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 HITCH n HIKE > GEAR TESTS > JETBOIL PERSONAL COOKING SYSTEM |
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Jetboil Personal Cooking System:Outdoor gear is always developing but the process is usually gradual. The Jetboil however, is one of those pieces of kit that marks a genuine jump forward. Conventional Ultra-light Gas Stoves: These are ideal for mountain marathons, backpacking, adventure races or one nighters but they're not particularly efficient so the saving of weight is offset by the weight and bulk of gas cylinders. The efficiency of these stoves gets worse as the temperature drops and is particularly poor when using the small 100g canisters. 100g Gas Canisters: These are fundamentally floored by their size. The problem is that the evaporation area for the liquid gas is relatively small and at lower temperatures the evaporation rate of the gas can't keep up with the demand from the stove and output is reduced. The evaporation area is 35% smaller than that of a 250g or 500g. To make matters worse, the concave base of the canister reduces the evaporation area still further once capacity is down to about 25%. Between five and ten degrees Celsius a good ultra-light gas stove will boil about 3L of water using a 100g canister, enough for an evening meal, breakfast and a couple of brews for two. The Jetboil is Different! The output of the Jetboil is lower than most ultra-light gas stoves but the way it uses the available heat is much more efficient and consequently faster and more economic. This is achieved by the use of an integral heat exchanger. Heat, eat or drink from the one-litre insulated cup. No matches, pot holders, mugs, or pots needed. Piezo ignition and a fine-adjust flame. 432g and not much bigger than a 1 litre water bottle. We tested ours..... |
Tested: Straight out of the box. It claims to be fast - and it is. Using a 250g 70/30 gas canister 0.5L or water (enough for two normal sized mugs) was hot enough to make a decent brew in just over two minutes and reached a strong rolling boil in under three, and this was with an air temperature of just 1°C. The base cover can be used to measure 0.25L. Everything fits together and works well but there's a knack to removing the protective cup base which is to release the side opposite the release clip first - if you don't it can be a pig to release, especially with cold fingers. With a 100g canister at 2°C and nil wind we got 19 half-litre boils. The first 14 (7 litres) ranged from 3m45s to 6m30s which averages out at 5 minutes per boil. The last 5 (2.5 litres) took steadily longer between 7m20s to the last one at 11 minutes which was really dragging it out using the last dregs of the gas. So to sum it up, the Jetboil used less than 11g of gas per litre which is two to three times more efficient than standard small gas stoves. With the Jetboil you could get around four days out of a 100g canister based upon four normal mugs of tea, a hot breakfast and a hot evening meal per day. It's not a cheap stove but you don't need an additional pan or mug and the amount of gas saved over time would more than pay for the whole thing. More use has produced some more good results. Using a 250g cartridge at -2°C in nil wind we've boiled 7.5 litres of water and 0.5 litre from snow with an average boil time under five minutes using only 78g of gas. The test with snow took just over 7 minutes. 250g cartridges perform better than 100's because they have a bigger surface area for the evaporation of gas. Over the last year: Our Jetboil has been used extensively on climbing, caving, boat and camping trips and it has performed brilliantly. The addition of the pot stand and base stabiliser has effectively made all other stoves redundant for general and lightweight use. On day walks it's replaced a flask, being so quick and easy to use, providing hot fresh brews and food along the way. |
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More info: > The Jetboil is available from our online catalogue. > Jetboil's web site www.jetboil.com |
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