MSR PocketRocket 2 Mini Stove Set Review

As purveyors of quality kit, it’s important for MSR to maintain their excellent reputation in the outdoor industry. As a result, they are constantly looking for ways to improve and introduce new innovations to make life in the wilderness that little bit more manageable.

The latest edition of their PocketRocket stove, the PocketRocket 2 Mini Stove Kit, advocates their success in making outdoor food prep less of a chore and more of a pleasure.

Compact Lightweight Fast-boiling   Glove-friendly Versatile Weight: 278g

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Compact

The sleek design offers efficient and easy nesting which ensures everything you need packs into a mesh bag that closely envelopes the 750ml cooking pot. The set includes the PocketRocket 2 stove, the cooking pot with strainer lid, a 500ml bowl and a mini pot handle, on top of this there is space for a 4oz gas canister and a small cloth to clean up with afterwards.

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Lightweight

Weighing in at just 280g it shouldn’t slow you down while on the trail. This can be shed further for the meticulous gram counters amongst us by leaving the bowl behind if you can manage without it. Despite its minimal weight each of the components feels sturdy and reliable which offers confidence when heading out on multiday solo trips.

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Fast Boiling

With the ability to boil 1L of water in just 3.5 minutes the burner is fast and efficient and offers Wind Clip protection to ensure you can still maintain a solid flame in tricky conditions. Perfect for making a brew and prepping your pouch meal after a hike to your camp spot.

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Glove Friendly

As you can’t always guarantee warm conditions in the outdoors it’s important that you don’t have to constantly be removing your gloves to operate devices. With this in mind, MSR have ensured that this stove set is glove friendly with a large wire flame adjuster as well as easy to use lid and pot handle.

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Versatile

Although the components of the stove set nest together nicely they can still be used individually so you can really tailor it to what you need. You can shed weight if you know you don’t need certain components but you can also add pieces if you are cooking for more than just one person. The stove itself can be used with a range of different sized pans so if you need to leave the smaller pot at home, you can.

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Overall Verdict

I recently took this on a solo wild camp in the Lake District so I could try it out.

Compact: 10/10

I was really impressed with how small this set packed down to and how easily it did so. It’s nearly half the size of my water bottle and only slightly wider. There was no difficulty in trying to get it all to fit, and it slid easily into the mesh pouch to keep it all together.

Usability: 8/10

The set itself is really easy to put together and use, the only thing that concerned me was the stability of the stove as a whole. I felt like I had to keep a very close eye on it so as not to lose my lunch, in hindsight I would have liked a canister stabiliser to use with it. I would also have added an appropriate windshield, though this would be more to improve the efficiency of the stove rather than as wind protection, however, as the idea of this stove set is ‘ultra lightweight’ I can understand why a stabiliser and windshield hasn’t been added.

Boil time: 10/10

The speed at which the stove boiled water was really impressive, although I did have to watch it for stability reasons, it was only slightly longer than a minute or so before it was bubbling away. It is important to remember, that the pot is primarily designed for boiling water for hot drinks and to warm up or rehydrate pouch meals, as it hits boiling point quite rapidly heating up anything other than water could lead to sauce residue being burnt to the pan.

Versatility: 10/10

The versatility of this stove is brilliant. While it all nests together each component can be used individually to enhance any pre-existing cook sets that you might have. When using the set as a whole, once nested together it has enough space for a small gas canister and a small cloth to wipe the pot down once you are done.

Overall: 10/10

I loved this stove set and all it has to offer. It’s ideal for solo overnight trips in mild and better conditions, whether it’s just for one night or for a few nights in a row. It is so small but doesn’t sacrifice anything that you might need, it has a pan with a lid that you can eat your food out of as well as a cup that you can have a brew in while eating your food.

I also loved the fact that if I wanted to, I could still use the PocketRocket 2 Stove with a larger pan in the event that there is more than just me eating out on the hill. Having over 10years experience hiking, camping and cooking in the wild outdoors I have used many different stoves to cook up a storm, very few have managed to get such a great balance of weight, performance, and versatility into such a compact size.

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