Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker Review
Bushbuck jet cooker review.
In this post we review the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker after 12 months of use. When purchasing this jet cooker the only reviews we found were those on the Buchbuck Outdoors website, that are all mainly positive. So we thought we would write an independent review of what we think about the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker.
Jet cookers have been the craze for some time now with Jet Boil probably the most well-known brand in the market. We came across the Bushbuck Outdoors version the Spitfire Jet Cooker a while ago. We couldn’t find any reviews other than those on their website, but when we saw their price point vs the Jet Boil we thought we would buy one and test it out. After using the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker for almost a year now we thought we would share our thoughts with you in the event you are looking for something similar. We purchased this product and it is an honest review of what we think of it.
What is a Jet Cooker?
Most keen campers, tourers and hikers will already be well aware of what a jet cooker is, but for those that don’t hopefully this helps.
Jet cookers are high performance gas burners that allow you to boil water extremely fast while being very efficient with the amount of gas burned in the process. A standard 230 gram butane gas cannister can provide just under three hours of burn time. You can boil half a litre of water in just over two minutes, which is crazy fast compared to a standard gas burner. Jet cookers are usually made from aluminium, are compact and lightweight. You can get them in different sizes, with the smaller options originally being made for hikers. However you can now purchase larger ones which are a great addition to any touring and camp setup. They aren’t just used for boiling water, as you can add on a pot or pan attachment that allows you to use it as a cooker, hence the name jet cooker.
Price Point
As we highlighted above, we decided to purchase the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker based on the price point compared to the Jet Boil version. On top of that you also get a bit more for your money.
The Spitfire Jet Cooker when we bought ours was around $120 New Zealand dollars, as they are across the ditch, which worked out to be about $110 Australian dollars delivered. Compared to the Jet Boil which costs somewhere in the range of $200 to $300 depending on what version and size you choose. With the Jet Boil you will need to spend a few extra dollars on top of that to get the pot / pan attachment which comes standard with the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire. As a result we bought the Spitfire as it was at least half the price of the Jet Boil as well as having a larger capacity at 1.4 litres compared to 1 litre.
Spitfire Jet Cooker Features
You get everything you need with the Spitfire, you don’t need to buy anything else other than your gas cannisters.
This is what you get:
- 1.4 litre aluminium pot or water container
- Lid with drink spout and strainer for the pot
- Foldable handles for easy packing
- Push igniter
- Neoprene insulating cover for the pot
- Burner unit which screws onto the butane gas cannister
- Gas cannister base (we don’t use this)
- Mesh carry bag (we have replaced this with a better bag)
- Pot/pan attachment
- Weighs 430 grams
The complete unit is extremely well made. It is lightweight at only 430 grams and everything packs away nicely inside the aluminium pot for easy packing. The removable lid with pouring spout fits nice and tightly on top of the pot so doesn’t come off when pouring your boiled water. The pot is 1.4 litres in size but you can’t boil 1.4 litres of water at once, there are markers on the inside which show you the maximum level that you can full your water. The max marker is at 800 mls but we have had no issues boiling water at the 1.1 litre marker. The pot locks into place on the burner unit so that it sits nice and securely while you are boiling you water. It is super quick and does boil your water in just over two minutes. If it does take longer then it usually means your gas cannister is getting close to empty so you lose the high performance output from the gas cannister, so be aware of this and it is an issue that occurs with any jet cooker not specific to the Spitfire. The neoprene cover is great as it makes handling the pot after boiling your water much easier. The igniter and gas control work well especially when using the unit as a cooker rather than boiling water and you want to reduce the temperature. The pot attachment fits easily and we use this while touring with our coffee percolator. There is a gas cannister base which we have never used, we don’t really see the point in it – we find it more stable without.
We have mates that have the Jet Boil and there are a couple of things we prefer with the Spitfire over the Jet Boil. Firstly the size of the Spitfire is bigger, which for us is better – however if you are hiking and are looking for a small compact unit then the Jet Boil might be a better option for you. The second thing is the top of the burner unit in the Jet Boil is plastic compared to the Spitfire being aluminium. Our mates have melted a small section of their Jet Boil which would not be possible with the Spitfire. We also find that the Spitfire is far more stable than the Jet Boil and turning it off when boiling is far easier.
Replace the Carry Bag
The mesh carry bag that comes with the Spitfire is fine, there is nothing wrong with it. However we have replaced ours with a Drifta bootliner bag that they make for the Jet Boil – it fits perfectly. We have reused the mesh bag to carry the pot/pan attachment in order to protect the inside of the aluminium pot when packing away. We would highly recommend buying one of the Drifta bootliner bags for any jet cooker as they are a far better storage option. You can see the pictures below showing you the Spitfire stored in the bootliner bag. We also have a second bootliner bag that we use to store spare gas cannisters, you can fit three cannisters in one of these bags easily. Three spare gas cannisters is a bit of an overkill but we have space to store them and they don’t weigh much at all.
Gas Cannisters
This has nothing to do with our review of the Bushbuck Spitfire Jet Cooker but just some friendly advice when it comes to gas cannisters.
We have always used the Companion Leisure Pro Fuel gas cannisters for our single burner gas stove and this jet cooker. The 230 gram Pro Fuel butane gas cannisters are perfect for the Spitfire Jet Cooker. They last forever and are a lot cheaper the Jet Boil versions. You should be able to pick one up for under $14 and sometimes less than $10 when on sale. These simply screw onto the bottom of the Spitfire Jet Cooker burner unit. You can get a smaller 100 gram or larger 460 gram cannister, but we find the 230 gram is more than enough without being too bulky. If you are going to be hiking and have limited space then the smaller cannister could be a better option for you. We haven’t tried the larger cannister but they sit really high which would likely make the jet cooker unstable. Either way don’t just buy the Jet Boil version, check out the other options out there as you could save yourself a few dollars.
Overall Verdict
The Spitfire does what it is supposed to and we have not had any problems at all. We have since bought another one for our parents we like it so much. It boils water as fast as advertised and is a great addition to our setup. When comparing this to the Jet Boil, we don’t really see why you wouldn’t buy the Bushbuck Outdoors Spitfire Jet Cooker over the Jet Boil as they do exactly the same thing, its well-made, comes with all the accessories at no extra cost and is cheaper overall.
Be aware that it is advertised as 1.4 litre capacity. This is the total capacity of the pot, not what you can actually boil. The pictures above show markings on the inside, we have had no issues boiling water on the line above the max line at 1.1 litres, but you cannot boil 1.4 litres of water.
If you want more information on the Spitfire Jet Cooker after this review, check out the Bushbuck Outdoors website here.
We hope you have enjoyed our review on the Bushbuck Spitfire Jet Cooker. For more posts on some of the gear that we use check these out here. If you have any comments or questions then please post below. Alternatively you can contact us on Instagram or Facebook. To keep up to date on what we have been up to then please follow us on Instagram and Facebook as well as subscribing to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
Thanks for reading legends. Until next time!
The thoughts of Peter.
11/06/2023 @ 8:36 AM
Looks like the spitfire isn’t available anymore!
12/06/2023 @ 11:16 AM
Hi Hannah,
Looks like they have rebranded it as the Tomahawk. Looks the same as the Spitfire.
Cheers,
Peter