Jetboil Personal Cooking System—A Backpacking Stove
By John Walter

Every so often a product for the outdoor industry comes along that just makes you stand back and say "Wow, why didn't someone think of this before?" In an effort to get away from the heavy fuel bottles that needed pumping or stoves that needed to priming, the founders of Jetboil set out to find a way to make cooking in the outdoors easier. What they've settled on is going to change the industry.

The Jetboil Personal Cooking System stands out for its simplicity. The idea behind the whole thing is to make the heat exchange between the stove and the pot as efficient as possible. To do this, the designers at Jetboil have employed their patented FluxRing to make this heat exchange. The FluxRing is half-inch strip of metal that has been shaped into folds like an accordion. This strip is then spot welded around the bottom of the pot in over 40 spots. The flame from the stove can then be used to heat this strip of metal, which in turn transfers heats to the pot. Because of the large amount of surface area that is touching the pot, the exchange between the FluxRing and the bottom of the pot becomes a great deal more efficient. And Jetboil is able to accomplish this at a lower heat output that other canister stoves. This translates into vastly faster boil times and less fuel consumption.

The Jetboil Personal Cooking System is exactly that, a complete system. The stove attaches to the pot via the housing around the FluxRing. A piezo lighter is built into the system to eliminate the need light the stove with matches or a lighter. The pot lid has a spout that you drink or pour hot liquids through with less drip. The pot includes a neoprene sleeve to insulate it. This helps to reduce boil time and fuel consumption as well as eliminates the need for a pot grabber. You can hold this pot right off the flame without burning your hands.

The entire system is just 15 ounces (425 g). Add a 3.5 (100 g) ounce fuel canister and you're looking at just over 1 pound for everything. The system (including the fuel canister) packs away inside of the pot to keep everything you need for cooking in one compact place. The packed unit is the diameter of a Nalgene water bottle and slightly smaller in height.

Jetboil claims that they can boil 2 cups of water in 90 seconds. Unbelieveable? In our non-controlled field-testing we consistently boiled our 2 cups of water in just less than 120 seconds (2 minutes). I tested this system from day hikes and family picnics in the local canyons to full on late winter conditions in the mountains at 12,000 feet. I used it to boil water for freeze-dried meals to cooking noodles and soups to melting snow for drinking water. While a canister stove isn't typically the best option for melting snow, the Jetboil system held it's own against other stoves.

The system isn't perfect (no system is). Because of the design of the Jetboil system, it naturally becomes a little top heavy and therefore has reduced stability, so take extra care to make sure the pot is stable. Secondly, there's no way to remove the pot from the heat source. If you boil over, there is a chance to be scalded by the hot liquid while trying to turn down the flame. Also, this is exactly as it's billed, a personal cooking system. The pot holds about 4 cups of water, but the fill line is only 2 cups of water, meaning that this is realistically boiling enough water for one person. Lastly, you can't take the pot off and use the stove to cook with different pots or pans for your favorite gourmet backcountry recipes. But that not what the system is designed for anyway: it's designed to boil water quickly and efficiently, which it does with remarkable speed.

The Jetboil Personal Cooking System retails for $79.95 (fuel canister not included). It burns on standard isobutene/propane fuels. While it uses standard sizes in stove/canister sizes, the people at Jetboil recommend using their own fuel.

Summary: I really liked the Jetboil Personal Cooking System. It's designed to remove weight and waste from you pack and accomplishes this goal remarkably well. It's won more awards than you shake a stick at. Keep an eye on new products from other manufacturers because you'll see them fall in line with the advances that the designers at Jetboil have incorporated into their system.

Walt is the climbing editor/managing editor/webmaster/grounds crew/janitor at GearReview.com

For more information, contact:
Jetboil
529 Sunapee Street
Guild, NH 03754
603-863-7700
info@jetboil.com