By Patrick Gensel
Whether climbing on a chilly winter day in Joshua Tree’s Wonderland of rocks, or gearing up for a month long epic on the John Muir Trail, being able to boil water is pretty important. There are many different canister stoves on the market, and as you may have guessed, they are not all created equal.

Enter the Jetboil Flash Personal Cooking System. Thats right, this is not just a stove, this is a complete cooking system. What differentiates the Flash from standard canister stoves is the inclusion of a cooking vessel that securely attaches to the burner. In addition to attaching to the burner, the vessel is also insulated and has a lid to help preserve heat, and keep your hands from being burnt. Oh and don’t forget the handy measuring cup that doubles as a protective cover for the base of the cooking vessel.

What really makes the Flash stand out is Jetboil’s “FluxRing” technology. The FluxRing is essentially a ring of aluminum fins that circumvents the bottom of the cooking vessel and grabs any heat that would traditionally escape out the sides, focusing it on the bottom of the vessel. This allows for a quicker boil, a cup of water in a minute according to Jetboil, and better fuel efficiency.

FluxRing

The Flash is size and weight conscious too. All of the components of the stove pack into its cooking vessel as well as a 100 gram fuel canister. When packed up, this system stands just over 7 inches tall and 4.5 inches in diameter. Weight of the unit comes in at 15 ounces (not including fuel canister) making this a super light weight complete cooking solution.

Ignition of the Flash is achieved by a built in piezo ignitor. With the exception of the ignition wire on this particular stove being bent a bit to far away from the burner causing some failed ignition attempts, this ignitor works great and fires up generally with one click.

Burner

Speedy cooking is sometimes pretty important when time is everything out there. This system lives up to its claimed “two cups in two minutes” boil time, but keep in mind that as your fuel level gets lower, that time seems to go up. Expect to get about 15 to 20 boils from one 100 gram fuel canister. Of course this will vary based on conditions such as temperature and altitude.

Some nice subtleties with this system are the included base, the sip through lid, and the boil indicator built into the neoprene insulator. The base is small folding plastic tripod that clips into the bottom of the fuel canister providing a much more stable cooking platform. The sip through lid combined with the insulator makes for a great way to sip soup or a hot beverage. The boil indicator is located on the insulating sleeve, and as one would expect, changes color as the temperature rises. as of this writing it seems to be accurate, though that could very well degrade over time.

The Flash, packed up and ready to go

One minor annoyance with the this system was the somewhat difficult task of separating the cooking vessel from the burner. The vessel locks in quite tightly, and finding a good way to remove It without risking breaking something seemed a bit cumbersome after boiling. In reality though, this is probably something that will get easier with repeated use.

There isn’t much that the light weight, efficient, and stylish Jetboil Flash doesn’t have when it comes to backcountry cooking. With its compact self storing design and conservative use of fuel, this is a great solution for any outdoor activity where the need for quick hot water could arise. Keep in mind though, the Flash is called a Personal Cooking System for a reason. It isn’t very well suited for multiple users if lack of time is an issue. That said, it does not have to be used exclusively for one person, it just works best for one person. The Jetboil Flash Personal Cooking system retails for $99 dollars.