This is the final in the series of MSR stoves coming from the state of Idaho, USA. Well, I didn't bother cooking up any soup, but we do have an MSR FireFly on our hands! This stove flew in to my possession just recently and has been a delight to play with. I can see why so many people like it. Makes me wonder what they were thinking as to why they stopped making this little beauty. I didn't realize when people said that this stove was awesome, they really meant it. It is really AWESOME! It is also loud, very loud!!! It has to be one of my loudest stoves yet, other than my No 3. or my M2A. It's kind of a tie between the GK and this stove. I guess I'll keep both of them! Here's the stove with a mid-sized fuel bottle. It came with the famous yellow pump. Like the others, this pump is stout and beefy and pumps air like a charm. The span of the pot stands is very large compared to many modern burners like this one. I was able to put a large kettle on for grins and it worked out just fine. Here it is all folded up - the ancestor to the WhisperLite design of collapsing pot stand and legs that wrap around the main burner tube. The burner jet is snuggled down inside the burner bell area. It looks to be the same size as the XGK jet. I didn't pull it to compare, but if you notice, there's an 'X' and 'G' stamped on the jet. 'G' for gasoline. The flame spreader. Well used but in great condition. Here's the secondary valve control, which allows the camper to reduce the flame to a simmer. Believe it or not, the FireFly is really capable of simmering. Still noisy when simmering, the control reduces the roar to a purr. I thought I would show the base of the fuel connector and safety lock. This was a unique design that allows the backpacker to push down onto the bottle and get the support of the fuel connector lock. It made it slightly easier to pump. You can also see the stove folded up to a narrow profile. Another shot of the folded stove. Even though it is folded, the stands are still quite tall. The stamp 'MSR FIREFLY' on the connector where the very narrow fuel tube goes in to the stove. You can see the pot stands wrapped above and below the inlet. The letters 'MC4' are stamped below the fuel inlet. Don't know what the letters mean. Anyone care to chime in here? There are other stampings on the the fuel line clamps too. A view of the bottom of the stove. There's a wing nut to lock the legs into position once they've been moved there. Locks them up quite tight. The main block of the stove where the simmering control is located. I wonder if it is ribbed to gather some of the thermal feedback. The fuel tube is actually a rubber fuel line with some kind of thick cloth material as a wrapper. I'm sure the material is fire-proof. The interesting clamps have stamping on them with a firefly engraved on. There are two numbers stamped on to the clamp above the firefly - 11 and 8. November 88? That sounds like that would be the right date, if it was actually a date. The clamp on the other end is the stamped with the same content. Here's the fuel tube block. No stamping of any kind. The fuel tube connector goes into the standard MSR pump, like the yellow one that came with this stove. A shot of the actual burner. It's very compact about 3 inches across. Small but ferocious! Fitted with the windscreen makes this stove quite bulky. Backpackers would have to take extra care not to dent or bend this one since it is made of very soft aluminum. Here's the stove lit with the windscreen. It's actually windy outside about 15 MPH and not showing signs of being blown around. Works great! Got the FireFly glowing now and reflecting some of the blue and probably heat to. Here it is getting the kettle to boil. It's cold outside so it seems more steamy than it usually would be. It boiled a full liter in about 5 minutes. Not too shabby! Overall, the FireFly is quite the stove. It does everything well. I think the only drawback is the great big windscreen for backpackers otherwise the windscreen makes a huge difference on the boil test. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! sam
Sam, I've really enjoyed your series of posts on the MSR's. Beautifully put together, like the FireFly! Thank you very much indeed. Excellent pics. Without an MSR myself, I'm not sure but when I've heard folks talking about the 'tabs' on the poorer designs of pump breaking off, what are they referring to? I've been guessing its bits of the plastic casting that the pump knob locks down into. Cheers, John
Thanks Sam. Like you, I wonder why they would stop making what appears to be a good product and replacing it with something no better (at best). My less cynical guess is that it must be due to manufacturing costs. But it is also seems to be the case that American companies routinely replace one product line with another for no apparent reason other than they think the consumer masses are willing to toss out the old for the new on a regular basis.
Good Morning, Sam, and All, I, too, have very much enjoyed your MSR Series here, Sam! Well done! And, like you, I have found the Fire Fly to be an outstanding stove, all around! Mine are loud, too, and when I finally do a sound pressure test on my "loud" stoves, I'll see which one is the true winner of "loudest stove in the world"..... or, at least loudest of the ones I own! 8) As I have some promotional material that MSR sent to it's dealers, back when they introduced the Fire Fly, and later the Whisperlite, I see strong evidence that the WL was developed because too many hikers complained about the noise of the FF!! Also, because this stove/windscreen combination works best with a sloping-sided pot, as comes with the Optimus 81 Trapper, many unthinking hikers and backpackers crushed their wonderful FF windscreens by jamming pots that were too large down onto it, For my money, the Fire Fly is a far better stove than the Whisperlite, in all regards. Not to say the regular WL is not an OK stove, but it's just that the FF is more powerful, works better in the wind, and it can simmer very nicely!! Need I say more??!! 8) As to dating, I'll check the material I have on hand, and see if those dates you surmised work with the dates on the material. I'll also dig out all three of my Fire Fly stoves, and see if there is anything like a "series" of numbers that might help in this, too. In any case, thanks, very much, for your wonderful MSR series of reports and photos, and it's very nice that you saved one of the best for last: The wonderful MSR Fire Fly!!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. Presscall, you figured it correctly. The weak spot on most all MSR pumps, except the early yellow ones, and the newest ones, are the little tabs which lock the pump into the pump body. Pump too hard, and they WILL shear right off, leaving nothing to hold the pump into the pump body!!
At the time MSR started making the Firefly, they really only had one other stove, the Model 9/G/GK/XGK series stove. It makes sense that MSR would just use the "X" jets that they already had. When the complaints about noise came in, then they had reason to come up with a different type of burner and a new type of jet. MSR reacts to consumer feedback, not all of which is good. They got rid of the noisy Firefly but replaced it with the essentially non-simmering Whisperlite. The Whisperlite simply isn't as versatile a stove (although it is quieter). That's the secret to MSR's stoves that simmer well: the secondary valve. To my mind, the Firefly's departure left a hole in the MSR range of liquid fueled stoves: there is no individual/small group stove that can simmer. The Dragonfly simmers well, but it's really designed for bigger groups. I don't think my FF has that feature. I'll have to check. You may have an early model. Haven't the foggiest, but I'll get my FF out tonight and post the markings for comparative purposes. I'm pretty sure that the ribs are thermally related. I'm just not sure if they're there to dissipate or accumulate heat. One of the complaints I've seen about the FF is its heavy reliance on aluminum which, according to the complaints, doesn't hold up well. Recall that these ribs are under the windscreen and that the windscreen is really a combination windscreen and heat shield. It may be that the ribs, since they are underneath the protective heat shield are meant to cool the stove. I'm obviously speculating here. Hmm. That's a toughie. More of those danged cryptic MSR numbes. The Whisperlite came out in 1984. I'm pretty sure the FF was discontinued shortly thereafter. To the best of my recall, the FF was no longer available when I bought my Whisperlite circa 1987. I therefore think that 1988 would be too late of a manufacture date for an FF. Doc, what do you think on that subject? I have not thought that the FF's windscreen/heat shield combo was particularly practical. However, as Doc points out, if you have a "truncated cone" type pot, then the FF's windscreen will pack well. The separate windscreen and reflector that most MSR stoves have is more practical although I think the FF's performs very well. Sam, thank you for this most informative and interesting series of posts. HJ
John, thank you for your kind comments. I really appreciate it. Actually, it is your work that has inspired me to do better work on my photography. My hat's off to you and your very impressive work! Well, now for your question. Here goes. I'm only guessing on this one John. I believe a picture will help explain this. I've not broken any of these MSR pumps nor do I own one with broken tabs but if you look at the blue arrows in the picture, those parts that I call 'tabs' seem to be the weakest part of the pump. On the gray pump one of the tabs is getting quite worn and thin and looks about to break off. I'm figuring if I pull hard enough on the handle, it will just snap right off. The yellow pump has no such tabbing. The mechanism to hold the pump together is quite substantial. Could it be some other part of the pump? I guess that would be a question for Doc or HJ to answer as they've experienced the bite of a broken pump. Have a good day! sam
Doc and HJ. It was a pleasure to serve you and very fun. I've not had so much fun with camera and computer and, especially stove in all my life. That FireFly is such a good little stove. I'm still astonished at its performance. And again, it is SO LOUD! Maybe the dragon fly is louder, but I think the wind screen bowl helps with the noise, but I love it. It has this weird thump to it that other stoves don't do. Hard to explain. Anway, thanks for your great comments guys. All of you made the series what it is with your great knowledge and background with these stoves!!! sam
Hey itchy! Thanks for the picky questions! This world would be so boring without them. I hear ya on the company thing. Makes me wonder. You know, if you going to listen to your customers, at least improve over the last product instead of the other way around. When it comes to hobbies and sports, people will pay for quality, even during a recession. Thanks for your comments. sam
John, you've got it right. There's a slot that the pump collar (bushing) goes into and then twists clockwise. There's a little tab of plastic that holds the pump collar in place. It's this little tab of plastic that has a rather annoying habit of breaking off. In Sam's photo of the gray and black MSR pump, you can see the black of the pump collar where the slot is. The slot looks like an upside down "L". It's the light gray piece of plastic that fits into the crook of the upside down "L" that tends to break off. Pumps with broken tabs will still work after a fashion, but one has to self-monitor how far one retracts the pump shaft. With the tabs gone, one can pull the shaft right out of the pump. HJ
Thanks for all the great info and photos! I just got a Firefly a few days ago that came without the wind screen bowl. I just used the heat shield and wind screen from my whisperlight, and it boiled up my coffee water just fine. Just for the record, my w-international is just 4 ounces lighter than the firefly; if I was winter camping, I'd take the firefly without a doubt. I primed mine the way I have always done the whisperlight, pressurize the tank, let a bit of gas out, light it, let it burn nearly down, let a bit more out, etc. For the firefly, I did tip the stove over nearly sideways to get the gas up the side of the burner bowl to make it easier to light with a bic-style lighter without sticking my hand down inside...hate the smell of burnt hair. Cheers, Scott
I guess you were the lucky one who found that FF on craigslist. That is a good stove although heavy for my taste. Take good care of it and it will serve you well. Your close tomy area I see. I live in Milpitas. Cheers Ron
Hi Ron, Yea, just happened to bump into it, and couldn't resist. I'm even closer than that, South Fremont. :-) Is that an alcohol stove you've got for your avitar? (I've thought about making one for fun.) Scott
