Question for JetBoil-ers

[buckwheat]

Do you use the JetBoil Personal Cooking System? If so, I have a couple of questions:

This thing fits perfectly in a side pouch of my pack (normally where you might put a nalgene water bottle). The downside I see is that the plastic JetBoil PCS top has a strainer built into it and also a small steam vent. This top design would let water seep in during downpours, I'd bet, possibly getting the burner wet. Do you carry your PCS inside your pack, or outside your pack? Have you experienced any corrosion? Does it perform OK if the stove wick area gets wet?

I could always put it inside a silnylon sack or dryback, I suppose, at the expense of the additional ounces.

All JetBoil experiences gladly accepted (both pro and con)

Cheers,
Buckwheat

[goose1]

I keep my jetboil inside my pack. I would worry about it falling out of side pocket. Getting wet
could not be good for it. :)

[Serial 07]

obvious thought is are you not carrying a pack cover?

i've used the jetboil and really liked it...in the cold weather, you will have hot water before anybody...

when you are cooking, add all the ingredients early, don't wait til the water is boiling...the good thing about the jetboil is that it will cook food really fast, but the down side is that it will take that food 15 minutes to cool down...put the food you want to cook in early and cook for a while...but i would then turn off gas and let it cook without gas for a few minutes...it will cool down and cook at the same time...

also a plus is you can use the jetboil with an alcohol stove (and very efficiently i might add)...a good thing for the summer time when you may not be cooking as much...

so to recap...you prolly should have a pack cover...no pack cover, i would put the thing inside my bag...haven't heard of any corrosion...the ignition lighter is the most delicate thing with the Jetboil...be careful with that thing...you can always use a lighter to get it started...

[buckwheat]

Thanks for the insights, especially the "how-to-cook-with-it" advice.

Of all the decisions to make regarding hiking gear, I think stove selection is probably one of the hardest to make because there are so many options and a lot depends on your altitude. I decided that, certainly in the cold, but also in the rainy mucky wind, trying to deal with an alcohol soda-can stove and windscreen was going to result in a lot of kicking myself in my cold, hungry arse.

I got a decent deal on the JetBoil PCS (basically, I got the pot stand and stabilizer accessory for free) ... so that pushed me in that direction. Fuel is a bit heavier, but the convenience and efficiency factors makes up for the extra weight I'll give it in my pack, I think.

Having the ability to use the flux capacitor over an alcohol stove as a backup should the burner fail or fuel run out was also a nice feature. I would imagine that you could, in a pinch, warm food over an open flame (pitfire) with it as well.

Plus, should I ever need to time travel ... having a flux capacitor never hurts!

[dradius]

I'll throw in my 2 cents, which is to bring extra fuel if the temps are going to get below 20 or so. I love my jetboil, but it takes a lot longer to boil in really cold situations.

[buckwheat]

dradius,

How much fuel do you usually trek with? I just assumed I'd keep 1 can inside the unit, and another elsewhere in my pack just in case of misjudging fuel remaining, in case of bad fuel, etc.

Also, how many boils would you say you get from a single can of JetBoil fuel? Also, is it possible to use the larger Coleman fuel bottles with it?

[snowhoe]

I love my jet boil but like dradius say it will make you mad in cold weather. Another thing you can not put the canister in the cup 1st if you do the little bit of water left inside of the cup will make the bottom of the fuel canister rust. So put the burner in 1st and then the canister. I dont think you can use the coleman fuel with it I dont know never tried. The whole key is just to get the water to boil and then you are ready. Dont let just sit there and boil waste of fuel and filtered water.

[dradius]

sorry, I haven't had my jetboil long enough to give those kinds of stats. but from what i've seen so far, a single fuel can will last you a week, even in winter. of course that's just cooking a couple meals/water a day. not making supper for the whole group :)

putting the burner in the bottom is a good idea, or you can just flip the fuel canister upside down inside the cup. otherwise you'll soon get rings in the bottom of the cup. for week+ trips i will take a regular can of fuel in the cup and one of the larger sized fuels in my pack. and i hear you can use other brands of fuel, but i have not tried them myself.

[sheepdog]

dradius,

How much fuel do you usually trek with? I just assumed I'd keep 1 can inside the unit, and another elsewhere in my pack just in case of misjudging fuel remaining, in case of bad fuel, etc.

Also, how many boils would you say you get from a single can of JetBoil fuel? Also, is it possible to use the larger Coleman fuel bottles with it?
If your going tocarry two it is easier to carry an 8 oz canister in your pack. overall it will be lighter. With a big container you should get about 90 plus two cup boils. All other fuels work well. I often use wich ever is available or cheaper. The Jetboil is a great stove.

[cooter]

Hey Everyone,
I'm a NOBO who is leaving Feb. 20. I'm from Atlanta and I'd be happy to pick people up at the North Springs station, which is like 3 miles from my house, and shuttle you to the trail prior to my own departure. Just pay me for gas, which I'll calculate based on my roundtrip mileage and the avg gas in Jan, and I might add another $15 to raise funds for my own trip. Email me at [email protected]
Thanks, Mike (No trail name yet).

[buckwheat]

I find Coleman fuel canisters much easier to find (WalMart, KMart for example). Does anyone make a Jetboil-to-Coleman-Canister adapter?

[sheepdog]

You are not talking about the big green canisters are you? Those are only propane. Don't use it. Coleman also sells a propane butane mix in an 8 oz can. That can will fit, no conversion necesarry.

[leprechaun]

when I did a two week hike a coupla years ago my buddy and I both used Jetboil PCS stoves. He used it with Jetboil fuel, I used the Snowpeak brand. His stove boiled faster and the canister lasted longer. not a huge difference, but a difference none the less.

[mudhead]

If your going tocarry two it is easier to carry an 8 oz canister in your pack.

Plus it will be less tippy with the larger can.

It still will be tippy enough, however.

[humunuku]

i get around 30 meals out of snowpeak fuel use with a JB

[ki0eh]

Am I the only one who sleeps with a Jetboil canister in cold weather to increase performance? The igniter sure isn't good for much, but then it never is.

[Jack Tarlin]

Um, yes.

If there are other hikers who make a habit of sleeping with their stoves, I haven't heard about it.

[leprechaun]

Am I the only one who sleeps with a Jetboil canister in cold weather to increase performance? The igniter sure isn't good for much, but then it never is.


no you are not! and yea, i took the ignitor off mine total dead weight, get a bic lighter. even with no fuel in the lighter you can still light the jetboil.

[partinj]

Hi Buckwheat you can ust the snowpeak or msr or the coleman Canisters on the jetboil
stove the nice thing about coleman you get at walmart is it the large one and it cheap
my buddy has the jetboil and has use all three he like the coleman and the snowpeak
canisters. He say he get more cooking time out of them.

[juma]

cold weather - sure sleep with the canister. another trick is boil a cup of water first and then set the canister in the water after pouring in a separate container. the JB will really blast off then for cooking bigger pots of water or multiples. Its also great in the cold to boil up a couple of liters to take in your bag. they will stay hot for hours. last weekend near max patch, I had to get up at 1am and take off my windsuit - too hot in the bag with water bottles when it was 18 degrees out.

jumawalks

[JaxHiker]

The igniter sure isn't good for much, but then it never is.
There was a bad run of igniters and they've changed suppliers. Unfortunately, I can't locate mine at the moment to tell you more. The button changed colors. It was red to black or black to red. I'll try to find it to confirm. Where'd I put the danged thing? :-?

[JaxHiker]

Ha! I found a pic of my stove before I put the new igniter on it. If yours is red you have an older one. Call them up and they'll send you a new, black one.

[Kirby]

I carried everything for my jetboil in my dinner/breakfast food bag, which sat at the bottom of my food bag. Put a cloth of some sort between the igniter and the top and you will be fine.

[Serial 07]

How much fuel do you usually trek with? I just assumed I'd keep 1 can inside the unit, and another elsewhere in my pack just in case of misjudging fuel remaining, in case of bad fuel, etc.

Also, how many boils would you say you get from a single can of JetBoil fuel? Also, is it possible to use the larger Coleman fuel bottles with it?


i usually carried two, especially in the cold...come summer, one would be okay, but then it thins out a little on resources...that's one fun part of the AT, dealing with this fuel...alcohol is much easier to procure...

how many boils...i'm not sure on exact amount of boils, but a canister, when using my technique, lasts a while...i usually cook at least dinner and coffee everyday...maybe through a quick potato in there...i went throw the smokies cooking for two with an 8 oz. canister and had plenty left for hot springs and maybe a little beyond...

if you are referring to the coleman canisters i'm thinking of, the answer is NO...they are two different types of gases (easily detectable by reading the labels)...i'm not a gasologist, but that's the info i've been given...

[buckwheat]

Thanks everyone for the great input. After I have a chance to field test my JetBoil, I'll add my thoughts to the mini-reviews. So far, I think I made the best stove decision for my circumstances.

Cheers,
Buckwheat

[dradius]

this is a good informative thread. we need more of these :)
I bought my jetboil used. i couldn't get it to light at first and figured i had gotten screwed. turned out the little metal wire was just too far up. their website says it should only be 1/4" (i think) from the stove. after bending that part down close to the stove, mine lights every time.

i also slept with my fuel canister on a recent trip. glad i'm not the only one. however, i don't think my body really warmed it up much, next time i'll just wrap it in clothes and stick it in my backpack or something.

i also sat the canister next to the fire to try to warm it up (not IN the fire, just somewhat close.) all that did was cause fuel to leak out of the can (you can hear it if you listen close) this was about 2' from the fire too! so watch out for that. the can wasn't even hot.

sitting the canister in a cup of boiling water seems like a good idea. i'll check that out, thanks.

[Frick Frack]

We used a Jetboil for our 2008 SOBO hike. I kept it stored in the pack. If I stored it with any moisture in the pot (from cleaning or boiling) it was always hard to start the next time so be sure and dry it well before putting it back in the pack. As far as the igniter goes I just quit trying it. For my 1st stove I got 3 replacements before I just gave up and used a lighter (always have a lighter or matches). Our stove quit just before Harper's Ferry and the outfitter did not have a maintenance so they gave us a new stove (after a call to Jetboil) and that igniter never worked. I would always carry a maintenance kit too....the little o-ring on the bottom went bad & the stove performed like a Bic lighter until it was fixed. Overall we loved the stove but started cooking more using the optional pot support which is almost worthless. We used MSR Iso-pro canisters (will not fit in stove) and they would last almost two weeks with 2 full pot boils in the morning and 2-3 full pot boils at night (The Jetboil pot has a line you are not supposed to go over but we always filled it to the top...just be very careful if you do this and shut it off immediately when it starts to boil then use caution when twisting it off the stove). When we started cooking more it would last almost a week and a half.

[leprechaun]

yea, the line in the pot is pretty worthless, using common sense seems to work better. If you take the igniter off everything seems to fit better inside the pot and you can easily put the bottom stabilizer and pot support (never take mine, I never get fancy with my cookin') in the actual pot along with a few tea bags or some such thing.

[sarbar]

Am I the only one who sleeps with a Jetboil canister in cold weather to increase performance? The igniter sure isn't good for much, but then it never is.
I always sleep with my fuel canister in my bag unless it is summer - and even then sometimes it gets cold enough it goes in!

[JaxHiker]

My only real issue with the JB is trying to use it to cook with other pots/pans. It'll work if you're very careful but if not you'll warp the hell out of your cookware. It's great if all you want to do is boil water but I find myself using my Giga or alcohol stove more.

[Jack Tarlin]

Buckwheat:

JetBoil pros and cons:

It is one hell of a water-boiler. It's GREAT if you're using a lot of dehydrated or freeze-dried food, and essentially only need it to boil water in a hurry.

In it's original incarnation, tho, it's not such a great thing to actually COOK dinner in, as it's sorta small, you can't cook a really big meal in it, it can be difficult to clean if you have big hands, and most important, you can't turn your back on it for more than a minute or two, as it burns so efficiently, it's really easy to misjudge how much liquid is left in the cookpot; i.e. it's REALLY easy to burn stuff up if you're cooking in the JB standard cook pot. If you're gonna actually cook dinner with it, consider getting the companion pot, which is bigger, wider, and much more convenient to use, i.e. easier to cook with, it can make much bigger meals, it won't burn your dinner, and it's much easier to clean. For not much more weight, this is a great cookpot.

[Ramble~On]

I'm still pretty new to the JB scene but have used it a lot since I got it.
I picked it up to be my winter stove as in winter almost all of my cooking revolves around boiling water. I'm amazed with the stove and how long a small canister will last me. Anyway..between burning the thing indoors at room temps or at elevation at 5 degrees I only notice a slight change in boil time. The stove is still fast when cold. I recently did some experimenting with that and left the stove out in the vestibule overnight. It snowed and enough blew under the fly to cover one side of the canister..(which would actually insulate rather than cool) anyway when I went to pick the stove up the canister was frozen to the ground - it fired right up and worked fine.
I doubt when warmer weather comes around I'll go back to carrying another stove.

I noticed that some people had asked about the Coleman fuel canisters and wondered if they'd work on the Jetboil. The canisters that are green and about the size of a Nalgene are propane and the threads wouldn't fit. Coleman also makes a iso/pro mix which will fit and work with the JB.

I'm really happy with this stove. I use it for boiling water, I don't cook in it.
For freeze dried and other meals that just require hot or boiling water like soups and freezer bag meals ~ this thing's the bomb.