Solid fuel stove...

[jbrown]

After experimenting with various alcohol fuel stoves, I have not found a design that I am totally sold on.

I have decided to make an "Esbit" stove using plans from Thru-Hiker.com.

Has anyone used the solid fuel tablets? How do they perform in comparison to other stoves? i.e. boil time, performance in cold/windy weather...

Also, I live in Syracuse, does anyone know where I can get Esbit tablets within a 20 mile radius?

Thanks!

Josh

 

[Rick]

Josh -
I have used the Esbit stoves for about 4 years now, trading on and off with my Pepsi Can Stoves (Or somtimes flipping my pepsi can stove over and place the Esbit tabs on a tiny "Grill" to cook.

I really like them - They are highly favored by many thruhikers. Some folks snuff them out if they are making just 1 cup of coffee in the AM, after their water boils, to conserve them for the next morning.

Usually I make 2-3 cups of water in the AM with 1 tab and keep my water hot in a pot cozy for 2 cups of coffee (Or else I make oone big insluated mug).

For Dinner I use one tab- Boil my water and dump my food in (Rice, noodles or whatever) place the pot in the cozy and let it "cook" or rehydrate in it's own heat.

The tabs are foolproof and are great if you are flying anywhere. Avoid any other tab, many others leave residue, smell and don't offer the heat output as Esbit does.

Cheapest place to get them is www.southsummit.com $4.95 for package of 12 . Campmor is the next cheapest $5.99. Keep in mind - Shipping is going to be around 6 bucks, so buy in bulk or wait until you have another order.

I use to have a sliding scale on shipping cost versus number of tabs I think it was 12 boxes of Esbits (144 tabs) offered the lowest common denominator in price per tab (Great if you are thru-hiking the AT), when I was stocking up for my AT hikes, but that is probably a little much for your needs.

Check out backpackinglight@yahoo groups - There are always a number of ongoing Esbit discussions

Cheers

 

[ripple]

I love my esbit wing stove. They are great if you are just heating water, cooking over them is really not an option. A few things that I have noticed, a wind screen is a must, the fuel blocks take a little bit to light, a little gummy residue is left on the pot and the fuel blocks stink like fish. The blocks will burn generally for 15 minutes, in that time I get 2 cups to boil. It takes the full 15 minutes to get the water to boil. The esbit is my stove of choice for 3 season use. The stove weighs 1 ounce and each block weighs in at 0.5 ounces. I don't use the esbit stove in the winter but the stove and 2 blocks come on winter trips as a back up. Campmor sells the fuel blocks .

 

[jbrown]

Thanks for the help, Rick and ripple, I appreciate it!

 

[LarryB]

Rick & Ripple summed it up well. I don't use mine in the winter either - I just don't trust the amount of heat output vs a cold day in the Whites.

I use military surplus Trioxane bars - I think it's the same as the esbit bar. $5 for 36 bars at actiongear.com