makes inverted canister operation a snap. See the second video on my blog post.

MSR provides a stand for inverted canister operation. In other words, MSR is promoting the MSR Whisperlite Universal as an inverted canister stove.

HJ

Jerry,

The MSR Whisperlite Universal weighs 258g (9oz) on my scale, only 2g more than the old Whisperlite Classic. That's the weight without the pump but with the liquid fuel adapter (see photo below for what I was weighing).

HJ

I really like how they allow you to rotate the whitegas canister to push out the rest of the fuel in the line like the optimus stoves.

Thanks for posting.

Yeah, the flip stop is a really nice feature when running on liquid fuel. It's an undocumented feature (MSR never mentions it), but it works great. It not only purges the fuel line but also depressurizes the fuel bottle so you don't get gas all over your hands when you open the bottle.

I'm not sure why MSR doesn't mention this feature in their documentation. Other manufacturers like Primus and Optimus not only mention it in their documentation but they also stamp the right-side-up side of their pumps with the word "ON" and the upside-down side of their pumps with the word "OFF."

HJ

I'll probably get this stove to replace my Whisperlite Internationale, but it's be that much more appealing if it was also made to burn alcohol. While I wouldn't want to carry this stove very far, it could be a great stove to put in an emergency kit and would surely make it a huge hit among survivalists.

I liked how flexible the fuel line is on these compared to my Rapidfire. We got to have a presentation by two MSR reps at a recent gathering in OR for a few Stovies.
Duane

Eugene:

I don't think this stove will even begin to compete in the lightweight category — you'd be better off with an upright canister stove (or alcohol or hexamine). However, for winter camping or international travel, this might be a good choice.

With regard to alcohol, I have talked to an awful lot of guys who have successfully run their MSR stoves on alcohol. I personally would be a little worried since MSR stoves aren't designed for alcohol, but I keep talking to guys who are doing it successfully.

HJ

Duane,

Actually, the fuel line on the new Whisperlite Universal is not flexible. It's the same level of flexibility as a Rapidfire or a Whisperlite. MSR has backed off from the flexible fuel lines of the type used on the Simmerlite or the Windpro.

I'm not 100% sure why MSR has gone back to a thicker, less flexible fuel line, but I suspect it may be due to product liability fears. With a really flexible fuel line as on the Windpro, one could put the canister inside the windscreen, which could lead to an explosion if one were not careful. With an inflexible line as on the Whisperlite Universal, one would be hard pressed to operate the stove in any other fashion than having the canister at the end of a straight fuel line, which keeps the canister always at maximum distance from the stove (and thus keeps the lawyers happy).

HJ

"With regard to alcohol, I have talked to an awful lot of guys who have successfully run their MSR stoves on alcohol. I personally would be a little worried since MSR stoves aren't designed for alcohol, but I keep talking to guys who are doing it successfully."

Alcohol is bad for gaskets that are not designed for it and causes corrosion on aluminium parts. Add pressurized fuel and fire into the mix, and it starts to sound like a bad idea to me.

Alcohol is bad for gaskets that are not designed for it and causes corrosion on aluminium parts. Add pressurized fuel and fire into the mix, and it starts to sound like a bad idea to me.

Yeah, it sounds like a bad idea to me in general, BUT if I were in the middle of nowhere and the only fuel I could get was alcohol, I might try it in a pinch on a very short term basis. I definitely would not store the alcohol in an aluminum fuel bottle for any length of time!

HJ

HJ – does that weight (9 oz) include the stand for inverting a canister? Doesn't look like it, but I thought I'd ask.

I have the Coleman Fyrestorm Ti stove and it weighs 7.8 oz.without its stand and 11.2 oz. with the stand. Just as a point of reference.

Thanks.

Edit: You know, now that I think about it I don't think that's a fair comparison. The Fyrestorm requires the stand to function so, there's really only one weight: 11.2 oz.

HJ says in his video that he wasn't provided with the canister stand.

Dave,

The relevant weights are as follows:
Whisperlite Universal, 258g (with the liquid fuel adapter and UG/UK jet)
UC Jet = 5g
UG/UK Jet = 3g
Canister addpter = 30g
Liquid Fuel adapter = 22g

If you swap out the liquid fuel components and swap in the canister gas components, then (if I'm doing my math correctly), you'd have 268g (9.45oz) for the basic stove (without the canister stand) when configured to run on canister gas.

I wish I could tell you more about the canister stand, but, as has been pointed out, MSR neglected to send me one for review. However, as has been mentioned, you don't need the canister stand for either conventional or inverted running. A lot of us have been running remote canister stoves in inverted fashion long before the Fyrestorm or the Whisperlite Universal. I typically just lean the canister against a rock or something when I want to run in inverted mode.

HJ

Ah, I see. I didn't watch the video before posting.

Thanks for the info. Looks like a neat little stove, but, tempting as it is, I'm too cheap to buy a new stove just to save a couple ounces. Actually, that's not true all the time, but I don't do enough winter camping to warrant replacing the Fyrestorm yet.

Thanks again.

Dave,

(hijacking my own thread here) Have you run your Fyrestorm on white gasoline much? I've heard that it's difficult to prime. Any comments?

HJ

Sorry, HJ, can't comment on priming issues with white gas. I've never used it with the Fyrestorm. I'm not a white gas fan.

Gotcha. Thanks.

HJ

Adventures in Stoving

I liked how flexible the fuel line is on these compared to my Rapidfire. We got to have a presentation by two MSR reps at a recent gathering in OR for a few Stovies.
Duane

Duane,

Here’s what I meant by I didn’t think the Whisperlite Universal’s fuel line was all that flexible:

The Universal’s fuel line is top and the Windpro’s is bottom. The Windpro has a much thinner more flexible fuel line.

The Universal’s fuel line is stiff to the degree that it never touches the table top in this photo:

To me, that’s not all that flexible, particularly in contrast to the Windpro which has a truly flexible fuel line. Now, maybe the Rapidfire is a little stiffer than the Universal, but the Universal’s fuel line is much closer to the stiff Rapidfire than the flexible Windpro.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

I own the MSR Simmerlite (4 years), and the MSR Whisperlite (15+ years), and have had used several well-worn MSR Whisperlite internationals before. In my experience the flexible fuel line is the most likely point of failure for these stoves. My original Whisperlite has eventually developed enough of a kink in the line so that the flow is restricted and I do not get full power even after repeated cleanings and repairs. It has largely been retired now.

The Whisperlite international has a thicker line than the original Whisperlite, and I have never seen that thicker line have the same problem. My guess is that this is one reason the international version has a bomber reputation and that is why they continued using the same line (apparently) in the newest model.

My Simmerlite has a line similar to the windpro model, and is much more flexible than the original Wisperlite, but has not developed any fuel line problems… yet.

In my opinion the Simmerlite (@179g stove only) is still probably the best white gas stove. If you need liquid fuel (winter, big groups, etc.) then you should use white gas over an inverted canister because it is much cheaper and easier to measure out. If you can get away with canister/alcohol then there are much lighter options. The only way I would want a heavier white gas stove is if it has a second fuel knob at the burner like the MSR Dragonfly or others from Primus/Optimus/Brunton for true simmering ability.

Hi, Mark,

Thanks for sharing your experience. Question: Is your old Whisperlite one of the really old models with a fabric cover on the fuel line? Or is it one with a braided metal cover on the fuel line. I'll have to be careful how I store mine so it doesn't kink.

I haven't owned one of the more flexible fuel line models long enough to know about their longevity. For whatever reason, I really like my Windpro. Pretty light (for what it is), capable of inverted canister operation, pretty compact.

HJ