Its easy to see why the MSR pocket
rocket stove is one of the best selling cannister stoves of
all time. For a personal carry stove, the pocket
rocket just gets it right. Its small, just 4x2x2
when folded, and weighs in at a featherlite 3 oz.
Of all the small stoves I've used this one has one of the best
heat ranges, It can go down to a pretty low simmer and up
to a very hot boil.
This is just one of those products that you
can feel the quality in when you hold it in your hand. The legs on the potstand
fold out firmly and provide a base wide enough for any personal cooking
gear. This stove is best matched
up with smaller cook pots, preferably with a
good heat dispersion characteristics.
The burner on the pocket rocket stove is fairly small so it concentrates a lot
of heat into a small area under your
cookware. It has a 3 section partition across the top of it to
help in windy / breezy conditions,
but if it gets really windy, you'll
want some additional shielding.
The hard plastic case supplied with the stove weighs
nothing, and also provides a pretty good opportunity to stuff
some other supplies into it, along with the stove. I
keep matches and a a small old timer knife in mine, and have
para-cord wrapped around the outside of it. If I think
I'm going to get wet, I'll wrap some electrical tape around
the seam where the cap goes on.
I guess the biggest disadvantage to the pocket rocket stove
or any of these cannister type stoves is well... the
cannister. These iso-butane cylinders take up a
fair amount of space. The one shown here is
the bigger 8oz cannister, but a smaller 4 oz. cannister is
also available, and is is the way to go if you are
not going too remote for a very extended period.
.
In my humble opinion, this stove is a great
piece of gear, sure you can find a cheaper small stove, but if you
dont mind spending a little extra for durability and dependability,
then you will appreciate this stove. Here's a short video of
this stove in action:
