Jetboil Flash 1.0L Review

Jetboil claims 120 seconds per half liter, and its fine print says that's averaged over the life of a JetPower can. I like that honesty. A full can boils faster than a nearly empty one, and Jetboil gives you the average instead of the best case.

The reviewers beat it. CleverHiker boiled 16 ounces, half the pot, in 100 seconds. OutdoorGearLab timed half a liter at 2 minutes 18 seconds, the fastest of the 5 stoves in its comparison table.

The speed comes from the FluxRing, Jetboil's patented heat exchanger on the base of the pot. Jetboil rates the fuel use at 10 liters of water per 100 g can, and CleverHiker calls it one of the most fuel-efficient stoves on the market. At 1 liter a day, that's 10 days from a small can. At 2 liters, 5.

Jetboil calls it a turn-and-click igniter, "just like your home stove", and its spec table lists the ignition as rotary. Open the valve, turn, click. No lighter. CleverHiker's review mentions an upgraded igniter switch over older versions.

The color-change heat indicator on the cozy is the detail both of the 2 reviewers I read single out. OutdoorGearLab says it lets you know the water is ready before it boils over. CleverHiker says it helps prevent boil-overs and wasted fuel. It's a small thing that saves fuel. I love small things that save fuel.

Jetboil also lists an improved pot-to-burner connection with three locking points and visual indicators. For a system where the pot sits on a lit burner, a positive lock is the right priority.

Not well. CleverHiker lists no simmer control among the cons, and says it limits the stove's use beyond boiling water. Jetboil's spec table lists no fuel regulator.

If you want to cook, both reviewers point the same way. CleverHiker says the Jetboil MiniMo is a better option for more cooking, though it costs more and has a stouter pot that's slightly harder to pack and better to eat from. OutdoorGearLab suggests the Jetboil Stash if the Flash's weight is the dealbreaker, and says it simmers decently.

One more find on Jetboil's page. Its Pot Support 2.0 accessory lets the burner take other cookware, like Jetboil's Summit Skillet or its 1.5 L ceramic pot. It doesn't add a regulator, but it does widen what you can set on the flame.

For the Flash's real buyer, none of this matters. A pouch meal needs 2 cups of boiling water. So does a big mug of coffee. That's the job, and it does it in about 2 minutes.

This is where the reviewers disagree, and I want to show you both. CleverHiker says the Flash performed well on windy Rocky Mountain ridgelines, and lists "performs well in wind" as a pro. OutdoorGearLab says it's one of the more fuel-efficient stoves in windless conditions, and that its fuel efficiency drops by about 25% in wind.

Both can be true. The insulated pot shields the flame better than an open burner, which is why it boils in a breeze, and wind still costs fuel. Run the 25% against Jetboil's figure: 10 liters per can in still air becomes about 7.5 in steady wind.

So pack an extra small can for a windy trip, and find shelter behind a rock when you can. Jetboil's FAQ says the 120-second boil depends on conditions like wind, altitude and temperature.

OutdoorGearLab's score table backs the wind result. Against 4 small stoves, the Flash came top for wind resistance at 8.0, just above the SOTO WindMaster's 7.9, and top for fuel efficiency at 8.9. It still burns more fuel in wind, which is the 25% note. Both are true at once.

The same table puts it bottom of the group on weight, 6.1, and near the bottom on simmering, 5.7, against 9.0 for the WindMaster. That's the trade in two numbers.