Give a Jetboil Gear Upgrade!

Still looking for the perfect gift for your favorite gear guy? One of the great new gear improvements of the year was the Jetboil Sol premium cooking system. OK. Maybe there could have been a better tag line. Cold weather cooker, super fast pack stove, or ultralight canister stove would at least have given more insight into what the Sol is all about. But however you describe it, the Jetboil Sol is convenient, clean, compact, and cold compatible.

For as little at 8.5 oz--in a package a little bigger than a 20 oz. Nalgene bottle--you get a neat self contained stove that fits easily into any hiking backpack or daypack. And instead of suffering with temperamental performance as temps go down, you can have a stove that performs consistently down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The Jetboil Sol is available in a Titanium and Aluminum version (10.5 oz). And of course all Jetboil Stoves come in tidy little packages directed at different user needs.

Jetboil: No bigger than a wine bottle!

Despite often grueling weekend backpacking trips, my wife always insists on bringing along a bottle of wine. Our Jetboil Flash helps compensate for this extravagance. We've been knocking off too many small fuel canisters lately which are great because they pack inside the Jetboil companion cup that comes with the Flash stove. If we were in the market today for a new stove we'd go with the more compact Jetboil Sol which is 4.5 oz lighter (only 10.5 oz) and could go even lighter still (8.5 oz.) if you don't mind springing for the Sol Titanium! The Sol boils the 2 cups of water needed for a 2 person backpacking meal in a mere 2 minutes and 15 seconds and maintains consistent fuel pressure up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit so we could heat up dinner for the whole family in a manner of minutes even if we were winter camping!

If the winter thing is never going to happen and you can afford to wait an extra 15 seconds for your hot water, then a more cost effective option is the Jetboil Zip for $69.

Amazing Jetboil Stoves

Over the last week, our Jetboil stoves proved themselves again. Everyone in our customer service department field tested Jetboil's Flash PCS while out backpacking. Here are some of the comments I overheard: "It really does boil water in just 2 minutes!"..."I like how much safer it is around my kids...there aren't spills or matches."..."It's amazing."

For those lightweight backpacking purists, the new Jetboil SoL has improved on the Flash PCS system by creating a smaller and lighter version that sets a new standard for cold weather performance. At 8.5 oz, the Titanium SoL ($149.95)--aka. the SoL Ti--weighs in at a mere 8.5 oz for the stove, .8L cooking cup, and tripod stabilizing base. The Aluminum SoL ($119.95)is only 2 oz. heavier at 10.5 oz. If you like winter camping, you'll be thrilled that this stove maintains consistent heat down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. And like the Flash PCS, you can still stow the stove and a 230 gram fuel canister in the cup. You'll hardly notice these in your pack!

For family campers and group leaders Jetboil also created the new 1.8L Sumo Companion cup which weighs 6.5 oz. and is big enough to stow a 230 or 450 gram fuel canister. Boil time is 4 minutes 5 seconds for a liter of water. Isn't it great having all these options?