Backpacking stove.

Sufler

Sufler

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Started looking for my first backpacking stove - never needed one before now... until when I started looking at all of the pics posted which included a tiny stove.

So, is the MSR Pocket Rocket really the best bang for the buck?

Thanks,
:D
 
Sufler said:
So, is the MSR Pocket Rocket really the best bang for the buck?

Thanks,
:D
Click to expand...

Yes, from what Ive researched. Im in the same boat as you, and its what Im gettin. Of course, theres always the homemade pepsi can stove...Those are nice. Tad gear makes a nice Ti one as well...
 
I dont know the MSR Pocket Rocket but i have played with stove lately and made quite a few myself..
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I dropped all homemade stove idea and going for a Trangia.. which I can buy 5 min from my house at the MEC.ca store

Why ?

I can screw the lid back when im done and easily carry the left over fuel to the next point where i need to use my stove.. with my old stoves, i had to let the alky burn even tho i had my rolling boil..
Now i let it cool a few minutes, screw the lid, throw in the pack and go..
 
I think it depends on what you want out of a stove. I personally despise canister stoves, and greatly prefer alcohol stoves because the fuel is cheap and easy to get. "best bang for the buck" is a poorly defined term unless you ALSO define what you are looking for in a stove.

A cut up empty coke can and $5 can of denatured alcohol from Home Depot will keep you cooking for several backpacking trips. A rolled up piece of steel flashing, with some holes drilled in it, or an old paint or soup can, can be easily turned into a wood stove that will burn small twigs and serve you quite well.



Pretty much the last stove I would ever want to carry would be something like a jetboil or MSR stove.
 
What altitude and temps will you be using it?

Check out the Soto stove $70 and the Brunton Vesta $46 - you can turn the canister over to burn liquid in colder weather.
 
Pocket rockets are nice little stoves... I for one have a hard time with alcohol stoves. Everyone has their own opnion, but if you need cheap, lightweight, they work. I however do more than just boil water, I am a bread nut, I always take a small skillet, usually a GSI but have been playing with the el cheapo "one egg wonder" from walmart with great success. Because of this, I usually need longer run times/ lower output for that bannock, johnny cakes, pancakes or the like. My favorite stove is the Primus omnifuel. Runs on literally anything, propane cylinders, av gas, diesel, unleasded, white fuel, kerosene. Really anything you can burn. However it weighs more than most backpacking stoves, but is all metal, thus great for long term uses as long as you have fuel of somesort.

I just put another order in to Kifaru (est ship dat May 10) for a super tarp, annex, and small stove... this would be great for my neck of the woods, as long as their are no fire restrictions... IE the winter hunts, klondikes etc.

There are several others, the dragonfire from MSR which is also a GREAT option for liquid fuel only.
 
spoolup said:
I for one have a hard time with alcohol stoves. Everyone has their own opnion, but if you need cheap, lightweight, they work. I however do more than just boil water,
Click to expand...

You can simmer with an alky stove. There are several solutions - some as simple as carrying two coke can stoves, one with fewer jet holes in it, designed for simmering, and others more complicated, like the simmer ring on a trangia. I've done all kinds of cooking over my trangia burner.
 
When we lived in TX, many of our backpacking precluded open fires and we were constrained to just stove use. I've used several different types; the canister stoves worked well, but we never had temps too low (mostly quite hot!). I personally like liquid fuel stoves (Nova, Primus, MSR), but they can get heavy. Now that we're in GA where we can do most of our cooking over an open fire, I still like the simple convenience of quickly getting a pot of water to boil in the AM for coffee (before I can get the main fire going again). I recently took my Primus omni-stove (uses liquid or canister), but it was just too big and heavy for my son and I. I'm going to revert back to my wife's Optimus Crux or Snow Peak Giga. The MSR Pocket Rocket is in the same league and performs well for what it is. I haven't done a lot of cooking/backpacking with alcohol stoves, but I do have a few and one I've made...I like them, but you really need to spend a little time practicing with them to figure out what works best for you (burn time/amount of fuel, a good wind screen and leak-proof fuel bottles).

ROCK6
 
I have a Brunton Flex that I really like because it folds up into a pocket that fits the bottom of the fuel canister, very small, that whole thing fits into the Brunton cookset, folding spork, firesteel and all in one small package. It will simmer, boil or whatever.
 
No stove and a zebra pot is my first choice. If a stove is in order, I find that I like the supercat stove the best with denatured alcohol as the fuel. For a windscreen, I use a piece of aluminum cut from an oven drip pan I got at the dollar store. Link to how to make the supercat at the bottom...

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http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html
 
I personally find the Pocket Rocket to be fast and fairly light, the Alky stoves to be slow and very light, and the liquid fuel stoves to be heavy and robust.

I have tried the Alky stoves on a couple of trips, but personally prefer the speed and ease of the Pocket Rocket for most trips. In fact, even in cold weather, I will take it AND a Whisperlite Int, because it is so fast and easy to setup for hot drinks on the trail. IMO, 10oz or so is a fairly small price to pay for fast hot drinks when needed...but I usually take a sled when it is cold, so YMMV.
 
I prefer the Snow Peak GigaPower over the Pocket Rocket; the flame on it is less concentrated. Sells for about the same price, too.
 
Got a pocketrocket two weeks ago. I love it. Fastest boiler I have and it can simmer also. Very small for frypans ( unless you use the "One egg wonder') , but great for making a brew on the trail.
 
Need to boil water fast, and use it frequently - jetboil (cooking in the old model jetboils is an art. you can create a flaming brick of food in a hurry)

Actually want to cook - Brunton raptor. It has an integrated pizo starter and very good flame control. I got one at Cabellas for $45. packs up tiny , stainless construction.

Overall I have been happy with both stoves but I will probably move to a multifuel stove when I start doing more altitude stuff and hit south america.
 
For what it's worth, it is quite possible to get an alcohol stove to work well at high altitudes and in cold temperatures - it just takes a bit of work.

Also, some alky stove designs do better with cold weather than others - jetted type stoves, like most of the coke cane or trangia stoves, will require pre-heating to get them up to a temperature where they will jet. Wicking stoves, like many of the tuna can type stoves, don't require on vapor pressure to operate, and can handle colder temperatures somewhat better.
 
I have had a pocket rocket ever since they first came out. They work great. I also use a JetBoil, which is even simpler to use since it is all contained in one unit. I have had good luck with a Trangia alcohol stove as well as a soda can alcohol stove. Snow Peak makes a great stove that is the equivelent to the Pocket Rocket. Fits in their Ti cup.

The next stove I want to get is the Bush Buddy. That seems like a great stove and you don't have to haul fuel around with you.

Anyone use a Bush Buddy?
 
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