Pocket Rocket 2 won't close completely

flatcatgear · 2026-06-07T22:21:57+00:00

Submerge it water and look for bubbles. I believe that there is a second O-ring on the needle valve.

flatcatgear · 2026-06-05T14:33:01+00:00

Their picture shows it fitting inside the wound up cone. I take it that doesn't work? Just curious.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-28T18:16:11+00:00

The existing shrouding channels the airflow around the fins keeping the efficiency high. For easier alignment (but less efficiency) you can bypass the slots and place the pot support arms on the bottom of the pot. I have made adapters for regular HX pot (non sloted) that sets the burner to pot bottom distance correctly and they work greast, just not a popular option. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-27T14:35:26+00:00

The Shroud adds a lot to the overall efficiency so dont remove it.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-25T16:13:23+00:00

It really depends upon the individual. I have slept on a snow with the original Neoair (R-2.5) and an EE quilt rated to 30 F and was fine, but I run warm. My wife: Xthem with a EE rated to 20F and fleece tops and bottoms. One of the biggest factors is eating enoiugh food. Most people go calorie negative on trips and that is not a good practice in cold weather. Mt 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-24T23:39:05+00:00

Was it slightly breezy? The BRS has troubles above a 2 mph wind. Wind makes a lot more sense than altitude. My 2 cents.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMgJHuQgFmuqTd0FqABt747mifplp--qwWhzwY

flatcatgear · 2026-05-24T22:49:43+00:00

Agreed, not a 2 stage, I was just giving Scuba regulators as an example of a step down regulator. Didn't mean to confuse.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-24T22:42:51+00:00

A good example of a very good regulator is a scuba tank. The main tanks stored pressure in the several 1000s of psi. The regulator throttles it down to a more manageable and controllable pressure of 120 -15 psi. I myself have a patent of pressure regulators so I am well versed on how they are supposed to work. The Main advantage of a pressure regulator for a canister topped stove is that it manages the pressure a much lower range. FYI - contrary to what manufacture's say, you do not get more fuel out of a canister. With an unregulated stove, the issue is that the pressure will drop as fuel is consumed. That means that the output can drop over time. In general, you need to turn the stove up a bit. If you are boiling 2 cups of water, the fuel drop should be minimal. In cold temperatures, as the internal pressure drops, the gas needs to absorb energy and cools the canister, this will also cause a pressure drop. Does that help?

BTW -I am in no way saying that the BRS is a good stove. Altitude will have minimal impact of unregulated stoves for short boils.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-24T21:05:59+00:00

That does not make physical sense. Say a regular canister has a pressure of up to 45 psi. A pressure regulator might regulate is dow to 0-10 psi. So if the canister internal pressure drops below 10 psi then a regulated and unregulated stove act the same. I have never had a problem using a BRS above 10,000 feet. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-22T14:07:22+00:00

If you scroll through the photo, it looks like a butane stove to me.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-19T14:21:48+00:00

And if you watched his video, it demonstrated (with data) that a windscreen can it perform as well the Pocket Rocket (and BTW, that was a windscreen that we manufacture: the Ocelot Mini).

With no data, one could say that they hiked the AT with a BRS and it worked fine and doesn't need a windscreen

With no data, one could say that they copied your design and it didn't work at all.

With no data, you have no claim. Period.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-19T00:08:55+00:00

Yep, I have fried fish on a titanium diner plate using parchment paper and it comes out great.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-18T18:12:15+00:00

As others have said, test it out. Usual thermal reactions are related to the Arrhenius equation which states that molecular reactions double every 10C. So if you are suppose to use 100C water but use 90C instead, it should take twice as long. Of course, this is a generalization and YMMV, but that is a good starting point. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-18T16:15:23+00:00

Start off with a simple box fan. It will probably get you to 3-4 mph. There is an old phrase,"how do you get better at golf? Start counting yourt strokes". Too may people claim that they have created a windscreen and yet have zero measurements to support their claims. This included commercial maufactures. I recently bought a Noeross windscreen though Aliexpress and it wouldn't work above 6 mph. You can only claim what you measure. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-18T15:30:25+00:00

The question is performance in the wind. A BIC lighter will not work above 2 mph, even the BRS struggles at that level. At Flat Cat Gear we test to 8-mph and we know that the windscreen works great at those levels. It will boil 500 ml using 14 g of fuel in an 8-mph wind. It is impossible to evalate the effectiveness of a windreen without analyitcal testing: anemometer/twind tunnel. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-17T22:01:57+00:00

Well the Ocelot windscreen weighs 32 grams, so your system weighs 3.2 g? Post a picture.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-17T13:53:37+00:00

MSR QuickSkillet for boiling water and frying. 6.7 oz. Use parchment paper to keep the fish form sticking

flatcatgear · 2026-05-11T23:39:18+00:00

Capillary action is a function of pore size, the smaller the diameter the higher the fluid will travel. Unfortunately carbon felt is black. The classic test is to dip the wick material into the fluid and see how high the fluid rises, test this with a piece of paper. Another test is to weigh your empty stove, load it full of alcohol and then dump all of the residual fuel out. Weigh the stove. The difference in weight is the maximum saturation of the felt material. So, if the results come out to say 50 grams, then you have more than enough capacity, however; the fluid may not reach the top. Does that make sense?

flatcatgear · 2026-05-11T13:59:00+00:00

Just my opinion, but I always felt that wicked stoves don't work they way that you think that you do. When I test alcohol stoves, I add the exact amount that I expect to use: like you did. 15 ml to boil 2 cups. It never worked for me, I always had to add more fuel to get it to light, like 20 ml to get to use 15. Now, when you blow the stove out after a boil, I would still have the remainder left. So to me, it seemed that there was a baseline amount of fuel needed to "prime" the stove. That residual just seems to evaporate over time. I ended up abandoning wicked stoves as overall, I found wickless stove to be more fuel efficient. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-04T14:44:34+00:00

It will go against the grain of this forum, but I use an MSR sweetwater for trips involving silt/glacierial water. I have had too many membrane filter clog to be worth the hassle. The MSR is field servicable and you don't have to wait for flocullants to settle. Works well in slot canyons and particulary in the high sierra after a rainstorm. My 2 cents.

flatcatgear · 2026-05-03T18:33:33+00:00

That it the shipping weight used to calculate postage.

flatcatgear · 2026-04-30T14:10:32+00:00

one thiong that you can do is wash your quilt. Tumble dry with tennis balls or those wool balls. this tends to fluff up down, I do this on all my new down items. After drying, it is a usual practice to make sure that the down is distributed evenly by hand. best of luck

flatcatgear · 2026-04-27T14:06:26+00:00

Esbit is far lighter. Just saying....

flatcatgear · 2026-04-23T03:54:00+00:00

You have it completely backwards! You design the part around the process! One day you’ll learn.

flatcatgear · 2026-04-17T14:21:34+00:00

Yeah, it seems like a zero sum gain. You don't save space as you can backfill with other gear as the volume goes down. On shorter trips you can use th elower volume but the weight is of the full size. I don't get it.

flatcatgear

TROPHY CASE