The MSR Dragonfly is a light, high-performance, multi-fuel stove. The stove is aptly named for its unique dragonfly-like design. The pot support legs collapse onto the burner, so the pack size is 1/3 of the cooking size. This design provides a large and stable cooking surface while the stove is opened and allows the stove to collapse into a compact (4 X 6 inch.) stuff sack. The stove can burn white gas, kerosene, unleaded auto fuel, diesel fuel and jet fuel. Will you ever use all those? Probably not, but when your on the trail it's nice to have the option. I also like the fact that I'm reusing my fuel bottle. Backpacking stoves are trending toward the disposal fuel cans and I feel more environmentally responsible if I refill my fuel bottle (it's also much cheaper).
MSR's Cool Fuel Valve is featured on the Dragonfly stove. This enables you to adjust the fuel flow at two points, on the stove and on the fuel bottle. It’s a great feature if your cooking requires a variety of flame sizes. When I’m camping with larger groups (5+), my Dragonfly stove is always used to handle the larger pots and pans. Many of the other, ultra-light weight burners, like the MSR Pocket Rocket, can hold large pots, but they don’t hold them nearly as stable as the MSR Dragonfly does.
PROS
This is a great stove for backpacking for a number of days with large groups. The MSR Dragonfly can easily hold large, heavy pots and allows for variable flame levels. It packs up small, and burns a reasonable amount a fuel. MSR suggests that the stove will burn around 20 oz. of white gas in 126 minutes, depending on the altitude and temperature. I’ve used this stove (it was one of 3 stoves, but saw the most use) for a group of six people (2 meals a day), during a week long outing and burned through a 20 oz. can of white gas.
CONS
The MSR Dragonfly can be tricky to get lit. Sometimes you pump the fuel bottle too much, open the valve only to find that you’re stoves valve is open all the way. This then puts too much fuel onto the “cup†on the burner and when you light it you create a huge fire ball. I’ve gotten better at handle this over time, but warn first time users who are using your stove. It’s the downside of the duel-value stove. It’s also more difficult to light this stove in the wind (and keep it lit), compared to the MSR Reactor and MSR Pocket Rocket stoves. I keep the metal wind shield in the stove’s stuff stack just to make sure I have it for unexpected conditions.
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