I just picked one of these up today. I never thought I would buy a propane canister type stove, but I've seen this one in stores for a long time, it looks so tiny, and the fuel is pretty common now so I decided to go for it and will test it out on my next weekend trip when I want something better then a soda-can stove.

It weighs 15oz with a full fuel bottle, the stove itself only weighs 3oz. I wouldn't say it is pocket sized, but it is the smallest and lightest stove I have seen. My white gas/kero/auto fuel stove weighs almost 15 oz without fuel.

It may be small, but it is pretty well built and feels solid.

The stove lights easily, just like a gas kitchen stove, last for about an hour with an 8oz fuel canister, and will boil a liter of water in 3.5 minutes. However, I'm sure in very cold weather performance will go down, maybe not a lot though, but definately more then duel-fuel stoves. High altitudes might not be good for performance and duration also, though it says "performs well at high altitudes." A windscreen would help in winter, but it says on pretty much every piece of paper that comes with it not to use one, as it could be dangerous for the canister.

The stove itself cost me $40.00, while the fuel was $5. So, $45 for a full setup. Not bad at all, though the fuel canister is non-refillable so it will cost you $5 for roughly every hour of use.

Duel fuel stoves run about $60 and up, the bottle costs about $10, then you have to fill it with fuel. So your looking at atleast $75 for a setup, however, it will only cost about $3-4 at most a refill. But, you need to learn how to properly prime and maintain the stove, which confuses some.

The only bad things I could think of with this stove is:
1. The center of gravity is high, so be carefull to put it on stable and level ground.
2. You need to have a lighter or spark as an ignition source, no built in ignition source.

The stove comes with a little wrench (which I don't see any use for since I don't think the stove can be disassembled much) and a nice red plastic container to make sure the stove doesn't get too beat up (the wrench also fits inside). The stove has two o-rings, one a regular o-ring on the inside of the fitting, the other more of a big rubber disk on the outside of the fitting. I would see if I could find a spare or two of each just in case. Even though it seems like it would still work fine as long as one is good.

If you want to prolong o-ring life then once done with the stove turn it off, unscrew it just a little bit (enough to shut off the flow of fuel, but not break the o-ring seal), turn it back on (but not light it) to let the excess pressure out, turn it off, and then unscrew it fully. It sounds complicated, but it is pretty simple and you wont have to worry about blowing o-rings for a long time.

If you are looking for a stove to use on extended trips or in a bug out situation duel-fuel stoves are still king because they run on just about anything and run very well at high altitudes and in cold weather. But, if you want a super light stove for a weekend backpacking trip, or are looking for a stove that is extremely easy to use and not too expensive, then this is it.

Here are two pics from stores online:

I have had one of these for a few years and it rocks! Paired with a MSR Titan kettle it is an amazing little stove. It isn't a replacement for a mutli-fuel stove for extended use, the Pocket Rocket blows my wisperlite international and my older MSR stove (can’t remember the name, and it isn't on the website anymore) away for setup ease, cleanup, weight, and heat... It could use a wind screen, but I have always been able to work around that with stove positioning. The PocketRocket is the stove I recommend to all of my rescue squad members and anyone looking for a good backpacking stove that doesn’t need an expedition quality stove.

I do however plan on buying a Snowpeak Titanium Auto ignition isobutane-propane stove and relegate the PocketRocket to “Truck Kit” duties. It is slightly heavier than the PocketRocket but has the auto ignition feature and has a lower profile with a forth leg that adds stability especially with bigger pots. The Titanium version is $80 ($65 without ignition) so it isn’t cheap and really not any more efficient than the PocketRocket just more convenient (I haven’t done any scientific trials, but didn’t notice any difference in boil time). Snowpeak makes a stainless steel version that is slightly heavier for a few bucks more than the PocketRocket.