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MSR Pocket Rocket 2 Canister Stove Review

MSR Pocket Rocket 2 Canister Stove

The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 is a powerful canister stove with built-in the pot supports, that fold down and away more compactly along the stove stem (see below). This makes it easy to store the Pocket Rocket 2 inside a small cook pot together with a large 8 oz gas canister for backpacking, making the new stove more competitive with many, if not most of the canister stoves available from other manufacturers, that can do this already.

Specs at a Glance

  • Type: Canister stove
  • Weight: 2.5 oz
  • BTU: 8,200 BTU
  • Wind Screen: No
  • Pot Supports: Yes (3)
  • Piezo Igniter: No
  • Burn time (max flame): 8 oz. canister MSR IsoPro: 60 minutes
  • Regulator: No

MSR Pocket Rocket 2

Fuel Efficiency
Weight
Simmering Ability
Time to Boil
Ease of Use

Great Value

The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 is a smaller, lighter weight, and more packable version of the iconic Pocket Rocket Stove. It has wider pot supports for better stability and comes with a protective plastic case.

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The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 and a large gas canister (8 oz/ 227g) fit into this 0.9 liter Evernew Titanium Pasta Pot
The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 and a large gas canister (8 oz/ 227 g) fit easily into this 0.9 liter Evernew Titanium Pasta Pot

Weighing 2.5 ounces, the MSR Pocket Rocket 2 is a canister stove that provides you with the ability to simmer food, a useful capability if you want to do more than just boil water on your trips. The flame height is easy to regulate using the shaped wire on the stove stem, which folds away when the stove is packed. The boil time for two cups of water is approximately 3.5 minutes and very standard for a stove of this size and type.

Lighting the stove does require a separate ignition source, as one is not included. While a match or butane lighter is sufficient, I’m old school and prefer using a sparking Light My Fire fire steel to ignite stoves because it always works and never needs to be resupplied.

While MSR recommends using the Pocket Rocket 2 with MSR branded Iso-pro canister gas, it also works perfectly well with isobutane canisters from any manufacturer that provide a screw-on Lindal valve, including the canisters from MSR, JetBoil, Primus, and Snow Peak that are commonly found in the USA. That’s not always the case if you travel to Europe, where some gas canisters have a bayonet-style valve that is incompatible with the Pocket Rocket 2 and other stoves intended for the US market (I’ve had this happen to me…)

The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 includes this plastic protective case, which weighs just 0.1 oz.
The MSR Pocket Rocket 2 includes this plastic protective case, which weighs just 0.1 oz.

Recommendation

If you’re shopping for a new canister stove, the MSR Pocket Rocket 2 is a solid value, comparable to the Soto Amicus Stove (See Review) in price and capabilities. This and being able to use the stove with different cook pots and the ability to simmer is the advantage of a canister stove over an all-in-one, boiling-only unit like the Jetboil Flash.

Disclosure: MSR donated a stove for review. 

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