Previous :: Next Topic |
Author |
Message |
Carla Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2015 Posts: 10 | TRs | Pics Location: Tukwila |
|
Carla
Member
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 8:52 am
|
|
|
Hi everybody!
Has anybody here used an Esbit and what do you think about them? They are so light and I like the fuel cube idea. Lookin' to lighten up my load...
Any thoughts are appreciated!
|
Back to top |
|
|
Schenk Off Leash Man
Joined: 16 Apr 2012 Posts: 2372 | TRs | Pics Location: Traveling, with the bear, to the other side of the Mountain |
|
Schenk
Off Leash Man
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:09 am
|
|
|
Slooooooooow...better figure on just making tea.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
|
Randito
Snarky Member
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:09 am
|
|
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
DigitalJanitor Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012 Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
|
Real slow, dirty, but flexible because you can always stuff little twigs, pine cones, etc. in there.
I carry a small Esbit kit with me when skiing in the winter. Reasoning: Starting a fire in an emergency when everything is wet/snowed under is an ordeal, and that's when one would benefit most from melting snow and taking in hot liquid. I figure I could get things started w/ a tab and then rummage under/in trees for whatever dry-ish wood I could find for more fuel to keep things going if I had to stick it out overnight. I have a pile of tablets with the kit though on the horrible chance that I busted a leg or something and couldn't really move much farther.
Most of the time the Esbit kit lives in my truck. Nice to have 'just in case' and nothing to break or leak or otherwise go haywire between 100°, -15°, getting rattled all over, etc.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Carla Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2015 Posts: 10 | TRs | Pics Location: Tukwila |
|
Carla
Member
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 10:15 am
|
|
|
Thanks for the responses and thanks for the link, RandyHiker! The alcohol stoves make me nervous 'cuz I'm clumsy as hell in camp, but they do look lightweight and cool.
I don't mind that Esbits are slow, and won't need much output. Are they easy to light? I also like that you can plan on the number of cubes you will need for a trip. That means I won't be carrying fuel for no reason. The oily residue doesn't sound fun though.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
|
Randito
Snarky Member
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 10:42 am
|
|
|
Typically 1 Esbit tablet will heat 1 pint of water to something like boiling -- or at least hot enough to make coffee or rehydrate freeze dried food. Wind or cold can interfere. I personally wouldn't try cooking anything more elaborate than boiling water or heating canned food.
Esbit stoves are very cheap, but the tablets themselves are somewhat expensive -- $8 for 12 tablets.
Compare that to denatured alcohol at $8 per quart (32 oz) -- with each 1oz of alcohol providing a similar amount of cooking as one tablet.
One very nice aspect of alcohol stoves is how quiet they are -- I've done a lot of cooking with white gas "roarer" burner stoves and for summer hiking the fact that alcohol takes twice as long to bring water to a boil is more than made up for by the peace and quiet.
All stoves can be intimidating at first -- I recommend trying them out at home / in the city before depending on them in the backcountry. Just do it far enough away from the house that you won't be homeless if you really screw up. A park with a picnic area and charcoal grills would be a pretty safe place to experiment with a stove for the 1st time.
Making your own alcohol stove from a cat food can is fairly basic DIY project.
http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/#Designs
|
Back to top |
|
|
DigitalJanitor Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012 Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
|
We have a MiniTattoo OH stove that is pretty rad because it is TINY, eliminates all the 'spilled/contaminated fuel' worry, doesn't have anything really to break, works stupid simple every time, and uses such minimal fuel that we can easily carry enough for quite a few days easily even when boiling water twice a day. Plus the fuel doubles as pitch remover and wound cleaner if you need it, lol.
It is slower than other stoves. Given the advantages, we'll gladly live with that.
However, the guy that makes them hasn't been available lately and they're all sold out, and we'd like to have a spare, so we're actually getting TWO similar stoves delivered by the end of the week and will be conducting experiments. One is from Tato gear and the other is from Minibull.
Stay tuned!
|
Back to top |
|
|
grannyhiker Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2006 Posts: 3519 | TRs | Pics Location: Gateway to the Columbia Gorge |
Another fuel that is generally not allowed where there are fire bans. The USDA seems fixated on stoves with on/off switches, even though the esbit cube (unlike alcohol) can be blown out
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
|
Back to top |
|
|
DigitalJanitor Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012 Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
|
Grannyhiker wrote: | ...even though the esbit cube (unlike alcohol) can be blown out |
Those stoves I referenced are very easy to blow out, and if tipped over aren't just going to drool fuel all over the place. Yet another reason why I'm sticking to my guns on this particular type of OH stove.
The Minibull has a remote open cup that IMO is a bad idea... I think they're using it to grav feed the stove. We'll use it hooked up to a plastic fuel bottle, which since it develops a vacuum as the fuel is pushed in has to be squeezed occasionally or else it will just quit quietly. I consider this a safety feature.
|
Back to top |
|
|
AlpineRose Member
Joined: 08 May 2012 Posts: 1953 | TRs | Pics
|
If you are a contemplative sort, the Esbit will be perfect for you.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
|
Randito
Snarky Member
|
Thu Aug 18, 2016 1:22 pm
|
|
|
Grannyhiker wrote: | Another fuel that is generally not allowed where there are fire bans. The USDA seems fixated on stoves with on/off switches, even though the esbit cube (unlike alcohol) can be blown out |
The current fire restriction order for Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest states:
Quote: | Persons maintaining a pressurized liquid gas stove, pressurized liquid gas fire, or an
enclosed solid fuel fire that utilizes a wick to distribute a flame are exempt from this
order |
This would seem to exclude the Esbit stoves and simple alcohol stoves.
Of course anyone that has seen a SVEA 123 priming go bad or worse yet seen a SVEA 123 blow its over pressure value knows those would be very effective ways to kindle a forest fire.
|
Back to top |
|
|
HitTheTrail Member
Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 5459 | TRs | Pics Location: 509 |
I used Esbit and beer can type alcohol stoves for several years and finally ditched them all. Esbit fuel is lite weight but sort of messy and very impacted by wind. Alcohol is a little better but is liquid fuel and almost as heavy as a canister. Now I always just carry a Snow Peak 1 lite max and some kind of titanium cup.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Snowbrushy Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics Location: South Sound |
HitTheTrail wrote: | Esbit fuel is lite weight but sort of messy |
A new company is making a non-messy Esbit cube which leaves no residue. I forget who, sorry. A lot of army's used the stove for their reasons.
Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
|
I used Esbit for a year, but switched to alcohol. Much less smelly and less black junk on the bottom of my pot. Esbit is nice if you need to mail it, say for a very long trip. That's what I used it for.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Snowbrushy Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics Location: South Sound |
My advice to the OP is to use the stove and see if you like it. Some things are very personal and defy reason for liking and loving. If you like the stove then OWN IT. In your heart. I own gear that others might laugh at but it's what I love. And that's what I tell them if they ask.
PS The new fuel doesn't smell either.
Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
|
Back to top |
|
|
|