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| The original MSR Stove as pictured in the 1973 MSR catalogue |
The remote burner stove with a fuel tank at the end of a
long hose is now a standard design. Every stove company makes at least one and
there are models that run on butane/propane canisters as well as liquid fuels
like petrol and paraffin. These stoves are efficient and reliable, especially
in cold weather. However back in the
1970s they didn’t exist and burners sat on top of fuel tanks. Such stoves were
okay for summer use and with small pots but weren’t that good in sub-zero temperatures
or with big pots.
This was all to change when a new company in Seattle called
Mountain Safety Research (MSR) set out to design a more practical and efficient
stove, in particular one that could easily melt snow when winter
mountaineering. After much testing MSR worked out that a remote, pump
pressurised fuel tank was the answer and in 1973 the original remote burner
stove was launched, using a fuel bottle as the tank. Originally just called the
MSR Stove, soon changed to the MSR Model 9, this stove revolutionised stove
design, though it took a while for the idea to spread. The Model 9 ran on white
gas such as Coleman Fuel plus unleaded and leaded petrol. Apparently meths
could be used too ‘if the air inlets of the burner are mostly closed with foil’.
It weighed 340 grams, which was very light for a liquid fuel stove.
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| The MSR Model G, introduced in 1978 |
Since 1973 MSR has continued to improve the stove. The Model
G and Model GK stoves replaced the Model 9 in 1978 and had field-maintainable
fuel-lines, a big breakthrough. The GK version could also burn paraffin, diesel
and some aviation fuels as well as petrol. These two models were merged in 1982
as the X-GK.
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| The MSR XGK II Shaker Jet |
The next major improvement was in 1994 when the Shaker Jet was
introduced in the X-GK II. This involved putting a weighted needle in the jet
that pushed any dirt out of the jet when the stove was shaken or moved but
which didn’t interfere with fuel flow when the stove was in use. Before the
Shaker Jet a jet pricker had to be used. This was a very fine wire needle on a
piece of aluminium that had to be prodded into the jet to dislodge dirt if it
became blocked. Jet prickers were awkward to use, especially with cold fingers
and by torchlight, and easy to break or lose – I used to carry two or more and
once had to resort to using a toothbrush bristle when I mislaid both. Jet
prickers also pushed the dirt back into the fuel line from which it could rise
up and again block the jet.
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| Today's MSR XGK EX |
From the Model 9 to the X-GKII all the stoves had rigid
metal fuel lines. These were tough and easy to clean but rather awkward to
pack. In 2005 MSR changed this to a flexible line in a braided metal sheath.
This makes packing the stove much easier and is still stiff enough for easy
cleaning.
A significant extra advantage of MSR’s design was that
because the burner was separate from the fuel tank it could be fully surrounded
by a windshield. To this end MSR introduced the now ubiquitous lightweight and
compact folding foil windscreen.
The XGK continues as a workhorse stove, ideal for melting
masses of snow and boiling big pots of water. I used one regularly when I led
ski backpacking trips and cooked for ten or more people at a time. I took one
on my length of Scandinavia walk back in 1992 too as I didn’t know what fuel
would be available along the way and I wanted a multi-fuel stove that would
work with dirty fuels and was easy to clean. I ended up mostly using paraffin
and needed to clean the fuel line every so often. The XCK never let me down on
any of these trips.
Whenever you use a remote burner stove remember MSR and the
Model 9 and XGK. That’s where it began.
