Jetboil Personal Cooking
System
Initial Report – April 5, 2004
Tester Information
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Height: 5’ 6”/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc@hotmail.com
City, State, Country: Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.
Product Information
Manufacturer: Jetboil
Model: Jetboil Personal Cooking System
Year of Manufacture: 2004
URL: www.jetboil.com
Listed weight: 14 oz (397 g)
Measured weight: total of all pieces 14 oz (397 g)
Burner
Base 6 oz (170 g)
Cooking
Cup and Cozy 6.5 oz (184 g)
Companion
Cup and lid together 1.5 oz (43 g)
Full
Jetpower Fuel Canister 6.25 oz (177 g)
MSRP: $79.00 US Dollars
Website Summary:
The Jetboil website has a nice set
up. The main page displays a large
picture of the Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS) and has odd shaped circles
scattered around the product picture with links to various pages. The links will take you to pages that have
product information, recipes, where to buy, information on the makers, and a
contact page.
Arrival:
The stove came via UPS in a
non-descript cardboard box. When opened
the shipping box contained the retail Jetboil PCS box and two 100 g (3.53 fl
oz) Jetpower fuel canisters. The retail
box was a high gloss cardboard box with a picture of the PCS as a unit on the
front and the back contained an exploded picture showing and explaining each
individual component. The verbiage on
the box made several claims that jumped out immediately such as the boil time
for two cups of water is ninety seconds and that one of their Jetpower Fuel
canisters would boil 12 liters of water.
The
contents of the retail box contained the stove components and a set of
instructions. The instructions were
written only in English and contained a multitude of warnings. Based on the amount of warnings (6 on the
front trifold face) you might think the stove operation is complicated, but it
isn’t. The instructions provide a
detailed step-by-step process for operating the stove. What follows is my version and is not
intended to replace the manufacturer’s instructions:
1.
Screw in fuel canister.
2.
Fill up Cooking Cup with desired amount of water.
3.
Place cup onto Burner Base
4.
Place entire PCS on a flat surface
5.
Turn on gas and press down Igniter button.
Description:
The stove itself consists of nothing
more than the Burner Base. The main
part of the base is a plastic shroud.
Attached to the top of the plastic shroud is a steel base plate, the
burner head and the igniter head. Below
the plastic shroud is the valve assembly where the fuel canister is attached
and a metal delivery tube runs from the valve assembly through the plastic
shroud to the burner head.
The
rest of the retail box contents included the cooking cup, a plastic companion
cup, and the lid. The cooking cup is an
aluminum cup that has a one-liter capacity only if filled completely to the
brim. The cooking cup is covered with a
thin foam cover to allow the user to grasp the cup after cooking in it. Also attached to the cooking cup is a nylon
handle for easer carrying. The bottom
of the cooking cup covered with the proprietary “FluxRing” heat exchanger
surrounded by a metal “cage” to protect the heat exchanger and to allow for
some separation when the cooking cup is placed on the burner. There are two notches on the metal cage that
mate to nipples on the steel base plate.
The plastic companion cup has 2 oz graduated markings on it for exact
measuring if needed. However, I think it is more for protection of the metal
cage and heat exchanger than actual measuring.
The lid snaps to the top of the cooking cup and has a drinking hole
should the user choose to drink directly from the cooking cup.
Initial Impressions/Testing:
Upon arrival, I did four “controlled”
tests with the stove to get an idea of how it operated and to evaluate some of
the manufacturer’s claims, specifically the boil time for two cups of water.
The following is a list of assumptions and factors that affected the test:
The tests were conducted on my outside deck that is open to
the wind.
Outside temperatures for the tests ranged from 49 F (9 C) to 42 F (5.5
C).
A standard stopwatch was used for timing the tests.
The lid when on, was placed on top of the cup, but not firmly to allow
for easy removal.
Time was stopped when a full rolling boil was achieved.
16 oz (.47 L) of water was used for each test.
Boil Time is in Seconds
Tests 1 and 2 were conducted with an hour cool down period in between the
tests.
Tests 3 and 4 were conducted on a different day with an hour cool down period
between the tests.
There was a light rain for tests 3 and 4.
The following is a table containing the results of my
control tests.
|
Test Number
|
Boil time
|
Lid
|
|
1
|
165
|
On
|
|
2
|
240
|
On
|
|
3
|
210
|
On
|
|
4
|
207
|
Off
|
There seems to be some wide
variations in the boil times, but none of the times were even close to the
ninety-second claim made by Jetboil. Test
one was conducted when the air temperature was the warmest and that may have
contributed to the quickest boil time.
Test two was conducted at the coldest air temperature, which may have
contributed to the longest boil time.
Tests three and four the temperature did not change much between tests
and their boil times were consistent.
The lid also did not seem to make much difference in tests three or
four. As I get closer to the end of the
first canister, I will conduct four more control tests as well as tests with
other brands of fuel canisters.
After
the battery of control tests I took the stove on a weekend camping trip. The temperatures were in the mid 40’s F (7.2
C) with a light rain on the first night and second morning. I did not time how long it took to boil
water, but rather examined the usefulness of the stove. Jetboil claims the stove is for personal
use, and I would agree. I was with a
group of six other people and the Jetboil was not that useful to us in meal
preparation. However, it was great in
heating water especially for coffee and oatmeal. The cooking cup will hold and boil three cups (.71 L) of liquid,
which is perfect for my coffee press.
Additionally, during breakfast I was able to heat up enough water for
two people to have two packets of oatmeal each while the other stove was
heating a larger pot with water for the entire group. Our other meals did not require just boiled water so the stove
was not used for the other meals because of its size.
I
like how easy the stove is to use. You
simply screw the fuel canister in to the burner base, add your water to the
cooking cup, place the cup on the burner base, turn the gas on and push the
button and poof the stove is going.
This is much easier than the other stoves I have used and seems to be
the least dangerous of the stoves I have used.
I also liked how I was able to operate the stove with fleece gloves
on. On other liquid fuel stoves I own, I have had to take off my gloves to
operate them, but on the Jetboil I didn’t.
I also like how quiet the stove is.
I was using it next to a Coleman Exponent Liquid Fuel stove and I
could not tell if the Jetboil was even on.
When I used the stove by itself it barely makes any noise. I am also impressed with the compactness of
the stove. Everything including the fuel fits into the cooking cup.
There
are several things I don’t like though. The first is the stove is top heavy
with the small 100 g (3.53 fl oz) fuel canister. It did not tip over while in use, but I would not use the stove
on even the slightest uneven surface because I would be afraid that it would
tip over. The verbiage on the box seems
to be misleading because it clearly states that the cooking cup has a generous
one-liter capacity, but then in the instructions you are told not to fill the
cup with more than two cups of water.
The reasoning on the instructions is that the water could boil over and
burn the user, fair enough, but the from the reading the website and other information
I thought I could safely boil a liter of water, not just two cups. My third issue is the stove’s lack of
compatibility with other cooking pots and pans. I usually carry a small frying
pan and I think it would be difficult to use with this stove because the
igniter head sticks up above the steel base plate.
All of the above being said, I think this stove has a lot of
potential and should perform admirably on my upcoming backpacking trips.
Backpacking Background:
I
have been camping and backpacking for about 15 years. I started with the Boy Scouts when I was 11. I first started hiking mostly in the
southeastern United States (Florida, Alabama, Georgia). Later, I went to college in Connecticut and
became versed in the New England outdoors.
I currently live near Washington D.C. and hike and backpack in the Mid
Atlantic Mountains. I have been section
hiking the Appalachian Trail and have completed all of the Connecticut and
Maryland sections, and I am currently working on the Virginia section. I used
to carry everything and the kitchen sink, but I have become weight conscious in
recent years and have attempted to lighten my load.
Thanks again to BGT.org and Jetboil for the opportunity to
participate in this test.
