Jetboil Sol Ti: Ultralight, Ultrafast Camp Stove
By: Greg of Truly Outdoors, published on October 25th, 2013. Click here for full article.
When you’re heading to the wild- or even the backyard- carrying loads of gear isn’t fun. Whether it’s a school campout sleepover with the kids, or just the two of you visiting a National Park on a romantic trek, minimizing hassles and weight are priorities. There are lots of camping and hiking cooking options, from big stoves for the family, to individual models. Today, we look at one of the most compact and lightweight ones, meant for backcountry use when reliability is key and your car (and the nearest store) can be miles away.
The Jetboil Sol Ti is the latest from this company, which focuses on performance gear for serious users. We raved about them four years ago, and continue to use their stoves when every ounce matters. Weighing in at only 8.5 ounces without the stabilizer or support, this little darling can still manage to get a full half-liter of water to boil in around two and a quarter minutes (a bit less on a new can of fuel). The fuel canisters weigh carry 100g each, and should manage 15-24 complete boils each (they are rated at more, 12 liters, but you’ll need to expend some extra while you’re cooking or just keeping them hot).
This is all possible thanks to the magic of titanium, used here to ensure that the cooking cup is svelte while still durable. As always, ignition is push-button easy, and there are lots of accessories, including the nifty Coffee Press ($14.95) that we liked so much in our original review. The cup is insulated, making sure that your stew, tea, or java stay warm for quite a while even in frosty conditions. And we liked the lid, which offers not only an easy-drinking pour spout but a strainer as well. It’s not perfect, but pretty great- you’ll still need to sip carefully though, as contents most definitely will be hot. The cover doubles (or triples) as a bowl and measuring cup too.
The Sol Ti has won plenty of awards, and it’s easy to see why. Granted, not everyone needs the weight savings that titanium offers. But there are other improvements as well that make this our new favorite backcountry camping cook method- it takes up little space in the sack, adds barely any weight, and works like a charm. You might not want to cook for more than you and another person, but at least neither of you will mind carrying it.