MSR Dragonfly
£100.00
Burns: Everything except the sprouts, alcohol and gas
Time to boil 1 litre: 4 mins 50 sec
Weight: 490g
The Dragonfly's been touted as an XGK for people who want more
controllability, well sorry guys, it's an impressive piece of kit,
but it's not quite the expedition stove that the XGK is; here's
why...
With dirty fuel and vehicle fuel in particular, there are
additives which don't burn off at the sort of temperatures stoves run
at and eventually cause clogging. The XGK is basically simple with
big bore, easily cleaned tubes and passages, the Dragonfly, on the
other hand, uses a tapered needle mechanism to provide
controllability. The upside of this is that the stove has a subtlety
completely foreign to XGK owners - it can even simmer for heaven's
sake - the down side is that the fine needle grooves clog easily with
the result that the stove clogs and has to be stripped for
cleaning.
One OUTDOORSmagic tester using the stove in the Bolivian Andes
found that, eventually, the frequent stripping caused the O-ring
seals in the control mechanism to fail. In all other respects, the
Dragonfly is a superb stove and gives unimpeachable performance with
white gas, but don't mistake it for an all out expedition model. Heat
output, controllability and ease of use are all splendid, though the
macho roar of the burner is up in the XGK league. If you want to be
discreet get a Whisperlite.
Verdict: Not quite the 'XGK which simmers' it promises to
be, but still an excellent, brilliantly put together bit of kit.
I'd just love to visit the MSR
web site
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David Olney
