Jetboil, is it really that much better?

[Backpack Hunter]

I'm on the other side of the coin here.
With the Pocket Rocket, a simple tinfoil windscreen, and a 100gm Jetpower fuel canister I get two boils a day for 10 days. It does even better with a heat exchanger.
I have used the thing in below freezing temps with no problems, the same cannot be said for my Jetboil.

 

[Aron Snyder]

I would agree with BH on the old model, but we tested 7 stoves at temps ranging from 15-80 degrees and altitudes of 9,000-13,500 feet and the JB SOL crushed all of them in every category.

Did you have the new model?

 

[bearguide]

i like the rocket b/c of size and weight

 

[Lawnboi]

Aron, would you say that its worth the 120-150 to upgrade over the pocket rocket? Is the Jetboil That much better?

I usually eat 2 dried meals a day, cause i need alot of calories, along with the fact that i cant do the same old protien bars every afternoon. So fuel efficiency is very important to me.

 

[Aron Snyder]

As far the size comparison, the SOTO OD1-R is actually lighter, as small and burns with a little better efficiency than the Pocket Rocket.

The size of the PR is smaller than the JB, but the PR and cook kit has got to be close to the same. The smallest titanium cook kit (that can hold stove and fuel) is slightly larger than the JB SOL, but you will also have issue drinking anything hot straight out of the TI cup.

Lawnboi,

I would not upgrade unless you are spending a LOT of time in the field and I would still think about it pretty hard. The average boil time of a JB is going to be around 2 minutes 20 seconds with 16oz's of water (roughly) and the average time with a PR is closer 3 minutes 40 seconds (roughly), so it's not a life or death change.

The Soto is slightly lighter with a slightly quicker boil time when compared to the PR, but the Soto is twice the price and the legs are a PITA to fold out compared to the PR.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I would agree with BH on the old model, but we tested 7 stoves at temps ranging from 15-80 degrees and altitudes of 9,000-13,500 feet and the JB SOL crushed all of them in every category.

Did you have the new model?

I'm not sure if was the new model or not to be honest. It was about 2yrs ago, and it was the Jetboil SOL-not the titanium model.

 

[GRAYLIGHT]

This is true, however, I always unscrew them either way. I don't want to rely on the connection on the regulator to the tank (possibility of leakage). Since this is my only fuel source for miles back in and I'm not one to start campfires to cook (makes clothes smell). I take care to avoid any mechanical malfunctions by detaching the cannister. I personally feel that whatever remains in my control, will assist me in stacking the cards to my advantage. Doesn't matter wether you are hunting, working a job or maintaining a successful relationship... IMO, always control things that you can to dictate your success.

Can you store the canister and burner inside of the sol. Thanks DEW

 

[luke moffat]

I prefer the SOTO stove with the Jetboil pot. The soto stove itself beats even the new jetboil stoves, but the flux ring of the jetboil is hard to beat. Becca and I were able to get 3 boils per person per day (6 boils per day) for 5.5 days (ran out of the first 110 gram snowpeak canister halfway through dinner) with a couple hot lunches mixed in there on a single 110 canister. Kinda the best of both worlds and not too heavy. Less than 16 oz even with a 7 oz fuel canister stowed away.

 

[Lawnboi]

Ill probably just end up sticking with the pocket rocket for this year. It would be nice to have as i will be using a stove like this for around 2 months if all goes well on the homefront this fall. But thats another tag almost for that price.

Next year ill pass my pocket rocket down and pick up a jetboil ti.

The jetboil sounds almost like the perfect stove though for just boiling.

 

[Chem-E]

Last summer I was on a backpack trip with a friend and I had the jetboil, while my friend had the pocket rocket. After the first day we discovered that the jetboil could boil two rounds of water faster than the pocket rocket could boil 1 ! We quit using the pocket rocket all together and just shared the jetboil. My friend threw the pocket rocket away when we got home and bought a jetboil.

 

[stephen b]

Last summer I was on a backpack trip with a friend and I had the jetboil, while my friend had the pocket rocket. After the first day we discovered that the jetboil could boil two rounds of water faster than the pocket rocket could boil 1 ! We quit using the pocket rocket all together and just shared the jetboil. My friend threw the pocket rocket away when we got home and bought a jetboil.

Wow! Just threw it out??- what a shame as it would make a fine stove to give someone starting out. IMO- What an example of misplaced indignation and waste!

And 2x faster?? Not according to specs from REI on the 2 stoves. IMO- jet boil exaggerates their boil times on their site. While I think the MSR ones on their site are probably accurate, and are in line with the REI site. I tend to believe the specs from the Cascade design people a little more, since they have been a lot more times around the block when it comes to stoves and mountaineering than the Jet boil people. The stove times from the jet boil site and the REI site are vastly different.

Guess I am old school and I will stick with either solid tabs- for 4-5 days nothing lighter and is super light weight convenience and is OK for speed for me as I can do other things while water is boiling. Or I can use a MSR PR for a canister stove. Or for colder weather hunting or winter camping, I can use my tried and trusted Svea 123 ( Never failed me and is plenty fast enough ). Although it is heavy at 19 oz- it does great and is almost as simple as a canister stove- no pumping, no hooking up another fuel bottle and can melt snow if need be in frigid temps like a fire dragon.

Or if I have to, I can always start a little warming fire and cook on that- wow, imagine that, real old time stuff that still works if need be. Now try putting your jet boil pot on a fire if you run out of fuel or it fails and stops working.

Maybe some day when my above stoves fail ( probably not in my lifetime), maybe I will try a JB. Or if I ever feel I want to try something new out and decide to get a JB- you can bet I will hand one of the above stoves to someone else like one of my Sons or my Son In Laws to use; because I would bet that they will still be working fine.

Yeah- call me frugal and old school.

 

[luke moffat]

Stephen,

You make a great point about tossing the pocket rocket. I ALWAYS bring a spare stove on my hunts. I had to come back early from a sheep hunt due to a stove failing ONCE to see that its worth it to carry the extra 2.5 oz for another stove for that reason.

If you have never tried using a jet boil its hard to see how much MORE effcient they are. Are they truly twice as fast I don't know, but I know its enough that you can get a 2-3 more DAYS on a single 110 gram fuel canister vs. a standard pocket rocket style setup. Maybe I'll do a test between my Soto/Jetboil setup vs. a pocket rocket on my 700 ml Ti cup to see just how much faster, all I know is my fuel consumption is considerably less than a pocket rocket I have used in the past, though I'll admit the PR makes a great back up stove in the event one breaks.

As for fires there are many times when that is simply not possible. I have cooked more meals in the backcountry above treeline or brushline than below. Kinda hard to build a warming fire when your tent is a few thousand feet above the nearest thing to burn. But for the record I have used my jetboil in a fire to boil water so it can be done. Toss the cozy to the side set it in and out of the fire with a leatherman. Works just fine.

Ultimatley no one is trying to make anyone carry the same stove in the field. If what you carry works for you then awesome rock on man!!! But if you might be interested in a setup that is quite a bit mroe fuel efficient and faster than it may be something worth considering. Thats all I think folks are trying to say.

 

[dotman]

The JB might be more efficent on fuel but no way it boils twice as fast as the PR. My buddys JB boiled water slower then my PR at 11k. I agree big waste of a great stove.

I agree Luke, the JB is a great stove but there are plenty of other great stoves also. I'll be keeeping my PR due tothe fact I trust it and it does everything I ask of it. I'm also not a big fan ofthe huge containers that come with the JB, space waster is what I call them my cook set is half as tall and the pot and cup fit togetherto reduce space plus my stove and spork fitin it when packed

 

[luke moffat]

The JB might be more efficent on fuel but no way it noils twice as fast as the PR. My buddys JB boiled water slower then my PR at 11k. I agree big waste of a great stove.

Did your buddy have the new redesigned stove or the older stove?? The newer ones are much better at altitude and cold weather than their previous models. Or just S-can the original jetboil stove and get a real stove like the Soto to use with their cups with the flux rings which makes then more efficient in the first place. I believe the efficiency of the JBs are due to their pot design not so much their stove anyways.

 

[dotman]

Did your buddy have the new redesigned stove or the older stove?? The newer ones are much better at altitude and cold weather than their previous models. Or just S-can the original jetboil stove and get a real stove like the Soto to use with their cups with the flux rings which makes then more efficient in the first place. I believe the efficiency of the JBs are due to their pot design not so much their stove anyways.

I'm guessing it was last years design, it wasn't the ti model I do know that.

 

[Chem-E]

Wow! Just threw it out??- what a shame as it would make a fine stove to give someone starting out. IMO- What an example of misplaced indignation and waste!

And 2x faster?? Not according to specs from REI on the 2 stoves. IMO- jet boil exaggerates their boil times on their site. While I think the MSR ones on their site are probably accurate, and are in line with the REI site. I tend to believe the specs from the Cascade design people a little more, since they have been a lot more times around the block when it comes to stoves and mountaineering than the Jet boil people. The stove times from the jet boil site and the REI site are vastly different.

Guess I am old school and I will stick with either solid tabs- for 4-5 days nothing lighter and is super light weight convenience and is OK for speed for me as I can do other things while water is boiling. Or I can use a MSR PR for a canister stove. Or for colder weather hunting or winter camping, I can use my tried and trusted Svea 123 ( Never failed me and is plenty fast enough ). Although it is heavy at 19 oz- it does great and is almost as simple as a canister stove- no pumping, no hooking up another fuel bottle and can melt snow if need be in frigid temps like a fire dragon.

Or if I have to, I can always start a little warming fire and cook on that- wow, imagine that, real old time stuff that still works if need be. Now try putting your jet boil pot on a fire if you run out of fuel or it fails and stops working.

Maybe some day when my above stoves fail ( probably not in my lifetime), maybe I will try a JB. Or if I ever feel I want to try something new out and decide to get a JB- you can bet I will hand one of the above stoves to someone else like one of my Sons or my Son In Laws to use; because I would bet that they will still be working fine.

Yeah- call me frugal and old school.

Whoa man! Didn't mean to push any buttons. Who is in possession of the indignation here?

I was simply giving MY experience with the Jetboil and a Pocket Rocket. Regardless of what the package, or REI, says my experience was the jetboil boiled water fast enough to justify not even breaking out the pocket rocket. That experience justified the PR getting tossed because it was so inferior as to not be worthy of a hand-me-down. There is no anger involved, simply a huge difference in the performance of two pieces of equipment.

The Jetboil pot could easily be placed on a fire if need be, with the neoprene removed of course.

My first stove was an Optimus, the old blue box type. That stove was retired when MSR came out with the whisperlite, which I was very happy with for many years. Now the Jetboil has replaced that, simply because it is superior to the PR IMO. My friend now agrees after our trip.

Something to add is that the PR did not have a windshield. Even the slightest breeze destroys the effectiveness of the PR. Packing some extra weight in the form of a windshield could improve the PR performance, I dont know. I dont really care either because the Jetboil has been extremely dependable for me. I would never consider a PR.

 

[les welch]

I'm with Luke here. I don' have the SOL, but here is a link to an article I did on stoves. I did show weights and conversions of adapting the Soto to the Jetboil.

http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-09-42/essentials/166-cooking-systems

 

[Rizzy]

I'm not seeing the justification for the price of the jet boil as compared to other stoves. I'm not looking forward to the day that I don't have enough patience to wait 5 minutes for water to boil and then convince myself that I need a 150 dollar stove and cup. It just might happen though.....

 

[stephen b]

My point that I was trying to make with my "misplaced indignation and waste" statement, was the misplaced indignation towards the pocket rocket stove itself. Like it was the PR stove's fault that your friend bought it ( no one forced him) and that it- I am guessing, performed the way it was designed. Simply seems to me to be misplaced anger / annoyance toward something that did as it was intended to do. Kind of reminds me of a guy I know of that tossed ( and broke it ) his nice perfectly functioning compound bow down a rocky hillside when he missed a chip shot on a nice bull. Like it was the bows fault.

I guess what got my "button's pushed" was the waste of throwing away a perfectly fine stove because it did not meet the friends expectation, even though he bought it and it I am guessing performed as intended. Plus not hard to check specs before buying something. And to me it just seemed like our typical throw away society- that has to much for it's own good. But, that is a whole other discussion.

As far as the JB stove goes- I guess I really showed some ignorance with my JB and campfire statement above. It does make perfect sense that you could use the metal cup only in a fire.

My own attitudes towards getting one when I have stuff that works fine for me, is just a matter of "why"? do I need it. Am I curious how it would do compared to what I have- yes, but only somewhat. Seems like with all this- " did you get the recent one stuff- 'cause they are much better" turns me off. Maybe, I will wait till they really get it down. And the part/ idea about buying a different canister stove and making it work better with the JB system has me both admiring the ingenuity and modifying ( because I like tinkering myself), and also wondering the point of buying something in the first place that is not quite up to "snuff" so to speak. My own hunch is if Cascade Designs ever took on the concept- like a smaller reactor type- they would blow JB out of the park. But, then again- that is just a hunch. Maybe I will wait till either JB gets its act together with a model that can stand the test of its own 2-3 year time table for a new model, or wait till a competitor beats them at their own niche. For now I am happy with what works.

** although I do have a $100 gift card at REI, and have been toying with using it towards getting one of MSR's new universal stoves ( WG and canister). Even though I really do not NEED and new stove. Or I could just buy one of the new JB ones and see what it is like for a season. OF course if I do not like it- I could either return it, give it away, or maybe just as an option "throw it away" ;^)

As far as the cost saving on fuel on the PR vs. JB- ( because that is the main difference I can see, because an extra 30 sec. to a minute of boil time does not get me wadded). I ran some quick math on a fairly moderate - heavy user. That being 36 days a year ( 2 week hunt and a weekend a year camp/hunting- which is 10% of a year, or 5 weeks of vacation a year. Probably more than most people here. Well, the cost savings only comes out to be about a time frame of taking about 6-8 years of use ( at the min.- probably more) to recoup the difference in stove cost. And that includes using the 110 size canisters- which are the least cost effective of almost any fuel.

Now for the avg user that buys these stoves- which is probably around 14 days a yr. if that- the time it would take to recoup the cost diff. is a lot longer than that- probably 10 + yrs.

I know that people do not buy things based on simple financial difference- it is based on desires and convenience etc. etc. But, just from a cost perspective on fuel and cost of the stove- it shows that the PR is a good stove value. Has to be a reason that it is one of the most purchased and reviewed stove that REI, or any one else has sold in the last 5-10 yrs. Heck, maybe in the history of canister stoves. It shows that to most people it is not just a disposable stove.

Just my 2 cents and maybe only worth that.

 

[strawman]

For me, it wasn't that I couldn't or didn't want to wait the extra minute for water to boil with a Pocket Rocket or similar. It's the MUCH better efficiency that lets me carry less fuel into the backcountry without worrying that I'm going to run out.