jetboil resupply?

[Vet4thruhike]

Planning on using a jetboil for 2015 thru hike and was just wondering what the resupply situation was on the fuel for them along the trial?

[Starchild]

1st due to the effecnecy of the JB it is conceivable to be able to carry enough fuel for the entire AT thru from the start to the Northern Terminus (the end).

2nd is that a single small canister in the Jetboil last a very long time and can bypass many town stops before you need to start considering needing more, most likely you will get a free one (see #4)

3rd the Jetboil can use any brand canister as they are standardized.

4th those canisters are usually very available in hiker boxes, which means free resupply.

More then any other stove on the AT, the Jetboil means, if nothing else, don't worry about resupply. Canisters last much longer then anything else, oten found in hiker boxes, and so available that it is perhaps the most 'I don;t need to worry about running out' cooking fuel on the AT.

[Lyle]

Beg to differ, Starchild. Alcohol is available at virtually every gas station, convenience store, hardware store, outfitter, Walmart, KMart, grocery store, Dollar General, Family Dollar etc. across the US and most hostels along the AT. Plus, you know EXACTLY how much fuel you have, so you know EXACTLY when you need to buy more.

Canisters are fine, and have some advantages, but alcohol is WAY more prevalent to re-supply.

[Lyle]

Since the OP asked about Jetboil, the answer is fuel is plentiful and once you know how long a canister will last you, should be easy to stay supplied.

[Starchild]

Beg to differ, Starchild. Alcohol is available at virtually every gas station, convenience store, hardware store, outfitter, Walmart, KMart, grocery store, Dollar General, Family Dollar etc. across the US and most hostels along the AT. Plus, you know EXACTLY how much fuel you have, so you know EXACTLY when you need to buy more.

Canisters are fine, and have some advantages, but alcohol is WAY more prevalent to re-supply.

The difference is with the Jetboil you don't need to find a "gas station, convenience store, hardware store, outfitter, Walmart, KMart, grocery store, Dollar General, Family Dollar etc. across the US" (which BTW takes time and not everyone has alcohol fuel, despite your post), and just travel on unconcerned till the next 4 trail towns (before which you will likely find another canister in a hiker box to exchange that will extend you travel distance) added a additional level of comfort.

Yes you may, and yes I stress MAY, find alcohol fuel in maybe a (very) few extra trail town, but you will need to find it a lot more often then you will need to find canister fuel. Also with Alcohol fuel it is part of every town stop, an extra step, finding that stuff, it is a necessity, with the JB, yes I can go another week easy, but WOW here is another canister that has more then mine does, BONUS, 2 weeks till I have to start to worry.

So yeah, you can find alcohol fuel in a few more trail towns then canisters, however your need is constant, every trail town - you need to find it, however the canister needs are perhaps 1 every 2-4 weeks, and nearing empty ones are often exchangeable for ones with much more fuel for free in hiker boxes.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Just a side note, we section hikers love to leave our partially used canisters in those hiker boxes if we're traveling by air or mass transit. It's illegal to bring fuel canisters on airplanes or trains, so I consider dumping them in a hiker box at the end of my section hikes to be win-win.

[Coffee]

I've found that a small 100 or 110 gram canister can boil at least 10 liters of water. I usually boil somewhat more than a liter per day and I've gone 8 days on a small canister. So that's not too bad and carrying a 220 gram canister is not totally unreasonable either although it takes up more space since it won't nest in the pot.

[atmilkman]

I've found that a small 100 or 110 gram canister can boil at least 10 liters of water. I usually boil somewhat more than a liter per day and I've gone 8 days on a small canister. So that's not too bad and carrying a 220 gram canister is not totally unreasonable either although it takes up more space since it won't nest in the pot.
Agree with the idea of carrying the larger canister. Some of the time you're not gonna find the small Jetboil brand canister and have to settle for some of the other brands that don't fit.

[hikeandbike5]

1st due to the effecnecy of the JB it is conceivable to be able to carry enough fuel for the entire AT thru from the start to the Northern Terminus (the end).
What exactly do you mean by this statement? Do people actually do this?

[Speakeasy TN]

[QUOTE=Starchild;1919726]1st due to the effecnecy of the JB it is conceivable to be able to carry enough fuel for the entire AT thru from the start to the Northern Terminus (the end).


HMMMMM 7-10 days on a small canister. 150 day hike. I guess it's possible........ Not necessary but possible.

[QHShowoman]

What exactly do you mean by this statement? Do people actually do this?


No, they don't. Most folks will carry 1-2 canisters at a time.

[10-K]

I rarely use a canister stove but I think one of the big reasons so many people are so generous to "donate" their nearly empty canisters is so they won't have to carry it when it's finally empty.

Like giving someone the last bite of something in a package so they'll be stuck with the trash.

[Coffee]

It all depends on how much fuel someone needs. I've donated a half full canister when starting on a seven day section because I wanted to start with a fresh canister sure to be enough for the segment and not wanting to have a depleted canister halfway through the hike. But that half empty canister would be "half full" for someone just out for a few days. I've also been the recipient of nearly full canisters donated by people finishing a hike and getting ready to fly home. There are some people willing to cobble together enough free fuel to meet their needs by packing 2 or even 3 partially full canisters. But I'm not willing to do that if I can purchase a new one.

[Starchild]

What exactly do you mean by this statement? Do people actually do this?

Nobody does this as there should be no reason, but it is indeed possible to do so. But just doing a ridiculous excercize in math here:

The 16 oz fuel canister should be able to boil about 50 L of water (actually 52.8L). At 1L per day that should be 50 days * 3 = 150 days.

I don't know the weight of the large canisters, but that would be 3 lbs of fuel at Springer should get one to Katahdin. The small canisters usually have a 1:1 weight ratio fuel to canister weight, the medium ones have a 1.5:1 fuel to canister ratio, it is not inconceivable that the large ones have a 2:1 fuel to canister weight. So that would add another 1.5 lbs at the start, giving a total weight of 4.5 lbs, which is possible to hike with, again no reason to actually do this.



Alcohol fuel, along with Esbit is apx 1/2 a oz per 2 cups boiled. So a oz of fuel per day for 1L per day boiled. For 150 days you would need 150 oz or about 9 lbs of fuel + container(s) weight - and one would want something more then a thin walled bottle so there may be some container weight to consider, so also possible to carry from start to finish but not as pleasant.

I do feel if someone was to attempt this, white gas would be lighter.

[atmilkman]

Another thing you have to take into consideration on the generosity of those half filled canisters is the time of year it is. If it's real cold out chances are those canisters have been ditched because they started performing poorly due to all the propane being burned up first leaving nothing but isobutane which is poor in cold conditions. If it's warm out, a half can is a good find.

[Starchild]

Another thing you have to take into consideration on the generosity of those half filled canisters is the time of year it is. If it's real cold out chances are those canisters have been ditched because they started performing poorly due to all the propane being burned up first leaving nothing but isobutane which is poor in cold conditions. If it's warm out, a half can is a good find.

This is more of a factor with the larger sized canisters, and can be a great factor in cold weather, eventually all canister stoves. However with that said, since this is a Jetboil OP, the Jetboil does do a good job with their pressure regulator and would have a better chance at being able to use these they some stoves which were used first in others.

On my AT thru, the lowest temp I knew about was 10F, and at that temp the flame was not as hot, but still could and did boil water, actually lots of water, which I shared with others who could not get their canister stoves to work (they gave me their fuel to boil their water). Much lower then that, and or a depleted canister where the gas mix has changed could have been problematic.

[Starchild]

Just a correction/addition on my above post, it was not that they could not get their stove to light, it was that they were unable to boil water on it. It could have been the pressure regulator, or the less efficient transfer of heat from a standard stove to a standard pot (not one with a heat exchanger built in), to not having a cozy around their pot when they try to boil it.

Most likely a combo of the 3.

[atmilkman]

I was using the SolTi and it was 9º and I slept with my canister. I left the cup out in my vestibule with 2 cups of water in it. It froze solid. I put my stove on the stand on my sit pad (5 segments of a z-rest) and it fired right up. Took about 7 - 9 minutes to melt the ice and the cup was sweating and dripping all over the burner popping and hissing and it kept right chugging along. This was a small canister. I'm very impressed with the product. That's as cold as I have had that stove. Later on when the canister got low (I'd say way less than half) it would no longer boil water. It would get it wavy just not rolling no matter how long I left it on including the lid. I took that same canister to a hike in FL and it was 87º out and it boiled water like crazy in just over 2 min.

[Vet4thruhike]

thanks guys for all the info

[atmilkman]

I was using the SolTi and it was 9º and I slept with my canister. I left the cup out in my vestibule with 2 cups of water in it. It froze solid. I put my stove on the stand on my sit pad (5 segments of a z-rest) and it fired right up. Took about 7 - 9 minutes to melt the ice and the cup was sweating and dripping all over the burner popping and hissing and it kept right chugging along. This was a small canister. I'm very impressed with the product. That's as cold as I have had that stove. Later on when the canister got low (I'd say way less than half) it would no longer boil water. It would get it wavy just not rolling no matter how long I left it on including the lid. I took that same canister to a hike in FL and it was 87º out and it boiled water like crazy in just over 2 min.
Small Jetboil canister.

[HooKooDooKu]

Agree with the idea of carrying the larger canister. Some of the time you're not gonna find the small Jetboil brand canister and have to settle for some of the other brands that don't fit.
While not all brands might fit, there are other brands that fit the Jetboil. From experience, I know that the 110g Snow Peak canister will fit, and from the looks of it, I think the new MSR "skinny" 4oz canisters will also fit.

[Mags]

Anything with a standard Lindal-type valve will work fine. Coleman (NOT the green propane tanks) often sold at WallyWorld, SnoPeak, MSR et al.

Pretty much the standard at this point.

[mattjv89]

While not all brands might fit, there are other brands that fit the Jetboil. From experience, I know that the 110g Snow Peak canister will fit, and from the looks of it, I think the new MSR "skinny" 4oz canisters will also fit.

They all use the same 7/16" Lindal valve and should be 100% interchangable. Now I did recently learn a very important difference between the JetBoil and MSR canisters. It seems that the Jetboil canisters do not have an odor chemical added for leak detection, and the MSR does. Rude surprise when I switched out an empty Jetboil for an MSR and got a nasty blast of rotten egg sulphur smell when unscrewing the MSR one. Not sure where other brands fall on this.

[atmilkman]

While not all brands might fit, there are other brands that fit the Jetboil. From experience, I know that the 110g Snow Peak canister will fit, and from the looks of it, I think the new MSR "skinny" 4oz canisters will also fit.

I was just looking at those last night. It looks like Optimus might also have one that works. Thanks for the heads up on the Snow Peak.

[atmilkman]

I'm pretty sure HKDK is referring to the canister size as far as fitting down in the Jetboil cup for packing.

[RED-DOG]

On my AT thru's I used the Pocket Rocket and I never had an issue finding canisters, One 8oz canister would last me 12 days since I only boil water for my dinners, everything else I ate was no cook, You should not have an issue finding canisters for a Jet Boil I know that the MSR, Snow peak, giga Power will fit the Jet Boil.

[Vet4thruhike]

sweet, are there any advantages/ disadvantages to the JB vs other stave like alcohol, etc. other than weight of course?

[Connie]

I had the first JetBoil: the pot was too tall for me. I only used it for boiling eggs and making cocoa with the left-over boiling water.

Idid that, at Rest Stops, enroute to the trailhead.

I tried making soup. If a thick soup, it burned.

The JetBoil Zip caught my eye: .8 Liter capacity, no igniter. I like the capacity much better.

The pot adapter is available. That way, you can use any cookware.

I got a JetBoil Zip. I don't really miss the igniter.

For gas cartridge cooking, I only like my SOTO Micro Regulator better, and that, only for the weight carried.

The JetBoil Zip is fine.

I rationalize the weight and carrying a cyllinder, by having a cyllinder-shape outer pack side pocket. I put a thermos on the other side of the backpack. There are times, cold weather for example, I like to cook once. I carry the thermos for later.

[Vet4thruhike]

thats one of the thing i was worried about is it only really being able to boil and not cook it limits my food options a little bit. I am taking a couple day hike in december so i guess we will find out lol

[CarlZ993]

Note: I used an alcohol stove on my thru-hike. I use a canister stove on almost all my other hikes (usually a SnowPeak stove). Hiking in the mountains in the winter, I'll use a white gas stove (Whisperlite).

I did a JetBoil boil test at home a few months back. W/ a 110 gram Snowpeak canister, I was able to get 27 boils of 2 Cups of water. Average boil time = 1:45. Total boil time = 23:06. With a 15 MPD hiking pace, that would get you just over 400 miles. For colder situations, you need to factor slower boil times, fewer boils, & shorter distance on the trail before running out.

A buddy of mine used a Jetboil on the AT. When he included meals he ate in town (didn't use his stove), he was able to get about 500 miles per 110 gr canister. YMMV

[Speakeasy TN]

sweet, are there any advantages/ disadvantages to the JB vs other stave like alcohol, etc. other than weight of course?

I have alcohol stoves that are a lot of fun. Esbit rocks too but I will use the Jetboil on my thru because I CAN'T SPILL THE FUEL! I'm a big fan of foolproof.