Walking Equipment and Accessories

Jetboil Sumo Cooking System | Review

A lightweight and powerful stove capable of boiling a lot of water very quickly

The Jetboil Sumo has been around for a good number of years now and this version we’ve got here, which we’ve selected for our Outdoor 100 gear of the year list, is the fifth iteration. As the name suggests, it’s basically an oversized version of the classic Jetboil – that’s the Jetboil Flash – bringing a much bigger pot to the table to make it suitable for group use.

Jetboil Sumo Boiling Times

The Flash had a 1-litre capacity while the Sumo handles 1.8 litres. I’ve been testing the Sumo capabilities out on the trail and simply in my back garden too. In one particular test, I found that on a warm and sunny day with no wind and with a fresh gas canister, the Jetboil Sumo camping stove was capable of boiling 1.25 litres of water straight from the tap in 4 minutes and 40 seconds. It took 3 minutes and 40 seconds to boil 1-litre. I’d say that’s pretty good. It essentially means you can prepare enough water to rehydrate three 400ml Firepot boil-in-the bag meals in less than five minutes.

OM editor Will using the Sumo on a campout. Note that it’s not properly attached to the canister support. Unfortunately it only fits certain cartridges. Photos: Dave Macfarlane.

The simmer control is OK. If you turn the regulator valve right down it’s possible to cook things without burning them in a flash, but you do need to be careful. I would still say that this Jetboil’s main strength lies in boiling water as quickly as possible.

Assembly

The Jetboil Sumo has a 1.8-litre pot with Jetboil’s proprietary FluxRing at the bottom of it. This design increases the surface area that comes into contact with the flame, improving heat transfer and reducing cooking times. It also has an insulating sheath which has a webbing handle. The burner is rated at 6000 BTU/h / 1.75 kWux and it can be ignited with a push button piezo ignition. It’s regulated, meaning that it is capable of putting out a consistent output of fuel to the burner to ensure a stable flame and steady heat output even as the fuel level decreases.

It comes with a lid with a pour spot and there’s also a 500ml cup that doubles up as a cover for the FluxRing when the stove is all packed up. You also get a little metal flying pan support.

Related: Jetboil Stashed reviewed.

The main downside to the Jetboil Sumo is that it’s very narrow and tall and, as such, it can be quite wobbly and dangerous on unstable ground. It does come with a folding canister stand, however I found that this will not fit a lot of the canisters I tried it with, including a 230g Primus cartridge and a 440g Coleman cartridge. It did fit onto a 240g Coleman one and will work with all Jetboil cartridges. You can also purchase an accessory that lets you use a Jetboil that’s strung up in the air.

Verdict

It weighs 500g or 450g without the pot stand. As a stove for one person, that’s pretty heavy but it’s very convenient if it’s carried for a group of people. It’s powerful and fuel efficient and it packs up neatly. I also found it was easy to clean and it had a robust feel to it with no obvious flimsy parts that could potentially snap off in your backpacking pack.

The downsides? It’s very tall and unstable and it’s frustrating that the canister stand doesn’t fit onto all types of cartridges. I also found that you need to store this completely dry otherwise a light layer of rust can build up.

If you’re looking for a group stove that’s more squat and stable, I’d recommend looking into the Primus Primetech 2.3L or the MSR Windburner 2.5L. Those stoves are much sturdier, though they are a lot heavier than this offering from Jetboil.