Stove choices

“The one piece of equipment I put off buying is a stove. Hopefully you guys can help with your experiences.

I am leaning between the Jetboil and one of the Dragonfly type designs.

The Jetboil seems cool because it's fast, I like that, and doesn't require an additional pot.

The dragonfly types seem more flexible (for fuel and what you can cook on them).

I mostly cook MREs and dehydrated packaged foods on the trail. No coffees/teas.

What do you guys think?”

“1 vote for jetboil”

“Great! Any particular reasons why?”

“I just bought a jetboil, if all you want to do is boil water, then that's the way to go.”

“Dragonfly or Optimus Nova or MSR Simmerlite.

Winter performance, melting snow with a jetboil would take all day.”

“cause all i do is boil water, well sometimes i'll cook over a campfire with skewers but that's about it.

and as sb, said it is the way to go for just boiling water IMO.

compact, fairly light, very efficient, very fast.

the one problem with a jetboil for me is that it's not that great for melting snow to make water in the winter if you have no water source.”

“Buy a couple of cans of your favorite soda... apply a little elbow grease. Add Alcohol. Can't imagine anything easier just to boil water.”

“Sarge I went thru the same experiece a year ago. I ended up buying the Coleman Xponent because it was the lightest stove on the mkt at that time. I am now looking into building an alcohol stove. I really like the Coleman, simple to use, boils water in 3.5 min. Fuel canisters last a looooong time.”

“so the Jetboil boils the water fast,woohooo

what else do you have to do in the evening but sit there and relax?”

“I think it would melt snow just fine. With the heat exchanger on the bottom it disperses the heat to cover the whole bottom of the can. Just keep the snow packed and it should do well. At least I hope so.”

“i've built and used a pepsi can stove or two or three, but i like the speed of the jetboil.”

“I agree with you Ewk, but I got mine mainly for the packability and not having to deal with all kinds of components. It all packs into the cup, no extra fuel bottles, no extra lines etc. I am sure there are other stoves out there that pack up nice, but I just wanted something simple.”

“the problem with melting snow with a jetboil is the mug is pretty small

ewk, it's not as big of deal in the evening, but sometimes during the hike, like a 10 min. break atop a peak, it's nice to snag a quick cup of coffee sometimes.
last edited: 5/23/05 4:24:21 PM”

“if you compare the jet boil to any other canister stove and cookset..it is heavy. I can pack my pocket rocket, lighter and canister inside of my cook pot.”

“I have the Dragonfly and an alcohol stove. For all backpacking trip, unless it is going to be a cold, snowy trip, I will always take the alcohol stove. I don't mind the time it save me to use the dragonfly.

The dragonfly is a great stove though, don't get me wrong. I will be using it mainly as a canoe camp stove.

Biggest drawback on the dragonfly is its volume. If you have the stove jacked, it sounds like a jet engine.”

“ok ewk, and what size is your cook pot?”

“LOL Ewker. That's true, but I don't sit there at night when I'm hiking usually. I set-up, eat, and go to bed. The exception is car camping when I do a lot of relaxing, in which case I use the grills on the site. LOL

So Jetboil seems pretty popular, but you better be just boiling water with it. Heating food from an MRE doesn't sound like it'd work too well.”

“well jetboil also has a pot support attachment now like a normal stove, but i hear the pot attachment is not as efficient”

“I think heating an MRE with a jetboil would work, fill up the cannister with water bring it to a boil, plop in the MRE and keep boiling for another 5 minutes or so.”

“BTW - i also like the insulated mug with the jetboil over a regular pot”

“squirrel - is it tall enough? A lot of heat will escape w/o a lid - How is it w/o the lid for boiling? (ignore stupid question if you don't use a lid when boiling)
last edited: 5/23/05 4:28:44 PM”

“mine is older and doesn't have that type of handles..weighs less than 10 ozs

GSI Hard Anodized Boiler with Lid


last edited: 5/23/05 4:30:17 PM”

“As a reformed MRE hiker, I am sure you can put an MRE entree bag in the jetboil. I havn't tried it, but I am sure it will work. If you put the MRE on its side and rolled it around in a circle it would fit in the cup with the lid.
last edited: 5/23/05 4:31:41 PM”

“What design works the best. I have looked at several different plans all claiming to boil water in 4-6 min. Which ones actually work well?”

“Understood squirrel. Thanks. That might be my deciding factor.

I think I might go with wounded knee's method and have an alcohol stove and a JetBoil. I like the alcohol stove idea too, but figured I could do that no matter what just to test it.

Thanks everybody. You guys are a wealth of information. I'll keep checking back if you guys continue on ...”

“Speaking of alcohol stoves... How fast do they boil water and how much alcohol would I have to carry for a weeklong trip, two hot meals a day? Above 9000 feet.”

“http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html

SB check out this link. lots of good stove info and ideas here.”

“pak, they're pretty much all the same. personally i like the pepsi-G”

“sarge, if you want a jetboil buy it on ebay. You can get it cheaper there unless some gear store is running a bargin on it”

“Ewk - Great idea. I always forget about that. I'll usually pay extra to my local outfitter though since they're so helpful - Wildware Outfitters, but in this case ebay will do.”

“Thanks for the link, but looking at it and doing some math, For a one week trip it would take about 30 ounces of alcohol. Then add a cookpot at about 10 ounces and you have a total of 40 ounces. The jetboil weighs 16 ounces. Fuel weighs 3.5 ounces. So for a week I would take three fuel bottles for a total of 10.5 ounces. That's a total weight of 26.5 ounces. My math skills aren't awesome, but I think I have it figured out. I don't know if 30 fluid ounces of alcohol weighs 30 ounces but it must be close. So even though the stove is light, the fuel adds up. Someone correct me if I am in error.”

“Somebody posted a website a few weeks ago with the jetboil listed for less than 60 bucks, I bought mine from there. Free shipping, total price was 63.00. I'll try to find the link.”

“just took some quick jetboil measurements

insulated 1 L mug - 7 oz
plastic cup - 1 oz
stove - 6 oz

for a total of 14 oz

the canisters weigh 5 oz when full.

it's just under 6" high (inside dimension)”

“yup, alcohol stove are great for day hikes or overnighters, but without resuply they're not very good weight wise after a couple days”

“http://www.travelcountry.com/shop/SessionId/a0ed08d044275976fb22147095abcdd9/Action/Home_Show

Travel Country.com

They have sales on items and when they are gone they are gone. Check back often.”

“How many uses does a 5 oz get you? (sorry, I've never used any of them before - just firewood)”

“one lasts me about a full week in the summer. i don't simmer. just up to a boil and off it goes.”

“i believe they say 1 canister boils 11 liters. i could be wrong.”

“That's not bad. More than I usually need. Thanks. My biggest fear is being limited to fuel type and being where you can't buy what you need. Probably wouldn't be an issue.”

“I use a pepsi can alcohol stove. I think you could get away with 30 oz. for a week. I average about 2oz. per 2-3 cups water to a rolling boil. Also alcohol stoves dont freeze up in winter.”

“You can also use bigger fuel cannisters on the jetboil, they just don't pack up inside the cup.”

“Meals Regurgitated Easily? Really Sarge, you need to discover dehydrating!”

“Read my first post, Einstein.”

“I did, Brainiac: "I mostly cook MREs and dehydrated packaged foods on the trail. No coffees/teas."

I'm talking about dehydrating foods you cook yourself that taste way better than any MREs or packaged foods I've ever tasted.

Now, MRE's are tastier than the old C-rats they served back in the old Army, but damn, they're not THAT good!”

“i have an awesome pepsi can stove that stovestomper made.”

“It's that time of year where I switch over to Esbit for the summer. Stove and fuel for a complete weekend is about 3 oz.”

“My hiking buddy uses esbit and swears by it. I was going to go that route but decided on the jetboil.”

“Optimus.”

“Esbits work great for boiling two cups of water.
Be ready for a black goo mess on the botton of your cookpot.
I just let the pot cool and the black goo hardens and can be scraped off with some grass.”