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Rant: My 'lifetime warranty' camp stove pump gave out on night two in the Adirondacks.

The plastic plunger cracked in the cold, leaving me to boil water for my freeze-dried chili over a sad little fire I barely got going, so has anyone found a truly reliable pump that can handle a real freeze?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_robin5d ago

So a lifetime warranty only counts if you don't actually need it to last your whole life? Classic. I swear they make those plastic parts to fail right after the trip to the store feels like too much trouble. That MSR pump with the metal guts sounds like the way to go, even if it costs more than my first car. Nothing like a cracked pump to turn a nice night into a survival quiz you didn't study for.

norag557d ago

Saw a guy on a backpacking forum last winter swear by the MSR WhisperLite Universal pump. He was using it in the Wind River Range when it hit the teens, and the metal plunger assembly held up. The key thing he said was to keep the little rubber cup lubricated with their specific silicone grease, not just any oil. That seems to be the fail point for a lot of pumps, the O-ring or cup gets stiff and cracks. I’m saving up for one because my old pump is just waiting to die on me.

wren_rodriguez7d ago

That "fail point" thing @norag55 mentioned is why so much stuff breaks, people just skip the basic upkeep.