[Carla]

Thanks everyone for all the great info and advice! Lots O stuff to digest! Snowbrushy, if you remember what company is making the new cubes please update!

[Snowbrushy]

I will share the product if I see it. Have you used the stove out in the field? I personally don't care about any residue or smell.

[wolffie]

I've used the Esbit mainly because I got a ton of fuel at a garage sale. Hard to light in wind. Handy to keep in car; make some strong black tea for the drive home. Requires a good, tight, windscreen, like any stove (with a cannister stove, you must be very careful to prevent a windscreen from heating your fuel can, or BOOM). I use a squat, broad 1 qt. teakettle. I replaced my old aluminum one with an identical dark-anodized model, and I believe the dark anodizing makes a big difference. I've been impressed by the JetBoil, but I want a cookpot that can be used on a fire in an emergency (I almost never make fires). I recently got a fire going in challenging conditions: cold, wet, wind, crappy soggy wood. Firestarter: paper egg carton cup filled with paraffin. I never thought of using these as cooking fuel. Just made some replacements with steel wool and magnesium filings in the paraffin. I'm told that duck tape makes great tinder; wrap it around your lighters, and it's always there. You need a decent knife to whittle wet sticks down to dry wood shavings for tinder & kindling). In Chickenhawk (a great read), Robert Mason describes how helicopter crews would improvise a stove with a K-ration can and jet fuel. I've read that C4 plastic explosive works well too, if you happen to have a Claymore mine to take apart. Don't try this at home, kids. Last trip, I was low on fuel, so a couple nights I did cold Mountain House (not bad!), cold cocoa, oatmeal, cold coffee. It's just like Hell. I'm going to try stoveless, with stuff like Spam packets.

[Carla]

Snowbrushy, I've never tried an Esbit before. They are so cheap that I might pick one up to try regardless of what I decide to go with long term.

[Randito]

[Snowbrushy]

[onetwolaugh]

I am a fan of Esbit stoves. I use one based on Brian Greens design made of titanium. I use a wider pot (5.5") so as to capture more of the heat and a DIY Caldera sidewinder wind screen/pot support. I boil 2 cups water with 1/2 Esbit cube, 1/4 cube for 1 cup. I also have a DIY shield/bonnet piece that drops over the top of the burning Esbit which allows me to simmer. With 1 Esbit cube (1/2 oz.) I can boil 2 cups water in about 8 minutes and then set simmer bonnet over remaining Esbit cube to slow the burn down and simmer for almost 20 min. I usually do only freezer bag dinners so 3 cubes (1.5 oz) is good for 6 meals. Pretty efficient IMHO. Also when you look at wind screens you notice that most alcohol stoves are scorched brown at the top - If its scorched that's wasted energy going to the outdoors versus your food. My wind screen is still shinny as new after many years of use. Weights- pot+lid+windscreen+stove+simmer bonnet+ground heat shield+3 days fuel is right at 6 oz. -Dale

[Carla]

[InFlight]

The Esbit and Alcohol fuels have about a third the energy density of Isobutane gas. An empty small gas fuel canister is 3 ounces. With a 3 ounce pocket rocket you have a cook system that boils water 3 times faster, can simmer, and wastes no fuel. It's also allowed during all the fire bans. In the end; you have two decide if a three ounce weight savings is worth the downsides of Esbit over a canister stove.

[Damian]

[Randito]

Useful write up: http://www.pmags.com/stove-comparison-real-world-use

[Snowbrushy]

[InFlight]

[InFlight]

A few comment on Fuel tabs. ESBIT (Hexamethylenetetramine) releases formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, carbon oxides, and nitrogen oxides when burned. Trioxane (C3H6O3) also contains formaldehyde. It has about 1/2 the energy density of ESBIT and is difficult to blow out. The US military now uses a Magnesium-Iron Powder as the heating source (AKA Flameless Ration Heater) You add water to a sealed package and it simply releases hydrogen gas. It's really the most non-toxic small heating method. Not cheap, but sold on Amazon.

[Randito]

Stoveless, non-toxic, very light, for the self-confident. http://gossamergear.com/wp/stoveless-camping-crotch-pot But what about a hot cup-o-joe?