View Full Version : Jetboil stove questions?
Ricky&Jack
05-27-2014, 09:40
I came across the Jetboil Flash at REI for $99. http://www.rei.com/product/791308/jetboil-flash-cooking-system, and I have a few questions about it's useage, if anyone has knowledge of it, or any jetboil stove.
1..... I believe that it says you can only use 100 gram cannisters: If I were to make oatmeal in the morning, and ramen/macaroni for dinner, how many days should a 100g cannister last?
2..... If I were to use this on a Thru-hike, would I be able to pick up a can every few weeks? Or would I need to order/drop box fuel?
3...... I could not find cannisters for sale on many sites. I think i mainly found it on amazon for $35 for ONE can of 100g. what's the average price you find for 100g cannisters?
4...... I could not find the cannisters on the walmart.com but was wondering if you have seen them in stores. I figure walmart would be the store I run into most on a thru, so if I were to buy there, it would be a benefit.
If anyone has any info, I would appreciate it.
Starchild
05-27-2014, 10:03
The Jetboil uses any standard iso-gas canister (not the Camping Gaz one which is very rare and propitiatory, not the propane blowtorch ones either).
You can use any size, only the narrower small one will fit inside the Jetboil, but all will work.
Some Walmarts have the next size up of canister, I think 225 grams of fuel, that works.
One small canister will boil 10+ liters of water so you can figure out your resupply needs from that.
There is no issue obtaining the fuel along the AT, but may be good to call ahead, also you will find them in hiker boxes and in shelters.
Price is about $4-$7
No Directions
05-27-2014, 10:09
Hey Ricky. I sent you a PM last week.
I have the Jetboil and I love it. I believe the packaging tells you how many liters you can boil with one canister but I don't still have the packaging mine came in. I will say that a canister goes a lot farther than I thought it would. Just don't be wasteful. I would say you could probably get by about a week with a 100g canister. You should only pay about $4.95 for a 100g canister at REI. The only reason I can think the price is so high on Amazon is if you are having to pay HAZMAT charges for shipping.
Ricky&Jack
05-27-2014, 10:18
any idea what a 100g cannister weighs full? is it under a pound?
I couldnt find them on REI and on amazon it was an independent seller so they didnt give the weight in the details.
A 100 gram canister weighs about 7 ounces full and Jetboil's claim regarding the amount of water it can boil is accurate based on my experience with the JetBoil Sol Aluminum. The canisters will cost around $5 at places like REI and probably around $7 in small towns and resupply places. I paid about $7 at the Harpers Ferry outfitter for a small canister recently. You can use a 220 gram canister but it won't fit in the Jetboil cup and is probably overkill unless you anticipate going more than a week between resupplies. Of course it depends on how much water you are boiling.
No Directions
05-27-2014, 10:30
The same fuel is sold under different brand names. I have seen it available lots of places. It's a blend of isobutane and propane. If you have a Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shop or any camping store in Chattanooga they will probably carry it.
the first stove i bought was a jetboil. it is a great stove. My favorite stove/pot combo is a pocketrocket with a t snowpeak pot. Very light.
Ricky&Jack
05-27-2014, 10:40
oh, great. because I was worried about the investment, if I wasnt going to be able to come across the trail very easy. Wouldnt want to be empty for 500 miles before finding one for sale near the trail.
The flash would heat 2 cups morning and 2 cups night with the small cannister, for 12 days. Using the Flash heat indication which turns orange at about 160 degrees, plenty hot enough for me. Some cannister fuels are not blended for cold weather the jetboil brand is a four season fuel, but below freezing weather will affect its preformance.
Coleman does have a compatible cannister but only in the 250 gram unit at our local walmart. Make sure you check the size of the thread connection if buying an off brand, you haven't used before. Propane tanks will not connect to the jetboil or most other backpacking stoves.
In the last week or two (Memorial Day sales) I saw a Jetboil stove+pot online (Moosejaw or Backcountry Gear maybe) for either $70 or $80, it was one or the other, can't remember exactly, but definitely under $100. Jetboil makes several models at different price points. During the recent REI sale, the 100g Primus canisters were either $3 or $4. In store only! It is rare to see the fuel from online sources because of shipping restrictions.
If you are worried about resupply on a particular section up the trail, carry two 100g canisters. It won't kill you. Better than running out. Many places along the trail carry the canisters. What may happen is that you arrive after a hoard of hikers have cleaned out a store and they have not restocked before you arrive. I have seen the canisters in hardware, grocery and convenience stores in areas where there are hikers & campers. Be prepared to look around.
This is one example of the type of canister that the Jetboil uses. There are other brands-MSR, Primus, Snow Peak, etc. Sometimes you can find the 250g Coleman version at Walmart.
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/11601/Jetboil-JetPower-Fuel-35-oz100-g-6-pk.html?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PriceGrabber/
There are smaller, lighter & cheaper canister stoves on the market. There are multi-fuel versions as well that use gas canisters, white gas (Coleman fuel) or kerosene.
Some folks even burn alcohol. "The horror". :D :cool:
Wayne
Starchild
05-27-2014, 18:33
Just to add you can use alcohol fuel with a Jetboil pot in a pinch. All you need is a standard metal tealight candle holder (you can dispose of the candle wax and wick). Just fill the container and light it and place the JB pot over it. IIRC it will boil 1.5 cups per fill, 2 cups will get very hot but not boil. You do not need to remove the cozy for this.
On my scale 4 of those holders don't even weight 1 gram combined, so a 'no weight' addition to make the JB a multifuel stove.
By removing the cozy you can also use the JB pot on campfires also.
Ricky&Jack
05-27-2014, 19:04
i think im getting sold on buying a jetboil.
I had considered a can/bottle stove because they are about $8 but I think that a jetboil set wouldnt weigh much more than a pound or so, and I think the very little weight that it weighs will be worth it to have a meal faster. (plus it doubles as a coffee/cocoa mug)
Drybones
05-27-2014, 19:54
i think im getting sold on buying a jetboil.
I had considered a can/bottle stove because they are about $8 but I think that a jetboil set wouldnt weigh much more than a pound or so, and I think the very little weight that it weighs will be worth it to have a meal faster. (plus it doubles as a coffee/cocoa mug)
Rick...I started out using a canister stove, then Jet Boil, tried Esbit, now use a home made alcohol stove, we evolve if we continue to hike, one thing works well for one person, something else for the next. Don't want to complicate your decision making but you might want to visit www.zenstoves.com (might be.net), there are simple, easy to make stoves you may want to try, if you made a cat can stove I'm sure Jack would be more than willing to eat the cat food that comes in it, it's easy to make and requires no pot pot stand.
... And you would have $70-$100 to put towards a lifetime, sub-2 pound, 20 degree down bag.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
i think im getting sold on buying a jetboil.
Nah, just go with a MSR "Pocket Rocket" or similar device -- basically the burner unit, that uses the same fuel canisters as the Jetboil. Plus you can use the larger canisters if you like (same thread.)
I have a Jetboil that I don't really use any more. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I couldn't really justify the extra weight.
Alky stoves are tricky, not sure why folks love 'em so much. The die-hard ultralighters like 'em but there's apparently an alky-stove gene that I lack.
CarlZ993
05-27-2014, 22:50
I did a boil test w/ my Jetboil Sol Ti stove. From one 110 gm canister, I was able to boil 2 cups of water 27 times before I ran out of fuel. See the full results from my previous post.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?99186-JetBoil-Sol-Ti-Boil-Test-(w-110-gr-canister)&highlight=jetboil
Ricky&Jack
05-27-2014, 22:56
I did a boil test w/ my Jetboil Sol Ti stove. From one 110 gm canister, I was able to boil 2 cups of water 27 times before I ran out of fuel. See the full results from my previous post.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?99186-JetBoil-Sol-Ti-Boil-Test-(w-110-gr-canister)&highlight=jetboil
I see you stop when it reached boil at 1:45.
I'm by no means a cooker at home.... But if (for example) macaroni or oatmeal say on the box "bring to a boil, add the food and cook for 5 more minutes", would you still stop the stove when it boils, and let the food sit in the pot for 5minutes while its off? Or would you leave stove on the whole time?
(because if you got 23minutes out of a can, it would be a waste to use it all up on 4 meals)
Sorry, im a bachelor and eat fast food a lot. So my cooking knowledge is limited
Starchild
05-28-2014, 06:13
\I'm by no means a cooker at home.... But if (for example) macaroni or oatmeal say on the box "bring to a boil, add the food and cook for 5 more minutes", would you still stop the stove when it boils, and let the food sit in the pot for 5minutes while its off? Or would you leave stove on the whole time?
(because if you got 23minutes out of a can, it would be a waste to use it all up on 4 meals)
Sorry, im a bachelor and eat fast food a lot. So my cooking knowledge is limited
Jumping in here, normally I would let it come to a boil add food and turn off the flame, cover the pot and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Reheat slowly if needed.
But the Jetboil does one thing really well, heat water very rapidly. It is not really conducive to simmering. The major issue is the heat exchanger (what Jetboil calls the 'flux ring') causes a major hot spot around the ring and food tends to stick and burn no matter how low you try to keep the flame. Some have also experienced trouble getting a low flame, comparing the jetboil control to a on-off switch - I never had a problem adjusting flame size.
If you really want to do a lot of simmer cooking I do suggest you get a different stove with a standard pot, and yet it will take more fuel to simmer. However many have found out by experience that having food that requires simmering is a pain and don't buy those foods for backpacking, as evidence it is common to see simmer foods in hiker boxes.
So for a once in a while simmer meal you can get away with a JB, but if you do plan to simmer long and hard another stove is the way to go IMHO.
Simmering can be simulated by getting the jetboil to a fast boil, adding the food, and immediately putting the pot into a cozy. For example, I cook mac and cheese by boiling water, adding the cheese packet and pasta, and putting the covered pot into a cozy for ten minutes. At that point, it still isn't fully cooked. I mix, bring to a boil again (which is very fast and uses very little fuel), cover and place in cozy again. After another 5-10 minutes in the cozy, mac & cheese is done.
Of course, instant meals like couscous, mashed potatoes or stuffing requires just boiling hot water and no need for a cozy.
here is the pattern I used to make my pot cozy:
http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/6582/ultralight-backpacking-pot-cozy/
bigcranky
05-28-2014, 07:29
Yeah, we always cozy our food -- we made a bunch of cozies from Reflectix (aluminum bubble wrap found at Home Depot) for each pot and a couple of "bag cozies." The whole "simmer for ten minutes" thing is to let the dried noodles absorb water, but they do this just as well sitting there in the hot water. The cozy keep everything hot for a very long time. This saves a LOT of fuel. (This is a photo of a very light cook kit (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=15256&catid=member&imageuser=266), with the "pot cozy" on the left.)
The Jetboil is a nice stove system. It pretty much comes with everything that a solo hiker needs for basic boil-water-add-to-bag cooking. The major feature of the Jetboil is the heat exchanger thingy which greatly improves the efficiency of the stove by preventing any heat loss to wind. Even a very mild breeze will kill the efficiency of a nomal canister stove, and sometimes we can't even get ours lit if it's too windy. (We have the old Coleman F1 Ultralight, which was the second most efficient stove on the market in wind tests against the Jetboil a few years ago. But the Jetboil is better in this one area.)
You can, with some experience and careful shopping, put together a canister system that is lighter and cheaper than the Jetboil. However, the Jetboil is darn easy, as it all comes in one box and it's not too blindingly expensive.
Happy trails.
.... But if (for example) macaroni or oatmeal say on the box "bring to a boil, add the food and cook for 5 more minutes",
As Starchild pointed out, don't buy foods that require 5 minute simmering. There are totally instant versions of oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, etc. in every grocery store. The directions may say "let stand 1-2 minutes without heat". That's cool. No fuel wasted. Read the cooking instructions before buying.
This is my current favorite instant oatmeal. I buy the plain version and add dried fruit, butter & agave nectar. I don't like the various flavored oatmeal. Too much processed sugar and not enough fruit.
http://www.betteroats.com/product/oat-revolution-classic/
Have you started searching the For Sale listings here at WhiteBlaze? Lots of good gear comes up for sale. Placing a Want To Buy listing is also good. Let folks know what you need. Items will appear.
Wayne
Alky stoves are tricky? Never even came close to thinking that.
You must have never used a white gas stove like a SVEA or OPTIMUS. :-)
Good thing there are any number of choices out there.
Alky stoves are tricky? Never even came close to thinking that.
You must have never used a white gas stove like a SVEA or OPTIMUS. :-)
Good thing there are any number of choices out there.
Used a Whisperlite for years, no problems. A Svea before that... it had problems.
theinfamousj
05-28-2014, 09:14
3...... I could not find cannisters for sale on many sites. I think i mainly found it on amazon for $35 for ONE can of 100g. what's the average price you find for 100g cannisters?
I have the original JetBoil, picked up at an REI garage sale. I have never spent over $5 for a canister of branded JetBoil fuel. Off brand is even cheaper.
I only use the JetBoil on "princess camping" trips with non-backpacker friends who venture at most 0.5 miles from the car/canoe/kayak and want their luxuries. So, I cannot tell you how many meals you can cook. I can say that I can remember 5 ramens from a canister with plenty of fuel left to do tea and oatmeal; though how much I could not say.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
No Directions
06-01-2014, 15:56
FYI Dick's Sporting Goods has the 100g Jetboil canisters for $2.99. That is the lowest price I have ever seen for it.