JetBoil Sol Hacks

[todd]

Special shout out to Curt Peterson for his thread on hacking (& significantly lightening!) his JetBoil Zip. His thread(s) can be found here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/59535/index.html?skip_to_post=514608#514608

I can't thank Curt (and all the thinkers on this site) enough.

I sold my origninal Jetboil a few yrs ago when I converted to Esbit, but recently a friend bought a Sol Ti and, well, between that and Curt's Hacks……you know how that story ends.

I almost bought an aluminum companion pot from REI w/my dividend but got a Sawyer Squeeze instead. I finally "stumbled" across a new Sol Aluminum cup on eBay for $30.58 w/free shipping! (I bought from this seller before w/great results and highly recommend them: "Wrightstuff" I believe)

After it arrived I couldn't wait to start mutilating this fine piece of craftsmanship w/my Dremel! Curt was kind enough to see if a Snow Peak Giga would work (I have one of those and a Pocket Rocket). I cut slots barely wide enough for the pot supports to slide into using the existing slots as a starting point, after carefully lining up the supports with the pot bottom and marking it w/a Sharpie. I cut up to the "bevel".

Ever be extra careful in your pre-cut prep and cut something WROOOOOONG anyway?????? Well I eagerly opened up the Giga's supports and…… they didn't line up w/my cuts! *%^&.! !!!! How????

Whew! Snow Peak QC doesn't worry about the supports angle, so turning the stove around I found I hadn't cut wrong. What a relief.

It worked so well and is so stable that I decided to destroy it further w/ slots for my Pocket Rocket too. Why not, right?

So here it is w/ both stoves and a shot showing just the two types of slots:

Weights:

Pot w/cozy, lid, protective cover = 7.2 oz
Pot only = 4.7
Pot w/lid = 5.3
Pot w/lid, cozy, Pocket Rocket = 9.1
Pot w/lid, Pocket Rocket = 8.3

I could lighten it further w/ a different lid and a lighter stove, but I'm excited to have this setup for those times I want a canister stove. Very easy project, less than $31 bucks if you have a canister stove and a Dremel, and lighter than a Sol Ti setup (if stock)!

Happy Hacking!
Todd

[Curt Peterson]

Looks good, Todd! A couple quick thoughts:

– After using my setup in the real world on a backpacking trip last month, I'm pretty happy with it. I found that I prefer the slots actually pretty wide. Mine are many times the width of the metal arms and I'd be happy if they were even wider. They're plenty secure and trying to line them up – especially with a boiling pot of water in your hands – has potential to be a pain. It's still better than the "line up and twist to lock" on a stock Jetboil, though. Yours look super tight and barely the width of the support arms. Not a problem if it works for you, however.

– My other find was that the neoprene sleeve from the GSI Minimalist fits the pot absolutely as if it were made for it. I cut off the bottom and made a 2" or so "band" that I push up to the lip of the pot. Almost weightless, doesn't reek like the neoprene on the JetBoil, and I had no problem picking up a boiling pot of water all weekend long. Lighter than any potlifter I know of and works great. I'll get a pic of it and post it up.

– I was in some pretty high winds. Tucking the burner up inside like this helps A LOT but it's not perfect. I'm going to experiment with a couple mini windscreen ideas I have that should integrate with this system well. With that solved, it's pretty much perfect. Lighter. Good pot lifting solution. Works with multiple stoves. Add good wind performance to that and what's not to love?

Glad yours is working for you. I'm curious how it's playing out in the wild as far as fuel consumption. Have you noticed improvements?

[todd]

Thanks Curt.

I honestly haven't even had water in the pot! It came yesterday and I can't find a canister in the house – it's been that long since I used one!

Can't wait to see your windscreen solutions.

Todd

[todd]

…For the Sol (Aluminum) pot anyway

The stock lid is 18 grams.

The lid from a 12oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese container is even more secure and…

… weighs 5 grams! Hey don't laugh it's almost half an ounce!!!! :)

[Joseph R]

Ha, and if you punch enough holes in the cream cheese lid it will weigh just 4g. Honestly, I just want to say thanks for the tip, 18g vs 5g is a worthwhile hack as it's basically free to do and there is minimal loss of function.

I'm also curious about the differences in fuel efficiency and performance compared to the stock burner (which performs very well but could use a diet). Maybe I'll try a similar hack this summer.

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