Compared two backpacking stoves side by side last weekend and one was clearly the winner

I've been using a cheap $20 butane stove from Amazon for about 2 years. Worked fine most trips until I borrowed my buddy's MSR PocketRocket 2 for a 3 day trip in the Sierras. The difference was night and day. My old stove took almost 4 minutes to boil 2 cups of water. The MSR did it in about 90 seconds. Plus the heat distribution was way more even. Didn't scorch the bottom of my pot like the cheap one always did. Wind resistance was a huge thing too. The MSR kept burning steady even with a breeze blowing through camp. My old stove would flicker out if you sneezed near it. Has anyone else noticed a big jump going from budget gear to something mid-tier like that? I'm wondering if the extra $50 is actually worth it for the long haul.

2 comments

2 Comments

william_jackson651mo ago

Yeah I had pretty much the same experience when I switched from a $30 Coleman propane stove to a Kovea Spider. The wind resistance alone was worth it for me. I do a lot of trips up in the High Sierra where it gets gusty in the afternoon and the old stove would just die every time a breeze hit it. The Kovea handled that way better and I could actually cook dinner without having to huddle over it. The boil time difference was about what you saw too, maybe not that dramatic but close enough. I think if you go out more than a half dozen times a year the extra money pays for itself in frustration saved. I replaced mine after 4 years and it was still working, just wanted something new.

iris_davis901mo ago

Used to be all about saving money and thought wind resistance was overhyped, but your experience totally flipped my thinking on that. Makes a lot of sense now that I've battled the same gusty nonsense on a few trips.