APPALACHIAN TRAIL THRU-HIKERS HAVE A BURNING QUESTION ABOUT OUR STOVES

Jun 18, 2014

Last month, over 4,000 hikers and 15,000 visitors descended on the small town of Damascus, Virginia, for the annual Trail Days Festival. This multi-day event celebrates the Appalachian Trail community, providing hiker workshops, food, gear repairs, and plenty of entertainment, including the hiker talent show. (What happens at the talent show, stays at the talent show.) We’ve been attending this festival for many years, providing free maintenance and repairs on MSR products in the gear tent located in the main campground. It’s always a great time meeting the thru-hikers and geeking-out over gear. We find that we help and learn in equal proportions. This year, MSR’s Stove Category Director Steve Grind attended and was asked one question far more than any other: What’s the difference between the MSR PocketRocket™ and…

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MSR Backcountry Cafe: Romanian Stir Fry

Nov 20, 2013

Story and Photos By Tara Alan  A few years ago, my husband Tyler and I were bicycle touring in Romania. We’d just pedaled through the gypsy village of Glod when we decided to free-camp for the night, stopping to set up our tent in an idyllic, secluded forest on a hilltop high above the town. Tall trees towered above us as we made our home for the night. Tyler got a fire going, while I set about making a tasty supper to satisfy our ravenous appetites. Despite the fact that we were deep in the heart of Eastern Europe and I should have been craving cabbage rolls and hearty Romanian soups, all I wanted was food like I’d find in a Chinese restaurant back home. And thus, I decided to concoct…

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Made in the USA: Building the WhisperLite Stove

Oct 23, 2013

A lot of outdoorsy folk can tell you where their WhisperLite has been – Yosemite, Canyonlands, Denali, Bryce – the list goes on and on. But how many of these people can tell you where their stove came from? Our new video answers that question in great detail. In this video we walk you through the making of a WhisperLite International stove, step by step, in our Seattle factory. The process starts with raw materials such as sheet metal, tubing and aluminum bar stock. These materials are machined and shaped into parts that are tested and hand-assembled to create each stove. The process is similar to that used on the first WhisperLite, manufactured back in 1984. Almost every MSR stove is manufactured in Seattle, including the Reactor, XGK-EX, SuperFly, DragonFly,…

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The Lunchroom: An Interview with Drew Keegan, Division Director, Fire

Sep 25, 2013

 By Ryan Hayter The Lunch Room (TLR): You have fire in your title. What exactly is your role? DK: I’m responsible for overseeing strategy, product development, marketing and sales for stoves, cookware and fuel. I get to use my knowledge of combustion and stoves, and tap into my engineering background on a regular basis. TLR: How long have you been doing this? DK: I joined the company 14 years ago as a manufacturing engineer with the goal of moving into R&D. I came in with an engineering background, and a passion for climbing and mountaineering. It’s hard to find engineering jobs in the industry because once you’re in nobody leaves them. The manufacturing opportunity opened the door for me to eventually move into product development and management roles in filters,…

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Overview: MSR MicroRocket

Aug 5, 2013

Backpacking season is in full swing and when your goal is to be fast and light, look no farther than the MSR MicroRocket. This stove improves upon the already fast and light MSR PocketRocket by adding features and cutting weight; making it the smallest and lightest stove in our line.  

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Camp Cooking 101 with Tim and Christine Conners

Apr 25, 2013

   It’s here! We’re excited to be a part of this camp cooking series. In this episode of Lipsmackin’ Campin, Tim and Christine Conners cover the basics of camp cooking. It’s possible to be a master chef on the trail—all you need is a review of the basics, and a little up-front planning! You can find more mouth-watering camp recipes, and invaluable information for making your next camp trip a culinary success. Just check out Tim and Christine Conners’ bestselling series of books.For more information, visit Lipsmackincampin.com!

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New Video Alert! MSR Stoves: Liquid Feed Mode

Apr 3, 2013

Did you know that a MSR Whisperlite Universal or WindPro II stove can operate on canister fuel in liquid form? This allows the stove to perform much better in cold conditions and maintain higher fuel pressures over the life of the canister. Take a look at the new video above and see how it’s done. For more information on what fuel to use with your MSR stove.

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My MSR Backpacking Stove Belongs in My Estate Planning

Feb 10, 2013

I bought my first MSR stove in 1993, soon after I started backpacking. A buddy and I just returned from a trip in the Southern Sierra where his stove exploded while we cooked dinner. I can’t say that we escaped unfazed. But, thankfully, we were unharmed. My friend’s stove was a cranky, burner-over-tank model from a well-known camping gear manufacturer. I was in the market for a stove at the time, and didn’t know what to buy. But our experience on that trip certainly narrowed the brand choices! Christine and I had yet to marry, but I already knew her to be a trustworthy source of gear information. Her backpacking debut preceded mine by several years, and she had already checked off some impressively long expeditions. She owned a Whisperlite…

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