Jetboil - modern technologies in camping life
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Evolution of devices for cooking in camping conditions - from campfire to Jetboil
A quarter of a century ago, a "quiet revolution" took place in the field cooking equipment industry, the consequences of which affected not only the camping heating devices and cookware industry, but even a significant part of the outdoor food market.
In 2001, two British guys - Dwight Aspinwall and Perry Doust, in an old mill in New Hampshire UK, equipped a small workshop for the production of a conceptually new device for cooking in outdoor conditions.
Today, the original name of this invention - Jetboil - has become a household name for a whole family of devices structurally similar to the prototype from various (mainly Chinese) manufacturers.
Jetboil is a complete device consisting of a heat-insulated cylindrical pot with a special bottom equipped with a heat receiver, and a low-power gas burner.
The idea of the design is that by using a specially shaped vessel equipped with an insulated heat receiver on the bottom, you can significantly reduce fuel consumption when heating liquid.
The invention of Jetboil made a real revolution in the field of extreme tourism and mountaineering.
The efficiency of the new device turned out to be so high that after its appearance on the market, other camping kitchen accessories became outdated and, for the most part, irrelevant.
The importance of the new invention is easy to understand using simple numbers: boiling 1 liter of water at a temperature of +15C in a Jetboil (Jetboil TI Sol is the lightest, titanium version, the weight of the pot + burner set is only 223 grams) takes less than 2 minutes and less than 4 grams of gas.
These are incredible figures - a classic gas burner can spend up to 50g of gas to boil the same volume of water!
Using a Jetboil or similar devices (at least a dozen of them have already appeared in the market), you can significantly reduce fuel consumption, and, most important, the total weight of the equipment - this is critically important in any hikes, climbs and travels.
In addition, the Jetboil design allows heating the liquid for several times faster, even under unfavorable external conditions - the burner of the device is securely connected to the boiler, the combustion zone is protected from heat loss when used in the wind or at low temperatures.
A huge number of travelers appreciated the advantages of the Jetboil and abandoned classic portable burners that consume more fuel with much lower efficiency.
The appearance of such a successful "know-how" on the market has indirectly affected, among other things, the outdoor food market.
The fact is that the Jetboil is structurally designed only for heating or boiling liquids, it is absolutely not suitable for long-term cooking. Heating liquid to boiling point in the Jetboil is too intense, any attempts to cook something in it lead to overheating and burning of the product.
That's why numerous Jetboil users began to choose for their hiking routes those freeze-dried products that do not require additional time for cooking, preferably in packaging that allows their further consumption.
Manufacturers of tourist food products around the world quickly responded to the change in demand - shortly after the appearance of Jetboil, the supply of outdoor food products that do not require any time for cooking or special utensils has increased sharply.
The packaging of such products, as a rule, serves as disposable tableware - you can just add boiling water to the bag, close it, and after 3-5 minutes eat the ready, hot product.
Five practical observations from my personal experience of using various Jetboil models and "clones" may be useful to you:
Observation 1 - Chinese analogues, at a price 4-5 times lower than the original, are in no way inferior to it, sometimes even surpass it in a number of parameters. For practical reasons, the clear choice is in favor of "pirate" versions.
Observation 2 - The US attempt to launch a competitor to the Jetboil - the MSR Reactor project, in my opinion - failed. The "Reactor" boils water a little faster, but the design of its burner excludes the use of any other pot than the standard one.
Observation 3 - The Jetboil is more versatile in this regard, some models even come with a special stand for using any other cookware - you can heat a metal mug or a small pot on its tiny burner. This is a big advantage.
Observation 4 - Jetboil is a great thing for making your coffee, but you should be careful - if you get slightly distracted, you can get a fabulous fountain of boiled-over coffee.
Observation 5 - Piezo ignition - this is a weak point in the Jetboil construction. Therefore, if you have the original version of the device, it would not be superfluous to have an alternative source of fire in reserve - a lighter or matches.
Author of text and photos - Alex Trubachev
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