Jetboil Flash Stove Review

by Hollis Easter, 7 September 2009

Updated 11 December 2009

Jetboil Flash stowed for travel (click for full-size image)

I still remember the day when I first saw a Jetboil stove. It was several years ago, in a local hardware store that stocked some outdoor items. At first, I didn’t recognize it as a stove at all–it looked like an insulated cup of some sort. I picked it up to look at it, and became intrigued.

In the meantime, I’ve become something of a stove addict. I’ve learned about them, written about them, built them, taken them apart, tweaked them, put them back together again. So you can imagine my excitement to learn that Jetboil wanted someone from 4alloutdoors.org to take a look at their new Jetboil Flash!

In case you’re unfamiliar with Jetboil’s offerings, let me explain a little bit. The Jetboil Flash ($99.95) is an integrated cooking system fueled by the canisters of butane/propane mix that are sold almost everywhere in the United States. “Integrated” means that the kit includes pot, stove, and everything else except for fuel. The Jetboil Flash is an updated version of Jetboil’s original PCS (Personal Cooking System), with a few new features and a different look.

The Jetboil pot is actually more of a cup, wrapped in thin neoprene for heat resistance and equipped with a webbing handle to keep it in my hands. There’s a heat exchanger welded onto the base of the cup, presumably to make the burner more efficient.

The original Jetboil would have made Henry Ford proud: available in any color you want, so long as you want black. The Jetboil Flash is now available in four colors: black, gold, purple, and blue. My review stove is “gold”, which is a mixture of orangey yellow and blaze orange. At first, I thought it looked a bit garish–but it’s definitely easy to find in my pack, and hiking buddies are less likely to kick it over given that it’s easy to see.

The neoprene cozy, aside from being more colorful, sports a technology upgrade: thermochromic gel on the side of the cup indicates when the contents have reached 140° F. That’s reputedly the temperature at which water gets sterilized, although I don’t know for sure. The gel (shaped like the Jetboil flame logo) gives me something to stare at while I’m waiting for my tea. The cozy also includes a small sleeve to hold utensils; it presently carries my blue Light My Fire spork.

Jetboil on the rocks at Rock Pond (click for full-size image)

Jetboil includes a flexible plastic lid for the Flash; apparently new is a lip brace and a sippy cup-style hole through the lid. This allows drinking beverages straight from the Jetboil cup without burning the lips. A lot of original Jetboil users have little blisters on their mouths, and it’s nice to see a functional upgrade here.

The pot is marked “MAX SAFE FILL” somewhere below the halfway point. The manual explains that it’s important to avoid overfilling the cup in order to prevent boil-over. I can only assume that the marking is intended to reduce the friction caused between the stove and liability lawsuit paperwork. I imagine that most users will disregard the (quite unobtrusive) maximum fill markings.

Jetboil includes a clear plastic measuring cup that fits onto the end of the cup and protects the heat exchanger. I haven’t tried drinking from it yet, but I assume it’ll work that way.

The burner is fairly simple: a jetted burner with a piezoelectric igniter, housed in a mounting system that attaches it to the cup. Because the Jetboil is designed to work exclusively with Jetboil cups, its burner can be tailored to Jetboil’s specifications to promote efficiency and, I hope, low carbon monoxide creation. One nice benefit of the all-in-one system: it’s possible to suspend the Jetboil from above (with a hanging kit) and use the system normally. This has value for mountaineers, snow campers, and people who can’t bend to sit on the ground.

The Flash also includes a folding stand that attaches to the bottom of a fuel canister and adds stability. This may seem gimmicky at home on the kitchen table, but I found it helpful when camping at Rock Pond in the Adirondacks, where the kitchen site was solid rock at a bit of a tilt. The stand helped keep the stove upright while I flagrantly disregarded the MAX SAFE FILL marking and made tea for five thirsty paddlers.

I found that the Flash boiled a liter of water in about four minutes, which seemed perfectly adequate especially given that I hadn’t given the stove any kind of windbreak. When I placed it in more sheltered conditions, it boiled the next liter a bit faster.

Support, pot, lid, burner, measuring cup/cover (click for full-size image)

I used it to make a tortellini soup, which I ate from the Jetboil pot. I found that my Light My Fire spork was a bit short for the pot, so I ended up with a bit of broth on my hands. No big deal, for me; if it bugs you, there are many available aftermarket eating utensils.

A word about fuel canisters. The Jetboil works with any Lindal-valved butane/propane canister, although they recommend Jetboil’s Jetpower brand of fuel. Jetpower isn’t sold locally, so I’ve been using Coleman canisters. They work fine, but there’s an unforeseen hitch: the Jetpower canisters are the only ones that nest inside the stove. With any other canister, I’ve had to find things to stuff inside the pot to keep the burner from clanking around. I’m still trying to find a local source of Jetpower canisters.

Jetboil makes a wide variety of accessories for the Personal Cooking System, and I assume they’ll work on the Flash, too. They range from frying pans to pot support kits (to use it with non-Jetboil pots), from portable French-press coffee makers to hanging kits to folding utensils to extra cups.

The Flash is a little heavier than I’d like. The system weighs 15.4 oz (438 g), which isn’t huge, but it feels heavy when compared to some of my lighter cooking tools. Jetboil counters by saying that the Jetboil’s efficiency enables a lower total weight when fuel is considered. We’ll see.

The other point that’s worth making is that hard-core ultralight hiking isn’t necessary the Jetboil’s target. Nothing compares to the weight of an alcohol stove, and that really isn’t the point. The Jetboil shines when it comes to simple, quick heating of water, something that’s very popular at the end of a long day. It’s compact enough to take it on a dayhike up a peak and serve hot chocolate on the summit (something I love to do with kids), and simple enough that children and non-gearheads can use it safely.

My paddling buddies all thought that the Jetboil Flash was “cool”. So far, it seems to be like the Pop-Tarts of old: both cool and hot. I’m looking forward to more time in the field with it. Check back soon!

– Hollis Easter

Update: 11 December 2009

Hi folks! I’ve been carrying the Jetboil Flash all over northern New York this fall, and it’s served me really well. Here’s some of what I’ve learned.

In carrying the Flash for several backpacking trips and a bunch of dayhikes, I’ve found it to be quick to boil, light enough to carry comfortably, and easy to use even with cold fingers. Since the Jetboil’s primary strength is as an efficient boiler, I’ve been using it for making beverages and dehydrated soups–and it excels in this role.

I finally found some Jetboil canisters at Eastern Mountain Sports! This lets me stash the stove’s fuel inside the pot along with the burner. Much more convenient, and it doesn’t make clanking sounds in my pack anymore. I like the fact that I can pick up “my Jetboil” and have everything I need in a container about the size of a Nalgene bottle.

I used the Flash as the sole cooking tool when my friend Alison and I spent a few days backpacking in the Eastern High Peaks Zone of the Adirondack Mountains here in New York. We ate rehydrated foods, drank a lot of tea and hot chocolate, and needed to boil extra water since my water purifier broke on the trail–and I don’t think we made much of a dent in the fuel canister I brought. So far, the Flash seems to be pretty fuel-efficient, which I like. Maybe there’s a reason why the Jetboil canisters are so small.

Jetboil Flash atop Mt Arab (click for full-size)

As with most stoves, the Flash prefers to be shielded from the wind. It’ll still boil pretty quickly in direct wind, but the speed is noticeably improved by a bit of a windblock–even just holding it behind my body helps.

Something I’ve learned: don’t press the plastic cup on too tightly–it sticks onto the heat exchanger and is very hard to remove! User error.

Alison taught me a neat trick: it’s possible to pour boiling water through the lid. This completely eliminates spills and is really simple. I like the design of the lid, and the fact that it has a little lip to help keep pouring organized. Nice work, Jetboil.

I was concerned about how well the Flash would function in colder weather, since it uses vapor-feed gas fuel. I’ve been hiking it up mountains for the last few weeks, and it seems to work fine around the 20 F (-7 C) temperatures we’re seeing right now. I boiled up some water for tea on Mt. Arab (see picture) only to discover that nobody really wanted tea anymore. Figures. But the stove was fast–fast enough that I didn’t have the tea things ready by the time the water was boiling. I was impressed. The igniter also worked fine at those temperatures.

So far, I really like the Jetboil Flash, and I’ve come to regard its bright orange color with affection. It’s very easy to see, and I can find it easily in my pack. It boils water fast, packs down fairly small, and is light enough that I can justify carrying it into the mountains. Good gear!

– Hollis

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