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Jetboil Stove Guide: How to Choose

Jetboil Backpacking Stove Guide How to Choose

Jetboil’s camping cooking systems integrate a cook pot and stove into a highly efficient cooking system that was easy-to-use, fast, and completely self-contained. Below, we explain how to choose between the different Jetboil cooking systems so you can find the one that best suits your needs and budget.

Specs at a Glance

Make / ModelFuel TypeVolume (L)WeightBoil Time (m,s)
Jetboil FlashCanister Gas1.013.1 oz1:40 | 16 oz
Jetboil StashCanister Gas0.87.1 oz2:30 | 16 oz
Jetboil ZipCanister Gas0.812 oz2:30 |16 oz
Jetboil MicroMoCanister Gas0.812 oz2:15 | 16 oz
Jetboil MiniMoCanister Gas1.014.4 oz2:15 | 16 oz
Jetboil SumoCanister Gas1.816 oz4:15 | 32 oz
Jetboil MightyMoCanister GasStove Only3.3 oz3:00 | 32 oz
Jetboil Genesis BasecampPropane5L, 10" Skillet9.1 lbs3:15 | 32 oz
Jetboil HalfGenPropane9" Skillet3.5 lbs3:15 | 32 oz

Jetboil Flash Cooking System

Jetboil flash stove system
The Jetboil Flash is designed to boil water fast and as a result, it’s perfect for making coffee and rehydrating freeze-dried backpacking meals. The Flash has an insulated 1.0L cook pot with a built-in wind guard that increases fuel efficiency by 30% and comes with a plastic measuring cup, stabilizer stand, and a push-button igniter. A heat-sensitive logo turns orange when your water has boiled, while a wire flame control valve lets you adjust the flame height. While you can rehydrate soupy meals like ramen noodles in the integrated Flash pot, you have to be very careful to avoid boilovers. The Flash is ideal for 1 person and will boil 8-10 liters of water with a small 100 g fuel canister.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil Stash Cooking System

Jetboil Stash

The Jetboil Stash is a 7.1 oz fully integrated personal cook system that includes a titanium stove, an anodized cook pot w/lid, and a stand. It’s much less powerful than the Jetboil Flash listed above but also much smaller, lighter weight, and packable which is the reason it’s such an attractive option. However, the cooking pot does not come with an insulated sleeve, to reduce weight. When not in use, the stove, stand, and a 100g oz gas canister fit inside the cookpot, making the Stash remarkably easy to pack. The Stash can boil a half-liter of water in 2 minutes 30 seconds and boil up to 12L on one small fuel canister.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil Zip Cooking SystemJetboil Zip Stove system

The Zip is Jetboil’s least expensive and most popular single-person cooking system. It’s nearly identical to the Jetboil Flash in appearance but has a smaller 0.8L pot and a stove that’s 50% less powerful, so it takes longer to about a minute longer to boil 2 cups of water. There’s also no built-in igniter, so you have to light it with a match, lighter, or fire steel. The Zip is ideal for a single person and is slightly lighter weight than the Flash. Personally, I prefer the Zip over the Flash because it packs up smaller. I can pack a 100 g fuel canister inside the pot so it’s easy to throw into a backpack or my car whenever I want to carry a stove on a trip. Push-button igniters all wear out and fail eventually, so not having one is one less thing that’s going to break.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil MicroMo Cooking System

Jetboil MicroMo Cooking System
The Jetboil MicroMo has the same pot size as the Jetboil Zip, but its stove has more power, comes with a push-button igniter, and has a built-in pressure regular so it’s better for cold weather use. A pressure regular helps maintain a steady flow of fuel from a canister to the stove as the gas pressure in the canister drops. This occurs when the outside temperature falls or as the gas in the canister is used up. The MicroMo will still only burn canister gas down to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but it will burn hotter and more forcefully than the unregulated Zip or Flash stoves until the pressure in the canister drops below the minimum pressure required by the stove to operate. The MicroMo is also designed to simmer, so you can cook things like scrambled eggs or pasta with cream sauce, although it’s easier to do this with the Jetboil MiniMo. Like the Zip, you can expect to get boil 12 liters of water with a 100 g fuel canister.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil MiniMo Cooking System

Jetboil MiniMo Cooking System
The Jetboil MiniMo is similar to the MicroMo except that it has a larger and wider 1L cook pot that makes it easier to cook with. Besides that, it has the same built-in igniter, pressure regulator, stove, and simmer control as the MicroMo. If you plan on simmering food for 1 or 2 people, the MiniMo’s shape is much easier to cook with because the squat shape makes it easier to stir the contents with a spoon.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil SUMO Cooking System

Jetboil SUMO Cooking System

The Jetboil SUMO has the same features as the MiniMo, but with a 1.8L cook pot instead of a 1.0L one. It’s designed for couples or small groups, but is underpowered for that task, with the same 6000 BTU power stove as the MiniMo and MicroMo.  While you can simmer with the SUMO, I’d recommend upgrading to the 10,000 BTU Jetboil MightyMo stove if you plan to cook for more than two people or want to use wider and higher capacity pots and pans for meal preparation.

Check for the latest price at:
Cabelas | Amazon

Jetboil MightyMo Cooking System

Jetboil MightyMo Stove

]The Jetboil MightyMo is a powerful but standalone isobutane canister stove with a 10,000 BTU output. This is useful if you want to boil a big pot of water fast for hungry scouts. The MightyMo can be used with third-party cook pots and skillets from other manufacturers although it is optimized for use with the giant Jetboil 5L Fluxring cook pot, the smaller Jetboil FluxRing 1.5L cook pot, and the FluxRing Frying Pan, which require less fuel to heat than conventional cooking pots.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Feature Comparison

Make / ModelFuel TypeVolume (L)IgniterRegulatorSimmeringBTU
Jetboil FlashCanister Gas1.0Yes--9000
Jetboil StashCanister Gas0.8--Yes4500
Jetboil ZipCanister Gas0.8---4500
Jetboil MicroMoCanister Gas0.8YesYesYes6000
Jetboil MiniMoCanister Gas1.0YesYesYes6000
Jetboil SumoCanister Gas1.8YesYesYes6000
Jetboil MightyMoCanister GasNot IncludedYesYesYes10000
Jetboil GenesisPropane5L, 10" SkilletYesYesYes10000
Jetboil HalfGenPropane9" SkilletYesYesYes10000

Jetboil Genesis Basecamp Cook System

Jetboil Genesis Basecamp Cooking System

The Genesis Basecamp Cook System burns propane (in the green 16.4 oz bottles) like many traditional camping stoves instead of isobutane canister gas. It includes two burners, a 5L cook pot, and a 10″ skillet, that fold together into a compact stacked unit that’s easy to pack in a backpack for basecamp cooking. Try that with a class Coleman 2 burner stove! The two stoves are compatible with Jetboil’s Fluxring pots as well as regular cook pots from other manufacturers. Both stoves have igniters, regulators, and simmer controls like Jetboil’s other high-powered stoves. They both run off the same propane canister and are easy to dismantle for cleaning. A windscreen and carry case is also included. Personally, I think this stove system is outrageously expensive, although it packs up way more conveniently in a backpack than other propane-powered options.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Jetboil HalfGen Basecamp Cook System

Jetboil HalfGen basecamp Cooking System

The HalfGen Basecamp Cook System can be used by itself or as part of a larger basecamp cook system like Genesis Basecamp System, by daisy-chaining stoves off the same propane canister. It comes with a 9″ skillet good for cooking pancakes or frying fish, but can also be used with the Jetboil’s Fluxring pots, or pots and pans from other manufacturers. It has 10,000 BTUs of heat output, a regulator, igniter, and simmer control like the Genesis. A windscreen and carry case is also included. Like the Genesis 2 above, I think this stove system is way overpriced and my preference would be to pack a frying pan and a regular simmering isobutane canister stove.

Check for the latest price at:
REI | Amazon

Feature Glossary

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and is used to measure the heat output of stoves and fuels. A single BTU is the heat required to raise 16 ounces of water one degree Fahrenheit. Isobutane canister camping stoves typically produce between 4000 and 11000 BTUs.

Cooking System. Also called a Stove System. An integrated set of components required for camp cooking that pack up together into a compact unit. It usually includes a stove, pot, pot cozy, pot handles or a gripper, pot lid, scrubbing brush, measuring cup, and pot stand. Some cook systems are also large enough to pack a fuel canister inside for ease of transport.

Igniter. Also called a Piezo-Igniter. Produces a spark to ignite your fuel without matches or a lighter. They tend to wear out with use but can be replaced on some stoves. Igniters are often left off basic models and included as a higher-end feature on canister stoves.

Fluxring. Also called Heat Exchange Coils or Fins. These are metal coils soldered to the base of a cooking pot to hold heat and transfer it to the cooking pot even when the stove has been turned off. They also provide wind protection and have the potential to reduce fuel requirements by 30%.

Regulator. Also called a Stove Regulator. Stove regulators help ensure a constant flow of fuel to a stove even as the pressure inside a gas canister drops. This ensures constant performance and boiling times, even as the fuel contents of a gas canister are used up.

Simmering. Slow cooking that’s short of boiling.

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15 comments

  1. A tea candle (if you can find good ones that stay lit) placed under my MiniMo will simmer rice at just the perfect temperature. I can make better rice on my camp stove than on my kitchen range! Doesn’t work, though, on a windy day.

  2. Love the Jetboil stoves. I have the MightyMo, MiniMo, and MicroMo. The MicroMo is my current go-to stove for day hikes to make freeze-dried meals and hot chocolate in the Winter. Love having a stove with a built-in ignitor and regular.

  3. I wonder what happened to the Jetboil Joule cooking system? It looked like an interesting solution for cold weather use, won several rewards but I’ve hardly seen it in any real use.

    • I suspect it was a combination of corporate greed, a poor mismatch with the company’s marketing infrastructure/budgets, and the realities of a wholesale sales model. First off Jetboil was acquired by Johnson Outdoors, which also owns Eureka and a number of other massive brands. They don’t sell direct to consumers like MSR and so they have to rely on retailers to educate their consumers about their products. This is easy to do with a product like the Jetboil Flash because there’s nothing to it. Any moron (including retailer staff) can figure it out. But the Joulle and the milli-Joule (a remote inverted canister stove – also killed off) were inverted canister stoves that use a liquid feed from a canister and not gas. That was strike one. They needed to educate consumers about using a stove in temperatures less than 20 degrees, mainly to melt snow. That requires a serious commitment to direct-to-consumer marketing dollars for customer eucation, which as a wholesaler that sells to stores not consumers, they don’t have. Strike two, was market size. The number of people needing to use a liquid feed is quite small. Too small for a giant conglomerate like Johnson outdoors. Strike three was likely product complexity and cost – too expensive to manufacture compared to their other stoves.

  4. On thing I don’t understand about the Stash is the price. I’ve never used one, but It seems like the stove is pretty comparable to a Soto Windmaster, or Pocket Rocket Deluxe. Both of those sell for about $70, and can be paired with a Toaks 750 or 900 pot for $30-45.

    What makes the Stash worth $135 vs one of those setups for $100-$115? I’ve used a Flash, and can understand the attractiveness to being able to boil water that fast, but it doesn’t seem like the Stash boils faster than other canister stoves.

    • People pay for the word “integrated”. Completely agree with you that piecing it together makes far more sense – as you point out, you can go with a cup/pot size of your choice. Others want to click once and have it all come in one box.

    • The stove isn’t really comparable – it’s half the power. But people are willing to pay for the convenience of an integrated system. It’s actually not half bad if you’re willing to pay the money for it.

  5. I read about JetBoil when they first came out and bought the original model. So did my brother and father. I’ve bought a few more recent models as well.

    A few months ago, on the last night of an AT section hike in Virginia, I shared a shelter with Dwight Aspenwall, the coinventor of the JetBoil. He was hiking from New Hampshire to Springer Mountain. It was fascinating listening to him talk about the engineering, manufacturing, working with manufacturer’s reps, China, etc. Many times he stopped, saying he didn’t want to bore me, however that sort of discussion holds my interest indefinitely. We talked a bunch about stoves in general and what enables an increase in efficiency, on the stove’s part, the pot that goes on it, canisters and pressure/temperature issues and other stove options for the AT. I thought I was going to be alone in the shelter but ended up with the most interesting shelter conversation I’ve ever had.

  6. What’s great about the Stash is the pot can be used with any stove, including center burning alcohol stoves.

  7. The “best” JetBoil to buy is no JetBoil. There are countless equally good options out there like Fire Maple, CampChef Stryker and others at 1/3 or 1/2 the price.

  8. “The MightyMo is also compatible with the pots in the Jetboil Flash, Zip, MicroMo, or MinoMo cooking systems if used with the Jetboil Pot Support.”

    I may be misinterpreting your comment, but I thought the pot support is not compatible with the MightyMo.

    From the Jetboil page (https://jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/accessories/pot-support):

    “Jetboil’s pot support is compatible with all Jetboil systems except the Genesis, HalfGen, Stash and MightyMo.”

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