The MSR Stove Maintenance Guide

Oct 7, 2021

Have you ever been on a multi-day backcountry trip and dealt with a sputtering, inconsistent flame from your camp stove? Or maybe your stove stopped working altogether and you didn’t read up on how to make the normally easy fix required? These sorts of troubles can be no small emergency on a multiday trip, especially if a large chunk of your calories need cooking or you’re melting snow for water. That’s why stove maintenance—particularly with liquid fuel stoves—is so critical. In fact, every MSR stove has been intentionally designed to be easily user-maintainable for a long, reliable life. Our Annual and Expedition Stove Maintenance Kits, along with intuitive, field-maintainable designs when possible keep this essential task easy to do, ensuring you never get stuck without the fire you need when…

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Gear Modifications and Care Mistakes to Avoid

Sep 28, 2021

Over the years, the staff in our repair department has seen a lot of oddball things come across the workbench. They have fielded thousands of calls about “custom” gear modifications and the unfortunate results, seen perfectly good gear become the victim of neglect, and had to explain to people why their great “gear improvement” idea might not have been wise. Look, we know you’re brilliant. Honestly, we do. But some things are just best left to the engineers that are here every day, putting in countless hours to make sure that the stuff they’re designing is the best possible solution for the task at hand. In fact, there‘s a good chance we tried your idea and, if it didn’t make it into the final product, there’s a good reason for…

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Exploratory Mountaineering – The Tien Shan Mountains

Sep 16, 2021

16 Days and 8 First Ascents in China’s Tien Shan Mountains The Tien Shan range in China is ideal for exploratory mountaineering expeditions. There are hundreds of valleys, each with handfuls of unclimbed peaks and each mountain with plenty of route options. A lot of the routes can be simple mountaineering, but you can choose a line more demanding and direct. Although a lot of these peaks can be easily climbed it’s important not to underestimate the experience needed to safely climb in the mountains, as well as having the correct mountain equipment. I had never experienced exploratory mountaineering before—it had always been daunting. I wanted to make sure I had enough experience to make the most of any unclimbed mountains before an opportunity arose. It had taken me years…

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