Jetboil all in one type stoves VS standalone gas stoves

[CasperH]

I'm looking to upgrade my gas stove cooking setup, and I'm looking at the alpkit range of stuff. They do the brukit (basically a cheaper jetboil type) and they do the koro stove (fed by a tube type thing). They both have advantages over each other so i'm struggling to decide! The brukit is an all in one solution, it has a built in igniter which is a real bonus and it all packs down tiny into the pot. The koro with the tube is apparently more economical with the gas and by my reckoning looks to be much more stable, but doesn't have the piezo igniter. My needs are for something lightweight, easy to use and bombproof. What would you go for?

I'm open to other suggestions too... if it packs down into a contained unit that is a massive bonus for me.

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Been using the Jetboil for years now and can't fault them at all. You can even get a pan support that sits on top of the burner so you can use other types of pan.
Not sure if these will fit the Alpkit model though.

 

[Teepee]

The Koro was a good stove, sending mine back as the valve leaks badly. I'll never trust it again. Heat exchanger pots are more efficient, also much heavier. It's often a false econmy.
Much prefer a standalone than my Jetboil. Piezo's break, not worth the hassle. Better off with a lighter IME.

 

[Old Bones]

It depends on what you want it for. There are a whole load of threads about Jetboils on this site and Outdoor magic, and some on the Brukit V jetboil, etc. Jetboils seem to be good if you want to boil water quickly, use dried food, soups, etc. They are compact and efficient. The Brukit is based on the Fire Maple system, which uses a heat exchanger as well, and again, is aimed at people looking for a compact one pot solution.

The Kuro is a Ti version of a Fire Maple 118 (which you can get from Karrimor for £17 plus shipping in its rebadged version - which is what I've got. Buy it online - cheaper and you dont have to go to the shop). Its pretty stable, it uses a canister away from the stove (Brukits, etc have had some problems with the screw fitting on some canisters), and of course you can use whatever cooking pot etc you like. Want more than one pot? Easy on the Kuro or similar. The piezo is useful, but frankly, its not the end of the world if its not got one - they can often stop working anyway, and we all carry lighters or seperate pizeo lighters anyway.

The 118 packs down very small, so is easy to put in a pot, with a canister, cutlery, cloth, etc. You could certainly get the whole thing inside their very decent Alipots with no problem at all, which would also give you two pots plus lids/frypans as well. or perhaps the BruPot (if its wide enough to support it), so you get the heat exchanger as well. Certainly much handier for more than one person or if you want to cook using an extra pot, etc.

Its horses for courses. Both have their advantages, and are not that much difference in price, weight or size overall, depending on what pot, etc your using. Alpkit do good kit (OK, so they sent me some stuff gratis, so I'm biased!), and they are by Fire Maple, which have a good reputation.

 

[ADz-1983]

What type of stuff you you cook as it's completley relevant to any advice that people will give on which pot/burner setup to buy? Have you considered a meths stove and Titanium pot if lightweight is your main criteria? If you want gas have you looked into the Kovea spider stove?

 

[ADz-1983]

As an alternative..

MSR Coffee Mate
GS Java Drip
GSI Java Press

Or Lyons Coffee bags (72 bags)

 

[petrochemicals]

The best stove I can think of is the reactor, an infrared burner , this stove has a regulator. This stove makes every pan rellly efficient. Heating fins are not all that much o f an improvement for this stove. A msr lunchbox and a msr reactor is the best I can think of. If you need a msr reactor burner look at the spares places.

 

[Angry Pirate]

I've played with a few options in the past and have a wee collection.
I've used a jetboil on occasion and it seems like a heavy, one-trick pony though I played with the brukit the other day and was tempted. I've got an msr dragonfly (I think) which is an external hose gas stove. For winter this is the best bet as the gas canister can sit on the pan to keep it warm (I know this is potentially dangerous).
My workhorse set up is an Alpkit titanium mug and an msr pocket rocket. The whole shebang weighs in at just over 150 grams and is under reliable. The stove, a flint and steel, a folding spork, a locking SAK and washing up kit all fit inside the mug. For solo use I wouldn't pick anything else now. As a pair, I might swap to larger pans but the stove is ace. If I were to buy again I might be tempted by the kraku (iirc) from Alpkit as it's even lighter than the rocket but I've never actually tried one.
I'd never go back to meths again though. The lack of controllability put me off after a nightmare Christmas Day night trying to cook a turkey dinner on a trangia in the refuge hut on top of Cadair Idris.

 

[Bluffer]

The 2015 Jetboil has a wider and shorter pot that you can actually cook in, rather than the tall pot of the original version, worth a look.

The BCB Fire Dragon gel/gel-blocks are very good (but are best used in the BCB system due to the way the blocks melt when lit).

But if you want bomb-proof and a neat package, Trangia all the way!

 

[DurhamBushcrafter]

If I could afford one JETBOIL. even in a bivi, held in one hand in 70mph winds, we had hot water, coffee, with a huge glugg of brandy and the bestest noodles i have ever eaten... cant do that with my stand alone gas stove.and there was NO WAY we would have got a fire going.

 

[Bluffer]

May I, as a professional medic and mountain leader, advise that you never ever hold a lit Jetboil by hand (in a tent, bivvy or inside a moving vehicle).

Nor should a Jetboil ever be more than half-full.

It may look safe in the shop, but not when it is red hot and squirting boiling water and flames in close proximity to your skin and eyes.

While I'm at it, nor should anyone try to refill a hot Trangia.

I've been involved with young people who will now bear physical scars for life from all of the above, some of them life-limiting because the burns were in the upper inner thigh and groin, because they were sat with the fire between their legs or hand-held.

 

[caorach]

The BCB Fire Dragon gel/gel-blocks are very good (but are best used in the BCB system due to the way the blocks melt when lit).

I'm sure you know this but...

The current trend for gel or gel block type fuel has, I suspect, been driven by the military who were somewhat concerned that some of their preferred fuels (hexi for example) produce rather nasty fumes. I think it has basically been a health and safety thing.

Many of the gel type fuels are alcohol based, often some sort of bio-ethanol, and so should be fairly harmless. They are also expensive. There are some that aren't ethanol and they tend to be palm oil which makes them burn pretty dirty.

If you've ever eaten buffet type food, say a buffet breakfast in a hotel, you will notice little fires under the food to keep it warm and these tend to be fueled by, usefully, bio-ethanol. This is sold in huge catering sized tubs (usually about 4kg each) for something less than £20 and is bio-ethanol with a little bit of colouring and something to turn it into a gel mixed in. These tubs are sold as chafing gel and can provide you with the same stuff as the various "bushcraft" fuel blocks or packets for a tiny fraction of the cost.

Chafing gel is also available (for the catering market) in smaller tins with the idea being that you burn the fuel in the tin, under the food, and for some people this could make a very lightweight and efficient stove in itself, all you'd need as a simple mechanism to suspend the pot over the flame. I personally prefer to purchase the big tubs and for use in the field I decant a supply into a plastic 1/2l milk bottle, the gel is liquid enough to easily pour from the bottle into my Crusader stove for example.

So, if you are inclined to look at expensive ethanol type fuels it is worth considering that chaffing gel might be the very inexpensive answer to your needs, it's basically the same stuff without the packaging. A search on "chafing gel fuel" or "chafing dish fuel" will turn up no shortage of suppliers or dropping into your local catering supply store might also see you coming out with a tub.

 

[rik_uk3]

I'm sure you know this but...

The current trend for gel or gel block type fuel has, I suspect, been driven by the military who were somewhat concerned that some of their preferred fuels (hexi for example) produce rather nasty fumes. I think it has basically been a health and safety thing.

Many of the gel type fuels are alcohol based, often some sort of bio-ethanol, and so should be fairly harmless. They are also expensive. There are some that aren't ethanol and they tend to be palm oil which makes them burn pretty dirty.

If you've ever eaten buffet type food, say a buffet breakfast in a hotel, you will notice little fires under the food to keep it warm and these tend to be fueled by, usefully, bio-ethanol. This is sold in huge catering sized tubs (usually about 4kg each) for something less than £20 and is bio-ethanol with a little bit of colouring and something to turn it into a gel mixed in. These tubs are sold as chafing gel and can provide you with the same stuff as the various "bushcraft" fuel blocks or packets for a tiny fraction of the cost.

Chafing gel is also available (for the catering market) in smaller tins with the idea being that you burn the fuel in the tin, under the food, and for some people this could make a very lightweight and efficient stove in itself, all you'd need as a simple mechanism to suspend the pot over the flame. I personally prefer to purchase the big tubs and for use in the field I decant a supply into a plastic 1/2l milk bottle, the gel is liquid enough to easily pour from the bottle into my Crusader stove for example.

So, if you are inclined to look at expensive ethanol type fuels it is worth considering that chaffing gel might be the very inexpensive answer to your needs, it's basically the same stuff without the packaging. A search on "chafing gel fuel" or "chafing dish fuel" will turn up no shortage of suppliers or dropping into your local catering supply store might also see you coming out with a tub.

They are not efficient by any means.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-x-Ster...775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20c7794c07

Back on track, I'd go for a 'remote' canister stove, preferably one that burns not only gas but paraffin and Coleman type fuel.

These are OK http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-...114?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20f6658642

 

[CasperH]

Some fantastic suggestions here and very very sound advice. I'd never "cup" a jetboil type stove though, that seems crazy! one bad gust of wind and its game over. I think i'm going to go for a remote canister type, they seem to be more flexible pot wise, will work better in sub zero mountaineering situations and most importantly, STABLE (low centre of gravity etc), so the alpkit koro is tempting but I'm going to look into other types too.

 

[caorach]

They are not efficient by any means.

They are in the sense that you can put one in your pocket along with a bit of wire to suspend your pot and you have a stove and fuel ready to go that will burn for a long time and make enough tea to keep you going for days. However, you are correct in the sense that they probably don't burn anywhere close to as efficiently as a multi-fuel or gas stove plus there is no wind shield etc. so that could cause problems.

 

[rik_uk3]

They are in the sense that you can put one in your pocket along with a bit of wire to suspend your pot and you have a stove and fuel ready to go that will burn for a long time and make enough tea to keep you going for days. However, you are correct in the sense that they probably don't burn anywhere close to as efficiently as a multi-fuel or gas stove plus there is no wind shield etc. so that could cause problems.

Sorry but I can't agree (I'm a stove collector...or was). Gas stoves can work well, certainly the remote canister stoves that have the fuel pre-heater which means you can (in cold weather) flip the cannister upside down which helps force the fuel through and maintain performance when temps are low...paraffin and naptha don't worry about temperature

From past experience one litre of paraffin will cook 'real' food and brews for a week, way cheaper than cans of gas.

 

[redbranchwarrior]

I've got a Kovea spider. It's been v reliable, packs down to a good size and worked perfectly in sub zero with an inverted canister.

 

[janso]

I can't complain about my jetboil; had it since it came out and it's always my go to stove for being out on the hill, woods and SAR. I've also got other stoves but to be honest I regularly use freeze dried and boil int he bag meals which it suits perfect. The piezo ignition broke a long time ago so a ferro rod works fine and much better.
Horses for coursesI think; when abroad I generally use my primus expedition purely for fuel supplies but in the UK, gas is plentiful. Packs down too a good size and easy to use, fast to boil - a firm favourite for the forces....
If you plan on cooking more fresh rations, then how about a trangia? Cheap and easy, still use mine on occasion to reminisce and a rite of passage for students I teach! Don't forget you can get a gas adaptor for these as well. If you're like many on here, including me, you'll start stockpiling different stoves and have favourites for different uses. Myself, I'm looking at the popular did meths stoves now for a change and experiment. Alpkit do some good kit but personally, I would go to a time served maker for a stove unless I have hands on use for a while.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[rg598]

If I am not relying on a stove to melt snow for water: Kovea Spider
If I have to melt snow for water with a stove: MSR XGK/Reactor hybrid

I prefer stoves with which I can use different pots. An integrated system is worth it for me only when I need extra efficiency for high volume use such as melting snow.

 

[sunndog]

I've played with a few options in the past and have a wee collection.
I've used a jetboil on occasion and it seems like a heavy, one-trick pony though I played with the brukit the other day and was tempted. I've got an msr dragonfly (I think) which is an external hose gas stove. For winter this is the best bet as the gas canister can sit on the pan to keep it warm (I know this is potentially dangerous).
My workhorse set up is an Alpkit titanium mug and an msr pocket rocket. The whole shebang weighs in at just over 150 grams and is under reliable. The stove, a flint and steel, a folding spork, a locking SAK and washing up kit all fit inside the mug. For solo use I wouldn't pick anything else now. As a pair, I might swap to larger pans but the stove is ace. If I were to buy again I might be tempted by the kraku (iirc) from Alpkit as it's even lighter than the rocket but I've never actually tried one.
I'd never go back to meths again though. The lack of controllability put me off after a nightmare Christmas Day night trying to cook a turkey dinner on a trangia in the refuge hut on top of Cadair Idris.

i'v replaced my pocket rocket with a kraku. Great little stove and amazingly small, makes the rocket seem huge!


Also another vote for the koro. Good solid stove. Light, reliable, pre-heat tube, decent length of pipe on it too