We had two of the Jetboil GCS stoves going all night at Camp 4 (26,500ft, -20F) before summiting K2 in 2007. You would expect something that works so consistently in such harsh environments to be heavy, but the GCS is about as light as it gets for a cooking system. I literally depend on these stoves for my life, having to melt ice to get water. I do keep them well maintained though, which is easy with a Jetboil Maintenance and Repair kit, which I always carry in my pack. I love the hanging kit as well.

The jetboil system is simple and effective. We've used it on trips to warm and cold locations with little problem. I like how the whole thing compacts into the pot and you can also fit your jetboil utensils in there as well.

Recently, the igniter has turned to hit or miss so we usually bring some matches or lighter to get it going.

It's highly suggested that you bring this into your tent if it is super cold out and just ensure the vents are open in the tent. The heating element on the bottom of the pot will turn into a cooling element if it's windy and boiling water out of a tent will turn into a watched pot that takes forever to boil.

I bought the 1.5L Pot and the pot stabilizer system as an add on to my Jet Boil PCS. The pot is wide enough on the bottom to be able to fry in like a pan but still deep enough to make things a little challenging if you want to flip an item.
It does not lock into the stove like the PCS pot but you use the pot stabilizer which opens the Jet Boil up to the rest of the world of cookware choices. The whole system fits inside the pot as a single unit but I like to carry my PCS pot when I carry the GCS pot. I have used the GCS pot with other stoves and the real offenders of the "Burnt Spot" are transformed into well mannered simmering machines. If you own an ultra light stove of some kind but you discovered it's tendency to cause a hot spot, you don't have to throw it away to get the kind of performance Jet Boil is famous for. Just buy the GCS pot which is available by it's self. It will even improve the fuel efficiency of the any ordinary stove. You will also need to buy the pot support/stabilizer if you are upgrading an existing PCS. The insulating sleeve and the lid will keep the pot's contents hot for longer which is good if you're re-hydrating food. In my own collection, the pot compliments my MSR Pocket Rocket and my EtaPower 2.1L cook system. I think Jet Boil should package all of the components from the GCS, PCS, Coffee Press, Frying Pan, Extending Utensil Set and hanging system all in one complete package. That way someone like me can choose which parts to bring based on the trips demands. (If they do, I haven't seen it but I would buy it knowing what I know now.)
Every manufacturer wants you to buy the fuel with their name on it but canister fuel is universal as long as it uses the right orifice on the canister. I hear many references to proprietary fuel limitations. There are none.
Use Coleman, MSR, Snow Peak, Primus, Jet Boil, Optimus canisters Etc. It is all Isobutane. The only variable would be if it packs inside the unit like it was designed to.

Replaced my old super fly and titanium cook set with this beauty. The pot is large enough for all my needs from frying, boiling to stewing. The lid, when inverted - aka, flipped upside down(makes a world of difference and it doesn't deform either), is solid when cooking. The plastic flex protector is a nice little plate. I place a handkerchief inside the pot, then put all the stove, fuel, pot stand for pot, and my coffee making mesh kit plus a lighter. It is a bit heavier by about 7 ounces but the added weight has its benefits.

Over all I am very content with the unit and have used it for the last year or so with no issues. The Piezo however was a sore point. It was not consistent in igniting the stove and the ceramic broke but that was due to me fiddling with it. The ignition fix was easy, after I disassembled the unit to put on the replacement I took the end of the Piezo and snipped it to a sharp point (got the idea from my old Super Fly stove - thank you MSR). Now it ignites the fuel every time I need it - problem fixed.

I've had a regular Jetboil for a while and found it quite good even in fairly cold temperatures. (Down to 20 F, did a good job of melting snow.) I bought this thinking it would make it easier to melt large quantities of snow. Unfortunately, the flame gets very low when its cold, and the flux rings on the larger pot do nothing to improve heating efficiency when the flame is low due to cold temps. This thing wouldn't even boil water when it was 20 degrees out. I'm sure it would fine for heating water when its warmer out, but it doesn't function in winter.

This is a very efficient little stove I also have the mug that goes to it. It boils fast, works well at altitude (13800) and is lightweight.

I have been using the GCS for about a year and a half now. I would recommend this for anyone. It has worked well at altitude and in the winter. A single canister lasted through a 5 day winter trip cooking 3x's a day for two. We made everything from stew to pasta to boiled eggs & pancakes. It was excellent for a quick cup of tea in the afternoon, very fast!

I do agree that the cover is a HUGE hassle to put back on after awhile. Even when I do get it on, every now and again it will come off in my pack making it a huge pain! It does need a pour spout, but at least the dribbles are easy to clean. I was a little leery of proprietary fuel cans, but so far I haven't had trouble finding replacements. Last note, the auto starter never worked after the first week but that is not really that big of a deal.

Got one of these for a seven day backpacking trip. It worked wonderfully. The jet boil burner is self lighting and cranks out the BTU's, heating water or anything quickly. The 1.5L pot is great, nonstick and super easy to clean. Included is a top and bottom pan cover that make handy plates to save space. + the whole burner/fuel/stabilizer all fit into the 1.5 pot to save space.

Highly recommend this for anyone in need of a new stove.

Great item for groups as stated. If you've got 3 or more people it works great. Boil water, make some eggs, mix some oatmeal. This is a good setup. Used it for a couple huge breakfasts for 5 people and it worked well.

This thing is awesome for cooking food for everyone in your group. Boils water fast, and the neoprene insulation keeps stuff warm in the pot for a while afterwards. Great simmer capabilities, and with an 8oz canister or the nifty bottom-of-the-fuel stand, it is stable when cooking a full pot. One of the coolest things about this system is that the plastic lid seals up tight enough to keep leftovers in.

My only gripe with it is that the auto-lighter thing doesn't always work great. Half the time, I end up just using a lighter or a match.

So rugged and efficient. I used mine in the Pre-Cambrian shield for a 3 week backwoods trip. No problems and it doesn't sound like a jet engine either. Nothing worse than scaring off the wild-life while i'm trying to make my morning coffee

If your like me and you car camp and backpack the GCS is perfect. It is compact enough for your backpack on a 5 day trip, but functional enough to cook more then just water in it. The only problem I have had, is the automatic igniter. First of all, I don't know why you need one, I always have matches or something on me anyways. The best thing about this stove is that the heat adjustment is very fine which allows you to simmer foods. perfect for some camping stir fry. I highly recommend this system, it beats out a lot of competitors and is tough too.

I used the larger Jetboil as a replacement for my Whisperlite. I got tired of priming and having a flame thrower when I just wanted a quick warm drink. The lid could be made a little firmer and then be useful as a plate. Secondly, the pan could use a pouring spout for a quicker refill of your buddies coffee mug. Works great every time no fuss, mild conditions fed 4 people 3 days on large canister.

This is a nice stove if you need to do more then boil water or cook for just one. In reality the GCS pot will work just as well and fast with any stove. It's the pot on this system that is the key with the heating fins. It's a bit heavy for a butane stove but makes up for most the weight in the fuel savings. The personal cooking pot will also work with this stove as the stove is identical minus the pot support and fuel bottle support which can all be purchased seperately.

Jetboil does everything it's supposed to do, and does it well. Only complain is that the Cooking Pot isn't conducive to pouring hot liquids--makes putting hot water and food into dishes a chore! Other than that, the system is great.

I have used this stove and boils 16oz of water in less than 3 minutes. However, Primus and MSR fuel canisters do not fit into the plastic base stabilizer and are too big to store in the pot. I have not tried the official JetBoil fuel canisters yet.

I got this for a family trip through the rocky mtns/tetons/yellowstone. It worked very well. Great on fuel (I did get the large fuel canisters). Boiled water very fast at around freezing and at around 10,000 feet. The only downsides are: doesn't pour well (i.e. boiling water for coffee), pot support doesnt store well inside pot, lid can be difficult to put on after a few times. Overall: a very good stove.

We have used this stove about 10 times so far, and I'm very pleased with it. We were using it in elevations above 8500ft and temps as low as 20deg with great success.
A couple minor complaints would be that the stove takes longer to boil water as the cannister gets low on fuel. Also the lid is very hard to snap into place in cold temps, as it obviously shrinks up more than the metal pot.
Overall I'm thrilled with this product though.

Great stove, would recommend to the weekend camper. Looking forward to trying it in the winter.

I've been backcountry packing for over 20 years, and the Group Cooking System one of the best investments I've ever made. My son carried a Jet Boil Personal Cooking System with him, and we could have easily used that alone for the entire trip, but I wanted to try them both side by side. Both worked flawlessly. What was nice was cooking one-pot meals in the Group Cooking System, and boiling water for coffee or hot chocolate mornings & evenings. This way we wouldn't have had to hike out if a stove failed, and we could carry one type of fuel bottle to operate one or both stoves. On average we boiled 6 cups of water per day and we had plenty of fuel left over--and we only brought 2 4oz fuel bottles! The main thing to learn is, have EVERYTHING ready when you start the stove, because the speed of heating on this stove seems faster than a microwave. Easy to pack, easy to operate, easy to clean. Outstanding!

I have only used my new Jetboil Group Cooking System once but it worked well. The water boiled rapidly and clean up was a breeze due to the nonstick surface. I have always used an MSR Whisperlite and they don't light nearly as easily. With the jetboil it's a push of the button and you’re cooking with gas. I don't know how it will perform in cold weather though. I'll have to try it and post an updated review. The only complaint I have is that after the first use the lid seemed difficult to get back on.

This unit did not take to much space in my backpack. It also did a great job in heating food. I would recommend having everything ready before turning it on since the unit heats things up almost instantly. I also recommend using a rag inside to place the accessories since you can damage the non-stick surface from moving around.

Excellent cooking system. However, I suffered with the same 'shrunken lid' syndrome as everyone else. The lid will still go back on top, but not without considerable effort.

I would still recommend this, and would buy it again if I had to do it all over again.

yea sure, it heats up fast and very compact. but i noticed that the more i used the GCS the more the top lid would shrink. right now the lid its pretty much deformed and unless i get one of my guy friends to cap the pot for me... there is no way i can cap the pot with that deformed lid. i could have sworn it said on the instructions : "for a faster boil put on lid". theres my 2 cents.

I used this stove for a 5-day backpacking trip in the Adirondacks.
PROs:
Built-in igniter works EVERY time.
Heats up fast due to insulated pot.
Light weight and self contained.
CONs:
It needs a metal lid, not plastic.
Larger fuel cans don't fit inside for storage.
The pot support (thing with teeth) does not fit easily into the stove for storage.
All in all its a good stove for light camping.

Never again will I bother with that whole experience of filling the cup with gas... Jetboil saves us all from that torture! Not only does this thing fit in one compact package (the stove, stand, pot holder and gas fit inside), it was surprisingly light and versatile. Easy to clean and put away too. I used this in combination with the PCS for five people for 4 days and it worked great. We made water in the PCS for coffee, hot choco, Ramen, ect, and made past dinners and rice in the GCS. We even stopped at lunch one day, whipped this thing out and had hot pasta in less than 10 minutes. What a nice lunch, much better than powerbars. It made noodles faster than I can make at home for sure. I love this thing, seriously, you have to get one!

Perfect for one or two boil pouches or getting a lot of hot water fast. However, I put the lid on top loosely to help keep some heat in and IT SHRUNK (outside temp was 38 F). It took myself and another person almost 15 minutes to finally get it back on for storage. Not a lot of fun in the dark and cold.

I've only had the stove out for one overnight so limited experience to reflect on, but it worked great for boiling water. I did use the bottom lid as a plate.
Couple of observations:
it is not a natural act to remove a cover off the BOTTOM of a pot. Caught my bonehead maneuver before damage was done
the stove doesn't pack to a single unit if one doesn't get the mini-jetboil butane canister. (that tidbit might have been in the details but overlooked)

I used one of these for a 4 night trip in the Smokey Mountains in February and it worked wonderfully. I liked it a lot especially compared to the MSR wisperlite we always used to use. Its super light weight, compact, and was perfect for two people. It is much easier to set up and start than a whisper lite. It got below freezing temp, depending on where we were and always at night, but this gave it no problems and heated water very quickly. The only cons I saw were that the plastic lid warped, probably due to the heat, and thus no longer fit the top of the pan correctly and that it would probably not work for big groups. Three people, maybe four, would be the max for one of these, and plan on doing several rounds of cooking. One fuel cannister plus a back up would be more than enough for five day trip.

I really enjoyed this stove. I took it on a 4 day backpacking trip to about 10,500ft. It is very easy to use, lights quick and boils water extremely fast. I went with someone that brought a MSR WhisperLite Stove and by the time they would get their stove lit my water was done boiling. I didn't have any problems with this at all.

Boils water in a couple of minutes, which is great. Fast, easy set-up. It works well for 1-2 person cooking or boiling water. Tried to make pancakes though, and could only make one at a time. Works well with regular pans too. It is silly that it has a plastic lid though, if you snap it on you can't check on the food/water. We turned it upside-down and that worked well.

This is a great system with a couple of minor drawbacks. First of all, like others have said, the cover shrinks after only a few coverings of hot water. Secondly, I noticed the foam insulation around the outside of the pot has pretty much welded itself to the pot. I don't know if this was the design or if the foam has actually melted, but it makes for difficult cleaning times for that accidental spill due to no pour spot.

All in all, great stove that gets it hot quick.

Great stove overall, boils water etc. super fast. Has anyone else had a problem burning the plastic on it? I had it turned up a bit high, needed to have boiling water in an emergency, but for something this pricey you wouldn't think that would be a problem. Despite that, I wouldn't recommend anything else.

Works like a champ. A high quality product that works and is incredibly compact. By the way Backcountry.com has the best customer service of any online company including Amazon that I have ever dealt with. Use the live chat, you will be surprised how helpful they are. Anything you buy can be easily and QUICKLY refunded. I buy it, try it in the field and if it doesn't meet my expectations they take it back without any hassles, no questions. They make it really easy right from the website, print a UPS label and as soon as UPS scans it they start the refund. WOW! Much better than the BS that Amazon puts you through no second party hassle.

This thing is awesome. The water literally is boiling before I have everything ready. Very impressed. Worth every cent.

I love this thing. Compact and works great! I read the other reviews and if you use the lid as recommended (instead of a cooking lid) there are no problems with it not fitting.Get you one! Its great!

first off, it packs down so small for what you get in return, as is also extremely light weight. 2 fuel canisters and the cooking system feels like nothing in your pack and will last you about 6 days between 2 people. ( probably longer, cuz me and my girlfriend like to make tea). the cozzie comes in handy when passing around soup. only downside is the autolighter went out already after 2 trips, so i must bring a lighter with me (but i need one of those for recreation anyways). quality product with a lifetime guarantee fully recommend it.

Have used this multiple times in the high Uintas with groups of 3 to 4 people. Heats water very quickly and does save weight with having to carry smaller amounts of fuel. I do recommend always carrying a backup stove in case I recommend the MSR Pocket Rocket weighs just over 3 oz and will accommodate the Jetboil group pot with no problems.

OK, the Jet-Boil GCS is known for its high performance and efficiency. It boiled 16 ounces of water at 8,200' in about 2 minutes. All components and a small fuel cannister load into the pot for easy packing.

Now for the 'whoops'. I was preparing for my morning coffee with my 2-cup coffee press, pre-ground coffee, Sierra cup, setting up the stove, connecting the fuel bottle and fighting off the mosquitos. I set the pot on the stove, poured the water in, turned on the fuel and pressed the auto-light.

Bingo. Everything worked and coffee was on its way. Oh, but what's that burning plastic smell? Crap! Someone (me) left the lower plastic protector/plate on the pot. The flame melted the lower plastic cover proto and all this black goo went down into the burner system so now just half the burner is 'efficient'. Don't know if those pieces are available from Jet-Boil, but they should be as this design isn't fully idiot proof.

Otherwise - it's excellent.

Quick, compact and easy to use.

I took the jetboil on its first outing this weekend and it performed very well. Its amazing how fast you can bring the water to a boil.

Easy setup, a little tipsy though, I made sure the kids stayed well away from it, but overall excellent purchase.

This system is good. A little confusing to set up, but once you get it down, you will be good to go. I use it every time I go camping from now on. It is nice and easy to pack up and take with.

SO this thing completely rocks. I have made elaborate 3 course meals in the Outback and impressed all my diners. It even works nice at a low temp to saute.

I have the coffee press part and I make coffee on long road trips in places like Central Indiana where I can say after 6pm and before that in most places you can't find yourself a decent cup of coffee to save the life of a minimalist rat. Although likely not recommended fire it up in the passenger seat...you got french pressed coffee in no time. Like a 5 dollar cup of coffee.

I use nothing else and would yell at people who do.

Just a quick follow up to my earlier review. I agree with another reviewer who said it'd be nice to have some sort of pour spout; it tends to dribble down the sides when pouring.
Also, it is really easy to forget the plastic covering on the bottom of the pot that protects the heat ring. I melted the plastic once, and even after that almost forgot two more times. Just beware, otherwise this thing is great and after more use I really can see the speed advantage.

I pretty much don't like backpacking, but have gotten car camping to an art. I'm all about the base camp for mountain biking/hiking/climbing/whatever. Anyway, this thing is pretty sweet - love the easy click start and the flame is contained and not really a flame. Seems to cook pretty fast, although not blindingly faster than a normal stove. I'm sure the real difference is in windy environments, etc. But yeah - great little stove when you don't want to break out the full-on double burner, etc.

This is one of the best things you can buy! You can cook anything in it you can cook in a normal pot at home! It is great to cook soup on the slopes so you do not have to pay $10.00 for a cup of soup at the resort, really good for cooking larger amounts of food for a few people in camp. Easy clean up and boil time is amazing! I do not know how I would continue my life with out this!
Jetboil for life!

Works well with the Jetboil cooking system. It doesn't pull from the bottom of the canister though. We were able to make dinner at night and pancakes the next morning, but after that the fuel was pretty much gone.

We forgot eating utensils, but that's okay. This meal is so thick you can eat it with fingers. Not a favorite of ours.