how fuel for whisperlite on a thru hike?

[DavidNH]

How much fuel should I carry on an AT thru hike? I have an MSR whisperlite that I plan to use. So I would use coleman fuel. Is 33 oz too much? I would use mostly to boil water, and only for dinner and breakfast.

nhhiker

[Nightwalker]

How much fuel should I carry on an AT thru hike? I have an MSR whisperlite that I plan to use. So I would use coleman fuel. Is 33 oz too much? I would use mostly to boil water, and only for dinner and breakfast.

nhhiker
33 oz would last 20-30 days in a whisperlite. Take a few ounces and re-up along the way. Coleman fuel is easy to find, sometimes even free.

[Alligator]

This topic came up previously and most of the thrus suggested 11 oz. You could always carry a 22 if you were concerned. Definitely not the big bottle though.

[TakeABreak]

I would seriously consider switching to another stove, the whisperlite's clog easily requiring constant cleaning, they are not in my opinion as reliable as other stoves, I have heard them exploding on hikers. I do not like getting liquid fuel on me either, especially where it is hard to get it properly cleaned off.

I started with one and after much disgust of cleaning it all the time and the weight of it, I switched to a primus alpine titanium propane/butane mix. Total weight with a 12 oz canister (8 ozs fuel) is a5.5 ozs. Unfortunately according to primus this stove is no longer available in the U.S., because of low sales, you may still find one here and there at an REI or similar store. There are also, similar stoves available.

You may want to take a look at these websites;

www.rei.com/category/4500453.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC (http://www.rei.com/category/4500453.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC)

www.ems.com (http://www.ems.com)

[DLFrost]

I would seriously consider switching to another stove, the whisperlite's clog easily requiring constant cleaning, they are not in my opinion as reliable as other stoves, I have heard them exploding on hikers. I do not like getting liquid fuel on me either, especially where it is hard to get it properly cleaned off.
This is an unjustified slur on a great product. There are thousands and thousands of Whisperlites in use by campers, mountaineers, yakkers, canoeists, expeditions, and every other sort of outdoorsperson. If the stove sucked we'd know about it by now--it doesn't. These stoves are bombproof and reliable, but they are not idiot proof. Nothing is. If you don't maintain things or handle them correctly you'll always have problems.

The problem of soot buildup on whitegas stoves can be much reduced by priming with denatured alcohol. I use a small squirt bottle to apply it to both the Whisperlite's cup and feeder tube. Of course, this adds to the weight carried.

Doug Frost

[MOWGLI]

I would seriously consider switching to another stove, the whisperlite's clog easily requiring constant cleaning, they are not in my opinion as reliable as other stoves, I have heard them exploding on hikers.

While there are other stoves that are lighter and will work just fine, I think this is an unfair characterization of the Whisperlite. An exploding stove would almost certainly be caused by "operator error" - more specifically - improperly priming the unit. In terms of the stove clogging, the shaker jet is specifically designed to avoid this problem.

FYI, I have about 2700 miles on my Whisperlite, and its still going strong.

FYI, an 11 oz bottle should work just fine for one hiker.

[SGT Rock]

How much fuel should I carry on an AT thru hike? I have an MSR whisperlite that I plan to use. So I would use coleman fuel. Is 33 oz too much? I would use mostly to boil water, and only for dinner and breakfast.

nhhiker
If that is all you are going to do, you ight want to look at Esbit or alcohol. Since boiling for water for one meal a day is fairly easy to do, something as heavy and complicated (compared to other systems) is overkill.

[Stoker53]

I've carried a whisperlight for over 15 years with no issues. It is not a shaker jet model and I have had no issues with clogging. I have found that most of the soot build up occurs when the stove is turned off and you allow the flame to burn out by itself. The yellow flame will lead to soot buildup.

I always blow out the blue flame as soon as I turn the stove off. The escaping white gas vapors will help keep the orifice cleaner.

I have replaced my whisperlight with alc stove for late spring thru early fall trips but it always goes with me in cold weather.

[digger51]

Ive used my Whisperlight for several years and never had a problem with it. I generally cook a large pot of mac and cheese and a pot of soup at dinner and an 11oz bottle will last me 4 or 5 days.

[Sly]

Confirming the consensus, I used an 11 oz bottle with a Whisperlite Internationale and never ran out of fuel on the AT.

[jackiebolen]

I have to agree with another user or two who said the Whisperlite is overkill. It's heavy and has too many moving parts. A pop can stove is much, much lighter and more reliable.

[The Will]

[QUOTE=NHhiker]How much fuel should I carry on an AT thru hike? I have an MSR whisperlite that I plan to use. So I would use coleman fuel. Is 33 oz too much? I would use mostly to boil water, and only for dinner and breakfast.

NHHiker,

I'll add my validation of the 11oz. bottle as being the size to take....many of the hostels/hiker services offer white for sale by the ounce. It's available frequently.

[Blue Jay]

I would seriously consider switching to another stove, the whisperlite's clog easily requiring constant cleaning, they are not in my opinion as reliable as other stoves, I have heard them exploding on hikers.

Now this is funny. Prior to the massive alcohol conversion, the whisperlite was by far the most used stove on the trail. As for exploding, you have more chance of a passing bear exploding. This post should be moved to the humor section.

[Nightwalker]

As for exploding, you have more chance of a passing bear exploding.Now THAT would be a sight! Bring in Bryson's moose and we'll have a foursome for poker. :-)