MSR Simmerlite Stove

Pros: efficient, great heat distribution, compact and light, easy field maintenance, doubles as a plastic welding torch in a pinch.

Cons: takes time to prime, bulkier system than butane stoves, lots of parts that can break.

My personal preference for a lightweight stove is the Jetboil PCS. But that is largely because I don’t use one often and it’s convenient when I do. But if I were to need a backcountry stove more than a couple times every year, the pressured fuel canisters would really take a toll on the pocketbook and add a lot to landfills. In that case, the MSR Simmerlite is a great stove. I had one for years and on the occasions I did use it, it proved itself as the best white-gas stove I’ve ever used.

And I was even able to find fuel for it in Peru, so it’s plenty available for most travelers. There are many multi-fuel stoves available with similar functionality, but what is particularly great is the burner on the simmerlite. It burns very completely, which means no soot on your pots and better fuel economy. And more importantly, this burner gives great heat control. So you can actually cook food instead of just-add-water meals. So when you burn the homefries or overcook an egg, you can’t go blaming the equipment this time.

Reviewed by: Dan Thurber

See our Stove selection here.