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#130915 - 03/18/10 03:51 PM Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves
Bushman Offline
member

Registered: 07/01/09
Posts: 122
Loc: California
Yeah yeah yeah another stove question...
Anyway its a little more specific than the general question,"which is better?"
My question is- Is the Giga stove just as efficient as the Jet Boil with the Heat Exchanger/ wind screen?

I used a jet boil to cook for the past few days winter camping and couldn't be more impressed. I was also impressed how fast it melted snow. The other reason I like the jet boil is how efficient it was.

If the Giga stove is more or almost efficient as the jet boil I would consider getting one. Plus the Giga will pack better in my pack than a jet boil.

Also please post about your experiences with the stove(s).

thanks

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#130917 - 03/18/10 04:43 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: Bushman]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
I've used both setups, but never performed any objective tests on fuel usage. (I've since given away my Snow Peak stove and pot, so can't do so now.)

As far as weight, you will save a few ounces with the Snow Peak setup - though not as much as you'd think, since that windscreen appears to be steel (why not aluminum or titanium, I don't know.) Snow Peak's website says it weighs 2 ounces, but I remember mine weighing more like 4.

Based on pure conjecture, I believe the Jetboil is the more efficient stove. Even with the windscreen on the Snow Peak, there seemed to be a lot of heat escaping up the side of the pot; my handles always tended to get warm, and I could "see" the heat waves. I don't notice either of those things with the Jetboil, which makes me think it is more efficient at putting all the heat into the pot. Also, the Jetboil neoprene cozy appears to keep the heat from dissipating as quickly.

I'm sure there are others who can do a better job with the science than I did. However, my main reason for choosing Jetboil over the Snow Peak was that the Jetboil system simply fit my cooking style a little better, and my food stays hotter longer after the stove is turned off. The weight savings kind of faded into second place in this case.

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#130980 - 03/19/10 06:34 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: Glenn]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada

Based on non conjecture (I have used both) the snow peak is not as efficient as the jetboil. The jetboil is amazingly efficient. It also takes about somwhere in my estimtion a month of cooking by me until the weight of the jetboil setup itself is offset by any fuel savings about it being "more efficient".

So the the point of the discussion, I own and use a snow peak stove. I don't bother with the fancy windcreen and carry a piece of cake pan or msr foil windscreen to use with it. I personally would not buy and carry a big heavy jetboil setup.
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#130984 - 03/19/10 07:08 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: phat]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
I may not have used the right word when I said "conjecture," since I've used both stoves, too. However, my usage is limited to 2 to 4 day trips, and I haven't conducted any long-term tests or boil tests. So, I'll bow to your more extensive experience - your estimate of the break-even point sounds about right for nothing but boil-and-soak meals; it might be fewer days for more fuel-intensive simmer-and-stew cooking, or if you cook every meal and also prepare a hot beverage. Since I've got no experience with melting snow on a trip (except for fun), would your answer change if you were doing that? (Or would those conditions mean you'd be carrying a white-gas stove?)

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#130997 - 03/20/10 02:00 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: Glenn]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Originally Posted By Glenn
I may not have used the right word when I said "conjecture," since I've used both stoves, too. However, my usage is limited to 2 to 4 day trips, and I haven't conducted any long-term tests or boil tests. So, I'll bow to your more extensive experience - your estimate of the break-even point sounds about right for nothing but boil-and-soak meals;


Yes, my break even estimate is kinda based on boil and cozy stuff

Quote:

it might be fewer days for more fuel-intensive simmer-and-stew cooking, or if you cook every meal and also prepare a hot beverage. Since I've got no experience with melting snow on a trip (except for fun), would your answer change if you were doing that? (Or would those conditions mean you'd be carrying a white-gas stove?)


Melting snow? forget it. White gas smile

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#131003 - 03/20/10 07:26 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: phat]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
I picked up an Optimus Crux stove/Terra Weekend HE (Heat Exchanger) pot combo a couple of weeks ago; this thread prompted me to try it out in a head-to-head with my Jetboil today. Temps were about 50, with a light wind; I didn't try to set up any windscreens or block the wind at all. I filled both pots with 12 ounces of water, lit off the stoves, and put the pots on to boil (Jetboil went on first, by about 2 seconds.) The pots are nearly identical in size and design; the Optimus is maybe a quarter inch shorter and and eighth inch larger diameter.

The result surprised me: both boiled in about a minute - but the Optimus beat the Jetboil by about 10 seconds! (I couldn't measure fuel consumption, since all I had were partial cylinders; I did try to get the flames to the same height, though.) On to Part Two.

Part Two consisted of dumping a freeze-dried entree into each pot, with the stoves off, and letting them stand (stirring each 2 or 3 times - I was eating the stuff for lunch) about 7 minutes. Here's where the Jetboil was better: when I started to eat, the food in the insulated Jetboil pot was hot; the food in the uninsulated Terra HE pot (also aluminum) was only warm. So, while the Terra might do a better job boiling, it also dissipates heat more quickly. Now, this may not be that big a deal in the real world, if you dump the water into the food pouch, and put the bag in a cozy.

A comparison: the Jetboil is a little fussier: you have to take the little cup off the bottom of the pot, attach the little 3-legged stabilizer to the cylinder, screw the burner onto the cylinder, lock the pot onto the stove, and snap the rubber (silicone?) lid onto the pot. The Optimus is SOP: screw the cylinder onto the stove, unfold the arms, light, set pot on supports and put cup/pan/lid on pot. The Jetboil's cozy and all the little nooks and crannies in the lid do a fine job of holding water and food scraps; the Optimus pot wipes perfectly clean easily. The Optimus pot has big, deep, easily read measuring marks embossed into the pot - including one at the 12-oz mark most single-serving meals use; the Jetboil pot has only a Max Fill line - you have to use the little cup to measure. However, with the lid, the Jetboil allows you to do something you can't do with the Terra: drink a hot beverage directly from the pot or the cup.

The Crux/Terra is about 4 ounces lighter than the Jetboil - halfway between your Snow Peak kit and the Jetboil. The Crux does not have a piezo. (It's up to you whether that's an advantage or disadvantage.)

Having said all that, I'm still a bit partial toward the Jetboil, because of the sippy-lid feature and the ability to have HOT food, not just warm. But the Optimus setup is sure looking attractive. I may have to experiment with cozies and do the cook-in-bag trick I've always meant to try, and I may have to use some REI dividend on a little Sea to Summit insulated mug I saw. And that Terra pot fits great on my Svea stove - and the stove fits nicely inside the pot.

Decisions, decisions.

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#131042 - 03/21/10 04:32 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: Glenn]
Bushman Offline
member

Registered: 07/01/09
Posts: 122
Loc: California
I dont think you can be the jet boil for the boil water purpose and fuel efficiency. I just like being able to "cook",I use that loosely though. I have a lid that doubles as a fry pan and have success cooking with it using an alcohol stove and imagine I can with the snow peak.

The snow peak "wind screen" I my opinion isn't a wind screen really, in fact its sucks to a real wind screen. However I did notice a boil time difference with it on, a little faster. I read that some one extended the wall up closer to the pot and that improved the boil times and wind bucking ability. I am almost temped to some how mod the "wind screen" by adding heat fins like the jet boil.
or
Getting those newish pots that have the heat exchangers on the bottom of them. But I rather tinker.

Still really the thing that matter to me is the fuel efficiency, and where the jet boil is said to boil 10-11 liters per 100gram fuel, and the snow peak 7-8? I rather have the different cooking pot options than being just with the tall pot on the jet boil. Though that 3 litter difference very well could mean 1 day and a half more on the trail...

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#131043 - 03/21/10 04:34 PM Re: Jet Boil or Snow Peak Giga Stoves [Re: Bushman]
Bushman Offline
member

Registered: 07/01/09
Posts: 122
Loc: California
oh yeah and making a cozy for any pot is SUPER easy. I have on that keeps food hot hot for 10 mins and warm up to 20. I am going to add a cozy lid to improve this.

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