In my preparations for elk camp last year, I looked for a small lightweight stove I could cook on both at camp, and afield if I hiked a long way from camp. After looking at various options I settled on the Jetboil Flash. It served its purpose very well during those 10 days and has been extremely versatile and useful in other instances since then. Here is a look at the Jetboil Flash.

Form:

The Jetboil Flash stove system is made for backpackers and outdoorsmen and women, and it shows. It consists of a 1-liter tall pot with a flux ring at the bottom. This ring connects to the stove portion. The stove and most accessories, both aftermarket and included, fit inside the pot to create a small packable system that you can take in your backpack with ease. It weighs in at a light .819 lbs., not counting the fuel canister that it requires. The pot is covered in a neoprene like sleeve that looks nice and serves the function of helping to dull the heat of the pot a bit on the outside, but mainly it has a heat indicator on it that changes color as the water heats up.

Fuel:

The Flash uses Jetboil Jetpower fuel canisters. These canisters are a butane/propane mix. It also works with other butane/propane mixes. I used both Jetpower canisters and Coleman butane/propane mix canisters in elk camp with great results. Each canister will boil between 10 and 12 liters of water.

Function:

This thing is called the Flash for a reason. It boils 1 liter of water in 100 seconds, and sometimes less. The flux ring on the bottom of the pot is the technology that allows this little wonder stove to work so well. It distributes the heat around the bottom of the pot in a way that allows jet fast boiling times. While afield scouting this year I took along a few bottles of water and a Peak Refuel Elk Ragu freeze dried meal in my pack, along with my Jetboil Flash. When lunch time came, I sat on a bluff and pulled out my Flash, boiled some water, and in a few minutes, I was eating Elk Ragu on a bluff overlooking a creek bottom while scouting. This lightweight and versatile stove can go anywhere with you. One accessory I bought was a silicone coffee press from Jetboil that allows you to turn your Flash system into a coffee maker. When we came in from a long snowy day of elk hunting, while the fire was getting started up, I’d whip out the Flash and make some coffee in a few minutes so that we could have some while the wood stove and campfire were both slowly getting started.

Fun accessories:

There are multiple accessories that Jetboil offers for their stove systems. From the afore mentioned coffee press, the Jetgauge fuel gauge, a must have pot support ring that allows you to use regular pots and skillets on your Flash system to cook regular food, utensil kits, to spare parts, there are accessories that allow you to really customize your trail cooking experience.

Verdict:

Honestly when I got the Jetboil Flash, I didn’t expect to like it this much. I figured it would be great for boiling water for freeze dried meals afield, and making some coffee, but wasn’t expecting to be blown away by it. The speed in which it works, and the lightweight and stackable form of the system really made me fall in love with it. I’ve used it while elk hunting, turkey hunting, deer hunting, scouting, fishing, and we even broke it out and used it a few times last winter when we lost power during a big snowstorm. It’s rugged, lightweight, and fun to use.

If you camp or stay afield for a long time, I highly recommend the Jetboil Flash. Thank you and Stay Obsessed!

-Heathe Pendergraft, Fall Obsession Field Staff