I am an advocate of cannister stoves. However, lately I have been experimenting with Esbit because it is nice and light and easy to transport. I have a Vargo alcohol stove which is not a very good alcohol stove but it is made to be flipped over to burn Esbit. Today I took a light stainless steel pot (one with a copper bottom) which measures 5" diameter and about 3" deep. Burning Esbit on my Vargo and (with a heat shield in place) it took 3 Esbit tablets to bring 3 cups of water to a boil. I then tried just 1 cup of water and that took 2 tablets to bring to a boil. I pay about $7.50 for a package of 20 Esbit tablets (including tax).

It doesn’t seem very economical to me although it works fine with a little bit of patience. I don’t really need to bring the water to a boil I suppose, but even at that I am likely to go though a lot Esbit during an overnight hike. Bear in mind too that where I hike the water is very cold and so it does take a lot of energy to heat up. Am I missing something here? Perhaps I am doing something wrong? Maybe I should forget it and stick to my cannister stove? Back to the drawing board I guess.

Howie