So I've only ever owned a Trangia as my backpacking / cycle-touring stove. I've owned the 25 larger model which was my first stove for car-camping and was shared between 3 people for backpacking and was fine (2 pots and a pan act as 3 plates for 3 people, weight/person then reasonable). I then moved down to a Trangia 27 smaller model which stretches to 2 people. I sold my Trangia 25 as the Trangia 27 enough for 2 people but still left with the solo backpacking volume+weight problem. I dabbled with the mini Trangia 28 which was a nightmare of instability and trying to make it as windproof as the bombproof Trangia 27/25 and I've owned a Coleman GAZ dual-ring for only car-camping. All sold, apart from the Trangia 27, my only stove. Til now.
So I've ordered and will try out a Jetboil, having spent a long time looking at Caldera Cone (Clones). Firstly, I got a sale price for a Jerboil Sol Ti which swung it both in terms of weight and cost. I paid $102 total which is £65 which includes
0.8L pot
lid
canister stabiliser feet
adaptor to run any kind of pot instead
small cup
a cosy of sorts
burner / stove (makes the flame)
Total excluding fuel is 338g but if you're comparing with a Caldera Cone, is 267g if minus the adaptor and the small cup, to make stove+stand+pot+lid. Ahh ah - heavier than the Caldera Cone? Well it depends on the number of days and the different fuel weights.....
efficient Alcohol stoves like the Caldera will bring to boil 500ml in 20cc of fuel weighing 16g, in about 7-10mins. A canister stove for the Jetboil will do the same with 4g in about 3mins. The Jetboil can do it in 2mins but burns more fuel about 5g fuel.
Excluding fuel, a Jetboil Sol Ti vs Caldera Cone with similar sized pot are similar weights, Jetboil 267g, Caldera 203g.
For short trips like an overnighter or a weekend, Alcohol wins the total weight argument due to the weight of the canister. The longer the trip, so long as it stays within about 12L-20L total volume of water boiled, the more it drifts into the zone where a more energy-dense canister ends up lighter than Alcohol. There's plenty of discussion on the 'net on that maths, I won't get into.
What I liked about the Trangia is the 2 pots, the kettle and the lid, I used them all during any camping trip longer than an overnighter, that is what has kept me away from the Caldera Cone as its sized for 1 pot. You can use stakes to hold a narrower / taller pot but it doesn't stack/pack as small/neat as Trangia, so it drove me towards, in the goal of shrinking my kit, to a 1-pot decision, Caldera Cone/Clone va Jetboil.
The Caldera Cone if you buy from Trail Designs, doing like-for-like with the Jetboil of with a cup and a "handle" is actually about $70, a pot of similar capacity to the Jetboil Sol, a handle, etc.
Anyhow, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm probably going to buy a Caldera Cone/Clone also but I was waiting til I try the Jetboil Sol Ti out because I was thinking of buying a pot which can use the Jetboil potstand and be used in the Caldera because if the Jetboil ever fails (quite likely due to it being mechanical) I could fall back to a Caldera Cone.
Hi Nigel. Here is my experiene: I use a thick rubber band around the cannister and a tent peg to stabilise the JB, I also leave behind the heavy (relativly) pot adaptor, I made a very lightweight on using the tin (aliuminium) of a Lidl tuna salad. The JB cosi I replaced with my own home made one which comes in 2 pieces - 1 for the pot and 1 for the cup, this doubles as a strong carrycase and the rubber band holds it together. At the minute I'm using 2 small meths burners (1 simmer 1 boil), a wire mesh pot stand an MSR Titan kettle with the additon of a £1shop frying pan that fits into the groove of the titan lid. I'll get round to weighing it at some point and let you know. Feel free to PM me if you want to go into details about the cosi or pan adaptor.
Not sure what the question was but I use both, like you said for shorter trips the CC works well, when the number of days increase the meths vs gas argument starts to swing the other way.
I've been testing the Sol Ti for the last month and have found I'm averaging 11-12L from one Primus Powergas 100g cart. I've ditched the universal pot holder but everything else I carry as a package.
So I am thinking of hybrid Cone / Jetboil systems. Fundamentally, the Cone and the Alcohol or Esbit stove weigh little if you're carrying not much fuel, one Esbit block will do a drink and a meal (apparently, I've never tried). If the high-tech Jetboil technology were to fail then you basically have a working 0.8L pot which then only needs a cone, some pegs and a stove (Gramcracker or a small Alcohol stove, etc). These additional bits to turn the Jetboil's pot into something you can cook with is <100g and could be an emergency fall-back? Hey, perhaps those fins which trap heat nearer the pot will improve the meths/Esbit flame efficiency???
Perhaps Trail Designs could sell "unbrick your broken Jetboil for 1 meal" kits?
I'll un-learn my Trangia cooking methods with the Jetboil then figure a complementary Cone solution taking some hybrid both when I need a reliable solution.
Over in BPL someone has used the Jetboil Sol Ti pot with a Caldera Cone and got good results, so if you want 1 pot, 2 stoves, e.g. speed of Jetboil with fall-back of reliability of meths....
In this case its a Tri-Ti cone so that's wood burning, alcohol, Esbit, and a 2min boil-time canister, oh and includes time-machine an unlimited supply of money.
A heat exchanger pan with a cone?? Now how well would that work?? What about wood burning or fuels other than the jetboil gas with heat exchanger pots?? HAs anyone tried it? Has anyone tried to make their own heat exchanger pots??
I have switched to my tri-ti caldera pretty much exclusively now; largely due to it's 'light and forget' ability.
Don't think I've ever managed 500ml boil on 20ml of fuel though
If you get a tri-ti it can burn 'woody things' too. You don't need the inserts (a la inferno option); makes it more flexible perhaps? My morning coffee on longer trips depends on a supply of combustible material (only a little really) as I just carry sufficient juice for my evening water boil.
"combustible material". Is that a new use for the ubiquitious sheep droppings, remove from the tread in your boots? the use of the term "oh s**t" moves from a negative to a positive statement?
Anyhow in all seriousness, I've never used a stove for lunches, when winter car-camping I'd use a flask I'd make up at breakfast to drink through the day, a Jetboil would then replace that idea and make more common use of it for lunches.
The use of say a wood-burner Tri-Ti under the Jetboil's pot would mean you don't use your canister for your evening meal - I simply don't see the need for speed for dinner, unless I'm absolutely knackered and need to eat+sleep. Again - useful to have the speed of the canister but primarily use wood.
So overall, I see complementary benefits of a flexibile meths/Esbit/wood/gas stove combo stove system. What I don't really see benefit is trying to save 100g-120g simply to have 1 pot instead of 2 pots, if you like the complementary stove options, take 2, the pots can store food/utensils items along with the stove parts anyway. i.e. take a Jetboil system and a Tri-Ti system if you want both, and that makes sense for 2 people as then 2 pots is your two for eating out of.
I'm going to let the Jetboil get used and then figure what Cone I get also.
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the use of the term "oh s**t" moves from a negative to a positive statement?
