I verey recently bought a Jetboil Flash Carbon from Lakeland Bushcraft as a replacement for the useless Primus Eta Solo.
Mark being Mark was damn quick to get it out to me and if i hadn't of been as slow getting back from a school run, would of arrived to me the following day (Thank you City Link for being carp!)
Anyway, i digress.
The test was done on a table in very strong wind. It took two attempts to ignite the stove because of this.
The Jetboil Flash comes in no-nonsense plastic packaging. Everything is in view (except the bits inside of course) and the destruction manual is neatly folded behond the Jetboil.
This is the entire set tidied away
You can comfortably fit a folded rat pack meal inside or two at a push, although you would have put a fair mount of water in it to boil both, which could lead to boiling water shooting out the drinking hole. (Not recommended :yikes
The entire set up, ready to boil. There is no jiggling or wobbling when you've got it all together, the fitting from the gas can to the cup is good and solid and the stabiliser keeps the whole thing stable even in high winds.
The Colour Changing Heat Indicator works a treat and within 1 minute 45seconds it had started to glow a nice orange colour.
At 2 minutes 30, it had reached a rolling boil and the Colour Changing Heat Indicator was a full glowing orange colour to let you know the water was at a good boil.
One thing to note: Before the heat indicator became full, i looked in the top of the Jetboil and saw that is was boiling, but not fully, this is usually where most people get impatient and think "Sod it, i'll take my food out now or make a brew" All well and good, but the water isn't going to be as hot as it should be, so it's worth waiting a bit longer.
The neoprene cover keeps a fair amount of heat away so you can safely grab the cup and take it off the cooker section, this traditional slot and slide works a treat and doesn't deformed with the heat.
The extendable gas regulator handle looks flimsy, it's already twisted the way you would twist it to turn the gas on. It's a good addition over the old Jetboil black knob which was difficult to operate wearing gloves. I believe this was added after people suggested it to Jetboil.
An important factor for me is stowing it away and putting it into a utility pouch on my webbing.
I have alot of webbing and the pouch i chose is a Highlander utility pouch because it is slightly bigger than the issue ones. The jetboil fits intothis with room to fit all 3 rat pack meals, a brew kit and digger. I've got a Zulu pouch which i still need to fit a buckle to, but that would take a full 24 hour rat pack and the jetboil.
Final Thoughts.
Well i had an old jetboil which i got rid of for the Eta Solo which i regretted once i'd had the Solo for a month.
The Jetboil Flash would boil water in it's stated 2 minutes providing you've got some form of wind break. I tested it in very high winds and the extra 45 seconds is nothing to moan about.
For lightness, compactness, ease of use and value for money (it's £63 £10 more than the original Jetboil PCS) i would recommend this to everyone and have even got some of the older ex-regs in my unit chasing them up now.
Best stove i've ever used.... yes.
Many thanks to Mark at Lakeland Bushcraft for once again being The Man and coming through.
Mark being Mark was damn quick to get it out to me and if i hadn't of been as slow getting back from a school run, would of arrived to me the following day (Thank you City Link for being carp!)
Anyway, i digress.
The test was done on a table in very strong wind. It took two attempts to ignite the stove because of this.
The Jetboil Flash comes in no-nonsense plastic packaging. Everything is in view (except the bits inside of course) and the destruction manual is neatly folded behond the Jetboil.
This is the entire set tidied away
You can comfortably fit a folded rat pack meal inside or two at a push, although you would have put a fair mount of water in it to boil both, which could lead to boiling water shooting out the drinking hole. (Not recommended :yikes
The entire set up, ready to boil. There is no jiggling or wobbling when you've got it all together, the fitting from the gas can to the cup is good and solid and the stabiliser keeps the whole thing stable even in high winds.
The Colour Changing Heat Indicator works a treat and within 1 minute 45seconds it had started to glow a nice orange colour.
At 2 minutes 30, it had reached a rolling boil and the Colour Changing Heat Indicator was a full glowing orange colour to let you know the water was at a good boil.
One thing to note: Before the heat indicator became full, i looked in the top of the Jetboil and saw that is was boiling, but not fully, this is usually where most people get impatient and think "Sod it, i'll take my food out now or make a brew" All well and good, but the water isn't going to be as hot as it should be, so it's worth waiting a bit longer.
The neoprene cover keeps a fair amount of heat away so you can safely grab the cup and take it off the cooker section, this traditional slot and slide works a treat and doesn't deformed with the heat.
The extendable gas regulator handle looks flimsy, it's already twisted the way you would twist it to turn the gas on. It's a good addition over the old Jetboil black knob which was difficult to operate wearing gloves. I believe this was added after people suggested it to Jetboil.
An important factor for me is stowing it away and putting it into a utility pouch on my webbing.
I have alot of webbing and the pouch i chose is a Highlander utility pouch because it is slightly bigger than the issue ones. The jetboil fits intothis with room to fit all 3 rat pack meals, a brew kit and digger. I've got a Zulu pouch which i still need to fit a buckle to, but that would take a full 24 hour rat pack and the jetboil.
Final Thoughts.
Well i had an old jetboil which i got rid of for the Eta Solo which i regretted once i'd had the Solo for a month.
The Jetboil Flash would boil water in it's stated 2 minutes providing you've got some form of wind break. I tested it in very high winds and the extra 45 seconds is nothing to moan about.
For lightness, compactness, ease of use and value for money (it's £63 £10 more than the original Jetboil PCS) i would recommend this to everyone and have even got some of the older ex-regs in my unit chasing them up now.
Best stove i've ever used.... yes.
Many thanks to Mark at Lakeland Bushcraft for once again being The Man and coming through.
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), I have to agree that the Jetboil Flash is by far the better stove.
