Thinking about purchasing a new stove. Considering an MSR Dragonfly. Anyone own one and care to comment?

I've been using one for a while now. It's incredibly light and efficient. Once you learn how to control the fuel pressure it will simmer nicely.

Get the extra parts kit that they also sell. I haven't had to use anything but just knowing that I can fix the problem should it come about is good.

Used mine for years and still no repairs needed. Lot's of folks complain about the plastic pump, still have my original but did buy the replacement a few years ago [heavier duty]. I cook 2 meals a day and coffee twice a day for a 7 day solo trip on 12 oz. of fuel, but I bring along a spare 12 oz. bottle, just in case. I roars like a jet engine on afterburner but is reasonably quiet at normal cooking temps. And it will simmer better than any stove I have used!

Cooks up a great pancake!

butthead

We've always taken MSR stoves and had the Dragonfly since they were released. Never a problem, and excellent flame control. Some complain they they're noisier than other stoves. We've never minded the noise. They are quick, burn clean and efficiently, and you can completely field strip any MSR stove.

I've been using the MSR Dragonfly for several years now. I've never had a problem with it or the plastic pump either. I recently bought the repair kit that comes in a nice plastic travel case for our trip next year. It simmers better than other stoves I've had. When I get some time I'm going to experiment with running it on K-1 kerosene to extend the burn time of my fuel supply. I also bought the base for it this year but haven't used it yet.

I just got one today after a trying day at REI with a salesperson who didn't know what he was doing with it. I finally went against thier rules and fiddled with it myself. My biggest concern was simmer mode with that small diameter burner. It did better than the Whisperlite and thousands of times better than the wrongly named Simmerlite. It came with windscreeen, repair kit, stuff sack and jet to use the different fuels. I was pretty impressed with the package. I will buy a backcountry pantry "scorchbuster" to use with it. (spreads the heat out evenly eliminating a hotspot) From what I've read and heard from others, this makes it ideal for fry pans. I could control that flame down to almost nothing! I played with it a lot this afternoon.

What the heck, here's the post I did on another forum today on my experience in REI today buying this stove. It's good for a laugh:

I've often wondered what the hardest three words a man could ever say was. Ask any woman and she will tell you it's "I love you". I've never had that problem with those simple words. Perhaps if I hadn't thrown around the phrase so much, it might have actually saved me a bunch of problems over the years but anywhoo..... back on topic.

If you ask any man what the three hardest words to say are, he'll usually cock his head to one side, gaze at you incoherently, mumble "I dunno" and want his belly scratched. We're pretty simple like that. I have found the three words that concoct a simple phrase that very few men can utter. I saw a shining example of that today at REI.

I went to look at and play with some new white gas stoves. While playing around and fondling the prospective candidates for a new found camp mate in the form of stainless steel folding legs and braided mesh hoses, I was asked by a seemingly innocent boyish man if I needed any assistance. Respecting the store policy of not dragging one to the corner and setting up a mock camp, complete with dining fly and prepackaged dehydrated food items, telling passersby "This site's taken, move along", I allowed him to demonstrate the functions of these seemingly simple devices in REI's official "Controlled and Vented Stove Safety Area and Demonstration Kiosk Station". Here is where today's lesson really gets going. I asked if he was familiar with the different stoves and he told me with a straight face, "Yes". I explained in detail what the stove will be used for and that I wanted to see how each one simmers.

Within 4.6 seconds, I saw that the closest he's ever come to a cooking device was walking past the microwave isle at Walmart. I started to grin. I asked him if I could be of any assistance, to which he answered with a confused look on his face, "No, I do this all the time". "Are you sure?" I ask and he c_ocked his head a little sidways and gazes at me incoherently.

(Now the show begins) He overprimes a Dragonfly (it's not even lit yet and I see trouble) and sets the whole thing ablaze. I watch as the flames fly far up into the vent flume, It's like something right out of Iron Chef! Cool! I hadn't seen pyrotechnics like that since Nugent back in '86.
He then says "let's let that one burn off and then overprimes a Whisperlite so bad that there is now white gas spilling and spitting raw fuel all over his little work station. I take two steps back, cross my arms and start laughing. I ask him if I could save him a lot of trouble, because as I said..." I see this getting way out of control here in about 5 seconds"...then WHOOSH! Flame from first stove which are still 2 feet high ignites overprimed spillage from second stove which is still in his hand. Now stoves are flying and he doesn't know what to do. I reach in and shut valves, I move all the canister stoves to one side and clear the small area, making sure it burns off without getting the bottles too hot. I notice the smell, (you all know that smell) of burnt hair and white gas as my overconfident REI sales professional has that 1000 yd stare of shell-shock I've read about in old war books. I told him that it was ok and chicks are diggin' the whole "no eyebrows" look these days. Two isles away, staff was already busy marking down technical parkas, who's DWR finish was ruined by radiation from the inferno some 30 feet away.

The lesson?
One thing I love to watch with people is the inability to say the three word phrase, "I don't know". There is nothing wrong with it and I believe it's beacause we, as people hate to admit that we don't know something. I have found out long ago, that I never got in trouble for not knowing something. I always found out that if I indeed said it, people would immediatley step up and show me what I didn't know. Maybe I have a whole lot less pride than most, or maybe I've learned to save myself a whole lot of trouble by saying those three words instead of digging myself deep into something or getting myself or somebody else hurt in the process.

Imagine that poor kid, having to stand there as the flames died out, his career literaly crashing and burning before him, no eyebrows or arm hair, listening to my lecture about it being ok to say "I don't know"

They fold up kind of small so you can stash them in a pot with your kitchen stuff. They can hold a lot of weight. It can hold a full 6 qt cast iron pot and cook it up fast. Once I did Thai red curried shrimp (enough to feed 12) in a large wok with it. Light, compact, sturdy, adjustable flame thrower.

Worth the high price. Careful when you light it! I turn it on just enough to get the primer cup wet, turn it off, light it and let the carberator tube warm up for about 10 seconds and then turn it up gradually as the flame turns blue.

I love my MSR Dragonfly cooks at different settings easily---the only drawback is it is loud.

The thing is quite load, but after reading some reviews online, I found that the boil time was only lengthened by less than 30 secs. if you keep the burner lower thus making it possible to have a normal conversation around the stove.

I had a Whisperlite for 3 yrs and found it great for boiling water. We like to do things like pancakes and meals that need simmering so we bought the dragonfly. Our friends already had one so we knew its abilities. Now we can cook whatever we want and still have the ability to make scalding water for coffee and oatmeal in no time.

I've used MSR stoves for 5 years including 2 winter camping trips and have never had a problem with the plastic pumps. I think people are afraid of plastic breaking.....I doubt anyone one of the scaredicats has ever seen one fail.

I don't think that the burner is small.....but it does create a hotspot so I may look into a diffuser. Also its easier to priem/start than my whisperlite.

Its sturdy, compact and pretty light eater. Our group of 4 went a week in the BWCA, using it for 14 meals, including oatmeal and coffee/cocoa in the AM's, all on a 33oz bottle of fuel.

oh yeah and the RedRock Wilderness Store has this stove priced cheaper than any of the retail stores.

I do like the burn time on 20 oz. of fuel. 126 minutes.

Compare that to the Colman stuff, twice the burn time means less fuel carried with the MSR stoves. That's big for me being a backpacker also.

I've had my Dragonfly for nearly five years and I still love it. It can be loud when it's on full-blast, but it's a very localized sound (if you're cooking on one side of the fire grate rocks, you often won't be able to hear it on the opposite side of camp, for example) and when you turn it off (to enjoy your coffee), the silence is really apparent. :o)

We make two pots of coffee and then breakfast each morning. Took 20 oz. of fuel on an eight day trip last week and came back with at least 8 oz. unused.

I also like it because it works well in the winter -- it's been on three winter excursions so far and starts up just fine in near zero degree weather.

Got my Dragonfly...thanks everyone for your input

Does this mean you'll be cooking all the family meals on it for the next week to master it?

1st recipe...... northwoods kraut!!!!!