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#186031 - 07/03/14 05:37 AM Stoves??
AKenthusiast Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/03/14
Posts: 4
Loc: Northern Arkansas
Im new on here and im still figuring out things. But i just recently purchased the jetboil sol stove and as far as im concerned it works great and does what it claims. Boils water super fast and very effective. What do the jetboil users think of it and what are other preferences on cooking stoves?

Some people say the weight of it is a big issue but its only 11oz and that includes the mug that serves as the pot that other stoves require. So by the time you factor in other stoves weight and the mug they are about the same. Just wondering other thoughts on it.

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#186032 - 07/03/14 06:27 AM Re: Stoves?? [Re: AKenthusiast]
Glenn Roberts Offline
Moderator

Registered: 12/23/08
Posts: 2207
Loc: Southwest Ohio
I've used the Sol, and found it to be a very fast, very good canister stove. (We don't need to sidetrack into the relative merits of canister v. white gas v. alcohol here - summed up, it's different stoves for different preferences and needs.)

The nicest feature is the insulating cozy; it really does keep food warmer longer. The little cup is also nice. But, in the end, I found both to be irrelevant: I only used the cup for oatmeal in the fall, and I prepared my food in the bag, and ate from the bag. The cozy was nice in the winter, when I tend to drink more tea. The way everything stores in the pot is nice, too.

But, more and more, I find myself going back to my simplest kitchen: an MSR MicroRocket stove and Titan kettle. It's no more than I need, and no less. It doesn't have the built-in windblocking of the Sol, and it's a fraction of a minute slower, but it does everything I need.

You're right, the extra weight of the Sol is not burdensome. But a heavier pack is, and while the extra four ounces of each of 8 items is not individually burdensome, you still end up with a pack that's 2 pounds heavier. The real questions are, is the Sol lighter than the stove it replaced, and does it do everything you need it to do. If the answer is yes, it's definitely the stove for you.

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#186044 - 07/03/14 04:03 PM Re: Stoves?? [Re: AKenthusiast]
professor Offline
member

Registered: 04/26/11
Posts: 41
Loc: Southern California
I have been using a JetBoil for around 10 years, the original one. Mine weighs 15 ounces, but I still feel the combination of all the benefits more than compensates for the weight. I have found that efficiency of fuel use lets me use the same small canister for multiple trips. My last canister (GigaPower 110) has lasted 4 trips each 5-6 days long and still has fuel in it. However, I mostly use it for dinner to boil 1-2 cups of water. Once in a while I boil water for oatmeal or hot chocolate in the morning.

The thing that I really like is having the burner connected to the pot. Before I had the JetBoil, I had to keep my on eye on the pot. On more than one occasion I have set my pot on the burner turned away to do something only to turn back around and find the pot had slid off the burner. mad Of course, now the water comes to a rolling boil in 1-2 minutes so there is no time get distracted and turn away from the stove. grin

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#186050 - 07/03/14 05:22 PM Re: Stoves?? [Re: AKenthusiast]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
We're backpacking in close to the same area and I ditched my canister stove a few years ago for an alcohol stove. I use a "SuperCat Stove" now. It's probably a lighter setup overall for 3-5 day trips, but that really depends on how you use it. I eat a lot of dehydrated and freeze dried food so I mostly only boil 2 cups of water at a time. The SuperCat is pretty good at that.

When I want to cook something that takes longer I've been using a wood fire. It's really easy to gather up twigs and make a real small fire to cook with. Most people make "Campfires" but for cooking all you really need is a tiny fire and constant attendance.

Here in the Ozarks you don't really even need a stove. Twigs for fuel and rocks for a pot stand are available almost everywhere. I still bring my alcohol stove though, and I use the canister stove for car camping.

All that said, if you plan on doing some trips in other areas, like out West, that stove is a great choice and you'll want to be familiar with it, so bring it and use it on your trips now. If you're carrying it, it really doesn't matter what others say about your gear.

On a side note, I was taught a lesson by a good friend on why not to comment too much on what others carry. He stopped me short while a was watching a guy load a bunch of big steaks and potatoes and onions into his pack. Next the guy loaded a couple bottles of liquor into it. The 1st night the guy drank all the liquor, the 2nd night we ate all the steaks.

There have also been times I've depended on the kindness of others when I forgot gear, and their "heavy" gear worked way better than my forgotten gear.

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#186051 - 07/03/14 06:37 PM Re: Stoves?? [Re: AKenthusiast]
AKenthusiast Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/03/14
Posts: 4
Loc: Northern Arkansas
Thanks for all the feed back!
Another thing that i do like that you mentioned is that everything locks together so nothing can knock the pot off the stove. With the fuel stabilizer it is pretty sturdy.

Im not much of a believer in the alcohol stoves because the point of them is to reduce weight but the alcohol can get pretty heavy on long trips.

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#186053 - 07/03/14 10:32 PM Re: Stoves?? [Re: AKenthusiast]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By AKenthusiast
Im not much of a believer in the alcohol stoves because the point of them is to reduce weight but the alcohol can get pretty heavy on long trips.


Side by side there are pros and cons to both the SuperCat and JetBoil, but both are still very good backpacking stoves and that's the main point worth considering.

There are a lot of very good stoves out there. Shoot, there are members here who own dozens of stoves and use them all. All stoves have pros and cons, so don't dismiss alcohol stoves all together. There are trips where they can be a very good choice and they can be a lot of fun to design, build, and test.

I've built several. I made pressurized "Pop can" stoves, "Penny" stoves, and finally the SuperCat and SimmerCat stoves. I came away most impressed with the SuperCat stove. At first glance it's so simple that it can fool you into thinking it's low tech. The truth is that design is so incredibly well thought out for the single purpose of boiling two cups of water that, from a design point of view, it's almost perfect.

That doesn't mean I think it's a better backpacking stove than the JetBoil. The JetBoil does a lot more than just boil two cups of water. Both are very good backpacking stoves.

I think it's worth learning how to do a trip with just an alcohol stove, and with no stove at all too. Some members here don't even heat water or cook at all. I have limits. grin
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