RE: [Philmont]: RE JetBoils at Philmont / High Adventure

So as a result of the previous posting on this list discussing the merits of
the JetBoil system I bought one about a month ago. I can't comment on the
"new" system, but I'll comment on the existing one.

First point - It works well, does what its supposed to do ... boil water
fast.

Second point - Capacity is a problem, even though the cup is "1 liter" the
boiler is designed for two cups. Point being, most backpacking meals need
2+ cups, so you are over the "technical" limit and need to, as the
instructions say, use low flame and be very careful. Don't know what this
does to fuel consumption.

Third point - Given point two, you will need multiple stoves (and fuel) to
cover the crew, the easy math says one stove for every two participants, but
you could do less and simply boil the water in series ...

Fourth point - No JetBoil fuel available on the trail (or in basecamp) for
Philmont. So you will ship/bring and carry enough fuel for the whole trek
for the whole crew. At twelve liters "under optimum conditions" per fuel
canister, you can expect to use one canister per cooking pair for the trail.
But there isn't much wiggle room, so to be safe your going to need a couple
of spares ... if not two per cooking pair. Its getting heavy & bulky.

Final point - No data on high altitude performance, and I suspect Philmont's
altitude is less than optimum.

Final analysis - The JetBoil doesn't look like a good Philmont choice for me
as the main cooking stove, even the new version. A couple of Whisperlites
cost less, weigh less and use fuel easily had at the ranch. One stove will
do the job for the whole crew, and you can afford to take along a second as
a spare or to speed things along. That said, for a crew that wants the
ability to have coffee in the morning in an easy, no muss or fuss way, the
JetBoil would be an attractive choice ... whoknows, perhaps mine will make
the trip this summer.

Just my opinion

Jim

YIS
PSR '74 (#16); '04 (#4); '06 (#26)
www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philmont

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Received on Wed Mar 29 19:30:33 2006