Backpacking Stoves... Jetboil?

[MLHSN]

I bought a Jetboil a couple of years ago and love it!!! It's fast and easy for boiling water. I pooh-poohed the backpacking meals for years, but have found that they've gotten a lot better or my standards have gotten lower. They're pretty darn fantastic when you're hungry. The coffee press version is pretty neat when you've been scoping for a couple of hours on a cold ledge and need a little warm caffiene.
I started carrying an Esbit stove with a snowpeak titanium mug this spring for boiling water. I ordered a MSR windscreen/heat reflector kit to make a lid for the mug and mini windscreen. The little fuel tabs work well and I add a little dry wood to help conserve the store-bought fuel. On an average temp day with minimal wind, I get around 4 cups of boiling-ish water from one tab and a couple of twigs. The whole package with 4 fuel tabs comes in at 8-9 oz. I still wouldn't count on this system for multiday trips (maybe after a little more experience and use?), but for light overnighters or a warm meal on a rainy day, it's great.

I recently bought the Esbit folding titanium stove with the fuel tabs.  It has been said that this stove can boil two cups of water in 8 minutes and that the tab will burn for 12 minutes.  I thought this would be great since the stove weighs less that an ounce and the tabs are only a half an ounce each.  I brought the stove on a scouting trip last weekend, and it took two entire tabs to get the water hot enough to partially cook my meal.  The water wasn't boiling even after two entire tabs.  We were camped on an exposed ridge with some wind, but I made a wind break out of rocks, and I would think that two entire tabs should be able to boil water.  I will not be using this stove anymore.  Still thinking about the Jetboil or MSR reactor (1L), but have also been thinking of the snowpeak gigapower (very similar to the pocket rocket).  I will need to decide before my next scouting trip.

The worst part of esbit, is the sticky black goo that starts to build up on the bottom of your pots. 

[300rum]

I don't think you'll be disapointed.  There is a little wire "tab" on top of the kettle lid that can be locked in place so that it stands straight up so you can easily remove the (hot) lid without trying to pry the tab up and the tab also works great with gloves. 

The handles on the sides have a dog-leg so that your ring finger sits in the notch.  A little hard to explain but when you use it for the first time you will know what I mean  It is easy to hold with a cup of boiling water when you are cramped in a tent, on uneven ground, while there is a blizzard outside.

The best thing is that it is quality and cheap!   

Inside the kettle I put my pocket rocket, about a weeks worth of Starbucks Via and a couple of paper towels inside of a ziploc.  This keeps everything from rattling around.  The fuel bottle won't fit inside, fyi.

The only thing I don't like about the kettle is that it doesn't have marks so that you know how many cups of water you have.  A sharpie easily takes care of this though. 

Well it looks like Backcountry.com doesn't have the 2012 model for sale any longer. 

I did find this though...http://www.cleansnipe.com/cheap--sale/stoic-ti-kettle-700ml.htm

2.8 cups of water now thats perfect size IMO.  Thanks for posting this I will go this route.

[judojudd]

The majority of my food in the backcountry is freeze-dried meals that just need hot water so a Jetboil is my main stove. I always carry a backup Esbit solid fuel stove (with several blocks of fuel) as a backup in case there is any kind of technical problem with the jetboil. The beauty of the Esbit is it's super-compact and relies on no technology to work. Just light that fuel cube and it'll go. I do strongly recommend toting some foil with the Esbit stove because if you surround your stove in foil, it will cut your time-to-boil in half. Good luck out there, fellas! 

[Salmo]

Plastic on stoves?   Naw...   Parts to forget or leave behind?   Naw.    Snow Peak Lite Max and Stoic mug.   Stove is reliable and tough as nails.  Love it!   

[Hunter mike]

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/primus-eta-solo-camo-stove-09l-pot~p~4954w/?filterString=s~primus%2F&colorFamily=01


Bought this... haven't tried it yet.  Got it for $48 + shipping with the coupon in my e-mail from STP.  Kind of a Jetboil wannabe, but good reviews overall.


Before that, I've been using an alcohol stove.  Very light, but long boil times and tough to estimate fuel use (water temp and elevation variable) and I come up short sometimes.  I think the new stove should streamline getting out of camp in the AM and getting dinner done ASAP.

[heavy hauler]

jetboil for sure. had it for years. 

[huntnnw]

love my MSR

[RadSav]

I do love the Jet-Boil for it's quickness to set-up and simplicity.  Gives me a hot meal on the run and keeps me hunting till dark.  But it is bulky in comparison to others I have used.  I had the Blue Gaz stove as you mention for a lot of years.  Can not say anything bad about it at all.  Other than, again, stove plus fuel plus pot was bulky.

My biggest complaint about the Jet-Boil is that I've come to enjoy it so much I keep stopping to make more mountain mochas or noodles!  Which means I have to carry A LOT more water than my aching body wants to when above timberline and water is scarce.  That first day Jumbo Hotdog with yakisoba noodles cooked in the hotdog water makes me very happy and very sleepy

I can go the whole year without a cup of hot Tang or an instant double shot mocha.  Then throw me into the high country with a Jet-Boil and I feel like a Tang and Mocha junky.  Just can't get enough.  Perhaps easy and convenient aren't always the best when hunting is suppose to be the priority

[hillbillyhunting]

I ended up going with the Snow Peak GigaPower.  I know many really like the white gas stoves, but I cant seem to convince myself to go away from canister stoves...If I was climbing everest or in the high country of colorado my opinion may change.  The GigaPower treated me very well.  Much more efficient, lighter, and less bulky than my ancient camping gaz stove.  I only brought one 8oz can of fuel and was able to boil water twice a day (breakfast/coffee and dinner) for a 9 day trip.  Satisfied with my decision. 

One reason I went away from the Jetboil is the fact that you need to rely on the fragile and flimsy plastic cover to be comfortable with setting the cup/pot in the dirt.  I dont want anything that seems fragile when on an extended trip.

Appreciate all  the input!   

[swanny]

I ended up going with the Snow Peak GigaPower.  I know many really like the white gas stoves, but I cant seem to convince myself to go away from canister stoves...If I was climbing everest or in the high country of colorado my opinion may change.  The GigaPower treated me very well.  Much more efficient, lighter, and less bulky than my ancient camping gaz stove.  I only brought one 8oz can of fuel and was able to boil water twice a day (breakfast/coffee and dinner) for a 9 day trip.  Satisfied with my decision. 

One reason I went away from the Jetboil is the fact that you need to rely on the fragile and flimsy plastic cover to be comfortable with setting the cup/pot in the dirt.  I dont want anything that seems fragile when on an extended trip.

Appreciate all  the input!   

Are you talking about the bottom "cup" of the JerBoil? Just curious why you have to use that to set the pot down.

[JLS]

I ended up going with the Snow Peak GigaPower.  I know many really like the white gas stoves, but I cant seem to convince myself to go away from canister stoves...If I was climbing everest or in the high country of colorado my opinion may change.  The GigaPower treated me very well.  Much more efficient, lighter, and less bulky than my ancient camping gaz stove.  I only brought one 8oz can of fuel and was able to boil water twice a day (breakfast/coffee and dinner) for a 9 day trip.  Satisfied with my decision. 

One reason I went away from the Jetboil is the fact that you need to rely on the fragile and flimsy plastic cover to be comfortable with setting the cup/pot in the dirt.  I dont want anything that seems fragile when on an extended trip.

Appreciate all  the input!   

I've been using this one for five years now.  I've been happy with it and I think you will too.  The piezo igniter crapped the bed on  me this year, now I use a lighter.

[lostbackpacker]

I just bought the jetboil flash on tuesday.  will see how it works this weekend. 

[bowhunterty]

I've used the MSR Whisperlite back in the day. Used MSR Pocket Rocket. They have there place and uses but don't leave home wiyh out my Jetboil. Works great, no issues. Winter time one in the truck with water and a meal for emergencies.

[hillbillyhunting]

I ended up going with the Snow Peak GigaPower.  I know many really like the white gas stoves, but I cant seem to convince myself to go away from canister stoves...If I was climbing everest or in the high country of colorado my opinion may change.  The GigaPower treated me very well.  Much more efficient, lighter, and less bulky than my ancient camping gaz stove.  I only brought one 8oz can of fuel and was able to boil water twice a day (breakfast/coffee and dinner) for a 9 day trip.  Satisfied with my decision. 

One reason I went away from the Jetboil is the fact that you need to rely on the fragile and flimsy plastic cover to be comfortable with setting the cup/pot in the dirt.  I dont want anything that seems fragile when on an extended trip.

Appreciate all  the input!   

Are you talking about the bottom "cup" of the JerBoil? Just curious why you have to use that to set the pot down.

I could be wrong but I don't think you would want to get dirt, sand, etc in the area the cup is designed to protect.

[swanny]

I ended up going with the Snow Peak GigaPower.  I know many really like the white gas stoves, but I cant seem to convince myself to go away from canister stoves...If I was climbing everest or in the high country of colorado my opinion may change.  The GigaPower treated me very well.  Much more efficient, lighter, and less bulky than my ancient camping gaz stove.  I only brought one 8oz can of fuel and was able to boil water twice a day (breakfast/coffee and dinner) for a 9 day trip.  Satisfied with my decision. 

One reason I went away from the Jetboil is the fact that you need to rely on the fragile and flimsy plastic cover to be comfortable with setting the cup/pot in the dirt.  I dont want anything that seems fragile when on an extended trip.

Appreciate all  the input!   

Are you talking about the bottom "cup" of the JerBoil? Just curious why you have to use that to set the pot down.

I could be wrong but I don't think you would want to get dirt, sand, etc in the area the cup is designed to protect.

I've set it down on the dirt many times. Dirt wont hurt the heat exchanger area at all. Now if you are setting it down in mud and it gets caked on that might be a different story. But any small cling on type debris will burn and wont harm it.