A lot of issues come back to how pure the white gas fuel may be. It varies a lot, not just between brands but between batches. Doing the "shake" tends to even it all out. Also, I also leave the pump in if I'm car camping, taking care to protect the pump shaft. If I'm using a sled or backpack, I take the pump out. The issue is that the pump will extend with very little resistance and it is brittle, more so in extreme cold. They WILL BREAK so if you do leave it in, throw on a rubber band to keep it from extending out.

@@WPG101 I've somewhere between 350 and 400 trail days with my Whisperlite, not using it every night though. I wrap the fuel bottle in the wind screen (if I carry it) and put it in a plastic bag so it's slide easier in an out of the pack. Haven't had the pump shaft extend a single time, maybe because of the bag. I've used Coleman fuel 95% of the time and I've never used it with gasoline for cars. Rest of the time other (supposedly) clean white gas from different sources.

Kerosene have more energy per ounce than white gas so can boil slightly more water with the same amount of fuel. Kerosene is also much less flammable than white gas which sounds like an advantage, but it also makes it harder to prime the stove and (in my experience) don't buy quite as clean as white gas. I only use white gas as I find it much more convenient than kerosene, but don't light your stove inside a tent (vestibule) until you have practiced. Btw I only use regular gasoline in an emergency. Using white gas reduce the need for maintenance.

but we don't have white gas here in the Philippines what I did is I mix the gasoline and kerosene but I don't know f it is right..

@@ronaldpalle6144 I'd never mix gasoline and kerosene. Might work, but most likely nobody else have tested it. Can yield unpredictable results. We actually don't have white gas where I live either, I just called it white gas as that's what it's called in the US (or Coleman fuel). What I buy is basically the same and a direct translation to English is "clean gasoline" or "purified gasoline". I don't know the correct English term, but I can find it in some pharmacies (in small and expensive bottles) and fairly cheap in some gas stations. Try looking for Coleman fuel or MSR Superfuel - might be available where you live. You could also try to google "what is white gas" to see if you can find the right product in your country. Using kerosene also work, but you might have to use some alcohol to prime the stove. With white gas you don't need anything extra.

Another option is an old pair of jeans. Cut off the legs so that you have some shorts, sew the leg ends and the waist shut. Use the zip to pour in rice of buckwheat hulls or whatever you prefer. The "legs" straddle your car window sill or a rock or log. That was my first beanbag.

Glad you like it. Nothing like a reliable heat source in arctic conditions.

It probably needs some dials, pulleys and steam valves, but yes, it's simple and works well.

Glad you liked it.

Ha!! I like the inventive thinking. My "go to" option for stills is the beanbag as it's quick, light and easy without having to level it, just level the camera on the bag.

You can certainly use a ball head which I assume you would be mounting on a window clamp, as shown in the second window clamp image. But there are issues. They always need to be levelled horizontally by quite a lot and you risk window breakage if you are using a big heavy telephoto. But for a light camera setup with a shorter lens, they do work well. The small fluid head that you see on the door clamp is what I used for that.

You need a heavy base for video as any tiny shake or tremour will show up, as you can see in the short owl clip. So I deliberately went with the heavier steel. Also, I can't weld aluminium and a 5mm aluminium plate won't bend without a machine press or maybe an Oxyacetylene rig, neither which I have and I don't think your average photographer would either. The door clamp is not intended for hiking, just car use, so the wieght isn't a logistical problem. As mentioned in the video, the light aluminium door clamp works fine for stills as you usually don't use slow shutter speeds (to avoid blur from subject movement) for wildlife so shakes and tremours are not an issue.

Sorry. Just to be clear, you really need to turn off the valve BEFORE you have filled the cup, in fact it's good to turn it off when the cup is about half full because pressure, from the bottle, in the fuel line will continue to push fuel out for a few seconds. Spilt fuel can cause a fire hazard.

Had not thought of that. Maybe peas as well? Right size but not sure of the weight factor.

I'm constantly surprised just how steady a bean bag can be with a super telephoto. With some careful balancing, breath control and image stabilisation, you can get some pretty good quality video. Stills, of course, are less of a problem. Oh, and a bean bag makes a great pillow if you need a nap in the car. Just sayin'.

@@kelvinaitken9020 A pillow is always with me in the car. And I have one to rest my feet on when it is cold.

Absolutely. Even when in Park the car's engine generates vibration. Run silent for sharp shots.

You'd need a Whisperlight Universal to use canister fuel.

Yes, less pumps for lower pressure for simmering definitely helps.

Thanks. I appreciate the follow.

No problem. Check the linked article for more info. Most photographers only have half information when it comes to temperature "fuzzies", or you get so-called professionals that just parrot stuff they saw elsewhere. I hope one of the window mount solutions works for you.

Probably the most important thing is to relieve the pressure after about 30 seconds to a minute. That should do the trick.

You are correct. As mentioned in the video, there are things that you can do to extend the usefulness of canisters in sub zero temperatures. However, they do eventually stop working, or it all becomes too difficult to manage them, even when inverted with the special attachment. That loss of efficiency starts happening around 5C and becomes a source of great irritation below -5C. This is because, as mentioned in the video, you need "warm" temperatures to form a gas inside the canister. Even when inverted, it's that evaporated propane/butane gas that pushes the liquid fuel out of the canister, not just gravity. Like liquid naphtha fuel, the canister fuel is then evaporated in the metal loop in the stove head. So eventually, when it becomes cold enough, that evaporation inside the canister stops happening and the liquid flow slows then stops. The more fuel that's used the less pressure, as the reduced volume in the canister is not replace by new evaporated gas. Canisters become inefficient and, eventually, stop working. When you're out in the middle of nowhere, canisters can't be trusted in life threatening situations (if something goes wrong, like falling through the ice on a river, lake or ocean in -50). The best solution is a white gas stove, or a spirit stove if you want to pack light. If the smaller size of a canister is important to you (e.g. lighter and smaller than a 1L primus bottle) you can just buy the smaller 500ml bottle.

@@kelvinaitken9020 wow, thanks for the excellent answer, yea that makes sense about needing at least some pressure even when the canister is inverted. So do spirits (eg denatured alcohol/methylated spirits) burn well even well below -5 C?, I’ve never used it below 0, my understanding is that it is less energy dense than white gas so is heavier to carry for same amount of heat output (although traildesigns custom titanium stove systems come very close due to the efficiency of their design, plus can also burn wood and solid fuel) although the whole stove system tends to be lighter than a total white gas system when carrying a typical alcohol stove, bottle and fuel for just a couple days. I tend to prefer canisters or alcohol due to safety, working with white gas or unleaded makes me nervous it’s just so volatile, I know too many people who got badly burned just passing their hand holding the lighter/match through the vapor around the petrol to light the liquid, mind you alcohol is more likely to be spilt due to open stove design 🤔

@@impermanenthuman8427 To be honest, I have never used a sprit stove as I have had no need to. But I do know that they are preferred by some due to, as you say, thier light weight. But I know that they do work well without the complexity of the MSR setup, althought probably not putting out as an intense heat as canister or naphtha stoves. I have not used car fuel with my stove purely because I have not needed to. In remote areas, such as the arctic, kerosene is readily available and comes in metal or plastic contaners that are small enough to pack. In a remote area where you wanted to use car fuel you would need to buy a small container and go thourgh all the filling drama. So it comes down to convenience.

What do you think of the Optimus Polaris? It is very similar to the Whisperlite Universal in that it burns white gas/unleaded, kerosene and also canisters (both upright and inverted), however the Polaris also burns Diesel and aviation fuel/JP-8. Also the Polaris burns all fuels with the same jet so no need to swap out jets in the field. The British Royal Marines chose the Polaris over the Whisperlite universal, they liked that it is cleaner in terms of less residue of liquid fuel likely to spill into the pot that it can be stored in for cooking, also in the military they have a lot of vehicles that run on JP-8 (although I’m not sure what the difference is between JP-8 and Kerosene?), plus the Polaris can also burn lamp oil. Also the Polaris has a much better simmer. The main thing that concerns me with the Polaris though is that the hose lacks a cleaning rod like the MSR’s have which makes me wonder how long the Polaris would really work long term if only unleaded was available and the hose developed black residue in it possibly? However apparently the holy grail that another couple of KZbinrs have shown is using the Optimus Polaris pump in the MSR bottle with the Whisperlite Universal, the pump is a little heavier but more durable, and a huge bonus is the pump gives you a second valve so enables simmering with Whisperlite Universal! You might like to look into this as it makes the Whisperlite more useful for cooking.

@@impermanenthuman8427 Thanks for the heads up. I have not used the polaris so can't give an experienced reply. If you are just getting into the market for a liquid fuel stove, it would be worth comparing and going with whatever suits your needs. I would think that both need the same amount of maintenance as it's the fuel that causes minor blockages. The MSR pump shaft has been known to break in extreme cold, although I've never had a problem, so a more robust pump is not a bad thing. In the real world, simmering is not a big deal. The main use for a stove in extreme cold is to heat water as quickly as possible. No one in their right mind is simmering mushrooms while sitting on an iceberg. It would be handy if you're heating food that's not dehydrated, but that would not be normal for expedition camping.

That's a good tip. You can also buy a cheap utility belt from the hardware store. But, as mentioned in the video, if. you are already taking a backpack (e.g. for short day excursions froma base camp) you can avoid the weight and cost of a special harness. With your backpack emptied, to be lighter for sled towing, you can add some some cord loops (if your backpack doesn't already have loops or D-rings on the bottom) to take the pole clips. It won't damage your backpack if the loops have a solid point to be attached to. At worst, you can put the loops directly around your waistband which is designed to handle decent weight.

Will do. I'll put it on the list.

Thanks. Just got back from a week camping on the edge of a frozen lake photographing wolves. The stove kept me in coffee and hot food without fault.

Thanks for your comment. Also, you need to redo the pump more when the bottle is full as the air space is quite small.

When you're in a blizzard in the dark and you just got back to your tent from a hike there's nothing like a stove that works with that wonderful ball of heat telling you all is well.

No. They're just covering their butt with possible insurance claims if something weird goes wrong. Same if you buy a bbq - the instructions will demand that you don't relight a bbq until you let it cool off for 5-15 minutes. Sometimes I might forget that I need to heat something so, if the head is still hot, I can just turn the fuel back on and relight it as the metal loop/tube is still hot enough for the liquid fuel to be evaporated into gas. If not, I just go through the priming sequence again. You don't need to repump the bottle if there's pressure already in there, but you can if you want to be sure that it's flowing properly. Of course, this is assuming that for some reason you haven't spilt fuel everywhere. So normally, no problem relighting the stove without waiting.

Glad you got something out of it. What I like about it is that I can fly into somewhere remote without any stove fuel then just use what's at my destination. For example, I go to the arctic a lot and they will have kerosene, diesel and petrol (i.e. unledaded petrol or similar). I can switch the jet in the stove top to use either kerosene or petrol which will work any time of year (a gas cannister if you can find one, won't work in arctic winter).

Thanks for commenting.Glad you liked it.

Glad you liked it. It's a good system, you just gotta use it right.