User Review: Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS)

Pretty convenient, but not without flaws.

I have the Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS) and the Group Cooking System. They're essentially the same thing -- a PCS becomes a GCS with the addition of 1) stabilizing legs that fit under the canister; 2) a pot stabilizing device that fits on the burner; and 3) a 1.5 liter pot instead of that big mug.

Hard to beat the conveniences of the system -- quick to set up, quick to boil, packs down conveniently, not too heavy, easy to adjust the flame, integrated igniter.

However -- and this is why I give it 3.5 stars -- while I have used it successfully in warm and cool-ish weather, when I used it on a cold Columbus Day weekend in the Adirondacks, it was difficult to get started; I was worried I might not be able to get it going.

This is always a problem with canister stoves, I realize, but this wasn't winter camping, it was colder-than-usual fall camping, so I was a bit disappointed.

I won't give up on this system, but in the future, I will probably feel compelled to carry a back-up stove that can invert the canister (MSR Windpro or Snowpeak Gigapower or similar).