Hey Gary, it's me John. I think you were mentioning me in your post. MY MSR Windpro is a canister stove not white gas. The reason I bought it was for the fact I used to do a good bit of winter hiking and still try to when I can. The Windpro is a remote canister stove meaning the canister can be inverted for extra umph if needed in cold temps. Also I like to actually cook when backpacking sometimes (pork marsala - umm) and the low profile works well with a 10 inch pan. Jet-boils and Reactors are darn good stoves though.
Another way to keep the canister warm is to get a chemical hand/foot warmer going and wrap it and the canister in a sock. I did this a couple mornings when the temps got down to around minus 6 and it worked great.
Salty, talk about a blast from the past - I have two Optimus 99's I bought in 79 for when I thru hiked the AT. Both still work great and I use them from time to time. That flame roar would drown out a waterfall at full throttle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJJcay2w_TkJohn
