JetBoil HalfGen Stove Review
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Hello hikers. I’m Tamara, a full-time hiking guide with Wildland Trekking, leading trips in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Grand Canyon. For any type of hiking trip to any destination in the world, from an epic Utah backpacking tour among beautiful rock formations to a magnificent Mount Rainier Inn-Based Tour, good food is always critical. Therefore, I’m constantly in search of solid and reliable cooking setups that allow me to quickly and efficiently cook up some awesome meals for my guests.
To that end, I was very excited to accept the opportunity to test the HalfGen Stove from JetBoil this season while guiding an Inn-Based Phantom Ranch tour in Grand Canyon National Park. Now that my testing is complete, it’s time to dive into the nitty-gritty details of this stove, what it offers, and how it performed in the field. So, let’s see how the HalfGen did!
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JetBoil HalfGen Quick Look
Let’s look at the HalfGen Stove’s basic characteristics to get our bearings as we dive deeper into this review.
- MSRP: $219.99
- Weight: 3lbs 8 oz
- Number of Burners: 1
- Fuel Type: Propane
- Boil Time: 3m 15sec (1 liter)
- Includes:
- 9-inch Fry Pan
- Fuel Regulator
- Wind Screen
- Carry Bag
Intended Use
The HalfGen Stove from JetBoil is designed to be an adaptable and modular stove solution for almost all your camping and cooking needs. First off, let’s establish that the hefty 3 lbs. 8oz. weight and bulky design (compared to a purebred backpacking stove), by and large, exclude the HalfGen from almost all backpacking trips – it’s just too hefty for that kind of use. Instead, the HalfGen shines for drive-in camping, vehicle buildouts, and even tailgates. With the HalfGen, you have a single stove for one-pot cooking or the ability to link multiple JetBoil stoves together through the JetLink port, and now you have multiple burners for bigger and better cooking plans. This makes the HalfGen ideal for almost any application where you don’t have to load it in a pack and hike with it.
HalfGen Stove Notable Features
There are a few features that make the HalfGen stand out among the crowd of stove options. Let’s take a close look at these features to understand better what this stove has to offer.
- JetLink Compatible – allows you to link additional JetLink stoves together to create a multi-stove cooking system.
- Included 9-inch Pan – lets you start cooking immediately with a versatile pan to handle any frying or skillet meal.
- Windscreen – helps keep the stove burning effectively and efficiently on windy days in the mountains.
JetBoil Company Background
JetBoil exploded into the backpacking and hiking world in 2004 with their original all-in-one JetBoil stove design, revolutionizing boiling water in the backcountry. Since then, JetBoil has introduced a huge selection of cooking solutions for any scenario, from a family car-camping event to a snowbound alpine camp on the side of Mount Rainier. Additionally, JetBoil offers several cooking implement options, including pots, pans, utensils, and coffee presses. Over the last twenty years, JetBoil has reliably demonstrated a panache for well-built and feature-rich stoves that have earned the brand an excellent reputation among hikers.
THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW
I tested the HalfGen Stove while leading Wildland Trekking's Phantom Ranch Tour in Grand Canyon National Park. This is an Inn-Based trip, which gave me the chance to test the stove without packing it in to a backcountry camp.
Overall, the conditions when I fired up the stove were sunny, warm and breezy. So, my test didn't push the HalfGen to the extreme edge of its capability with howling winds or sub-freezing temperatures. Nevertheless, I collected plenty of insight and information on the HalfGen's functionaility and reliability, so let's see how it did.
The Review
Now that we’ve covered the basics of the HalfGen stove system, it’s time to dive into the review and see how it actually performed in the field. Below, I’ll cover the main performance categories for a camping stove and give the HalfGen a rating from 1 to 5. The key to these ratings is below, and I’ll back up each rating with information from my test that influenced my scoring.
Rating Key:
1/5 = Poor
2/5 = Tolerable
3/5 = Fair
4/5 = Good
5/5 = Excellent
SETUP – 5/5
I found the HalfGen Stove to be incredibly easy to set up and light!
Like most stove setups, the HalfGen includes a regulator that easily screws into the propane fuel can and then into the stove itself. The fuel/flame control is built into the stove base, and dialing that up plus a flick of the lighter switch, and voilà, we have liftoff!
Some stoves get a little finicky with the setup when the stove grate needs to be adjusted just right (or unfolded) or the fuel primed if you’re using liquid fuel. But here, I found the HalfGen to be extremely straightforward and intuitive, so full points in this category! I will note that the windscreen is another stage to set up in breezy conditions, and it does take a moment to orient how it fits into the system (lining up the correct cutouts).
I’ll add that I didn’t have the opportunity to test the Jetlink system by coupling multiple stoves together. However, using this feature to cook on a multi-stove range will definitely involve a little extra effort in the setup department.
Ease of Use – 4/5
Overall, I found cooking with the HalfGen to be a pleasure.
As we covered above, setting up and lighting the stove is super easy. As for actually cooking, this is honestly one of the best stoves I’ve ever cooked on. The flame control is incredibly precise and easy to use, while the included 9-inch pan is a great starter cook surface so you can start cranking out delicious food right away.
However, I deducted a point from this category due to the heat distribution. In JetBoil’s defense, designing a stove that evenly distributes heat to a pan without creating hotspots is incredibly difficult, and JetBoil got oh so close with the HalfGen. In this case, I noticed that the HalfGen’s heat distribution is a little concentrated in the center, creating a minor hot spot that warrants attention when cooking at higher temperatures. This was a slight issue and definitely didn’t affect my cooking experience too much, but it’s worth noting.
Weight/Bulk – 3/5
At over 3 lbs. for just the stove, not including fuel, this is clearly not a tool anyone would want to take backpacking (think of your poor back!). But for car or base camping, I think the HalfGen is solidly in the middle of the pack. It’s not bad, but it’s not blowing my hair back with awesomeness, either.
The complete stove, regulator, pan, and windshield setup nest together quite nicely in the included carrying case. This case is then relatively easy to pack in a vehicle for easy deployment at camp. Introducing multiple stoves into the mix with the JetLink feature would complicate this bulk and packing situation, in my opinion, since you then wouldn’t have a single unit to pack up and store. Instead, you’d have multiple stoves with their individual carrying cases and accessories, which may get a little messy from a bulk and easy-packing viewpoint.
However, as a single, as-is unit, I found the HalfGen to be very easy to pack up and transport on my guiding trips.
Durability – 1/5
Unfortunately, durability seems to be where the HalfGen missed a step. To be absolutely clear, my beef with durability centers on the included 9-inch pan and not the stove itself. However, since the pan and stove are sold as one unit, I’m tying my low rating for the pan to the whole HalfGen product.
Specifically, I found the non-stick pan coating to be incredibly lackluster. On the very first use on low to medium heat with a soft spatula, I noticed the pan coating begin to chip off. This was very shocking since the stove is such a great product, and I was extremely disappointed that JetBoil included such a poor-quality pan. Even more shocking was the fact that I was using a soft spatula on very moderate heat, but the results can clearly be seen in circled areas in the photo to the right.
Again, I want to reiterate that the stove itself performed flawlessly, and I saw no durability issues there. This low rating is for the 9-inch pan accessory that’s included as part of the HalfGen stove unit.
Cleaning – 5/5
Some lesser stoves make it strangely difficult to access the drip pan area or clean the stove without damaging the ignitor. No such worries here, and the HalfGen is incredibly easy to clean. Now, it’s not like I was slopping stew every which way or dumping pancake batter left and right. But without excessive cooking messes, I found cleaning up after every meal to be a breeze. The design makes accessing the lower drip pan area very easy for a wipe-down, and breaking down the stove after use is just as seamless as setting it up. No issues or complaints here.
Overall Quality – 4/5
I found the overall quality of the HalfGen Stove to be impressive.
It performed exactly as advertised; the flame always lit without a fuss, while setup and breakdown were both extremely easy. Cooking was also easy and efficient, and I didn’t notice the stove guzzling propane like some other options with poor flame control can. I truly enjoyed almost every aspect of this stove. The only exception is the coating issue on the 9-inch pan that we’ve already discussed above.
Therefore, I deducted one point in this category due to the pan issue, but overall, I’m very happy with this stove and will continue to use it!
Price – 4/5
Considering the price of similar camping stoves on the market, I think the HalfGen system is fairly priced for the value you get in return. That’s not to say that this is a budget-friendly steal, not by a long shot! The HalfGen is definitely an expensive investment in your camp’s culinary cuisine, but the high quality and feature-rich design make that investment a reasonable one, in my opinion.
I’m also influenced by the fact that this stove isn’t a one-and-done purchase that can’t be changed or upgraded in the future. Instead, the JetLink system allows for the possibility of expanding your camping kitchen if you decide in the future that you need additional burners – further adding to the HalfGen’s value.
Bringing It Together
So, we’ve covered a lot of aspects of the HalfGen Stove up to this point. Therefore, I’ve compiled all the main pros and cons of my test below to help bring all the performance categories together.
Pros:
- Very reliable
- Easy setup
- Modular and can be linked to other JetLink stoves
- Great flame control
- Good price
Cons:
- 9-inch pan coating wears and chips very quickly
Final Thoughts
After field testing in the Grand Canyon, I have to say that the HalfGen Stove is an excellent cooking setup. It’s simple, streamlined, easy to work with, and fires up and cooks like a dream.
Specifically, I like the very precise flame control combined with a reliable sparker that worked every single time I fired up the stove. The weight and packability are also wonderfully low for a car camping setup, making the HalfGen easy to include with your kit. Lastly, the JetLink system offers the possibility to link more JetBoil stoves to the HalfGen, setting up a killer kitchen with multiple stoves should the need arise.
For the downsides, my primary piece of feedback is that the included 9-inch pan seems to be of much lower quality than the stove itself since I observed the non-stick coating begin to chip off after only one use with a soft spatula. This is a fairly minor complaint, however, compared to the stove’s overall excellent performance and reliability.
So overall, I wholeheartedly recommend the HalfGen stove for anyone planning on a lot of car camping or base camping in the future. Additionally, the HalfGen is also a low-footprint stove that can potentially be included in a car buildout without sacrificing too much space for storage or use.