MSR PocketRocket 2 Ultralight Camping and Backpacking Stove

I am more concerned with fuel burn vs time to boil (which seems the most commonly mentioned statistic of stoves). I did up a little experiment today on how to adjust the valve (flame) for more efficient fuel use. I put my findings on my domain, but am not sure if amazon allows links or not. I'll try anyway: jgp1.com/hikingHere's a cut'n'paste of the webpage I put up, although the formatting will no doubt be less than desirable here...Recently I bought a MSR Pocket Rocket 2 stove, and was curious about the efficiency of fuel used vs time to boil water. So I set up a little experiment, very unscientific. However, as silly as my experiement was, I did glean a little info that I didn't otherwise find on the innernuts souper hi-way. Everyone seems to just post about the time to boil water. Personally, I'm more concerned with how much fuel I burn when I boil water.For the experiments I used:--Jetboil "JetPower" fuel (a barely used 16oz (net weight) can)--1.2L single-wall titanium cook pot, no lid used--16oz of well water, at ~60° (new water with each test)--Indoors, 70°, no wind, etc.--~250' elevationProcess:--Stove, attached to gas cylinder, is weighed multiple times to be as accurate as possible. In both ounces and grams (I used grams for my GpS calculation)--Water is measured and poured into a room temp pot, then placed evenly on the stove's legs.--Stove is lit at the most minimal flame possible.--Stove flame is adjusted and the timer is immediately started.--Digital temp probe is placed into the water, about 1/4" above the base of the pot.--Timer is shut off when the water temperature >= 212°.--Stove and gas cylinder are weighed for the "end weight".--Stove and pot are cooled to room temperature prior to next test.--Stove and gas cylinder are weighed before each new test, although you'll notice the weights remain consistant with previous test conclusions.Psuedoscience:Grams per Second (GpS) is the amount of fuel burned per second to reach 212°1 full turn of the valve. Flame is very high, very loud, and a lot of heat rolling up and away from the outside of the pot.Start weight: 23.10oz / 655gEnd weight: 22.75oz / 645gTime to Boil: 2:19.93 (min:sec)Fuel Consumed: 0.35oz / 10gGrams per Second: 0.0714641/2 turn of the valve. Flame is high, very loud, and a good amount of heat rolling up and away from the outside of the potStart weight: 24.06oz / 682gEnd weight: 23.74oz / 673gTime to Boil: 2:00.38 (min:sec)Fuel Consumed: 0.32oz / 9gGrams per Second: 0.0747631/4 turn of the valve. Flame is medium-high, loud, and not too much heat escaping away from the outside of the pot.Start weight: 23.74oz / 673gEnd weight: 23.42oz / 664gTime to Boil: 2:40.90 (min:sec)Fuel Consumed: 0.32oz / 9gGrams per Second: 0.0559351/8 turn of the valve. Flame is medium-low, "quiet", and very little heat escaping away.Start weight: 23.42oz / 664gEnd weight: 23.10oz / 655gTime to Boil: 9:21.47 (yes, 9+ minutes)Fuel Consumed: 0.32oz / 9gGrams per Second: 0.016029Note: It took FOREVER to get the water to boil, and in fact it did NOT boil. At 210° the water temp stablized (this near the 8.5 minute mark). I had to open the valve, a little at a time, until I was at 1/4 open (stove became louder (torch-like) at this point). Then the water finally hit 212°.My Conclusions:Winner:1/4 turn: the point where the flame starts to "roar", audiably, seems the sweet spot. Enough heat to actually boil water, and the efficiency is much better (0.055935 GpS) than at more opened valve settings (.07+ GpS). The time to boil is well within reason too.1/2 turn: is the sweet spot if you can't spare a few more seconds to get a boil going. Doubting I'll ever use it! (although at altitude things will most likely change)Warmly Regarded, literally1/8 turn: Stove is the most efficient, GpS-wise, at a low flame. Extremely efficient for long duration warming. Won't quite boil water though, but if you have a book to read it'll get close! While I didn't test lower than 1/8th turn, I'm guessing even a tiny warming flame would be extremely efficient, GpS-wise.1 turn: pointless in my opinion, it is slightly more efficient than 1/2 turn, but a TON of heat rolls up outside the pot. I had to put on a kitchen mitt to hold the digital thermometer over the pot. I also needed the kitchen mitt to grab the pot's handles at the end of the test. I don't carry a mitt in my backpack. :pA wider pot might help with the escaping heat. The 1.2L pot I used is the largest that I personally use/have, and is 5" in diameter. However, it's quite possible that a wider pot would change how effective a more opened up valve would be -- especially with all the heat that escaped during my experiment.Finally, I should add that ALL tests used roughly the same amount of fuel to boil the water (about 9-10 grams of fuel). However the efficiency would come more into play when you keep the heat applied after reaching the boiling point. At 1/4 turn, you'd do much better on fuel used over a longer duration. Even better if you turn down the flame once boiling is reached.How many pots of water can I boil with this can of gas?The Fuel Consumed value makes estimating (guesstimating!) how many times you can boil water from a can of fuel pretty simple. Using the Net Weight of the fuel canister, and using "10" Fuel Consumed as the "standard" makes the math easy. For example, my 16oz JetBoil fuel can's Net Weight is 450g. 450/10 = 45.0, so around 45 pots of boiling water. An 8oz MSR canister is 227g, thus 22.7 pots of boiling water.On average, how many minutes will this can of gas run?The average GpS for the MSR is 0.054548. Thus CanisterNetWeight / 0.054548 = seconds450g canister: 450/0.054548 = 8,249.653 sec / 60 = 137.494 min / 60 = 2.292 hours227g canister: 227/0.054548 = 4,161.491 sec / 60 = 69.358 min / 60 = 1.156 hoursNote: this is the run time to achieve boiling pots of waterAnother way to look at it, min/max run time.Least efficient was at 1/2 turn. 450/0.074763 = 6,019.020104 sec / 60 = 100.317 min / 60 = 1.672 hoursMost efficient was at 1/8 turn. 450/0.016029 = 28,074.116 sec / 60 = 467.902 min / 60 = 7.798 hoursSo that can will last somewhere from ~1.5 hours to ~7.75 hours of continuous burning.Note: this is just a "run run run" result. You might be boiling water, you might be slow cooking a pot roast, or you might be heating your tent (eep!) all night long.

The best hiking stove you can get. Most people will say you need the jet boil or similar system that has a cup and everything else. Those systems are nice if you are going to be in extremely windy conditions or have the extra space. I prefer this rocket because it packs away into the smallest area and then I pair it with a metal cup that conforms to nalgenes (again taking up less space). It’ll boil a cup of water nearly as fast as all the other brands. Very sturdy and has held up to years of abuse now.

It's an MSR, not a lot more needs to be said

The media could not be loaded. Bought this to replace my bulky jetboil stove. Very satisfied with how lightweight and easy it is to use. Fantastic value for the money especially over the jetboil. Fits tight and seems very durable. Has a nice divider where the flame comes out to help protect and prevent it from being blown out on windy days. Flame turns down very low and can also be turned up for high heat and faster boils.

It worked well and easily for initial 3 day/night backpacking trip. One can buy cheaper, but not lighter and with much less confidence.

Tiny, compact, and super light. Works like a charm and as long as your setting up camp right boils quickly.

I am returning this product. Such a shame. I have always borrowed my dads original MSR pocket rocket, which he has had for 10+ years, and it has always worked so lovely. I finally decided to just buy my own because I borrow his all the time.Disappointed with this. The quality is not the same. One of the arm was way loose, and it looked like I could just tighten it up with an Allen wrench, but nope. It still probably works fine, but I mean for the price point compared to other cheaper and comparable options out there I expected better quality.Also another thing I don’t love is that it doesn’t have a little gasket on it, and when testing it at home it spurts out propane when connecting it to the tank.I really wanted to love this, but I don’t feel like taking another risk and possibly getting another defective model, so will be returning and finding another option or borrowing my dads once again.

This is a great little cannister stove. The price is fair, considering the brand and the quality. I have purchased smaller, lighter, and cheaper chinese versions but honestly, I don't know if I totally trust them. MSR makes quality products, and I'd rather pay a bit more to have a brand that I have confidence in. This is a great little stove and packs down small and light - a great little stove.