Name: John R. Waters
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.7 m)
Weight: 178 lb (81 kg)
Email Address: exec at ring dot com
City, State, Country: White Lake, MI USA

Backpacking Background

My backpacking experience is limited to the last couple of years, hiking primarily in Michigan and Colorado. In Michigan, I do hikes of 6-8 miles (10 km-13 km) 2-3 times a week in Pontiac Lake Recreation area with weekend hikes in various other southeast Michigan locales. Our twice-a-year vacations are usually in Colorado where we hike the mountains in the summer and snowshoe in the winter.

I tend towards the lightest pack possible - under 12 lb (5 kg), but of course, that is day hiking. I am starting overnight hiking this summer and am aiming for a light to ultralight weight pack.

Product Information (from Manufacturer website)
http://www.vargooutdoors.com

Manufacturer: Vargo Outdoors
Model: Titanium 'Jet-ti' Stove
Weight: 2.7 oz (76 g)
MSRP: $64.95 USD
Warranty: None listed, but a "Return Policy" is listed as: "We offer a return policy that ensures that every item purchased meets your high standards. Items may be returned by first contacting us by email or by phone."

Features:
For an in depth description of the Vargo Titanium 'Jet-Ti' Stove, please refer to my Initial and Field Reports.

Product Information (from tester)

Weight of Stove: 3 oz (85 g)
Weight of carrying case: 1 oz (28.35 g)
Total weight: 4 oz (113 g)

Field Conditions/Completed Test Results

During one test trip, I took the Vargo Titanium Jet-Ti Stove with me on a long-awaited week-long trip to Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO in late September. It made me the envy of fellow hikers! Thanks to the Jet-ti, even on short hikes, my wife and I were able to be "civilized" hikers and daily enjoyed out afternoon tea on the trails.

Date: Sep 22, 2005
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO

On the trail to Fern Lake my wife and I stopped at Fern Lake for snacks and hot tea. There is nothing like hiking for several miles and stopping for hot herbal tea and chocolate chip cookies or a good food bar, especially when it's cool out.

Fern Lake is at 9541 ft (2907 m) above sea level. The temperature there was 52 F (11 C) and humidity was 50 to 60%. Taking water from our packs, I measured out 32 fl oz (946 ml) using our Orikaso foldup cups and filled our GSI Hard Anodized aluminum pot.

The stove is easy to set up. It removes from its pouch and easily connects to the 4 oz (110 g) GigaPower canister. As I mentioned in my initial review, it is important to check to make sure the valve is tightly closed prior to mounting the stove on the canister, or else fuel will start to flow while I am making the connection. Since the valve can turn in the pouch when in my pack, this is a very necessary step.

The stove was placed on sand near a rock to shield it from the wind and the pot of water placed on the stove. With the fins fully out (they fold against one another like a folding door and then fan out to support pots and pans), the water pot was placed on the stove and the canister.

This combination can be a little top-heavy. Especially on uneven ground. It wasn't as bad here as it was at other locations, but I constantly feel that if I approach the thing too quickly and make any mistakes in handling it, something is going to dump. So it's a little edgy to handle with boiling water.
Jet-ti stove at Fern Lake

The 32 fl oz (946 ml) of water boiled in 4.35 minutes (a little longer than at our lower altitude tests) with the valve open only one-half turn. The heat signature was completely encompassing the bottom of the pot.

I used a butane lighter to light the stove. It's a little awkward to use matches since the stove is so efficient that I can't see the flame. So if I turn it up too high and use a short match, I may possibly be putting my hand in the flame. So I opted to use a long butane lighter, which doesn't weigh very much at all or take up room in the pack.

Cool-down time is great. Within about 3 minutes I was able to hold the entire stove in my bare hands and put it back in the pouch. Of course the snack and tea was great, too.

Date: Sep 23, 2005
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes park, CO

We took the trail to Hiayaha Lake and stopped at the lake for snacks and hot tea.

Hiayaha Lake is at 10,220 ft (3115 m) above sea level. Temperature was 43 F (6 C), partly cloudy, wind was about 15mph (24 km) and gusting, humidity 60%.

This lake has a sandy beach around it with no flat rocks to mount the stove and the beach itself has probably a 10% grade to the water. So to keep the stove and pot level, we had to level out a spot in the sand or else the combination of canister, stove and pot would tip over.

The wind was strong enough that even the butane lighter was having trouble staying lit long enough to light the stove. I had to turn the stove volume up past the half turn level I have been using to keep a good flow going so the gas wasn't blown away. Once the stove was lit though, it performed well. I used just a little more than ¾ turn to boil this pot (same size as before). You can hear the difference in the flow, a higher level of sound and sputtering as the wind blows. These stoves sound just like blowtorches.

At this altitude and with the cooler temperature and blowing wind (we used no wind shield except our bodies and backpacks) the same amount of water took 5.45 minutes to boil. I suppose I could have opened the fuel valve more, but the heat signature was already well up over the bottom 25% of the pot and I figured any more would be wasted anyway.

There were a few instances of the support vanes moving. When I would take the lid off the pot to check the status of the boiling, I would slightly nudge the pot and it would move a vane. One time I had to lift the pot (we always carry a pot holder) and use a stick to push the vane back into position. It would help if the Vargo Jet-ti stove had positive locking notches in the base so that the vanes don't move once they are in position. It's been the only major issue I have with the stove.

Since it was so cool and windy, the stove was again, well cooled off within a few minutes of turning off the flame.

Date: Sep 24, 2005
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes park, CO

After doing the Gem Lake hike during the day we finished up early enough to take the one-way Old Fall River Road over the High Tundra. After seeing many elk, and being stopped in the road by a huge bull elk, we stopped at dusk to see how easily we could have more tea and finish up a pack of cookies.

We stopped at 11,721 ft (3567 m) above sea level. Temperature was 38 F (3 C), partly cloudy, wind was about 15 mph (24 km) and gusting to over 25 mph (40 km), humidity was 50-60%. I boiled 32 fl oz (946 ml) of water. Water here boiled in 6.4 minutes, due to the higher altitude, lower temperature and wind chill. That's almost twice the time it took at other locations.

Jet-ti Stove on Old Fall River Road
The canister, stove and pot assembly were placed on a ledge on the side of a cliff to try and shelter the stove from the wind. It was difficult to light because both the wooden matches and the butane lighter were being blown out so quickly. I had to turn up the valve to get the fuel volume higher and then the stove lit and stayed lit, although you could hear it sputtering as the wind blew. Under these conditions a better wind shield would have helped, but also would have made it more difficult to cook.

The stove cooled down very quickly and was easy to take apart and repack. Knowing that the vanes move so easily, by this time I was already used to checking them and making sure I didn't move the pot in such a way as to cause them to move.

Summary - My Overall Opinion

This is a lightweight stove that takes up little space in your pack and weighs only 3 oz (85 g). The fuel canisters take up more space and weigh more then the stove. For day hikes, or weekend hikes where you won't be doing a lot of cooking, a small 4 oz (110 g) canister will do well. Anything longer than a few days will require the larger canister. Remember also that you are not allowed to bring these pressurized canisters on an airplane, even in your luggage. So know a source of supply at your destination in advance.

Using the stove for 16.2 minutes at a variety of altitudes, temperatures and wind speeds, it used up .65 oz (18.3 g) of the small 4 oz (110 g) canister. So under these conditions, I may possibly expect to use about .04 oz (1.12 g) per minute and a full 4 oz (110 g) canister should last approximately 100 minutes. A larger 8.11 oz (230 g) canister should last up to 3 hours.

If the average meal took 15 minutes and coffee or tea took 5 minutes and I did that 3 times a day (60 minutes) that would mean a weekend overnight 2 days trip could work with one small canister and a weeklong trip would need two large canisters and one small canister to cover 7 days. Of course my usage will vary, but this would be a good starting point.

Other than the issue with the support vanes moving and the control valve not having enough fine-tuning, there is nothing else I can object to. The Jet-Ti heats rapidly, has little trouble in gusty winds, and cools down very quickly.

There is some issue with all stoves that mount on top of canisters because they tend to be top-heavy. The larger canister will make for a more stable base, but when using a full load in my pot, there is a significant amount of weight on top that can cause tipping. I do need to be careful when doing this balancing act.

The stove and both the small and large canisters fit right inside my GSI Hard Anodized Cookset to make a complete kit to toss in my pack.

Thank you for the opportunity to test this product!

John R. Waters

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