MSR Pocket Rocket vs Gelert Intensity

[heath]

I admit I'm a bit of a gear junkie and a year ago I bought an MSR Pocket Rocket stove. I'd heard great reviews and I thought it looked pretty cool and very small. I wasn't dissapointed and found it to be small, light and fast.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/msr-pocket-rocket-lightweight-camping-stove/COREACAB11792

Last week on a trip to Go Outdoors I noticed a stove by Gelert that looked exactly the same as the Pocket Rocket but was almost twenty pounds cheaper. I had to get one in order to do a comparison.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gelert-intensity-mini-folding-gas-stove/COREACABGAS064

They look almost identical and the Gelert stove even comes in a little plastic box just like the Pocket Rocket. I timed them both at boiling a pint of water in the same billy can and their performance was also identical at around 4min 20seconds.

Conclusion: If you want a good compact stove then you could do much worse than the Gelert Intensity, it's one of the chepest stoves I've seen of its kind and in a short test performed as well as the well respected MSR pocket Rocket.

I also tested another compact stove I have, the Coleman F1 lite.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-f1-lite-stove/COREACAB068178

Price wise it falls inbetween the Pocket Rocket and the intensity but I was lucky enough to get it on offer for £9.99. It comes apart which means you can pack it away smaller than the other two and comes in a little bag rather than a hard plastic box. I can fit it with a small gas cannister in a 10cm Zebra billy or an Alpkit Titanium mug. I can't do that with either of the other two. Some of it is plastic which is something I don't like, but in the test it outperformed the other two by about 30 seconds.

[jimford]

I also tested another compact stove I have, the Coleman F1 lite.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-f1-lite-stove/COREACAB068178

Price wise it falls inbetween the Pocket Rocket and the intensity but I was lucky enough to get it on offer for £9.99. It comes apart which means you can pack it away smaller than the other two and comes in a little bag rather than a hard plastic box. I can fit it with a small gas cannister in a 10cm Zebra billy or an Alpkit Titanium mug. I can't do that with either of the other two. Some of it is plastic which is something I don't like, but in the test it outperformed the other two by about 30 seconds.

Great bit of kit, but of course not as fashionable as the Pocket Rocket. I've had mine for several years and had no problems with the plastic.

Jim

[heath]

Great bit of kit, but of course not as fashionable as the Pocket Rocket. I've had mine for several years and had no problems with the plastic.

Jim

I once had another coleman stove ( I think it was called an outlander) it too had some plastic in its construction. I used it with a windshield once and the plastic caught fire. It was probably my fault but it has made me a little wary ever since.

[rik_uk3]

All good gas stoves there Heath, I have an old Epigas Micro stove from the 70's I think, one of the early compact stoves. The Coleman is nice, and the small lantern that matches is is very good, wire mesh globe instead of glass.

[Barney]

where is the F1 £9.99 please

[jimford]

All good gas stoves there Heath, I have an old Epigas Micro stove from the 70's I think, one of the early compact stoves. The Coleman is nice, and the small lantern that matches is is very good, wire mesh globe instead of glass.

I believe that Epigas were taken over by Coleman. I bought an Epigas Alpine gas stove, but now Coleman are making it.

Jim

[heath]

where is the F1 £9.99 please

It was at Go Outdoors but that was about a year ago, sorry.

[JFW]

Managed to pick one up in Mountain warehouse. They had eight on the shelf at 18 quid but I notice one at the back with a sale sticker for £9.99 managed to get another pound off it with a voucher. £8.99 a good bargain I think. You might be lucky and find one still with a sale price. Berst of Luck.

Cheers

JFW

[Singeblister]

Thanks for that heath , i was looking at those stoves just yesterday wondering if there would be much difference and you answered it for me :)

[helixpteron]

Decathlon and Field & Trek were selling the MSR Pocket Rocket for £19:99 a while back.

[johnnytheboy]

god that scary how much a like they are, i have the wee pocket rocket and for tea etc on the go they are excellent.

[Nice65]

Nice one Heath. I really fancied the Pocket Rocket, but couldn't justify the expense for the odd night or day out, so started to look at the Intensity. I went for the Gelert Blaze in the end, which has peizo ignition and what seems to be a slightly more stable pot holder.

The output is listed as the same, so I'll let you know what it's like in a weeks time.

[Nice65]

Further to my post above, the supplier accidently sent me a Gelert Inferno. I phoned and he sent the Blaze aswell, telling me to return whichever one I didn't want.

The tiny Blaze is very compact and gadgety, it's instantly likeable and you'll impress fellow teamakers with it's instant lighting. I think it has the same burner head as the Intensity. It packs into a small clear plastic case that could easily be cracked, unlike the triangular tube of the Intensity.

The Inferno is a folding stove that sits very stable on the ground and has a wider burner head and also has peizo ignition. It packs into a case 3 times larger than the Inferno, but it's made from better plastic and won't break. This is the one I decided to keep. I took it camping on Friday and it was good for cooking anything as the flame is highly controllable and the heat spread is better.

I may even keep them both, but I would only use the smaller Blaze for water or liquids, sossies could be a nightmare. If you're really needing to travel light it's an excellent product, but for all round use and stability I love the Inferno.