June 14, 2008 - June 15, 2008 | , | Alpine

Field test: MSR REACTOR VERSUS JETBOIL
When the Jetboil cooking stove came on the market a few years ago, things changed. The expected level of efficiency from a cooking stove sky rocketed, and at first look white gas stoves looked antiquated all of a sudden.
I did not compare white gas stoves against Isopropane stoves in this test. I simply compared over about 6 days the performance between the Jetboil and the newly released Reactor from MSR.
Here is what I found:
• The Reactor Stove is more fuel efficient due to its slick heat induction system
• The Reactor Stove is less effected by the wind
• The Reactor Stove is able to maintain cartridge pressure to near empty as long as the cartridge does not get frosty.
Even though the Reactor Stove does not have a Piezo starter system, it is very easy to light.
• It would be tougher to retrofit the Reactor with a hanging stove kit.
• The stove and pot system is not interlocking. This makes the system a bit tippier.
Summary: The REACTOR is an amazing stove with impressive efficiency and ease of use. It might seem a bit big for true alpinist applications, but the larger size pot does make snow melting easier. An easy hanging stove set up would be nice.

• The Jetboil Stove is more compact and works very well in smaller Alpinist team setting.
• The Jetboil Stove is very easily adaptable to a hanging stove kit and they even sell one.
• The Stove and Pot system are interlocking, which creates a more solid feeling.
• The Jetboil stove features a Piezo lighter system, but it is somewhat unreliable.
• The pot is harder to clean and seems to be really designed as water boiler unit only.
Summary: Surprise, surprise. The Reactor did not wipe out the legitimacy of the Jetboil. It’s neatly interlocking and compact system coupled with good efficiency make it pretty much a must for a serious alpinist. More wind proofness would be nice.

Upon our return from the Mount Rainier ski week Jim Bailey and myself also conducted a highly overcaffeinated “backyard lab test” with several other stoves. We simply measured boiling time of the various stoves with canisters of varying fuel levels. Here is what we found:
Stove Temp Canister type and fuel level Boiling time for 1 liter from 50 deg F
Reactor 70 indoor 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz. 2’28”
Reactor 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro/ 4 oz. 3’09”
Reactor 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 2 oz. 3’58”
Jetboil 1 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz. 6’35”
Jetboil 1 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 2 oz. 8’54”
Jetboil 1 ** 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz. 11’20”
Jetboil 1 ** 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 2 oz. 14’40”
Jetboil 1 60 outside 3.53 oz Jetboil Isobut / 2oz 7’14”
Jetboil 2 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz 6’58”
Jetboil 2 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 2 oz 9’50”
Primus Ti ** 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz 4’58”
Primus Omni ** 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 4 oz 8’29”
Primus Omni ** 60 outside 8 oz. MSR Isopro / 2 oz 9’10”
** indicates that a standard cooking pot from MSR was used.
It is impressive to see the amount of difference in boiling time between the various stoves. It is equally impressive to see the decrease in performance in a near empty canister in many of the stoves. I am not sure that these extreme differences in boiling time mean that the fuel consumption is linear with usage time or it simply means that the fuel delivery is smaller from one stove to another.
The reality of the mountains exposed that just about all the IsoPro stoves have significant performance decreases with near empty fuel canisters, especially when altitude and low temperatures are added to the mix. The fact that the Reactor Stove is nearly windproof is a very large bonus. The fact that the hanging stove capabilities of the Jetboil let you keep the canister easily off the snow.
On the trips where I observed the Jetboil and Reactor more closely, I found a fuel calculation of about 3 oz. per person per day to work quite well in a snow melting cooking environment. Ben Haskell and I fared quite well on Mount Rainier with about 24 oz. of fuel with the Jetboil for four nights and five days at elevations between 8500 feet and 11600 feet. Our clients Scott Kushino, Jim Bailey and Evan Wang had a Jetboil and a Reactor at their disposal. Interestingly enough they trended to use the Reactor stove the majority of the time even when both stoves could have been used at the same time. I am not sure that this indicates anything other than the undeniable ease of use of the Reactor stove.