MSR
MSR WhisperLite Universal
- Weight: 2/10 How much it adds to your pack.
- Packed size: 3/10 How much room it takes in your rucksack.
- Boil speed (still air): 6/10 How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance.
- Wind performance: 5/10 How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield.
No shop we checked has it in stock
Winter and cold-weather trips: it runs on liquid fuel, which keeps working in freezing air
- Fuel
- Liquid
- Weight
- 318 g
- Boil 1 L, still air
- 4:24
- Windshield in the box
- Yes
Packed size 1.178 L, 15 cm long and 10 cm across Compare with a 2-litre bottle
Shorter than a 2-litre bottle and about as wide as one. Drawn to scale.
Where to buy
Needle Sports £168 Out of stock. RRP £210.00 shown on the page; 1 in stock.
View at shop: Needle SportsTrekitt £178.50 Out of stock. Struck-through £210.00 on the page; shows 'out of stock' with a notify button.
View at shop: TrekittPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Weight
From maker's figures 2/10How much it adds to your pack. 2: A weak point.
MSR gives a minimum weight of 318 g and a packaged weight of 423 g and does not say what each includes. The fuel pump is in the box and the method counts it on a liquid-fuel stove; every reading is in the 300 g+ band: MSR's 318 g, GearJunkie's about 388 g, and Needle Sports' 400 g for the stove, windscreen, bag and spares plus 86 g for the pump. The fuel bottle is not included.
Packed size
From maker's figures 3/10How much room it takes in your rucksack. 3: Below average. Fine for some trips, not others.
MSR gives its dimensions as 15 x 10 x 10 cm (not labelled packed or in use). Two sizes are equal, so we work it as a roll 15 cm long and 10 cm across: about 1.18 L, in the 0.6-1.59 L band (as a box it is 1.5 L, the same band).
Boil speed (still air)
From maker's figures 6/10How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance. 6: A bit better than average.
MSR gives 1 litre in 3.5 minutes on white gas, 3.75 minutes on MSR IsoPro canister gas and 4.4 minutes on kerosene. The slowest, 4.4 minutes (264 s), is in the 230-299 s band. OutdoorGearLab timed 0.5 litres in 3 min 23 s on canister fuel in its lab.
Wind performance
Estimate from maker's specs: windshield in the box 5/10How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.
Estimate from maker's specs
In short
Good for
- Winter and cold-weather trips: it runs on liquid fuel, which keeps working in freezing air
- Trips where fuel is uncertain: it burns white gas, kerosene, unleaded petrol or a screw-on gas canister (MSR)
- Cooking for two or more with larger pots on its wide, stable stainless steel legs
Strengths
- Burns white gas, kerosene, unleaded petrol and canister gas, with a canister stand in the box for running on liquid feed from an inverted canister (MSR)
- MSR's windscreen, heat reflector, fuel pump, small-parts kit and stuff sack come with it; the fuel bottle does not
- Remote burner with stable legs: OutdoorGearLab lists stable as a pro and GearJunkie balanced a pot with no problem
- Simmers well on canister fuel (OutdoorGearLab, Switchback Travel) and GearJunkie praises its simmer control
- Field-maintainable with a self-cleaning Shaker Jet
Weaknesses
- 318 g (MSR) up to about 388 g (GearJunkie) and about 1.2 L packed, heavy and bulky next to a gas stove
- Priming is needed with liquid fuel and OutdoorGearLab found it hard in wind; simmering on liquid fuel takes skill
- Changing fuel means changing the jet and fuel coupler; OutdoorGearLab says that is a pain to do often
- GearJunkie has heard reports of the fuel connector threads stripping (none in more than three years of its own use)
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.
ShowHide sources (5)
- MSR (Cascade Designs): WhisperLite Universal Stove, product page (US site, in dollars; SKU 14041)
- Needle Sports: MSR WhisperLite Universal (UK listing, part number 14042: the same stove as MSR's US SKU 14041, with the same AirControl description)
- OutdoorGearLab (Zach Lovell): MSR Whisperlite Universal review
- GearJunkie (Mary Murphy): The 14 Best Backpacking Stoves of 2026, WhisperLite Universal entry
- Switchback Travel: Best Backpacking Stoves of 2026, WhisperLite Universal entry