In this article I will answer the many questions people are searching for about Jetboil fuel, otherwise known as Jetboil Jetpower, used with Jetboil and competitor backpacking stoves.
What is Jetboil Fuel?
Jetboil fuel is a lightweight canister of 80% isobutane and 20% propane mixed gas, that is universally compatible with common backpacking stoves made by Jetboil, MSR, GSI Outdoors and others. Otherwise known as JetPower, these canisters come in 3 different sizes, which can easily be stowed in a backpacking backpack, alongside a backpacking stove. The smallest of these canisters is specifically designed to fit inside these manufactures’ dedicated cooking pots for use with their stoves, to save space on the trail.
What Type of Fuel Does Jetboil Use?
Jetboil stoves use EN417 type fuel canisters that contain IsoPro, or isobutane/propane mixed gas. Though Jetboil recommends using their own fuel canisters, known as Jetpower fuel canisters, with their stoves, any EN417 IsoPro fuel canister, like those from MSR, Gas One, or GSI Outdoors is compatible with any of Jetboil’s stoves, including the MiniMo, MicroMo, SuMo, Flash, MightyMo, Flash Java, Stash, Flash Limited Edition, and Zip cook systems.
Do You Have to Use Jetboil Fuel With Your Jetboil Stove?
No, you do not have to exclusively use Jetboil brand fuel (Jetpower) with your Jetboil stove. You can use any manufactures’ IsoPro, EN417 type fuel canister with your Jetboil Stove. Again, popular brands of these canisters include MSR, Gas One, and GSI Outdoors.
Is Jetboil Fuel Propane?
Jetboil Fuel is partly propane, but also has isobutane mixed in as well. The propane lets you use the fuel canister a temperatures lower than butane’s boiling point of 30.2F° or -1C°, while the butane provide a lighter, more energy dense fuel.
Does Jetboil Fuel Work With a MSR Stove?
Yes, Jetboil Fuel works with any MSR stove that uses the standard EN417 IsoPro type canisters, found at your local outdoor outfitter store. This includes the MSR WindBurner Personal Stove System, PocketRocket Deluxe Stove , Reactor Stove Systems, WindBurner Duo Stove System, WindBurner Stove System Combo, WindBurner Group Stove System, WhisperLite Universal Stove, PocketRocket Deluxe Stove Kit, LowDown Remote Stove Adapter, WindPro II Stove, PocketRocket 2 Stove, and the PocketRocket Stove kit.
Where Do You Buy Jetboil Fuel?
Jetboil fuel is available to purchase at REI, at some Dick’s Sporting Goods or other outdoors superstore locations, at Jetboil.com, and at multiple local, independent, outdoor outfitters throughout the country, like Nomad Ventures in Southern California. Amazon also sells Jetboil fuel canisters, but they are often three times the price that you can find them at locally, due to the Hazmat fee in shipping, and there are shipping restrictions, depending on where you live.
Jetboil has an interactive map on their website that shows every retailer they’ve partnered with to sell their Jetpower fuel canisters in store.
Does Walmart Sell Jetboil Fuel?
Walmart sells Jetboil Fuel on their website, but due to the Hazmat shipping fee, the cost is multiple times what you can buy it for, in a outdoor retailer store, in person.
Are Jetboil Fuel Canisters Refillable?
Jetboil Fuel Canisters are unofficially refillable using a small, dedicated coupler valve sold online, that lets you screw two canisters together and transfer the contents of one into the other. Generally, you cool the receiving canister in the freezer for 20 minutes or more, so that it has a lower internal pressure than the supplying canister. The fuel from the higher pressure canister is then naturally pushed into the canister with less pressure when using the coupler valve.
Make sure you know the receiving canister’s total capacity (its total weight when full, for both the fuel and canister) so that you can weigh it after you transfer the gas, and see how close you are to completely filling it. Do not overfill your canisters past the weights they were when newly purchased, off the store shelf.
| Canister Size | Full – grams | Full – ounces | Empty – grams | Empty – ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100g Canister | 194 | 6.84 | 94 | 3.32 |
| 230g Canister | 356 | 12.56 | 126 | 4.44 |
| 450g Canister | 645 | 22.75 | 195 | 6.88 |
It should be noted that Jetboil publishes a warning on the sides of their Jetpower fuel canisters that says not to refill them. Also if you are using Jetboil fuel as your supplying canister, you can smell for leaks in the transfer process, as the manufacture adds in a foul smelling chemical for safety.
An example of a coupler valve to refill Jetboil style fuel canisters is the G-WORKS Gas Saver Plus/Lindal Valve Canister Shifter/Refill Adapter/Air Vent Function.
Can You Refill a Jetboil Fuel Canister with Butane?
Yes, you can refill a Jetboil fuel canister with butane from the longer, more cylindrical butane camp stove canisters found at outdoor retailers like REI or Dick’s Sporting Goods. To do so you will need both a dedicated coupler valve, like the ones used to transfer gas from one Jetboil fuel canister to another, and an adapter that attaches this valve to the butane canister. However using only butane, and not the isobutane/propane mix these canisters normally contain, means you will lose the ability to use the stove at temperatures approaching freezing (32F° or 0C°).
Again you will need to cool your receiving canister in the freezer for 20+ minutes before you can refill it with the butane canister.
An example of an adapter for the butane canister is the Jeebel Camp G007 Butane Fuel Canister Refill Adapter. An example of the coupler valve is once again the G-WORKS Gas Saver Plus/Lindal Valve Canister Shifter/Refill Adapter/Air Vent Function.
How To Recycle Jetboil Fuel Canisters
To recycle you Jetboil fuel canister, check with your local recycling center to make sure they can take your fuel canister. If so, either burn the remaining usable gas in the canister with your stove, or use a gas transfer tool to transfer it to another canister. Then use a Jetboil Crunchit tool to expel any residual gas left in the canister, doing so outdoors. To do this, screw the threaded end of the tool to the canister until you hear the rush of exiting gas, and let it completely empty. Once this is done, puncture the canister with the tool multiple times to signify to your recycling center the canister is ready for recycling.
Can You Ship Jetboil Fuel?
The USPS (United States Postal Service) allows you to ship limited quantities of Jetboil fuel canisters, where no one mailpiece can have more than 1 litter of fuel, and must be shipped via ground shipping. All rules and regulations found in chapter 3, section 342 of the USPS’s Publication 52, specifically sections 342.22 a, and 342.22 c, ‘Mailable Gases’, sections 342.3 b, and 342.3 d, ‘Packaging’, section 342.4 ‘Marking and Documentation’, and section 342.5 ‘Mailability Rulings’ must be followed.
That being said, you must appeal to your local post office to ship your fuel canisters, who can still refuse to do so, if they are not aware of these USPS rules and regulations. Publication 52 can also be found online at the USPS website, which may help in guiding your local post office in accepting your package.
Can You Take Jetboil Fuel On an Airplane?
You can not take Jetboil Fuel canisters on an airplane, either through checked bags or carry-on bags, per the Federal Aviation Administration’s PackSafe Chart. The chart does say that completely empty compressed gas fuel canisters for camping stoves are permissible through checked and carry on baggage, but individual airlines may still prohibit them.
Camping stoves and equipment that contains no residual fuel, vapors or other hazardous materials are allowed.
Some airlines may not accept used camping equipment that has had fuel in it regardless of how well it has been purged. Check your airline’s policy.
Federal Aviation Administration PackSafe webpage
Does Jetboil Fuel Expire?
Jetboil fuel does not expire, nor does the manufacture put an expiration date on the canisters. As long as your fuel canister itself is not compromised, through humidity related rusting, or structurally from a long series of thermal expansion and contraction events, after being stored in a place with varying extremes of temperature, you can still use it, even after years of storage. Double check that the threads on the canister have not been damaged through rust or otherwise before using.
How Long Does Jetboil Fuel Last In Storage?
Jetboil fuel can last decades, as long as the canister is stored in cool, dry location, where there is no concern regarding exposure to open flames, or solar gain from intense sunlight. The canister’s integrity is the limiting factor on how long it stays good for in storage.
How To Store Jetboil Fuel
Store your Jetboil fuel canisters in a cool, dry area of low humidity, away from areas where there are open flames and ignition sources, like furnaces, hot water heaters, or power tool shops, and away from areas of solar heat gain, like windows providing direct sunlight. Doing so prevents humidity and condensation based rusting of the canister, prevents ignition of stray gas from a leaking canister, and prevents a pressure based explosion of the canister, causing damage to people or property, and producing a large bolus of gas that is toxic to breath, respectively.
The manufacture publishes on its canister not to store it at temperatures above 120F° or 50C°, and to store it in a cool, dry place away from children. Basically these canisters like the same temperature conditions that humans like.
Where Is the Safest Place in the House to Store Jetboil Fuel?
The basement of your home is likely the safest place to store Jetboil fuel. Usually basements have cooler, steady temperature environments, with less seasonal temperature extremes than a garage or attic, and are less likely to have solar related temperature gains, via windows, in areas of storage. As long as you can control your basements humidity if needed, with a dehumidifier, and store your Jetboil fuel away from ignition sources, like a furnace or water heater, you can safely keep it for years in this area of your home.
However if your basement is subject to water migration and wet floors after it rains, consider storing your fuel in a water tight, plastic container away from the ground.
Can You Store Jetboil Fuel in a Closet?
Yes, you can safely store Jetboil fuel in a home closet. If you don’t have a basement, then your second storage choice would be a closet that is free of open flames, and ignition sources, like hot water heaters, or furnaces. Optimally, you’d want your storage closet to be in the conditioned air envelope of your home, and not be subject to window related solar heat gain, via direct sunlight. However do not store Jetboil canisters in a manner where heavy objects are directly on top of them, potentially compromising their physical integrity, and increasing the likelihood of leakage.
Can You Leave Jetboil Fuel in a Hot Car?
You cannot leave Jetboil fuel canisters in a hot car. Temperatures inside a car experiencing direct solar gain, especially near the dashboard, can easily exceed the manufacture’s recommended storage limit of 120F°/50C°. This can cause the pressure inside the canister to increase to the point that it bends its metal body outwards, usually on its convex underside, and eventually to the point of failure, potentially causing shrapnel related damage to the car’s interior, and the escape of the gas, potentially causing toxicity to a person locally inhaling it, while surveying their car’s damage. Escaped gas also has the potential to ignite, if mixed at the right concentration with the car interior’s air.
Will Freezing Temperatures Hurt Jetboil Fuel?
Freezing temperatures will not hurt Jetboil fuel. The ambient temperature around the fuel canister would have to reach -255.3F°/-160C° and -306.4F°/-188C° for isobutane and propane, respectively, in order to reach their freezing points. The steel canister doesn’t become brittle until temperatures reach -22F°/-30C°. However, even if you store your canister below -22F°/-30C°, it should regain its natural structural integrity, if its temperature is allowed to rise back up to operating temperatures in an even manner, through exposure to relatively higher temperature ambient air. Its toughness returns at temperatures well before the liquid isobutane begins to return to its gas phase, exerting more pressure on the inside of the canister.
To be safe, check for leaks, and smell around the canister for leaks, before using the previously frozen canister with your stove.
What Is the Fuel Efficiency of Jetboil?
The fuel efficiency of currently sold Jetboil stoves is as follows: Testing the Jetboil MiniMo stove, under real world conditions, shows that one 100g fuel canister can provide 13 cooking events, or 17 water boil events with 500mL of water. Because the MicroMo and SuMo cook systems also use this same stove, similar efficiencies should be experienced with these. Because these three cook systems have a fuel valve that allows for lower heat, and lower fuel delivery, they are likely the most efficient Jetboil stoves on the market.
| Jetboil Canister Size | Number of Cooking Events Per Canister | Number of Boiling Events Per Canister (500mL of Water) |
|---|---|---|
| 100g Canister | 13 | 17 |
| 230g Canister | 31 | 40 |
| 450g Canister | 61 | 79 |
A head to head test with the GSI Outdoors Glacier Stove showed that the Jetboil MiniMo can be as much as 5 times more efficient during windy conditions.
Further Reading
Next check out my Jetboil page, featuring the Jetboil MiniMo. There you’ll find articles like my MiniMo review, as well as everything else you need to know about it, including Basic Operations, Field Operations, and Accessories.
I further go over how to clean your yucky Jetboil MiniMo, MicroMo, or SuMo stove burner, when it has caked on food on it.
See ya out there!