[Philmont]: RE: Jet Boils - am I too late to Opine?

I just sent a PM to Wade RE the whole JetBoil concept. I have one and
was planning to incur the weight so I could have a cup of pressed java
in the mornings as well as a fast way to heat water in the event of
hypothermia, or someone in the crew is having a baby, or something...

As adventurous as I am, I'm not sure I'd put all my eggs in a JetBoil
basket, and it's purely a matter of quantity, not concept. We have this
List to give us learning and experiences shared by others so it will be
interesting to see what Wade's crew develops over time. My
"That-will-never-work" self says in order to heat the quantity of water
we did for each meal and have all of it boil at the same time, one would
need 4 to 6 JetBoils going simultaneously. That seems like a lot of
companion cups and fuel cells to have enough fuel for 11 days. I know
full JetBoils will take 4 minutes to boil. 4 minutes times 11 meals is
45 minutes of full burn per stove. Does each fuel cell really provide
45 minutes of constant burn per canister? My reading of the JetBoil
manufacturer's materials indicates "No", so that would mean an extra
fuel cell per unit. Times 8 units, the weight and bulk is starting to
add up. But hey, I'm HR, not Engineering.

Also, I told Wade that our ranger required us to do one meal with the
Philmont 1-pot method so he could "certify" that we knew what to do and
that he had trained us. Every other meal, as readers of Coop's updated
Guide know, we used rehydration in the food bag. I bet the Ranch would
be able to provide guidance on whether they would demand at least one
1-pot meal or allow all JetBoil all the time.

Dave Parmly
Knoxville, TN

WADE SAID>>>

Bill, Tom and the rest of the list,
We had 2 out of 3 of our contingent crews doing shakedowns this weekend,
but in different locations. The JetBoil stoves were extremely fast and
efficient. We are continuing to fine tune the procedures to use "boil
in bag"
cooking. We are not putting any food in the cooking system; the stove
only boils water. When water can be put into the meal bags we use that
method. The bags are then set into a Rubbermaid or Glad container to
steep until ready. We had the entire crew's meals rehydrating before
the first bag was ready to serve. For those of you wondering what we
are cooking, we ordered the trail meals from Philmont. This allows us
to do shake downs with the "real thing", not what we think we might be
faced with come July 17. The boys really like the food (except for the
teriyaki).
 
Since I earned my Eagle in 1968, I have seen many changes in the
methods of camping. JetBoil is one of the best I've seen for cooking.
Not only is it fast and efficient (two cups of water boils in 2
minutes), it is very safe.
When the water begins to boil the stove is cut off before ever moving
it.
This does two things; first, it is safer to move the pot with no flame;
and second, this forces conservation of fuel. By all means use the
stove stabilizer, which is sold separately for some profit motivated,
but otherwise wrong reason; it should be required with the stove.
Later topic for liability attorneys......ala McDonald's coffee.
 
We are planning on taking up to 12 canisters of fuel (8 is all we
calculate we will need), which is miniscule by comparison to other fuel
containers.
Each canister is 6 ounces (72 ounces total); and no risk of spillage.
The stove/pot/fuel canister are a compact 4 inches wide by 6 inches
high. Two is all you need for a crew of 12 (a 3rd stove is plan B);
take the repair kit to be on the safe side (weighs a few grams).
 
I will be taking my usual engineer's notes and will provide a full
report after conclusion of the trek. In the meantime, I would love to
hear from others using JetBoils to share tips and techniques. The
concerns are appreciated, but real world info is better ;-)
 
                        Yours in Scouting,
 
                        Wade Dickens, advisor for 617-K-3
                        ASM, Troop 476, Florence, SC
                        ...and a good ol' Bob White, SR-582

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Received on Fri Feb 3 09:58:53 2006