Jetboil stove

If you ask me, Jetboil are a one trick pony... and still, they were first with their briliant stove.

They came up with their first Jetboil stove somewhere back in 2004. They haven't changed much since. They manipulated it a bit, made their stoves in several sizes, but basically, nothing new. I do agree that their stoves are great. All the stoves they got are really efficient and work quite well. They also add some improvements along the way.

All I'm saying is that if you see one Jetboil stove, you get the point of them all. You just got to choose the right size for you.

So, what's so great about Jetboil anyway?

Jetboil concept

All Jetboil stoves follow some basic principles that makes them highly efficient. Basically, Jetboil stove is a full cooking system, not just a stove. It is made of a burner, special pot, windscreen and a lid. Now in details...

Windscreen

The windscreen is either built in (like in the PCS for instance) or assembled from the outside (like in the Helios). It keeps the wind away and enables just enough air to flow through, so that the flames won't die.

Special pot

The bottom of the pot is unique (Jetboil named it "FluxRing").
I think that this is the biggest issue here. The bottom of all pots got this metal structure that traps the heat from the burner. It makes a great difference in boil time and generally, in the efficiency of the stove. Lots of heat that would normally get lost, is trapped by this pot.

Lid

It sounds obvious, but using a tight lid increases the efficiency of any stove you'll use. Jetboil uses a sort of a rubber lid in their stoves. It works great.

All in one

This whole cooking kit is packed in the pot itself which is pretty neat. It can really save lots of room.

The different stoves

Jetboil personal cooking system (AKA Jetboil PCS)

Their first stove. They introduced it around 2004. It sells quite well until this day.
1 liter pot
Weight:15 oz (425 g)
Got a rubber lid you can drink through

Jetboil Flash cooking system

Just like the PCS but colorful...
It got color-changing heat indicator on the pot
Comes with a nice tripod to stabilize the whole system
Weight: 14 oz (397 g)

Jetboil group cooking system

The same as the personal cooking system but with a 1.5 liter pot. They launched it around 2006.
Weight: 20 oz (560 g)

Jetboil Helios

A whole new ball game... Jetboil made this cooking system around 2008. It uses the same concept as the PCS but organized a bit different.
2 liter pot
The fuel canister is held upside-down and remotely from the burner. The igniter is located on the fuel pipe.
Got a cool see-through plastic windscreen

Dave (Maryland), about this stove...