There are some items which although not strictly necessary, they do make things a little easier. The Jetboil Flash is one such item.
Granted we have a cooker in the van and could easily boil a kettle, but having the Flash means we don’t have to fire up the cooker every time we want a brew (it’s a Diesel Cooker, remember). Also the Flash is so compact, you can carry it in your backpack when going hiking or even if sitting outside near the camp fire.
The Flash will boil a pint of water in around 3 minutes, giving enough to make two large mugs of tea. It can also be used to heat soup etc and you can even buy a filter coffee press for it.
The Jetboil comprises a non-stick mug, with a thermal sleeve which has a flash that changes colour as the water heats up, a lid, a tripod base that clips to the base of the gas canister, the mug attachment with the gas regulator and piezo igniter built in. The sleeve also has a fabric handle and a spoon holder. If you go for the smallest gas canister, everything fits neatly inside the mug.
Its very stable and works well even in strong winds due to the fins on the base of the mug which distribute the heat, but also act as a shield.
Its a great piece of kit, which on the large gas canister, lasts for many, many brews. But it’s not without its faults. The colour changing flash on the thermal sleeve stopped working within a few weeks. But more annoyingly, the piezo igniter is a known weakness in the system and the spark became unreliable and too feeble to ignite the gas. That said it is easy to fix, its really just a niggle and in a jam you can of course use a match.
I will cover replacing the piezo on the blog shortly: it really is easy to do.
Available from most good camping stores, this is a compact and we think essential piece of kit, which just makes life simpler.
By thelittleredbus.
The Little Red Bus 