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Anybody here own a pocket rocket?


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I have a pocket rocket and I love it! But I can't really say how long a canister lasts. I always travel with a spare so I've never tracked the "mileage" so to speak. It varies with elevation and number of people you're cooking for, of course. I decided to go with the canister stove rather than a gas one because here in Texas we don't canmp a lot at elevation (!). However, we used it last summer at Philmont as our 2nd crew stove and had no problem.

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I have a Pocket Rocket and it is a great stove. It heats water very efficiently, but the flame is tight and can scorch food if you are using a frypan. Just keep an eye on what you are cooking and keep stirring. It's the best stove for freezer bag cooking!

 

As far as how long a canister will last, that's really variable. Depends on what, how, and how much you are cooking. Also, heating water for cleaning?

 

A real rough guess is that for three stoves and twelve people, two large canisters for each stove (6 total) for the weekend would just about cover anything. They don't go bad, so if you don't use one, save it for next time.

 

Without knowing the details, that's really a ROUGH guess!

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You're planning on 3 stoves for 12 persons for a weekend. That's one stove per 4 persons for 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts (assuming lunches are cold). My backpacking style is to boil water for morning coffee and oatmeal (or such), and then for supper, boil water for coffee and dehydrated stroganoff and cobbler (or such). If we're licking out plates clean and not boiling water for KP, then I think one canister should be plenty for 4 persons for 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts. That said, I would also take a spare. Have fun!

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I wouldn't recommend it for backpacking. It is not LNT and it has a much higher risk of escaping. (The website shows it being used on ground littered with organic debris!) That said, I could see it used by Scouts for efficient cooking in a developed camp within a fire ring.

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OGO, I think it looks pretty neat. Where I am at there is almost always more than enough deadfall.

 

Trev, please enlighten me.:) I am not certain what you mean by it's not LNT unless you prohibit any form of natural wood use.

That isn't the ethic taught by my LNT instructor - more that fire doesn't need to be any bigger than you need(which might include none - even your stove is considered non-LNT by some - who insist that ANY fire is anti-LNT) and this looks like a good way to limit the impact. Yes, as always with a fire you might need to put a rock under it (or set it on a rock so as not to disturb the rock)or in some other way take precautions to reduce the risk of lighting any natural tinder but don't you do that with your stove anyway? And the websites literature states that you can even set it on two sticks and it stays cool enough that it won't light them. Not being confrontational, just trying to find out what you meant by the stove not being LNT. :)

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Gunny,

You are right that LNT is not a set of rigid rules with a one-size-fits-all-approach. Perhaps I was too broad in my statement. I interpret LNT to suggest an approach where one treads as lightly as possible in the outdoors. Cautious use of this stove could fit within an LNT ethic, but I discourage the use of any natural fuels wherever possible - except within established rings in developed campgrounds.

 

This stove would certainly be a better cooking solution than traditional campfires! However, I still see no advantage to this stove while backpacking and several disadvantages: flames from natural fuels always have a greater chance of escaping; there is no reason one needs to destroy any organic detritus (however small and insignificant that amount may seem to us); finally, while lightweight, it looks unwieldy compared to a collapsing stove.

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It looks like a good stove to bring along for emergency use.

 

Like the site states, what would you do if you

 

1 - Ran out of fuel?

2 - Stove froze up?

3 - Stove dropped and damanged?

4 - Fuel leaked inside you pack?

 

Also,

 

If the fuel that you are using for you other stoves isn't considered "natural", what planet did it come from then?

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Thanks for clarifying Trev!

I do absolutely agree about the danger of a flame igniting the detritus around it but that goes for any flame, even from a stove.

 

I echo Pete's question.

 

Is this hijacking or an extension of where the tread is going?

If hijacking, let me know and I'll open the ball elsewhere. Thanks.

 

And open the ball on; Which has a lower carbon footprint(CF) - packaged Petrochemical fuels and what it takes to produce and package and recycle the packaging or landfill it, or deadfall which will naturally decay with the no production or packaging CF. And wouldn't this consideration be a part of treading as lightly as possible in the outdoors?

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