Jetboil

“First, we love our Jetboil. Have used out West in Idaho at 9,000 feet and it worked well. Used it this weekend in the Virgina Blue Ridge Mnts. Stove did not light without a lighter and performed poorly at temps in the low 20's. We guessed fuel was a problem so we kept fuel cells in our coats next to our bodies and in the sleeping bag at night. This improved performance and got us through trip. Also suggest placing can on a emergency blanket to keep warmer. Works best above freezing, but when it works, it is fantastic!”

“Canisters are a pain in those temps.

Placing them in something like another pan, or frisbie and pour a little water over the canister can get you through as well. Keep the can in your jacket the whole day if you are able, keep it warm in your sleeping at night.”

“Jetboil - For when waiting 2 minutes is just too long to eat.”

“Actually its real advantage is its efficiency. My cousin and myself went 9 days on 8oz of fuel, cooking two meals a day plus coffee at every meal.”

“That's true. My friend that I went to IR with used a 3/4 canister. He was burning on my old Pocket Rocket for 6 days and still had some left over.”

“oops, reading is fundamental
last edited: 11/06/06 9:15:16 AM”

“too heavy”

“too heavy & too long. Only wusses think dehydrated meals need water, cold or hot.”

“Q! Nice to see you back!

I picked up the coffee press for my Jetboil at the REI in Denver today. Can't wait to try it. Has anyone had experience?”

“Used mine last year down to 14 degrees.

Worked fine.

Here's how.


Get it sputtering along with just a skim of water in the boiler. Once that water heats up (no need to boil it) pour it into the black cup/cap section and set the fuel canister into it and boil from there.

You will occaisonally have to swap the water in the cup out as it gets cold.

WARNING: it WILL flare up! Do not use TOO MUCH hot water. There is no need to cover the fuel canister. Just a thimble full around the side.

I did a prety good melt job on the sleeve thingy around the boiler.


Anyhooo . ..works great.

PS when it is that cold, you may need to warm it close to your body just to get it to sputter along and produce the flame to get the water warm.”

“I made KOOZIES out of the silver insulation (like the stuff Antigravity makes their pot kozys out of) put it around the can, stick it in the bottom of my sleeping bag at night and it works fine in the morning.”

“"Q! Nice to see you back!"

Hi D!


"I picked up the coffee press for my Jetboil at the REI in Denver today. Can't wait to try it. Has anyone had experience?"

Whoa! Are you living out in Denver now??
last edited: 11/07/06 8:54:29 AM”

“No buddy, Chicago. Just there for a hike/visit. dagnabbit :-(”

“A toe warmer stuck under the concave of the canister works well also.”

“The MSR Pocket Rocket has the same cold fuel problems but it is half the price and half the weight (3 oz plus a 5 oz titanium pot). Is the JetBoil worth it?”

“Laq, go to BODUMusa.com (type Bodum into search engine) they have a one cup filter. It comes with the cup (glass garbage coffee cup) the filter weighs nothing. It is two stage. You put the grounds on the screen in the bottom and put the top portion which spreads the water over the grounds.
I can turn out eight cups of coffee faster than you can perk an old style pot.”

“I have the Pocket Rocket, but I use the Jet Boil fuel canisters, 'cause they're smaller and lighter. At 25 degrees with a toe warmer, it worked great.”

“BackSlacker, Do you use a wind screen with your Pocket Rocket?”

“the jetboil is an awesome stove. It is my favorite stove, but I have found that once the temp drops below 40*, it's reliability drops faster than the temperature. I recommend going white gas when it gets cold. With white gas, you're always garenteed a hot meal regardless of the temp. Why deal with all the shenanagens.”

“No, I don't. I usually look for a protected spot. I never felt the need for a wind screen to boil just a cup of water.”

“Not to rain on the parade but freakin' toe warmers to get a stove to perform? What a headache.”

“laq--

The JB french press is nice, but make sure you don't leave the stove boiling unattended with grounds in it. The overflow is quite a mess. You can avoid this by not letting spndle play with your stove.”

“I'm with ENS - once theres a little frost on the pumpkin i switch from pocket rocket to Whisperlite.”

“I used my jetboil for a while, then stopped using it. I am the biggest morning grump, and if I had to fiddle an hour with the stove to get it open...na...I am getting in a real bad mood real quick.

I did hear that they changed that though.”

“ya GRUMP!”

“I can't even figure out how your stove could be difficult to open Gem :-P”

“I am best known for boiling the coffee over when I stop watching it. My second pot in the AM is simply more water added to the grounds and I had left the plunger down. I planned on shutting it off when the plunger began to rise. Problem is that if the stove is cooking at full bore, the pressure builds too fast resulting in hot coffee lava. Of course the directions say not to do any of that stuff, but they're too stuck on sensible approaches. BTW, I've seen plenty of people loose their dinner cooking in a pot over a pocket rocket. I have the small tripod for my jetboil and it was worth the $$. They do kill you on the accessories. I would recommend that someone buying it new should at least buy the french press combo package to save some dough.

And now that it is colder, I am switching back to white gas and using my GSI press. Actually, I've partnered up with someone else who is carrying the stove and fuel for me. Certainly makes it easier for me to suggest white gas when someone else is carrying it!!”

“Has anybody tried the Jetboil Group? We have the MSR superfly and I don't like to use it due to the lack of a windscreen. I have windscreens but I was wondering if that would overheat the canister? Does anyone use windscreens with theirs?”

“The Jetboil burner is housed INSIDE an integral windscreen.

Check product info on the right....

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&partNumber=708890&cm_mmc=cse_msn-_-datafeed-_-product-_-na&mr:referralID=9f1dba05-08b5-4ab6-a5c1-7baa4024e390”

“Adventurist..I do not believe I have ever heard of a propane cylander from the MSR overheating. Remember as you heat it it will give off more gas. Also there is a one time overpressure valve.

I can check but I have never heard of a propane cylander expoloding without direct heat contact. To get a BLEVE you have to get to the point where the release of gas is less than the pressure. I just don't think you have that much gas if you are cooking....”

“I suppose I should start using a wind screen along with my heat exchanger for the pots.

Thanks for the input.”

“When it was 10-14 degrees not only did I use the warm water bath for the canister, I also had brought my whisperlite windscreen.

Again. Once that canister is warm it works great. Too well . ..causing the flare ups that are warned about.


I found that at zero to minus I had real trouble the first year I had the jet boil just using body warmth. It would work well for the first 2 minutes and then sputter.


The warm water bath worked great.


And it is no trouble.”

“I just bought a titanium windscreen that is 0.8 oz from BackpackingLight.com, It is paper thin and you just clip it to your pot.
Even with the windscreen, this setup is less than half the weight of a JetBoil.”

“I once put a windscreen around a CampGaz canister stove and the stove got so hot that it melted all the plasic connection parts an spewed flame and fuel out around the connections from the canister to the stove. I quickly grabbed it (with gloved hand) and slung it as far as I could. No major damage occured to anything but the stove (ruined) and the canister (emptied). Had to cook with wood the rest of the trip.

I don't recommend using a windscreen with the canister stove. If you do, make sure it fits loosly and do not close it in all the way.”

“Thanks for the tip. I have seen the name StoveStomper on this board but that kind of makes you "StoveSlinger". I will try this in a controlled environment though just to be sure before committing myself on a real trip. I have seen the warnings about cannister stoves and windscreens. I am pretty sure that this arrangement will be quite safe though. The paper thin titanium screen clips to the pot, shielding the burner but it does not extend all the way to the ground. About 1 inch of the (8 oz) cannister is exposed so it should not heat up. Thanks again.

LB”

“OK - I am using this mostly to practice uploading photos to TT but here goes...

I ran an experiment with my Pocket Rocket, a titanium windscreen from Backpackinglight.com) and a homemade heat shield I cut out from an aluminum pie pan.

I boiled a quart of water using the wind screen and heat shield in my garage. Using a thermometer I could tell that the temperature of the canister did not even move. Next I took it out side in windy conditions and boiled another quart. It took basically the same amount of time..

Here are my photos:




Next ...with only the heat shield...


last edited: 12/15/06 2:04:04 PM”

“Why do you want to sheild your canister? What is going to fail, if you get it too hot, is the plastic or "O" rings in the valve system on the stove.”

“Was that a boom I just heard?”

“Maybe a rectal thermometer would work better...”

“LtHiker - That would be one hell of a boom if you heard it all the way from Connecticut!

BS - Everything I have read warns against using a screen with an upright canister because the canister can overheat. I guess you are saying that, more specifically, the O-ring connection of the canister can overheat. I guess I should try this again and put the thermometer at the top of the canister where the stove connects to the canister...I should not have any problems since the titanium screen is loosely attached and it does not go all the way to the ground. I don't want to have anymore children so no worries! (hold for large boom!)”

“Attached cannister stoves do make me nervous. Along a similar line, I have had the gaskets on a SVEA123 blow out/melt in the field. Similar thing: fuel source attached to the burner wrapped with a wind screen. Next thing I knew, there was about a one foot flame shooting out of the fuel cap. Scarry stuff.”

“How old was that Svea 123? We have one that is about 40 years old, all brass with a windscreen. We also have the Svigg Tourist Cookset with it; a windscreen is part of that too.”

“I am not sure the age but it is one of the earlier ones. I'd say, 1962ish. You can get replacement parts and I upgraded to a pressuriazable cap and pump...

Sounds like you have the deluxe setup!”

“oh yeah it is, i have had offers on it. my husband bought it when he first started backpacking in the early 70's. don't you just love it's little helipcopter sound? i don't recommmend using the pump, we prime it with fuel paste, lessen's the chance the of that flare up that scares the crap out of everybody. it's a little heavy for me to carry on the trail though, what i really want is the jetboil with the coffee press. i'm pretty sure my kids are getting me one for Christmas.”

“Just wanna report that my jetboil worked fine, temps in the 20's.”

“That Jetboil pot rocks. I need to figure out how to attach one of those flux ring thingies to a normal pot... I think I like the pot better than the entire setup. It works well with the SnowPeak stove, BTW.”

“coffee press did let in some grounds; don't care; fresh coffe on the trail ROCKS!!!”

“this will happen if your coffee is too fine (like drip coffee). get a course grind and you will get better coffee from your press.”

“good point Jimmy san. TY!”