Jetboil Sol Review -- Complete

[hikin_jim]

I've posted a few things leading up to this, but I've now completed my review of the Jetboil Sol.


The new Jetboil Sol

The new Jetboil Sol features a smaller, lighter pot in either all aluminum or in titanium with an aluminum heat exchanger. In my weighings, I found only about a 1oz difference between the two. Please see the table in my review for details. In addition to the smaller, lighter pot, both versions of the Sol feature this significantly lightened up burner with substantially improved piezoelectric ignition:



The new burner is good, but the regulator valve makes real cooking difficult. The adjustment is tricky to say the least in the lower end of the burner's range. Still, cooking can be done if one is willing to fiddle a bit.



For the review as well as all posts leading up to the review, see: The New Jetboil Sol

HJ

[4eyedbuzzard]

My biggest complaint is that with the burner and canister assembled, the wire fuel "knob" will not fold flush AND the overall assembly will not fit/nest in the pot with the top on. Seems like a big engineering/design oversight to me.

[NowWhat?]

I was considering this. Thanks for the info.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I was considering this. Thanks for the info.

The stove will nest - but you have to remove(unscrew) the canister from the burner in order to do so to get the lid on tightly. Maybe it's a safety thing, but I just found it annoying.

[hikin_jim]

My biggest complaint is that with the burner and canister assembled, the wire fuel "knob" will not fold flush AND the overall assembly will not fit/nest in the pot with the top on. Seems like a big engineering/design oversight to me.

Yeah, they pretty much want you to disassemble the gas and burner for the trail. I think they consider it a safety issue.

On the other hand, the wire valve adjustor is a lot easier to turn when wearing gloves or mittens than the old PCS.

HJ

[atmilkman]

Good stuff hikin_jim. I have the Ti and I'm one of ones that hasn't had an issue. I only boil water. I stay right with it. I run it wide open. I get 1 cup per min. and 2 cups per 2 min. I shut it down at first hint of boiling. I've been using it quite regularly since last Sept. on the PT and FT. The lowest temp I've hit so far is 29*. I'm an alky convert. I still have my alcohol rig which I used for years, but I grab the Jetboil now because of speed and ease. Again, great review, I like the no BS.

[dla]

Good review hikin_jim! I just bought one of these as a birthday present for my son (I'm an old fuddy-duddy alcohol stover). I'm thinking about modding the handle of "his" stove before I give it to him, since I've got a sewing machine. The handle was a bit of a disappointment. And the base where the cup locks into the burner swells together when very hot and you can't get the two apart. Minor nits really. I've had some conversations with Sol users who've explained how the temp indicator is actually very useful - it seemed like a gimmick to me.
All in all it is a very well thought out cook system.

[Wise Old Owl]

Anyone figured out why the titanium version is melting on the bottom?

[kevperro]

I'd be happy to go hiking with you Jim just to mooch off your cooking. I used to carry the old Outback Oven and make pizza and all kinds of snacks. Now days I'm old and lazy and have resigned myself to eating Mountain House meals. They taste great if you are hungry enough.

[hikin_jim]

Good stuff hikin_jim. I have the Ti and I'm one of ones that hasn't had an issue. I only boil water. I stay right with it. I run it wide open. I get 1 cup per min. and 2 cups per 2 min. I shut it down at first hint of boiling. I've been using it quite regularly since last Sept. on the PT and FT. The lowest temp I've hit so far is 29*. I'm an alky convert. I still have my alcohol rig which I used for years, but I grab the Jetboil now because of speed and ease. Again, great review, I like the no BS.

Glad you liked the review. I tried to give it really thorough coverage.

You're going to laugh, but sometimes I think of the Jetboil as being so easy and so reliable that it's boring. I mean I've got all these tricks and tweaks I know to get stoves to work better, but I don't need any of them because the Jetboil is so good. A guy who has never been on the trail in his entire life can be just as good as a seasoned veteran with a Jetboil. Now, where's the fun in that?

HJ

[dla]

Glad you liked the review. I tried to give it really thorough coverage.

You're going to laugh, but sometimes I think of the Jetboil as being so easy and so reliable that it's boring. I mean I've got all these tricks and tweaks I know to get stoves to work better, but I don't need any of them because the Jetboil is so good. A guy who has never been on the trail in his entire life can be just as good as a seasoned veteran with a Jetboil. Now, where's the fun in that?

HJ

The "reliable" part is where you got me. Jetboil is an excellent water boiler, but it can be no more reliable than any other canister stove. It is a good fair weather water heater.

[hikin_jim]

Good review hikin_jim! I just bought one of these as a birthday present for my son (I'm an old fuddy-duddy alcohol stover). I'm thinking about modding the handle of "his" stove before I give it to him, since I've got a sewing machine. The handle was a bit of a disappointment. And the base where the cup locks into the burner swells together when very hot and you can't get the two apart. Minor nits really. I've had some conversations with Sol users who've explained how the temp indicator is actually very useful - it seemed like a gimmick to me.
All in all it is a very well thought out cook system.

Well, I'd hardly call alcohol stove users fuddy duddies.

Yeah, the "handle" according to Jetboil is a "safety strap" rather than a handle. You're supposed to slide your hand under it rather than grap the pot by it. A lot of people just cut it off to get it out of the way.

HJ

[hikin_jim]

The "reliable" part is where you got me. Jetboil is an excellent water boiler, but it can be no more reliable than any other canister stove. It is a good fair weather water heater.

Well, it depends what you mean by fair weather. Because of it's design, the JB can handle more wind than most upright canister stoves. In cold, again because of it's design, a JB Sol will perform better than similar stoves in the lower end of the temperature range of such stoves. The JB Sol can't perform miracles, so don't expect to go out in -10F weather and use a Jetboil, but a Jetboil will do better at 20F than other upright canister stoves.

HJ

[hikin_jim]

I'd be happy to go hiking with you Jim just to mooch off your cooking. I used to carry the old Outback Oven and make pizza and all kinds of snacks. Now days I'm old and lazy and have resigned myself to eating Mountain House meals. They taste great if you are hungry enough.

Well, it depends on the kind of trip I'm taking. If I'm doing high miles and high gain, I keep it pretty simple.

However, if I'm doing a shorter, easier trip, then I'll have fun with it. I've been baking muffins lately in a 1300ml Evernew pot. More on that later. I've got a really nice little FireFly that I'm reviewing too.

HJ

[dla]

Hmmm, I'd have to see some cold testing to verify that. I think the JB will work just as well as any other canister stove at 20*F - relatively poorly. You have to do all the same tricks with the JB to get it to work in the cold.

I can light my Trangia at 20*F, and it will boil my water. I don't have to babysit it. That's part of my definition of "reliable".

[hikin_jim]

Hmmm, I'd have to see some cold testing to verify that. I think the JB will work just as well as any other canister stove at 20*F - relatively poorly. You have to do all the same tricks with the JB to get it to work in the cold.

I can light my Trangia at 20*F, and it will boil my water. I don't have to babysit it. That's part of my definition of "reliable".

Backpackinglight.com did a write up. They found significantly increased performance in the Jetboil Sol in the low end of the stove's temperature operating range compared to other stoves. I can give you a link, but unfortunately you have to be a paid subscriber to see the article. In my opinion, a membership is worthwhile because of articles like this one.

What's going on? Well, the best I've been able to put together is that the aperture in the jet is larger than normal with a Jetboil Sol. It's certainly larger than the original Jetboil PCS's jet. Why didn't they just do that with the original JB PCS? Well, no problem in cold weather, but in hot weather, the gas pressure could get so high that you could get flame lift off where the velocity of the gas blows the flame away from the burner head and the flame goes out. Now, you've got non-combusting gas flowing over a hot stove. Not a good situation. How to prevent it? With the old PCS, you had a simple needle valve, and to prevent overloading the stove in hot weather, you reduce the size of the jet aperture. On the other hand, the Jetboil Sol has a regulator valve. The regulator acts to restrict the pressure when the weather is hot, thus you can have a larger aperture safely in hot weather. In cold weather, when the pressure is low, more gas can flow even at low pressure because of the larger aperture. Despite marketing spin to the contrary, it is not the regulator valve alone that allows for better cold weather performance, it is the regulator valve combined with a larger aperture.

Of course, any "tricks" you do in cold weather will also improve performance.

Regardless of what stove you used and what "tricks" you employ, be sure to use good gas. I've got a list of which brands are good for cold and which are not at What's the Best Gas for Cold Weather?

HJ

[dla]

Backpackinglight.com did a write up. They found significantly increased performance in the Jetboil Sol in the low end of the stove's temperature operating range compared to other stoves. I can give you a link, but unfortunately you have to be a paid subscriber to see the article. In my opinion, a membership is worthwhile because of articles like this one.

What's going on? Well, the best I've been able to put together is that the aperture in the jet is larger than normal with a Jetboil Sol. It's certainly larger than the original Jetboil PCS's jet. Why didn't they just do that with the original JB PCS? Well, no problem in cold weather, but in hot weather, the gas pressure could get so high that you could get flame lift off where the velocity of the gas blows the flame away from the burner head and the flame goes out. Now, you've got non-combusting gas flowing over a hot stove. Not a good situation. How to prevent it? With the old PCS, you had a simple needle valve, and to prevent overloading the stove in hot weather, you reduce the size of the jet aperture. On the other hand, the Jetboil Sol has a regulator valve. The regulator acts to restrict the pressure when the weather is hot, thus you can have a larger aperture safely in hot weather. In cold weather, when the pressure is low, more gas can flow even at low pressure because of the larger aperture. Despite marketing spin to the contrary, it is not the regulator valve alone that allows for better cold weather performance, it is the regulator valve combined with a larger aperture.

Of course, any "tricks" you do in cold weather will also improve performance.

Regardless of what stove you used and what "tricks" you employ, be sure to use good gas. I've got a list of which brands are good for cold and which are not at What's the Best Gas for Cold Weather?

HJ

That makes sense - to a point. A real regulator, (not just a fixed orifice), would greatly improve flame consistency. And as long as you started with a fresh canister, the propane component will boil your water. But when that 20% propane is gone, the canister is worthless at 20*F - regulator or not.

I appreciate your insight and I wish more real test data was available. I did find a 22*F YT video with the JB sol and it behaved just as I described - but this fellow made the test very worst case, i.e. no tricks.

What I did like about the Jetboil is that low flame output was not affected much by the wind. I didn't have any blowouts when I was trying to fry eggs at low heat. This told me that the unit could be used for more than water boiling.

I'm not knocking the Jetboil for what it is - it is a very, very good water boiler.

[hikin_jim]

That makes sense - to a point. A real regulator, (not just a fixed orifice), would greatly improve flame consistency. And as long as you started with a fresh canister, the propane component will boil your water. But when that 20% propane is gone, the canister is worthless at 20*F - regulator or not.

I appreciate your insight and I wish more real test data was available. I did find a 22*F YT video with the JB sol and it behaved just as I described - but this fellow made the test very worst case, i.e. no tricks.

What I did like about the Jetboil is that low flame output was not affected much by the wind. I didn't have any blowouts when I was trying to fry eggs at low heat. This told me that the unit could be used for more than water boiling.

I'm not knocking the Jetboil for what it is - it is a very, very good water boiler.

Well, first recall that the 20% propane doesn't burn off all alone leaving you with 80% of whatever else was in the canister. The propane and the "secondary" fuel form a blend. Both are burning any time the stove is in operation, but the propane burns off at a faster rate. You will have at least some propane for at least 60 to 70% of the canister, not just the first 20%.

Which brings me to my next point: Your secondary fuel should be isobutane. Isobutane vaporizes down to 11F. At 22F, you should still have some vaporization although not strong. This is where the design of the Sol would come to the fore and be better than other upright canister stoves. Of course the canister chills as you use it, so the canister will probably be colder than the surrounding air. Assuming your canister is in the last third of its life (in other words the propane has all burned off), the closer you get to 11F fuel temperature, the less pressure you'll have no matter the stove, but the Sol will be better so long as at least some pressure remains.

HJ

[Grits]

Does anyone know what happened to Devin at boilerwerks are they selling stoves?? It seems he made a few and then just stopped. It looks like an awesome chimney kettle stove.

[hikin_jim]

Does anyone know what happened to Devin at boilerwerks are they selling stoves?? It seems he made a few and then just stopped. It looks like an awesome chimney kettle stove.

Devin had some problems with the supplier that was producing the aluminum vessel. Apparently he's had to change suppliers.

They are being shipped, slowly but surely. I have one sitting here on my desk waiting for me to finish reviewing it.





HJ