Jetboil Questions

[Paddlefoot]

I used a Flash for last summer's CT thru-hike. Liked it better than my old, trusty Whisperlite.

Questions:

1. Are the orange plastic stabilizer legs necessary? Seems like I could save a few ounces by leaving them at home. Anyone do so and regret it?

2. What about the plastic measuring cup? I thought about leaving it behind, but was a little concerned that those heating fins are sharp and might puncture something.

3. I'm considering getting a Sol Ti for future thru-hikes - can the I use just the pot section with my Flash stove burner?

Thanks!

[Coffee]

I ditched both the stabilizer legs and measuring cup without any issues. I don't think the heating fins would be sharp enough to puncture something. However, I had a homemade pot cozy into which the Jetboil was placed when not in use. So that risk was a non issue for me.

Regarding the stabilizer legs, if you decide not to use them be sure to be very careful to place the stove on even ground. It did almost tip on me at one campsite and the stabilizer legs might have prevented that risk.

[Starchild]

Never use the triangle support and never had a problem.

The cup is useful and light weight as a cup, but since I brought a cup I left the Jetboil cup at home. It is very helpful to have some sort of cup + pot in other words 2 separate items, if you have them you don't need the jetboil cup.

But I have run the jetboil on alcohol fuel using a tealight (candle holder) as the stove (just fill the empty tealight container, light it up and place the jetboil over it, no need to remove the cozy), that fits very nicely inside the jetboil cup.

[HooKooDooKu]

One of the reasons I bought a Jetboil was because I didn't like the instability of the MSR Pocket Rocket. The stabilizer legs makes the effective diameter of your canister bigger and therefore increases stability. So taking or leaving the stabilizer legs becomes a personal preference of how much stability you want.

Because I'm more comfort driven than minimalist driven, I utilize the stabilizer legs because the Jetboil and Snowpeak canisters (required if you want to store the canister inside the pot) are narrower than the MSR canisters.

However, if I'm using my MSR Titan Kettle, I take an MSR canister and Snowpeak Litemax stove (I can fit both inside the kettle) and don't bother with any additional stabilizer legs because of the wider base of the MSR canister.

As for the plastic measuring cup, the fins are not exposed. They are still under the "frame" of the pot that attaches to the stove. Your only concern should be something possibly poking through that frame. So whether the cup adds some protection or not depends upon how you pack your stove and what else is packed around it.

The Specs from the JetBoil website indicates the width of the Flash and the Sol are the same. As such, I would assume the same burner is being sold with both systems (with the heights and materials used to produce the pot being the only difference in the systems). Actually, when I look at how the SUMO has a tapered cage under the pot, it looks like ALL JetBoil products use the exact same burner. So the pot from any JetBoil product should work with the burner from any other JetBoil product.

[Dharma Dog]

Another good way to lighten up your Jetboil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xQ0d2_RKz6Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xQ0d2_RKz6Y)

and yet another although this one is a bit extreme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=raEA1wWdohA

[Astro]

1. I leave the stabilizer legs at home.

2. Never realized till now that it was a measuring cup, probably because I never saw the need for one. I do always use this to protect the jet boil and also anything else in my pack it is next to.

3. I think the only difference is the height, so they should be interchangeable.

Still consider (for me) the JetBoil Flash to be the best gear purchase I have ever made (even over NeoAir , Leki hiking poles, and Catalyst backpack). :sun

[Ercoupe]

I used the Jetboil Flash from Denver to Gunnison, because of fire danger. Changed to Alcohol at Gunnison, for the last half. Regretted it.

The legs make it easier to level and make it more stable. Nice to have if you want to fire up in your vestibule.

Since I store the stove in the outer side pocket of a G4, I retained the plastic cup. Not afraid of the fins getting bent. But if you bend the outer ring, it would make it harder to fit onto burner base.

My partner, has a Zip, uses his cup for meals and drinks. I use nothing but water, as I don't hang it with the food.

The Flash has a fold out wire for the gas valve, much easier to use than the knob on the Zip.

[colorado_rob]

I've been using the Sol Ti for two seasons now, including 8.5 weeks on the AT. Before that I had the original Jet Boil. Never carried/used wither the pot stabilizer or cup, both just useless weight. Yep, got to be careful where you set it w/o the legs. Not so much when you use the larger canisters, though I usually use the small ones. I just double checked and my old original JetBoil (5-6 years old???) burner unit does fit the Sol Ti pot, so I imagine the Flash is compatible as well. Such a great system... and so efficient. I just completed 15 days on the AT using a single 8 oz canister and I heat a lot of water every day, 6-7 cups (coffee, tea and freeze dried meal every day).

[Starchild]

If you use the cup as a cup it makes sense, you may even want to store a tealite candle shell there so it can be run on alcohol fuel if needed. But the fins survived the thru without the cup. I did have the fins separate before the thru but that was due to overheating/weak weld on the Ti model which is a known issue which Jetboil 'fixed' by now stating that the Ti models are for water only, no cooking.