by Gadgetgeek » Tue 26 Nov, 2019 6:25 pm
I have three MSR stoves, Whisperlite international, Dragonfly and Pocket Rocket2.
Thoughts: Whisperlite international is good if you might end up running odd fuels, but, you pay for it in efficiency. It doesn't run shellite (white-gas, coleman fuel) as well as the regular whisperlite(I think thats what some are referring to as the 600), its a matter of percentage points, but it is measurable. Either way, get the Trillium stove base. Whisperlite can be kinda coaxed into simmering, but only with a lot of practice and babysitting. They also need some care when it comes to travel and storage, as you need to let the fuel drain out. Its worse when its kerosene. Liquid fuel is also kinda a pain for travel, especially air travel, so you likely will never use that capability. If you need it, get it, but don't use it as a "maybe someday" selling point.
Dragonfly- XKG with simmering capability, Loud as hell, I'd get the dragonfly instead of the XKG unless all you want is a mad water boiler. Even then, there are better options for your use case.
you won't find a Whisperlite universal since they don't pass the ADR, and a grey import means you are always paying extra premium for parts. Its not exactly illegal to have them here, just importing them, I'm not sure if there would ever be consequences.
Remote canister stove, Be careful. There are lots of dodgy ones out there and running adapters can mean running liquid butane into a stove only designed to handle gaseous fuel. I've seen several, they are cheap and nasty, you are getting what you pay for, unless you go for something like a Kovea Spider, moonwalker, or MSR windpro. Also the BTU output of butane compared to propane mix is actually wide enough to notice. I've used the cheap "fly-spray" cans and while they do work, you end up with a heavy fuel source.
So far all your options are pretty heavy, so unless you are sharing the load, they are way more than one person needs. For solo, or similar, and keeping your average temp above 10C, you'd do fine with a pocket-rocket style stove and good fuel. There are tricks you can use to keep butane stoves going in cooler weather, you just have to plan a little.