How Long Does an 8 Ounce Fuel Can Last? Jetboil vs. Optimus Crux Lite 

recruiter #37 yeah, awesome video. I have always wanted to know this... thanks

recruiter #37 same

Hard same

Floordford amount of burn time / time taken to boil - should be able to tell you what you need

As far as given time with canisters: this should tell you you’re good either way with 1-2 of them. Typical resupplies are going to be 7-10 days for areas so 1 should last you because boil times don’t take much longer than 5-7 minutes typically. The shortest of the canisters had an average of 48 uses and it’s faster and that’s more than what you’d need before a resupply. Especially when the jet boil is bulkier and heavier.

@@brianbrooking496 You're missing an important factor for some people though. It's not as black and white as you'd suggest.

True Mordecai some people are hell bent on over complicating the simple things.....

@@brianbrooking496 Yeah, I agree, such as weight.

jason manukau 🍻!

Al Sims thanks!

D. Volvoguy that’s exactly what I noticed on this experiment. The Jetboil stove draws out less gas from the canister to heat their container. Very efficient system

the 'trick' is the jetboil limits the max output of gas to maintain a more adequate fuel-air ratio. but if you adjust the Crux to 'blue flame' all the time they will last pretty much the same. you could try to adjust the crux to the maximum flow with blue flame (optimum air-fuel ratio) and check if the contraption of jetboil really makes a difference. i dare say it will make less than 10% difference: the main barrier for water heating is the transfer between metal and water. that is why a frying pan boils water faster than a taller pan with same volume and tea-kettles have a very wide bottom.

The test you mentioned is not needed as it has already been performed. Once the two stoves boiled water in the same amount of time only one variable remained. Technically there is a chance that either stove could have been turned down a bit and the maximum flame might have remained constant...I did see a lot of yellow/orange flame in the beginning with the Optimus. Anything beyond a blue flame with most gas stoves indicates an inefficient burn. But I doubt it would lessen the difference between the two stoves very much...maybe 20 minutes? Perhaps 30 minutes?

And this is exactly the reason why the frozen condensate was on the optimus and not on the jet boil as the pressurized gas was escaping the canister at a faster rate. www.quora.com/Why-is-there-frost-on-the-outside-of-my-propane-tank

I tested by measuring weight loss from the fuel cannister. I compared an Optimus with and without a heat exchange pot. 11-12g of fuel without the heat exchange pot and 7-8 grams with the heat exchange pot. That tallies with other comments here about a 30% difference. To me the message is carry a little heavier pot to reduce fuel weight. The burner is less an issue if you set the flame to an efficient heat.

I am thinking about getting one of those

chris Gordon thanks! Yeah I really like how long most of these stoves last (msr is an awesome brand). 👍

Truth^

ARhere you bet. Thanks for watching!

4 oz will get you at least 18 boils with a bsr stove (2 cups) and a plain pot. If time is not an issue and you use a good windscreen, you can go higher. In any case, you have temp, elevation... and so on as variables so there is no hard and fast number, but even an relatively inefficient stove only uses about 6.x grams of fuel per 2 cup boil. If you get a more efficient system, then you use even less fuel.

My ride was 6 months ago, but thanks anyway. I ended up taking an 8oz (220g) canister simply because no one near me stocked a 4oz. I used a Soto Windmaster(no screen needed) with 2, sometimes 3 boils a day of 3 cups each(750ml), 1 cup for my coffee, 2 to rehydrate my meal, I got home after 8 days with about half the can remaining. Truth be told, after about day 2 or 3 I realised boiling wasn't necessary as I had to wait too long for the coffee and meal to cool down to drinking/eating temperature, so remaining days with shorter burns extended the can life. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hm9AGQCj3L4.html

titan90000 you bet! Glad it provided some info. I will be using this fully for the first time for my backpacking trip this weekend, and I'm looking forward to using it!

I know right!?! A few years ago I was talking to an AT thru hiker here in Maine. He said he was only on his 3rd (4oz.) fuel canister for his jetboil. Having seen this, I now believe him.

I was thinking the same thing. Pretty damn impressive how much energy is in a littl canister

boy named sue my fellow Washington homie! I heard nothing but great things about the pocket rocket, I think I’ll be getting one soon too 🤙. Thanks for watching !

Kevin Chon same here bro. I just don’t want to risk it going out when I’m trying to boil some ramen lol

RedWhite&Blue 78 Haha man only if I was really that smart! But I gotta admit I do like testing things out so we all could benefit somehow

Thanks for saving me 10 minutes!

Popeye Sailorman yeah ok, but you didn’t factor in the radiator fins on the jetboil and the surrounding atmosphere protection to stop heat loss that’s built into the jetboil.

Agreed!

NYZ Outdoors thanks man! You should check them out just in case. Stick stoves are awesome too, but there are places where it’s hard to find dry sticks where I’m at.

Liberal science

Daniel Asmus thanks!

Backpacking With Jason you bet !

wizardorlegend yeah it’s good to take into consideration the long term costs. Hope you find the right one for you🙂 And eye candy will be coming soon in a video, lol Thanks!

wizardorlegend, it seems like your logic is unusual. It takes a certain amount of fuel or BTUs of heat from the fuel to boil a measure of water. The Jetboil clearly had a smaller flame and was burning less fuel per minute while the Optimus was consuming more fuel per minute and producing a larger flame and more heat. A larger flame indicates burning more fuel which you understand but you missed the concept that it will boil water quicker thus requiring less time burning fuel. Both burners started with the same amount of fuel supply. So you have a smaller flame with longer burning time or a larger flame with less burning time. In the end, the same number of BTUs were released. They likely are both pretty much equally efficient. You choose if you want more heat and a quicker boil or less heat and a slower boil. I think a better test would be to test both burners while at the exact same level of gas release. All open on one burner allows a lot more gas through than all open in the other burner.

Microarmor007 I agree with what your saying completely, I’m going off in the video it took 3 minutes or so and both where boiling, as you say it will take a certain about of energy to make that happen. The jet boil did that with the smaller flame and it ran for an hour longer. The other burner put out more btu’s due to the larger flame and the fact it didn’t run as long, but the water was boiling at roughly the same time so a lot of those btu’s were wasted. I think this is down to cup design myself, those fins on the bottom absorbing more heat or letting less heat escape.

The Jetboil has metal find on the cuppart I believe and that is supposed to help with absorption of the heat. More surface area to transfer heat through. So jetboil might be able to use a smaller flame in conjunction with a better heat absorption method to just be more efficient overall when paired with the included cup. Some people don't like the large size of the jetboil for backpacking, but it certainly has it's uses.

Sorry, metal fins absorb the heat efficiently

AnOldManInTheWoods zing! Haha thanks

wyatt thomas thanks man. I figured I’d throw a few experiments in here and there 😉

doomboy225 thanks 🤙

nofeesh I think a combination of the heat distribution coils under the pot as well as the stove design contributes to the effectiveness . Definitely uses fuel more efficiently that’s for sure

miamitreo 🙏 thanks!

Michael Butler I’ve tried using the Jetboil at nearly empty canister levels on other backpacking trips, and it appears to remain efficient in bringing the boil within 3 minutes at full power

davidgau thanks for watching!

I was right! Of course the jetboil will be more efficient, the pots are designed to capture energy better

Tony Rueb yeah, I didn’t realize that the cause was rapid pressure change until now. Great observation 👍