Jetboil - Does anyone own one or can provide a review?

Arkanian

Arkanian

Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
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Any of you have any experience with the Jetboil product lines? My wife is intersted to pick up the Helios for her B.O.B. and from what I've read and seen, the system is very decent. Since the activity in Japan, my wife is on over drive right now planning her own B.O.B. Oh yeah, she gave me the thumbs up for the TacTool, she' all about preparedness. I'm gonna milk this for everything I can justify.
 
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I've had one since they first came out. Used it hundreds of times without a glitch in all kinds of weather. It's gear you can count on.

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I have used one for work (Weeklong, mountainous operations) and for Scouting activities. The Jetboil and Mountainhouse meals go great together.

It's a great little system. IMO, well worth the price.
 
Jetboil is a pretty decent system, just like anything else some love it and some hate it...

I've had mine for 3 years+ and has worked fine since I got it. I have an extra cup and lend it to others that tag along.

I've actually changed to a Snow Peak GigaPower Stove with a GSI Pinnacle Soloist Cookset (minus the spoon, I've had two and both snapped on me on the first day of multi-day outings). Same concept as the Jetboil, but it weighs a bit less and allows the larger canisters to be placed inside the pot, this wasting less space.
 
I can't comment on the stoves Arkanian, but this sounds like a good time to suggest to her a large "quick" blade. Thugs will be anxious to steal your survival gear, but if you had a BK5 you could defend your family. Also since she doesn't know about all of the other knives you could probably ask her if it's ok to get the standard necker.

It never hurts to be prepared.;)
 
threatx3 said:
I have used one for work (Weeklong, mountainous operations) and for Scouting activities. The Jetboil and Mountainhouse meals go great together.

It's a great little system. IMO, well worth the price.
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+1. I love mine. It makes fast work of boiling water for your coffee and Mountain House meals.


mlrs
 
Neat system, but the fuel cartridges are expensive, compared to white gas, may not work as well at subzero temperatures, and you have to dispose of them when empty. But they are convenient. My two cents.
 
I got a JetBoil two years ago to make the kids hot chocolate after late-season soccer practices and games and it was actually too efficient. It brought water to a boil so fast that the kids wouldn't drink their hot chocolate and they'd let it sit until it was cool enough while playing at the playground.

By the time they came back, it was ice cold.

The Trangia burner brings the water up to temperature more gradually and I was able to pull it from the heat before it got hot enough to make hot chocolate...

I still use it for my own meals and think it's great.

I prefer the flexibility of other cooksets but when it comes to boil and eat, the JetBoil is hard to beat.

B
 
Alberta Ed said:
Neat system, but the fuel cartridges are expensive, compared to white gas, may not work as well at subzero temperatures, and you have to dispose of them when empty. But they are convenient. My two cents.
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$3.99 is expensive for fuel? That sounds reasonable to me.
 
I've used mine extensively both at home and abroad. It works very, very well for boiling water fast. The smaller cartridge size is offset by the fact that it uses less fuel to boil the water. When the GF and I go camping, the Jetboil boils water for all of our hot drinks, and most of our hot water for clean-up. It will also use "standard" cartridges, they just don't fit into the pot itself for storage. It doesn't do great in very cold weather, but I have boiled water in -30 weather by cupping my hands around the canister and warming it up. The newer kits come with an adapter for the burner so you can use a conventional pot or a frying pan. I think it makes a great addition to a bug-out bag. It is lightweight and pretty fool proof. I'm happy with mine. On a side note, this is my first Becker forum post. Woot!

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Saturday, the boy and I paddled over to some islands at a local lake and spent the night.
Here's my Jetboil being put to use. I have a lot of stoves. For a quick boil, the Jetboil tops them all.

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Here's the young'un exploring the shore line.

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Here's a couple of knives we took on a hike around the island. I'm working on a review of that Ka-Bar folder.

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Here's the boy working on some knife skills. I think he's cutting a notch right here.

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The Falcon II made an appearance on this trip. In tow on the side there is a BK-10 Crewman.

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I just picked up a new backpack that will serve as my B.O.B. - there was a sale on Condor's 3 Day Assault backpack, got it for $62.00. Does everyone like the Jetboil cup? I think I might just pick up the Jetboil Flash (which covers my cup situation) and put it in my wife's pack, that way we have some redundancy.
 
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Arkanian said:
I just picked up a new backpack that will serve as my B.O.B. - there was a sale on Condor's 3 Day Assault backpack, got it for $62.00. Does everyone like the Jetboil cup? I think I might just pick up the Jetboil Flash (which covers my cup situation) and put it in my wife's pack, that way we have some redundancy.
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If you mean the boiling vessel, it's fine on my PCS, and the outer cozy works nicely. I like that it's marked at the 2-cup level. I wish it had a 1-cup mark as well.

If you mean the drinking cup, the cup on my PCS is... well... just a plastic cup. It's fine in all its minimalist glory. I used it this weekend with no complaints.
 
Guyon said:
If you mean the boiling vessel, it's fine on my PCS, and the outer cozy works nicely. I like that it's marked at the 2-cup level. I wish it had a 1-cup mark as well.

If you mean the drinking cup, the cup on my PCS is... well... just a plastic cup. It's fine in all its minimalist glory. I used it this weekend with no complaints.
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The boiling vessel for the PCS. I might just go buy the Jetboil Flash and get it that way instead of buying just the vessel to use on the Helios base. The thought of packing it and having no form of backup bugs me.
 
If you do get yourself a jetboil do yourself a favor and look and either the aluminium or titanium ladle from sea to summit.This will let you get all the way to the bottom with out burning your finger during cooking and eating. http://www.rei.com/product/782241
I love my jetboil.
 
just got my jetboil about two months ago and i like it a lot! i haven't used my white box stove since then.


Alberta Ed said:
Neat system, but the fuel cartridges are expensive, compared to white gas, may not work as well at subzero temperatures, and you have to dispose of them when empty. But they are convenient. My two cents.
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i'm currently testing the 230g fuel canister out of curiosity. every time i boil 2 cups of water i put a sharpie mark on the bottom to keep track of it...so far i'm up to 12 boils now (most of it outside in freezing temps) and looks like it can go another 12 boils (based on the before and after weight difference)...at $6 that's a quarter a boil...that's cheap!


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Brian_T said:
I got a JetBoil two years ago to make the kids hot chocolate after late-season soccer practices and games and it was actually too efficient. It brought water to a boil so fast that the kids wouldn't drink their hot chocolate and they'd let it sit until it was cool enough while playing at the playground.
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you don't have to run it at full blast. i've tried opening the fuel at half way and have used it to simmer stuff just fine. with the fuel knob opened to the max, the flame shoots up about 7" high:

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here's with the fuel knob turned to just before it shuts the fuel off - the flame is about 1/4" high:

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these pics were taken seconds apart (my cell phone camera doesn't work well in low light). that's a variable flame size from 7" to 1/4". not sure why i often read (from online reviews not just yours) people run it to full blast and complain they burn their food, etc. :confused:


JOSH111 said:
If you do get yourself a jetboil do yourself a favor and look and either the aluminium or titanium ladle from sea to summit.
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ditto. that spoon's length works excellent with mountain house freeze dried packaging as well.
 
They are on sale for 59.95, but I don't know if I'm allowed to post where..:confused:

I bought a spare.
 
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