MSR XGK EX Review: The Best Backpacking Stove for High Altitude

MSR XGK EX: alnk.to/87U2KKa
Our Favorite Gear:
Backpack (Men’s): alnk.to/caYj7pU
Backpack (Women’s): alnk.to/7fl5EA1
Tent: alnk.to/60VMMSr
Foot Print:
Sleeping Bag: amzn.to/3HnEfEI
Sleeping Bag Liner: alnk.to/aWz0fP1
Sleeping Pad: alnk.to/5jgKRIN
Pillow: alnk.to/aWz0fPG
Neck Gaiter: alnk.to/3J1W2o8
Headlamp: amzn.to/3QmhZ20
Trekking Poles: alnk.to/dLd7WUL
Rain Jacket: alnk.to/2jHSbTj
Down Jacket: alnk.to/eDMUR0d
Hammock: alnk.to/desR0tM
Multitool: alnk.to/3chF6hT
Cook Set: alnk.to/aWz0gbH
Stove: alnk.to/2uCDb20
GPS Garmin: alnk.to/6TvzHqO
Water Purifier: alnk.to/g36YHRc
Camera Clip: alnk.to/3y7b3Wf
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For an up-to-date list of all the backpacking stoves reviewed by our team of expert backpackers, check out this article:
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[@GordLamb]

I've got so many miles on my XGK it looks kinda surreal seeing a brand new one! The thing burns anything. I've been running mine off home-brew biodiesel for years. If the jet ever clogs and you can't clear it with the needle, remove it, put it on the spreader plate, and hit it with a blow torch until it glows red hot. Works every time. Also, another tip that MSR really should make more well known: instead of closing the valve to stop the stove (unless you plan to re-light shortly thereafter), flip the bottle over. That will push air through the pump and hose, forcing the remaining fuel out.

[@TheAdventureJunkies]

Awesome points here. Thanks for sharing your extensive experience with it!

[@makodokokoronokotomo6243]

Awesome! I want to buy this stove! I know that alcohol can corrode the fuel bottle, damage the o-ring seals. But, have you test to burn alcohol with XGK EX?

[@GordLamb]

@@makodokokoronokotomo6243 It would work with the right jet diameter (stoichiometric ratio differs from gas/diesel pretty significantly).

[@jastrapper190]

@@makodokokoronokotomo6243 MSR has specifically advised against denatured alcohol or other alcohols. But I’m sure it would work just fine. Especially if you had a bottle you didn’t care about and had access to an assortment of orings. I have never tested this though. I’ve burned kerosine, unleaded gas, JP8, diesel, and white gas (which is by far the best gas if you can get it. Burns hot and clean (ish). But if you don’t care about “sooting up” your pots. Just buy 20 gallons of unleaded gasoline at any gas station and you can run that little stove for weeks and weeks of constant use. It’s a tank.

[@maximilianoorona4440]

The hook is incorrectly attached to the pump on this video. There is an insert on the back where the hooks snaps. Hook end should not point down, but to the side of the bottle.

[@severianttila8987]

5:49 its actually way easier to put the white fuel filter in first.

[@jonweiss8905]

A good look at the XGK. Thanks. I’m the first to say it here, but won’t be the last: cover the pot for faster boil times and improved fuel efficiency. Some viewers may not know that. Just wanted to add that the XGK is an expedition stove; for people actually going on expeditions. Most of us can probably get by with the slightly cheaper and lighter Whisperlite International- another fantastic, bombproof stove from MSR.

[@TheAdventureJunkies]

Good call! Yes, the stove is definitely a bit overkill for weekend hikes

[@GordLamb]

@@TheAdventureJunkies unless those weekend hikes are in the mountains with a group of 8. :)

[@wyosundancer]

Good Video. A long time ago a friend and I went to over 10,000 foot elevation in Colorado to hunt. We didn't check the weather for-cast ahead of time. We got a foot of snow the first night and the temperature dropped to 20 degrees below zero. We had a butane cooking stove. We had done just about everything wrong.

[@dykm2]

You look like you've never used one of these before, and the stove is brand new.... Dont think ill be lending any weight to anything said in this video. Grass is dry, put it on the tree stump. Better for your back and lowers the fire risk. Pump goes in easiest filter first. Lube the tip of the fuel hose before putting it in the pump so you dont damage the oring. Spit on it if you dont have the oring oil. (Official MSR manual advice) Your fuel line is in wrong. Turn it 90degrees so the hook sits in the saddle. Light the wick through the hole on the side next to the wick. Its easier, especially if its windy and avoids burning your fingers if you didnt bring a great big kitchen lighter like yours.

[@sammcloughlin9291]

Wouldnt use a liquid fuel stove on dry tinder in the wind good way to cause a big problem

[@gnmurray5955]

You have not got a clue. First of all you set up on a very windy day directly onto dry grass. Then you connect the fuel line to the stove incorrectly. There is an obvious groove that the clip is supposed to fit into, you have it rotated 90 degrees. Then you do a boil test on a windy day without the lid on. And to top it off you do a 15 minute review on a brand new stove and proclaim it "a great stove". There is no doubt the XGK is a good stove but honestly, try making videos about something that you actually have knowledge about....

[@brentmiller73]

What are your thoughts about How thus stove compare to the wisperlite universal stove?

[@xmateinc]

I have this stove for bicycle touring, as its better for cooking whole meals then the pocket rocket. For backpacking though I prefer the pocket rockets, its much easier to store and I don’t worry about gas smells leaking into my food or gear. If I’m on a multi month adventure though the XGK is gonna be the one I bring as you can use damn near any fuel.

[@Exstaz]

Do not seam to boil faster then a Optimus Polaris with no top cover on. Btw how do you relive the pressure in the bottle without letting out gas?

[@mrnobodieswildcampingadventure]

I have had mine for a little while now (MSR XGK EX) and it never ever lets me down summer or winter, some complain it is noisy, duh, it is a furnace that boils water! I want a well cooked meal from it. I pre cook my meals, put them in a vacuum sealed bag and then when I want to eat them on the hike, I through them into the pan and let the water boil to heat them up for 5 minutes. Take them out of the vacuum sealed bag and I have a piping hot meal, cheap meal. None of this dehydrated expensive meals, but meals cooked to my liking and ready to go. Nothing beats a fuel stove, it just works at any temperature and altitude winter or summer!

[@2bfrank657]

"it's easiest to.." [fumbles with pump as he installs it for the first time ever]

[@TheLokeshpangtey]

XGK vs whisperlight?

[@rogiervis2306]

Used and issued by the Dutch army, and used in the artic, desert and jungle without problems for years

[@TheWanderingPreacher]

What would be a good storage container to put the stove and fuel pump into while backpacking? I find that the black bag it comes with is too thin and the sharp edges of the stove can easily puncture through and puncture/scratch items in the backpack or potentially tear the backpack itself. I've included it inside a bear canister before. Big mistake as the scent of white gas penetrated the food.

[@Alex-be1qi]

Get a TOAKS1600 titanium or Snowpeak1400 fits like a glove!

[@TheWanderingPreacher]

@@Alex-be1qi that sounds like the possibility of getting gas or the scent of gas in your food.

[@xmateinc]

For shorter backpacking trips, like a few days, I just use the pocket rocket deluxe. I do wonder how these people store the XGK stove when backpacking. For bicycle touring its not problem to store, and I don’t have to worry about gas smell getting into my food or clothes, sine I have plenty of bags to store things. But for backpacking you have to put everything into one bag.

[@Stu1664RM]

Dude you pre heat it before you open the fuel up again. That way you don’t have huge flames and flare ups. Most people will carry a small bottle of meths/alcohol or something like coghlans pre heating paste. I use a little squirt of alcohol hand gel. Pre-heat then fire her up.

[@Winnie122459]

Colin Fletcher claimed this was the best stove ever! High praise from a great great man!

[@TheAdventureJunkies]

Absolutely!

[@Inspectergadget69]

Good review. Well done with good sound and video and clear and concise.

[@IvanIvanov-ku4hl]

Спасибо! Очень полезное видео для меня!👍

[@LinusWilson]

Great stuff

[@jastrapper190]

I have used that stove for cooking ALL my meals for not just months but years or my life. It’s a jet engine. And that’s really the only complaint one could have about it. It’s loud. It truly sounds like an engine. But you can really “tweak” the valves on the pumps to “simmer” things with it… or just crank it all the way up to boil water in a hurry. With a little work to change the jet opening (the part that “sprays the fuel”) it can burn almost anything including Diesel (or military JP8). They also make a special “arctic pump” that has different orings and is a different color meant for use in extreme cold. At very very cold temps the standard pump can have issues with the orings failing so they made the arctic pump. I just use the arctic pump all the time (hot or cold). They also make a “stand” that is meant for using the stove in deep snow. They are like “snowshoes” for the legs. They also sell different service and maintenance kits for it and you can replace or rebuild almost all of the components that might fail (orings, needles on the shaker pin, lubricants, nozzles, etc. if you’re using a lot of fuel.. you can buy the Coleman fuel in gallon cans. I usually buy multiple at a time and dump them into a 20 gallon jerry can. You can just use unleaded gas in a pinch but it takes changing the nozzle and it’s dirty. That’s another trick. I took the bottom of a coffee can (old metal one) and used a pair of tin snips to cut a metal “circle” of light gauge steel. The MSR XGK is such a beast it will heat that metal up to red hot in no time and you can place your pots on that. All the “soot” is caught on the bottom of the steel circle… or the majority of it. MSR also sells some “pot accesories” that include an ingenious method of strapping a corrugated grid around a standard pot. This metal corrugated piece of metal keeps the heat next to the metal of the cooking vessel. Hard to explain but it drasticallly inceases boils times. Even more than using the reflective metal wind screen and the reflective base piece of heavy foil. If you are cooking all your meals for months on it and are using a great deal of fuel and want to get cooking done asap… there are many things that can improve efficiency. It’s the best “expedition” stove in the world in my opinion. MSR really knocked the design of this stove out of the park. I have been using mine for over a decade and the only real issue I had was to call MSR to replace the “fireproof” absorbent cloth that’s under the burner cup. Great video.

[@steamboater05]

Go with me on a journey. Say you had a MSR whisperlite stove. Your partner has a MSR XKG. Say your partner's bag was filthy and the filters on both his pumpswere trash. Say he put your pumps in his bag, so yours are dirty too. Say you brought an expedition repair kit, which you both should have, but he didn't.Say you were down to 1 good normal pump and 1 probably good cold wx pump. What would happen if you just ripped filters off of the other pumps? Would they work?

[@TheAdventureJunkies]

It happened to me in an high altitude hiking trail (4,000mts +) with the Dragonfly stove. The filters got clocked/frozen (!) so I had to remove them. The stove did work (not as good as normal, but it worked), but I would have to clean all the lines after every use. I guess it might happens something similar to the Whisperlite/XKG

[@steamboater05]

Thanks for the info. My buddy is at 10k' on his way to 20k' if he can find a solution.

[@jayk3784]

저소음 상향식 연소캡잇써요

[@HerminaTallarico-x5o]

Laurie Haven

[@BrendaBugarin-r5e]

Stokes Mountains

[@superblondeDotOrg]

Using a cooking stove directly on dry grass with dry leaves.. duhh.. not smart. . seriously, what? and on a windy day at that, serrriously whaaat?

[@hogie1358]

You don't get out much do you

[@superblondeDotOrg]

@@hogie1358 you're not much of a camper are you

[@hogie1358]

@@superblondeDotOrg I'm a hunter/outdoorsmen. I'm in the bush a lot.

[@sambowie11]

@@hogie1358 I think the username says it all…