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.