Jetboil Genesis Basecamp Review

The Genesis Basecamp is a folding two-burner that is surprisingly lightweight and compact. The design is sure to please anyone needing to be savvy with their space, whether that means the back of a car, stowed into an expedition duffel, or for use in your van. Beyond this, it is a nimble stove that can crank out the heat or simmer like a champion.

Performance Comparison

Time to Boil

The Basecamp lands just about in the middle of the pack for this category — adequate, but not the best. With a time of 4 minutes 30 seconds in our main boil test, this stove falls right in line with other 10,000 BTU stoves — a 10,000 BTU burner can only do so much. For those that require boiled water super fast, it's never a bad idea to have a supplemental backpacking stove like a Jetboil along for the ride anyway. And with the presence of a Jetlink port on this stove, you can run it all off one canister of fuel (though you will have to buy additional accessories to do so).

Wind Resistance

The Basecamp had a somewhat disappointing performance in this category. This stove's below-average wind protection doesn't necessarily impede cooking; it just doesn't measure up to the more wind-resistant models in our review. In our wind test, it took 7 minutes and 30 seconds to boil 1 liter of water when subjected to the constant wind of a box fan on the lowest setting. That being said, when we cooked meals in breezy weather, it did just fine — much better than many others in this review. While the box fan test can be an indicator, what's most important is how the stove performs in real-life scenarios.

The windscreen for this stove is a flexible clear plastic shield that fits into four slots on the underside of the burners. It's relatively easy to set up, though not as quick as opening your stove and unfolding the more traditional windscreen wings found on typical lidded models. The wind ring is not as tall as other windscreens either, so it doesn't provide quite as much protection.

Simmering Ability

Here's a metric where the Basecamp truly shines, scoring at the top of the pack. This stove is great for those that appreciate a good simmer. It does well on low, and it is easy to get a consistently low flame and cook with finesse. Even though it isn't the most windproof model, we were never concerned about wind extinguishing the low flame due to a sudden breeze. Additionally, the dial for each burner has a wide range, so you don't have to worry about accidentally turning the burner off.

Ease of Set Up

The foldable design of the Basecamp makes it relatively easy, albeit slightly different to set up than other stoves in our review. If you don't need the windscreen, just release the rubber closure straps and unfold the stove. The hinges between the burners offer more flexibility with setting it up on an uneven surface than you would get with your standard tabletop design. From there, connect the fuel line, turn the burner dials, hit the easily-depressed auto-ignition levers, and off you go!

The only challenging part of setting up the Basecamp is affixing the windscreen. The flexible plastic screen has four tabs that slot into notches on the underside of the burners. You either have to know precisely where those notches are or peek underneath to locate them. If the stove is already hot and running, it's easy to burn yourself. This can be a problem if you start cooking in the absence of wind, and then a breeze picks up mid-meal. It's better to attach the windscreen before cooking unless you're sure you won't need it.

Ease of Care

As simple as it gets for a camp stove — remove the grates, and wipe everything down. The Basecamp is simple and straightforward to clean. The grates remove from the stove body by squeezing two prongs on the side to release them from their housing. There are no odd or inaccessible recesses, as there are with some other models, so it's easy to clean almost every nook and cranny. The carrying bag also helps keep everything organized and tidy.

Portability

Out of our entire review suite, this stove is our favorite for portability, even beating out the compact single burner options. The Genesis Basecamp is the most compact and lightweight stove of all the two-burners in our review, even rivaling the single burners. Altogether, the stove, fuel adaptor, windscreen, and carrying bag only weigh 7.4 pounds and measure a mere 11 inches across and 6 inches high. The stove by itself weighs 6.4 pounds and measures just 9.75 x 4.5 inches with a convenient collapsible handle on both sides for carrying it around. Despite these small dimensions, when unfolded, there is still a generous 10.5 inches between burners, so accommodating two large pans is no problem. We also like that the carrying bag has a pocket for the fuel adaptor, so it doesn't rattle and slide around during transport. This is also a great place to stash a cleaning rag or sponge. If you want to stay low profile without sacrificing anything other than a few BTUs, this is a stellar option.

Value

Unfortunately, this is not a section where we can sing the praises of the — admittedly cool — Basecamp. The price tag is quite high, far above stoves with twice the BTUs. So, why would you fork over the cash for this stove? Well, if you have a little extra holiday money from Grandma and love to have the trendiest gear OR you need to shave off five pounds and reduce packed size, then this might make perfect sense. Otherwise, maybe not so much.

Conclusion

This is a neat stove. It boils decently, fends off the wind adequately, simmers like a dream, and packs away the smallest and lightest of all the two-burners we reviewed. It doesn't have the most impressive BTUs, and it's pricey as heck, but for someone that values compactness over everything else, it very well might be a camp stove dream come true.