When out on a backpacking adventure being able to easily heat up a big freeze-dried meal is a good way to cap off a long, hard day on the trail. For the mornings, I personally like waking up to oatmeal and a nice hot cup of black coffee to sip on before heading out of camp. What’s best is how quickly and easily I’m able to do these things with my Jetboil Flash Cooking System.  Simplicity and efficiency at its finest, two cups of boiling water in just two minutes at the push of a button. The Jetboil Flash Cooking System is a must-have for any modern backpacking enthusiast, adventure-traveler, or road tripper that wants the ability to quickly eat on the go.

EFFICIENCY

Efficiency is ultimately what the Jetboil Flash boils down to (pun intended.) All jokes aside this thing simply performs, you get boiling water, consistently and efficiently. Simply fill the cup up to the max line (16 oz), push a button and in two minutes you have yourself a cup of boiling water. Jetboil’s efficient burner and heat-sink design provides an even heat distribution directly to the base of the cup itself. This allows almost 100% of the heat to be placed directly into heating the water without other the other components getting too hot. Regarding the fuel canister efficiency, the reported average capacity of a 100g Jetboil Jetpower canister is 12 liters of water boiled. 12 liters is just over 405 ounces of water. If you’re boiling the max 16 ounces each use that averages to 25 full capacity uses out of a 100g canister. That’s pretty damn efficient if you ask me.

FEATURES

One of my favorite features about my Jetboil Flash is the heat indicator that changes color as the temperature approaches the boiling point. Specifically for the Carbon edition I own the indicator will slowly change from black to yellow as it approaches the boiling point. This allows you to know exactly when it’s boiling without ever looking down into the cup; super cool. The cooking cup is wrapped in a thick neoprene sleeve similarly like a beer koozie that allows you to hold/pour the cup while it’s hot. The neoprene cover also has a thick nylon handle attached to it to assist with pouring. Another nice feature is the lid is made of a thick soft plastic so you can really easily put it on and take it off. No guessing whether the lid is snapped into place properly or not, it always stays puts. The single best feature however is how all the components store inside the cup when not in use. The fuel canister, base, and burner all neatly stack inside the cup for simple portability and storage.

USABILITY

Aside from how efficient the Jetboil Flash is, its ease-of-use is likely the best characteristic of this cooking system. Small enough to fit inside the mesh side-pouch of your backpacking pack, you can quickly access this system and have it assembled and fired up in easily in under a minute. All the components screw together for safety and stability. Designed to be one of the safest cooking solutions on the market, the cup clips onto the burner, preventing accidental spills, and the burner screws directly into the Jetpower fuel supply, which clips onto the provided base.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Flash Cooking System comes with a 32 oz cup that can “safely” boil up to two cups at a time. You could honestly boil probably closer to three, however this is not recommended from Jetboil. The 32 oz cup also doubles as a mug and storage. With all the Jetboil components inside of the cup (including an 8 oz fuel canister) the Flash weights in at about 22 ounces. [insert picture of setup on scale] Measuring  4.1″ x 7.1″ the Flash is roughly around the same dimensions of a  32oz Nalgene but a little thicker, for comparison purposes. Power output for this system is rated at 4,500 BTU/h with a boil time for 16 oz of water in 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

DESIGN

The design of the Jetboil is one of the best aspects of these cooking systems. They are designed with the space and weight conscious hiker in mind. That being said, the cooking cup doubles as a storage compartment for all the units cooking components. The bottom cover that protects the base of the heat sink also serves as a measuring cup for instances when a full 16 oz boil is not necessary. Sold separately are the Jetpower isobutane/propane mixture fuel canisters but are required for operation. The Jetpower fuel canisters are offered in 100g, 230g, and 350g sizes. I recommend the 100g to be able to store everything inside the cup when not in use. Jetboil also offers various accessories and additional attachments to expand the capabilities of the Flash cooking system. I think the most beneficial accessories are the coffee press and the FluxRing Fry Pan.

VALUE

The Flash unit is the most popular cooking system of the Jetboil lineup, and is best suited for most applications. However, if you are looking for smaller, more lightweight options with less capacity, Jetboil offers the MicroMo, and Zip units. On the other hand, if you are interested in a larger option with more capacity, the 60 oz Sumo cooking system is what you’re looking for. Jetboil also offers the FlashLite Personal Cooking System, which is identical to this unit in size and features yet is even more lightweight. Similar offerings from other manufacturers in a similar price range would be MSR Windboiler and the Primus ETA Lite. The MSR and Primus units offer similar features and both units have their positives and negatives as well.

DRAWBACKS

Let me preface this by saying I really like my Jetboil Flash and use it on every camping trip I take however, for the purpose of providing well documented, thorough review I will address some of the shortcomings of this cooking system. To start off I would not necessarily consider this unit alone a “cooking system” per se, it is for all intents and purposes a water boiler. If you really are looking to cook food inside the unit, I would really recommend the FluxRing Fry Pan to really extend your capabilities for actually cooking. The flame output control is pretty sensitive and basically gives you two options, full blast or no flame. This can make simmering or warming difficult. The Jetpower fuel canister temperature needs to remain above a certain threshold so in winter months it’s best to sleep with the fuel inside of your tent to ensure when you need to fire it up in the morning you’re able to.  The biggest issue regarding this unit is its lack of protection from windy conditions. You will need to shelter the unit from the wind yourself in order to get the ignition to fire. Once ignited, crank the fuel up and I have yet to have any issues with the flame dying once it’s been lit, but the initial ignition can take a few clicks in less than ideal wind situations. Lastly, I have read about the igniter eventually failing, but have yet to experience this. In the event the igniter does fail, you can simply use a lighter to ignite the fuel or I have found this walkthrough instructing how to replace a failed ignition.

ROUNDUP

I’m a big fan of my Jetboil Flash, I pack it on every trip I go on. Its design, and simple ease-of-use make it a top choice for me personally. Whether I’m heading out for a day hike, going on a weekend backpacking adventure, or road tripping across the country, the Jetboil Flash is super packable, and reliable for a quick meal under almost all circumstances. I grabbed mine from Amazon.