Have only used our Dragonfly a few times so far but really happy with it. I don't get the noise complaints at all though. That was one of the biggest mentions in the reviews my girlfriend read during the buying process and the first time we lit it up it made noise but I wouldn't call it noisy at all. The simmering is a great feature and the primary reason we went with the Dragonfly over the Whisperlite. That said I don't think you can go wrong with either.

You might consider looking at Sno-Peak canister https://www.snowpeak.com/ stoves Extreme light weight, reliable. Canister fuel is available many places if you are touring CONUS. I use their products for pack backing also. Carrying diesel fuel or gasoline is not an attractive to me while touring.

Have you tried using that stove on a cross country trip? I have an msr simmerilite that uses cannisters... They are not available in huge chunks of the Northern Tier but can't speak for the other routes. I would never do it again on that route. That was my experience. Even Walmart... one of the few places I could find them in the West don't carry them in the middle of the country. That was a fact in 2008.

True. The cannisters are very hard to find. I bought a bunch and had my gal drop mail them to me (two at a time) when needed. Worked well. Beats the heck out of lugging around alcohol, white gas or kerosene. Clean packing, clean burning, very quick heating and light-weight. Ya just gotta plan ahead.

And if you use the usps you would be breaking the law unless something has changed. Ground shipping only.

I went back and read a little harder.. I think if you can keep it ground only and limit it to 3 containers total and no more than 33.8 oz per package. Don't quote me on that. This is a link that I found with this information. Can't say if it's still valid or not.

https://www.gottawalk.com/shipping_fuel.htm

Well. I just finished corresponding with a guy that crossed the US and went into Mexico. He said he liked to be able to burn ACHOL since it was available everywhere. Drug store,hardware, grocery stores are everywhere. This made me think. He also stated car gas was used alot in Mexico. So I am thinking now that I should switch to ACHOL in the US and have the ability to go to car gas if i go further. Just have to find the best stove now.

I have forgotten the wording on the labeling (I printed up a bunch for her to use), but, yes, it does have to be especially labeled. It's not a biggie and the U.S. Postal Service does fine. Roll up to a town's P.O. and walk out with fuel for the next month.

Cannister stoves have spoiled me. The burner weighs about 2.5 oz., and is very small and packable. Three minutes to boil, no soot, spilled fuel etc. Screw the burner on the cannister and light it. Done.

Addressing the next post above; If I was going to Mexico, yes, I'd go with a multi-fuel stove, but not here in the States. Liquid fuel is (to my way of thinking) heavy, dirty and inconvenient. I do have a nice little Coleman 442, but I don't use it anymore.

Both are great. Biggest advantage of the Dragonfly is the ability to simmer, which you cannot do with the Whisperlite...well you can once you figure out the trick to it.
Both are fantastic. I have both and have used both for 15 plus years.

Gas canisters are becoming more widely available, I've seen canisters in my local Wal-Mart that are made by Coleman but would fit an MSR Whisper Lite or Snow Peak Giga Power (I have a Giga Power, it's a good stove).

REI has a note on their website saying that they can no longer ship butane canisters due to DOT restrictions on flammable items. They won't ship Coleman cartridges, and they don't show MSR or other cartridges on their website. It looks like the rules have changed for that sort of thing, so I would check with the Post Office or UPS before planning on shipping gas cartridges anywhere in the US, surface or air.

Having used a variety of fuels, I've settled on alcohol (Trangia cookset) for warm weather travel like cycle touring, and white gas for backpacking/mountaineering stuff. I can get alcohol in any hardware store and probably wherever I cycle in Europe, and it's just about as easy to use as a gas canister stove. For backpacking and mountaineering, I can buy a gallon can of white gas in Wal-Mart and pour what I need into my fuel bottles for each trip. I've had too many hassles trying to find a gas canister that would fit my stove, and I don't like having to dispose of all those empty canisters.

OT a bit, but I have been using the MSR Simmerlite for more than 4 years, including numerous bike trips, and it still works as a new one. The trick, which might kill it's versatility a bit, is that you can only use white gas. Never been a problem for me though. And it's really small too. Easily pack down inside my GSI pot.

OT a bit, but I have been using the MSR Simmerlite for more than 4 years, including numerous bike trips, and it still works as a new one. The trick, which might kill it's versatility a bit, is that you can only use white gas. Never been a problem for me though. And it's really small too. Easily pack down inside my GSI pot.

I have this same stove in cannister version. It does indeed pack small and the weight is very little compared to most white gas stoves.

We carried our fuel bottle for the Whisperlite around for 3 years on the bikes with no problems. I think it's quite a safe carrying system.