Recently, I was packing my hunting pack to be as light as I could make it while still accommodating how soft I am as an ‘outdoors-person’. I am willing to give up brushing my teeth and lose the toothpaste, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to bring my Starbucks instant and a cozy pillow w/ me.

So when it came to choosing my stove set up, I naturally wanted to carry fewer of these bullshit wasteful butane gas containers. I want to take, debateably the most wasteful one…the cute little one. But how many boils can I get out of it. Not sure just yet, but I know the less time it takes to boil, the less fuel I use.

I fired up 500mls of tap water on a whisperlite stove (which is the only stove I want to take due to its tiny size and ease) on a 750ml jetboil. Then I fired up 500mls out of the same tap on my 1.1 liter GSI pot that I’ve had forever. This is clearly stringent science based research if ever I’ve seen it.

The RESULTS?!

The JETBOIL took it by a mile. The JETBOIL had water bubbling in roughly 1.5minutes, while the GSI was well over twice that on boil time.

JetBoils have always seemed just a little gimmicky to me. The pot just seemed so hyperspecific. Like, if you own this particular pot, you have to use this particular stove and vice versa. Of course, I am an idiot for having this belief, but nevertheless. The pot can be used as a standalone or paired with a jetboil stove, it doesn’t really matter. What matters are the coils on the bottom of the stove that increase the surface area being heated.

When it comes to versatility and volume, paired with the option to throw it either on the stove or on coals on an open fire, my GSI is still my go-to. It can also nest the Medium sized canister inside, whereas the jetboil can nest the small canister. When it comes to lightening my pack and getting faster boils for mostly freeze-dried-fueled adventures, the JETBOIL is the clear winner. Want to put your jetboil on coals? Toss the insulated sleeve and get a pair of spondonicles.