Lightning my Jetboil

[Tony Beasley]

Hi Brian,

I agree 100% with Rogers comments.

This is thread on a JetBoil mod that I did some years ago.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=7265&skip_to_post=88181#88181

And here is what I did to a JB PCS pot

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Tony

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I considered a jet boil because they don't get hot on the outside. I have burned my fingers so many times.

You guys are brave to slice into something like a jet boil. I remember seeing similar mods to a sierra zip stove.

[stefan hoffman]

I seem to remember a really long thread on fuel efficiency not to long ago. Jetboils are made to be fast, but do so by being very efficient, meaning you carry less fuel. So on a very long hike with no fuel refills, the rediculous weight and bulk of the JB pays off as far as average weight carried over the whole trip.
That being said, i still wouldnt be caught dead with a JB on any length of hike :). Personal preference.
Impressive mods though, 8oz total weight is lighter than many cannister setups, it still looks spiffy, and aside from the lid it looks easy to use and less top heavy than the original. On a multi-day trip, the only downside i can think of would be bulk. Props on turning a gimmicky piece of junk into a highly functional, relatively ultralight piece of gear. :)
Did you notice any difference in boil times/fuel efficiency?

[chris kersten]

I was a little worried about carving up a brand new jetboil, But I knew that I could get new parts for it pretty easy and cheap. New cup is about $40. When I bought one, it was the most popular stove in the mainstream camping world. I had tried the penny stoves and felt I wanted something that was better. I carried the stove on several hikes (It can be done) and decided that it could be lighter. Dremel time. It's not the best, lightest, or sexiest, but it works great.

[Brian Martin]

I've only used it once since modding, but it was around 3 minutes for 2 cups, thats just glancing at the clock. I probably should do some more scientific test, but I've got a lot on my plate right now. If and when I do, I'll post it up in this thread. I've got my buddies Jetboil for comparison.

Before modding my Jetboil I compared the weight to a good canister setup. A Gigapower Ti+MSR Titanium kettle+Mug+homemade windshield was 8-9 ounces. My Jetboil with the cup is 10 oz. So I decided to save the cash. I've made a few alcohol stoves and have not been impressed. Seem fidgety. I'm guess the Trail Designs setup is pretty well sorted out, and more time with it would make it second nature. But, I don't get out near as much as most on here and don't relish spending time playing with stoves enough to go that route. So the canister was my other option. For the 2 oz diff, I'm happy with what I have.

[Jeffs Eleven]

>>A Gigapower Ti+MSR Titanium kettle+Mug+homemade windshield was 8-9 ounces.<<

Why kettle and mug?

Nix mug save 1.5oz- now you're at 3.5oz savings

Once you start weighing your fuel, that's where you'll see the real weight savings over canister.

[Brian Martin]

The mug was to match the plastic cup/bottom cover of the Jetboil that we use to sip our whiskey from.

[Konrad .]

You're in the backcountry Brian! Anything short of sippin straight from the bottle is unacceptable.

wait this is bpl, nix the bottle, just take it in a plastic flask of some sort and swig from that

edit: haha I just found this photo. I apologize for the gratuitous nudity. One of my friends insisted on lugging along the whiskey in its original glass bottle..I didn't complain since he carried it and I got to drink it :)

Yes…i am drinking and cleaning a ceramic filter at the same time. +1 to multitasking, the outdoors, and friends

[Brian Martin]

Straight from the Flask! Touche!

[. Callahan]

One of the reasons I really like the JetBoil PCS is that I can make tea whilst in my Packrafts.

I know of no other stove that will do this with the same degree of efficiency and safety.

A titanium version would be my ideal, preferably with a ti cartridge capable of refilling from a standard cylinder.

I've toyed with the idea of giving an engineer the job of fabricating this (within reason!) utilizing an existing ti pot, Snow Peak burner etc, but I think I'll need to save some more beforehand!

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Stefan

> Jetboils are made to be fast,
Not so, they are designed to run at a lower power than the typical upright.

> but do so by being very efficient, meaning you carry less fuel. So on a very
> long hike with no fuel refills, the rediculous weight and bulk of the JB pays
> off as far as average weight carried over the whole trip.
You should read some of our stove reviews. The hike would have to be very long before you break even.

Cheers

[stefan hoffman]

Ok, so you are saying that JetBoil stoves are not designed to boil water quickly? If thats the case, then they accidentally did a darn good job. As we have seen countless times, boil times are a huge deal to those who use JBs.
Im not going to read the thread all over again just to make a point, but if i recall correctly, it was 8 days before the efficiency of a JB being used by one person would make it the most viable option. Forgive me for not stressing 'VERY long hike' enough. Those numbers are based on a JetBoil right out of the box, weighing about 14oz(?). So cutting the weight down to 8oz (assuming efficiency is preserved) would ressult in a decrease in the number of days until JB pays off. The number of days/miles would also be fewer if the JB was used for more than one person, and probably fewer still if it was used in colder weather (until its to cold for cannister stoves to function).
Im not really defending the JetBoil, i know there are far superior setups for most applications. I simply wanted to point out that despite its being morbidly overweight initially, the JB has its advantages…..especially if its 6oz lighter.

[Derek Goffin]

We are just back from 3 weeks secluded in the West and High Atlas mountains. We did find a source of pierceable gas canisters in Marrakesh so we could use our cut down Jet boil with an adaptor. My weight for the adaptor 170 gram. 293 grams for the jetboil so not quite as light as the OP's. There are no other sources of gas canisters we know of in the Atlas. I do not know if burning alcohol is available in Morocco, drinking alcohol is very scarce. My petrol stove was our back up but it is much heavier. Twigs were avaialable but not on the 6 day high ridge we walked. My "inverted canister" winter primus stove would have been heavier. Using Rogers figures, I believe our cut down Jetboil starts to beat other gas stoves and alcohol stoves in 4 days for the 2 of us. We needed to carry gas for 15 days and had to melt snow for water on 4 camps. I think the jetboil was the lightest stove by far, of the stoves I have available to me. Even though the pierceable canisters seem to be pure butane I had no severe difficulties in cooking camped on snow.
We did not need to melt much snow for the 4 waterless days as I melted snow in a Nalgene canteen by body heat.

Concerning cutting the steel base of the jetboil. I cut large chunks of the steel base away because the bottom of the pot covers nearly all of the hole I made in use. The steel base then needed some of the plastic base to stiffen it. I wanted to keep the piezo anyway, that needs the plastic base. As we cook for 2 I left nearly 2" above the fill line when reducing the pot. I could drill some holes in the aluminium ring below the flux ring like the OP did.They would be covered by what is left of the steel base.

[Hikin’ Jim]

> Jetboils are made to be fast,
Not so, they are designed to run at a lower power than the typical upright.

Hi, Roger, so from what you're saying, a Jetboil has been deliberately "restricted" as to its output. Is this to increase its efficiency? (running a canister stove at max tends to eat the gas at a higher rate)

Interesting that they would favor efficiency over speed since speed seems like such a selling point with people. Or am I missing something here?

HJ

[Kevin Beeden]

One of the interesting things (for me, at least), is that the valve is clearly labelled 'Primus'. And they're in direct competition with JetBoil now. I guess they don't care how they sell their burners; as their own branded parts, or as parts for other OEMs…

> I trimmed off all the excess brass on the valve, most of which is used to hold it in the plastic base.

I've noticed that most of my gas burners have what seems to be excessively large lumps of metal around the valve area, even burners that are aiming to be lightweight. Some even have finned sections that look like heat sinks (Coleman F1). And I wondered whether it's meant to be a thermal mass to encourage evaporation. It seems to be too small for that, though.

Roger: any thoughts?

[Bob Gross]

Jim wrote:
"Interesting that they would favor efficiency over speed since speed seems like such a selling point with people. Or am I missing something here?"

There is one fraction of the customer base that would favor efficiency over anything else. Another fraction would favor boiling speed. Another fraction would favor extreme light weight. Another, maybe durability. Another, maybe safety of operation. Etc.

Now, when a stove manufacturer can manage to nail down several of those factors into one stove, that would be a winner in the marketplace.

–B.G.–

[Hikin’ Jim]

> There is one fraction of the customer base that would favor efficiency over anything else. Another fraction would favor boiling speed. Another fraction would favor extreme light weight. Another, maybe durability. Another, maybe safety of operation. Etc.

And don't forget convenience. Grab a Jetboil, it all twists together; you're done. I seriously think that the convenience factor + the "gee whiz" factor are what made the JB sell so well. (That and a lot of marketing)

Anyway, true confessions time, I used a friend of mine's GCS Jetboil on 5 day Sierra hike last summer with two other guys. The pot was (except for the weight) a nice change from my MSR Titan kettle. The pot's a little thicker and has the heat exchanger fins, so I was able to do a little "real" cooking with out burning anything. Dunno that I'd pick the GCS on the basis of weight (hardly), but it was a nice cooking stove and worked well for the three of us. My typical Titan cooking set up would have been a hassle for three.

HJ

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