OWNER REVIEW – Jetboil Personal Cooking System

 

July 27, 2005

 

Product: Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS)
Reviewer: Richard Lyon (Backpacking profile at end of review.)
Manufacturer: Jetboil, Inc.
URL: www.jetboil.com
Year of manufacture: 2004
Year of Purchase: 2004
MSRP: $79.95 (All dollar amounts in this review are U.S. dollars.)  This price does not include Jetboil proprietary fuel canister (called the "Jetpower micro-canister"), which is sold separately for $3.95.

SPECIFICATIONS

The following specs come from Jetboil's website, with my measurements (where I could take them) in brackets following:

PCS weight: 15 oz (425 g) [Same.  This includes a fuel canister.  Weight with French press is 15.5 oz (440 g)]
French press weight: 1.2 oz (35 g) [1.1 oz (31 g)]
Volume: 32 oz. (1 liter) [That's the cup's volume size, but cooking capacity is 16 oz – 0.5 l .  See review.]
Boil Time: 2 minutes per 2 cups [Conservative.  See review.]
Dimensions: 4.1 in x 7.1 in (104 mm x 180 mm) [Packed size: 4.1 in (104 mm) diameter, 7.0 in (178 mm) height.]
Water boiled: 12 liters per Jetpower micro-canister
Average calculated efficiency 75%
Energy output 1500 Watts
Energy output/hour 1290 k Cal
Fuel burned/hour 100 g
Fuel percentage 80% isobutane, 20% propane

Cup color: Black (Also available in jungle camouflage; separate cozies are available in jungle camo, blue, green, or red at $9.95)

DESCRIPTION

The Jetboil is a self-contained "cooking system" consisting of, from bottom to top: (i) fuel canister; (ii) aluminum burner unit; (iii) insulated aluminum cooking cup with heat exchanger baffles attached at the bottom, and (iv) plastic sipper lid for the cooking cup.  There is a fifth piece: a plastic cup that serves as a measuring cup (markings on the inside) or small extra drinking vessel.  This covers the heat exchanger end of the cooking cup when the unit is packed.  The cooking cup segment has a one-quarter inch (6.4 mm) neoprene cozy and a nylon strap as a handle.  The burner has a small valve that controls fuel flow to allow a larger or smaller flame.

The cooking cup has two small grooves at the bottom of its sides that fit over two small raised nipples on the burner, to lock the two pieces together when in use.  The Jetpower 100 g (3.5 oz) fuel canister screws on to the bottom of the burner by means of a threaded Lindal valve. 

How this product is packed illustrates why it is sold as a "cooking system" rather than a stove.  The proprietary canister and the burner, when disconnected, fit neatly inside the cooking cup, leaving a 7 in (178 mm) tall cylinder with a 4.1 in (104 mm) diameter. 

When ready to use the Jetboil, I remove the plastic measuring cup, fit the heat exchanger to the burner, screw in the fuel canister, add water to the cooking cup, turn the fuel valve, and fire it up with the piezo-type ignition. 

I have always followed the manufacturer's recommendation of never using more than a half-liter (two cups) of liquid in the cooking cup, so I consider this amount the system's capacity.  This limit is marked on the inside of the cooking cup.

Jetboil sells several accessories: a French press that converts the cooking cup to a café-filtre type coffeemaker ($19.95); companion heat exchanger/cooking cup, available in the colors listed above ($29.95); pot support and stabilizer (new in 2005), to allow use of the burner with a larger pot ($19.95); and maintenance kit with spare piezo unit and o-rings ($9.95).  I have used only the French press and companion cup.  The press consists of a metal compression unit and lid connected by a 5.5 in (14 cm) metal rod.  This accessory weighs just over one ounce (31 g) and does not add to overall packed size since the center shaft unscrews in the middle for storage and its lid (with sipper holes) is used in place of the standalone sipper lid.

REVIEW

My cooking, eating, and drinking preferences and requirements heavily color my opinion of this product, so I shall confess them first.  I am not a backcountry gourmet, and I dislike packing and cleaning pots and pans.  I've never acquired a taste for freeze-dried food, probably a legacy from my Army days.  On two- and three-day trips I'm content with snacks and soup unless it's going to be really cold.  Particularly on solo hikes, I try to arrange as little cooking as possible -- no cooking at all is preferable.  Hot drinks in the morning and  evening are however absolutely necessary for peace of mind and body, and real coffee (extra strong, high octane, not freeze dried, not instant) is a required backcountry treat.  All my stove usually has to do is boil water quickly and easily.

The Jetboil might have been designed with me in mind.  It boils water VERY quickly and easily.  As for quickly, prior to writing this review I timed it at home (sea level, 72 F (22 C)) and at a full-bore setting boiled two cups in just over one minute on average.  I haven't timed it in the backcountry but my experience has been similar, even at altitude up to 10,000 ft (3000 m) and temperatures as low as 20 F (-7 C).  With the French press, my coffee is ready in no time (four or five minutes of steeping), without filtering and without floating grounds. 

As for easily, all that's needed is level ground.  The burner has a metal guard that acts as both windscreen and safety device.  After twenty-plus days on the trail, minimum three uses per day, in sunny and rainy weather, dead calm to high wind, I have never had the igniter fail or the flame blow out.  Thanks to the neoprene cozy and thick wall, all liquids boiled in the cooking cup stay hot.  No larger and only slightly heavier than a large coffee mug, the packed-up Jetboil fits into my daypack or can be attached with a compression strap, to provide hot drinks on a day hike or ski tour.  I have carried it in the back pocket of my fishing vest on non-hiking days.  It's much easier and faster than digging out the camp stove for hot drinks when car camping or in the ski area parking lot.

So far the Jetboil has proven to be durable, with only a few minor scratches in the plastic and coffee stains inside the cooking cup.  The stains haven't affected flavor when I use the system for tea or soup or a freeze-dried snack. 

The cooking cup is the only item that needs cleaning after use and it's as easy to clean as a drinking cup.  When using the French press, compressed coffee grounds at the bottom must be rinsed out.  I can avoid this by making coffee as follows: boil the water, add the press with the compressor extended (lying on the bottom of the cooking cup), add coffee, and after steeping pull the compressor up very carefully.  With this method it is marginally easier to pitch the wet grounds into a small garbage bag for packing out, but this approach still requires rinsing the compressor, and in my opinion is more trouble than it's worth.  I haven't needed to use this method for keeping grounds out of the coffee.

This product has serious limitations, or perhaps I should say limited applications.  Its two-cup capacity makes it a one-person rig.  Even with a companion cup it takes twice as long to boil for two as for one.  The Jetboil is limited to boiling, although the manufacturer appears to be diversifying with its new pot support accessory.  (I'm looking forward to trying this accessory on my next fishing trip.)  The PCS is small enough that when my companions demand more varied cuisine or when I expect to catch and cook fish.  I have packed both the Jetboil for hot drinks and one of my Primus stoves for skillet cooking.   A Primus canister won't fit into the cooking cup for storage but the Jetboil burner works perfectly well with it, allowing me to bring a single canister for the two stoves and a lantern.

Jetboil is not to blame for one further handicap, which of course applies to all compressed fuel stoves.  It's always been unlawful to take a canister on an airplane, even when it's stowed in checked luggage.  Since September 11 every bag is inspected, and I haven't tempted fate by trying to sneak one through.  I usually fly to my backpacking trips in the Rockies, and so must locate a fuel source at my destination, which hasn't yet been a problem, and leave any unused fuel behind before I head home.  Several Forest Service employees have received partially used canisters as gifts.  I even started an informal exchange service with the Park Service's backcountry office in Yellowstone.  Those of you visiting there should check and see if it's still operational.

The Jetboil PCS is definitely a niche product.  For a camper who fits into that niche, it's breakthrough technology.  I love it!

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND:

Male, 59 years old

Height: 6' 4" (1.91 m)

Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)

Email address: rlyon@gibsondunn.com

Home: Dallas, Texas USA

I've been backpacking for 45 years on and off, and regularly in the Rockies since I moved to Texas in 1986.  I do a weeklong trip every summer, and often take three-day trips.  I'm usually camping in alpine terrain, at altitudes 5000 to 13,000 ft (1500 - 4000 m). I prefer base camp backpacking, a long hike in with day trips from camp, but I do my share of forced marches too. Regardless of type of trip, I'll tote a few extra pounds to have the camp conveniences I've come to expect.