ESBIT opinions?

I'm pretty much an alcohol stove guy but I thought I'd experiment a little so this past weekend my daughter and I used ESBIT tabs with my Heinekin pot. I used something similar when I was a kid and remembered that it left a residue that I didn't like.

I had to laugh when I opened the package because I've heard people say ESBIT tabs smell like fish and they are absolutely right! I think if I'm going to use these I'll have to make sure and carry a ziplock for the left over packaging to keep the smell away. I wonder if it attracts critters?

The residue is much less than I remember from 30 years ago. Just a tiny waxy blob where the tab had been. The bottom of the pot got some smut on it that came off pretty easily. The size was just about right for the amount of water I needed to boil.

All in all I liked it better than I expected. I like the fact that the "fuss factor" was so small, just light and sit back. The cost is more than alcohol but there is no concern about measuring or spilling. And it removes the concern about accidentally crushing your can stove.

But those are my thoughts after one outing. Anyone want to weigh in on downsides or upsides I haven't thought about?

Stinky stuff, even the empty tabs. Baggies don't work. Residue is wiped off on dried grass or sand. Needs protection from the wind to heat water I noticed.

For UL applications, Esbit is my fuel of choice next to little sticks and twigs. The smell never bothered me and it's more efficient than alcohol. Soot is soot and rubs off in the grass, so no big deal. I'd rather carry a dozen Esbit tabs (each can be broken into forths) than liquid fuel.
I've got a handful of alky stoves, including on of my own design, but I rarely use them.

If you plan ahead with simple boil meals, esbit is my fuel of choice. On shorter-distance thru-hikes (100-500 miles) where I'm resupplying by mail drop, or on short-distance hikes where I'm carrying all my food at the start, it's my favorite fuel.

On trips where I want to do some real cooking or on long trips where I resupply off the local economy, I prefer a cannister stove since I can get more heat and more reliable fuel time.

I could write an entire essay on why I love esbit...oh wait I have. And I could give the technical pros and cons, and the technical jargon of esbit vs alcy but the bottom line comes down to this. I love it, I like the smell because it relaxes me and lets me know I am out in the woods, it also says to me ,dinner/breakfast, tea/coffee is about to be served...see look I am allready starting to go at it again. I just love esbit, end of discussion.

I love my esbit wing stove. The residue comes off easily if it is still warm. Smell is not anissue for me. Make sure you use a wind screen and all is good. If I only use 1/2 a tab for heating water, I just save what is left and use the rest later. My alcohol stoves and my primus multifuel never leave the closet.

I like Esbit for solo trips where all I want to do is boil water to rehydrate my meal with. So simple and quiet, can't spill it, works great. Can work for two under the same circumstances - you can burn two tabs at one and boil a quart nicely. But if you want to just heat a little more water for a cup of tea, or something like that, then it's not so great, or if you want to actually cook and have some control over the flame, no can do. So for me it beats alcohol but for some trips I like a light canister stove better so that I can have more versatility.
One last good thing about Esbit is you can mail it, even airmail, so for a thru-hiker it can be conveneient for resupply in that sense - although on the other hand it may be less available at local stores along the trail. And the no-spill factor means that I've heard of some folks taking a couple Esbit tabs as backup for theri alcohol stove in case of a catastrophic fuel spill.

I agree with Bearpaw that Esbit is used just to boil water and not for cooking. But the same can be said for alcohol stoves. I bought a Boy Scout's Esbit knock-off which only weighs 1.2 oz. I had to modify it slightly so the the distance between the stove base and the pot was the same as the Esbit Stove and the performance is now identical. I grew up cooking on an open fire so having a dirty pot doesn't bother me. I just carry it in a plastic bag and clean (outside) between trips.

I do have one question for Esbit users in bear country. Do you store your Esbit tabs in your bear can or is it safe to leave outside?

I carry Esbit tabs exclusively for all solo trips.

Like alcohol, it's a soundless fuel, which I like -- nothing ruins a quiet moment in the deep woods like the roar of a stove.

Unlike alcohol, if I clumsily kick over my stove I'm probably not going to start a forest fire. The Ouachitas and Ozarks have so much fuel in the form of leaves and twigs laying around the forest floor that's a big concern to me.

I keep my fuel in a ziplock, and that and the stove go into a small uncoated stuff sack I carry in a outside mesh pocket on my pack due to the odor. At night I put that sack in the food bag to hang.

The little bit of residue on the bottom of the pot's never been a big concern to me; I just wipe the bottom of the pot with a handful of leaves before I pack it away, first into its cozy and then into the food bag.

Hector,

I used a Vargo Triad alcohol stove base (W/O the alcohol can) to cook W/ FireLite/ESBIT tabs on a 5 day Grand Canyon trip. I used 2 tabs at a time for faster boiling times.

Often I didn't use all the tabs in the stove base & blew them out, leaving them stuck to the stove & put everything in a ZipLoc bag. Next meal all I had to do was add just one new tab and I had plenty of heat & cook time. This worked even for cooking spaghetti noodles.

No more alcohol stoves for me.

Eric

I still use the stock Esbit stove with a couple of "ears" that go across the wide part to block wind. I only use one tab; if I see I need a bit more heat or longer burn, I drop a thin twig or few in through the small remaining crack between pot and ear. For the most part, though, an Esbit tab will just boil an MSR Ti Kettle 3/4 full of water, which is all I need for a freezer bag of Ramen and some tea.

maybe save a little cash. .50 can be kinda steep when planning for thru hikes but its not that bad.

Goose,

I bought FireLite in bulk from BPL's online store. I prefer FireLite B/C it seems to heat my water faster than ESBIT.

As of now I am using the last of my ESBIT to heat my dayhike lunches while others munch on cold food.

But, in any case, I am now a confirmed fuel tablet user and will not be using my alcohol stove(s) again. Tabs are hotter, more convenient and even safer than alcohol. They just lack teh pretty blue flames of alcohol.

Eric
P.S As stated in other threads I'm waiting for an enclosed, self-pressurizing stove fueled by "de-tuned solid rocket fuel" to come along. Some "Gyro Gearloose" folks out there need to begin tinkering on that idea.

Of dourse MSR is still working out the bugs on a Diesel/JP4 fueled "cappillary stove" for the U.S. military. Could we stand the smell?

“I used a Vargo Triad alcohol stove base… No more alcohol stoves for me.”

I don’t blame you. That brand has a high fiddle factor to it.

And if you’re using 2 (maybe 1.5) tablets per meal (i.e., 3/4 oz), I don’t see any money, weight, or cleanliness savings over alcohol <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />.

I was an esbit user and converted to alcohol. But everyone should try it to see what they think.

-Barry

I love my Esbit stove . No fuss heat what more could you ask for. i use with a full wrap around windscreen that comes up to the handle of pot and sits rufly 1\2-3/4" off of pot walls.I use A snowpeak Trek 900 cookset Material: Titanium Includes: 30oz Pot, 5"diam x 1-1/2" Pan,Weight: 6.2 oz That usually willbring to a rolling boil 20 oz of watter in 8 min. it will bring 25oz to a boil but usually not the feirce rolling boil i like to see because i usually do not filter my cooking watter with more than a screen cut to fit the top of my nalgean bottle. i found that by breaking esbit in 1/4's and adding via leatherman needlenose i can almost simmer well but requires an anglers pateince. I have used the 1/4's to fry fish in the fry lid with great success.

ps: for pepole worried about how the esbit smells. It probly smells no worse than you after a 8 hour hike . i dont even notice the smell anymore and its never botherd anyone ive hiked with before .Infact its converted a few sceptics into carrying thease little marvels .

Can anyone tell me if Esbit is available in Canada? I have never seen it here. I look for it in Walmart all the time, but to no avail. Perhaps it is available under a different name?

Howie

I/ve got no clue about Canada, but you can order it from campmor.com.

If you don't find Esbit, I think these http://www.coghlans.com/catalogue/productList.php?catID=5 will be available, as well as other hexamine or meta or whatever-it's-called tablets

I've never found esbit in canada - and the hexamine things are different stuff I think.

I certainly have used a "Tommy Cooker" - the folding hexamine tablet stove. Frankly, given that choice I prefer an alky stove.

Esbit is only available around here in camping/outdoor specialty stores like REI (25 miles north of me), so I stock up, IF they have it. Otherwise its mail order. Army/Navy stores sell trioxane bars still and I'll use those in a pinch. Since MRE's heat themselves, trioxane is going away most likely.
Is trioxane available in Canada?

Esbit is hexamine.

The difference between Esbit and other brands could be the density which could affect burn rate. I've seen an older hexamine tablet that also had paraffins added but the modern generic hexamine should be pure garden variety hexamine.

So far I've read a lot about Esbit and agree about sticking with Alcy stoves. My last outing was totaly Alcy. A little in the stove and a little in me. (two seperate types) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've seen triox on occasion in milsurp stores, but usually the US variety. Dunno if the CF ever used it. The Canadian version of an MRE also has the self heating pack in it.

Yeah, I see that now - although my recollection of the tommy cooker tablets was that they were square and didn't smell fishy at all - they did have a bit of a waxy feel to them.

Thing Is the one I used was British/Canadian milsurp - I haven't seen a source for the
tablets anywhere. Knowing that it is the old tommy cooker stuff though you could probably find them somewhere here - I just haven't seen them in my usual haunts.

If I see them somewhere I'll let y'all know.

Ok, After cluing in to the old tommy cooker fuel, and that esbit is actually hexamine,
I took a trip to Campers Village in edmonton - Sure enough, I found it - twice - although
not called esbit.

The Coghlans "emergency stove" that looks like a tommy cooker doesn't seem to contain
esbits - it has little round fuel pellets that don't appear to smell right. I didn't try it.

I did actually find it in the aisles I don't usually go to - the car camping crap <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> There was some both with the fire starting stuff, and with the car camping goo - Both were 12 tablets
for $7.98 CDN

Type one was fuel for a car camping type "frypan" rig..


which contained three blister cards of fishy smelling hexamine tabs:


Type two - found in the firestarting-for-complete-idiots-who-can't-do-it-right-or-just-use-kerosene aisle:




If I had to guess both tablets came from the same chinese factory.

So I popped one out, put it on my penny stove base, and put the pot on the stand on my
patio table - relisticly, it started to rain. I managed a 2 cup boil in the pot, and then blew out
the tablet - it looks like it took about 2/3 of a tablet to boil with steam coming out the lid.
This is what was left:



So the long and short of it - is that you can find it, but it ain't called esbit

I can't say if it is. But beware of the Cohlgans brand or Stand Sport brand they are significantly less in heat output and burn time the genuine ESBIT. You want what is produced by AGS Labs or equvialnt. MPI used to distribute esbit but I can no longer find it on there website, and that is about the same time the AGS came into the scene...hmmmmmmmm what a ko-winky-dink. As per Phat's post on the second option in the orange box, it looks just like my "american bought esbit" but it is not made in china. The only true Esbit comes from the orignator of it and that is Germany (also pervayers of the finest cars) ...So look for the "made in germany" logo. Mine also says solid fuel tabs as well. Down here it can be found in most outdoor stores and also any miltary surplus store. Hope this helps


PS I found the MPI Website

Phat,

I think the fact that you can't find ESBIT in Canada is a conspiracy of the left wing parties. Eh?

As I said before, in my experience I found BPL's FireLite fuel tabs to work just a bit than my ESBIT tabs. So I bought a carton of FireLite tabs from BPL.

I should have enought for a month's fuel if the Yellowstone super volcano goes and buries Las Vegas in 3 ft. of ash. (The price of gas and global warming will be moot if that happens so stock up on them thar fuel tabs and lots of booze - for our alcohol stoves and medicinal purposes, of course.)

Eric

"Even paraoids have enemies."

Judging by last time I was in Vegas, there's nothing to worry about there - even if the volcano blows
and dumps ash at a record rate - the "Hot Babes" billboard trucks (Hot Babes that want to meet YOU!) driving up and down the strip will pass by so frequently that the road will stay clear.

So Howie - find anything like that in BC? or ya need me to send ya some canada post?

mugs, that orange box was from mpi outdoors - www.mpioutdoors.com is on the back of it - but
yes the tablets are chinese made. Ditto the flashpan ones - (they list www.flashpan.ca as as web site).

given the ingredients list I suspect they're the same.. It certainly seemed to behave exactly like the few times I've used (US bought) esbits. note my 2/3 tablet boil was bloody cold water in a driving thunderstorm on an exposed table <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

"So Howie - find anything like that in BC? or ya need me to send ya some canada post? "

Thanks for the offer. Canadian Tire sells some stuff in cans but I don't know how well it works. I like my butane stove. It is fast and convenient. It is just that I am always open to new or different ideas. Alcohol stoves might be a great option too, but I am a bit to impatient. They might be too slow for a guy like me.

Howie

Well, if you wanna try it, the postage should be cheep. pm me your address and I'll mail you a thing of 'em. let's see.. I'll trade you an 8 dollar pack of 12 mpi outdoors esbit thingers for.... A bottle of a kind of microbrewed beer I can't get in Alberta. Spend less than 8 bucks on it because the bottle of beer will cost more in postage <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

phat: I don't know how to pm you. Perhaps you can send me an email?

sweepeez@shaw.ca

Thanks.

Howie