Snow Peak Litemax vs Jetboil

[Christopher Kuzak]

Anyone have thoughts on these two stoves? About a year ago, after some consideration, I went with the Sol Al after selling my JB PCS. I was trying to drop weight in my cook system. Now, due to an annoying leak, I am thinking about the SP Litemax again. Plus my cook system is still a pound all in with fuel. Thoughts?

[John Whynot]

I've used both. Total weight for Litemax based cookset (without fuel) is 6.6 ounces, but it has no windscreen.

I used a Sol Al for a 6 day glacier mountaineering course, I never weighed it, but I just took the pot, cover, and stove to save weight. In terms of boiling water, even when cold and windy, it worked very well. I ended up returning the Sol Al to REI because the piezo ignitor stopped working after 2 uses — something as expensive as the Sol Al shouldn't have components that fail so easily.

I'll continue to use the Litemax for my backpacking trips. If I need a canister stove for more severe conditions, I'll get an MSR Reactor with the 1 liter pot when it's available.

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