Esbit vs canister

[zelph]

Actual 212°F? Excellent!

Photo of your cone... or is that still in the skunkworks?

Yes, 212°F
See the cone in the video. The tri leg pot support does not fit under cones that are smaller in diameter. I'll have some kits available by this weekend.

[Scrambler35]

Everyone here seems to be forgetting that this is a forum for ultralight hikers...So as far as cooking stoves go, it has to the Esbit EVERY time.
The Esbit weighs half as much as the lightest Gas stove (The BRS3000Ti) and 8 solid fuel tablets (Potentially 8 meals) (I use Strider tablets which are round, rather than rectangular), stored in an airtight Berocca tube, weigh 72g (2.5oz), compared to 200g (7oz) for the smallest, lightest gas canister...There is simply no competition!
Yes, gas is quicker at boiling water, but it works out a LOT heavier so I would rather spend a little more time cooking and carry a lot less weight!

[cmoulder]

Everyone here seems to be forgetting that this is a forum for ultralight hikers...So as far as cooking stoves go, it has to the Esbit EVERY time.
The Esbit weighs half as much as the lightest Gas stove (The BRS3000Ti) and 8 solid fuel tablets (Potentially 8 meals) (I use Strider tablets which are round, rather than rectangular), stored in an airtight Berocca tube, weigh 72g (2.5oz), compared to 200g (7oz) for the smallest, lightest gas canister...There is simply no competition!
Yes, gas is quicker at boiling water, but it works out a LOT heavier so I would rather spend a little more time cooking and carry a lot less weight!

I'm all-in UL, and an Esbit fan, and I'm not forgetting anything. However there are times when Esbit is not practical. In the winter when all water is obtained by melting snow, canister is preferred. And on a long thru hike where Esbit is not available at convenience or grocery stores, alcohol (Heet) is preferred. And local fire regulations, etc.

[Starchild]

This is a long old thread, and I may have spoke my piece but shortly for a thru esbit is heavier as you end up carrying far too much because of undependable resupply. Canisters last a long time and resupply is easy if not free in hiker boxes.

[TMathers]

I do like experimenting with different cooking options but think that with the canister stoves on the market today and the readiness of available canister fuel on the trail I would go with a canister stove.

[zelph]

I'm all-in UL, and an Esbit fan, and I'm not forgetting anything. However there are times when Esbit is not practical. In the winter when all water is obtained by melting snow, canister is preferred. And on a long thru hike where Esbit is not available at convenience or grocery stores, alcohol (Heet) is preferred. And local fire regulations, etc.

In the winter, water has to be placed in the pot first before putting in the snow to prevent scorching, we all know that, so why not use esbit? Why not place 4 esbit cubes inside a tray and melt the snow in the same manner as a canister stove?

[Venchka]

I doubt very seriously that you can find anyplace in Colorado right now that will allow Esbit or alcohol burning stoves.
In fact, I was initially told earlier this week that my JetBoil SOL was not allowed in Mesa Verde NP by the lady who checked us in at the campground. She did suggest that I check with a Ranger. I did just that and he said that we would be fine with the JetBoil.
Mid week there was an active fire in Mesa Verde. I hope that everyone is safe.
Wayne

[cmoulder]

In the winter, water has to be placed in the pot first before putting in the snow to prevent scorching, we all know that, so why not use esbit? Why not place 4 esbit cubes inside a tray and melt the snow in the same manner as a canister stove?

To me it's just too impractical and slow. With canister, it's def easier to start with some 'starter water' however you can start without water in the pot but you gotta 'sneak' up on it... get the pot warm (not hot) first and melt a little bit so that it doesn't sublimate straight to vapor. However, if it takes 4x 14g cubes to make a quart of water, that is also very expensive — about $2.50 to make 4 cups of water! (I don't know precisely how much Esbit it takes because I've never done it.)

[Miner]

As to what is better, Esbit, alcohol, or canister stoves, it depends on the trip. In recent years, I mainly go stoveless, but when obtaining perishable foods is hard, I break out a stove. Given that I only rehydrate a single meal a day with no hot drinks, my fuel needs are minimal.

For my recent multi-week hikes, I went Esbit, mainly because I was relying on burried food caches, food left in bear lockers at trailheads, or mailed to a remote location. I could put in just enough Esbit tablets that I needed for that 4-6 day section with no extra, it wouldn't leak, amount of space was tiny, weighed almost nothing, and I didn't need to worry about disposing empty canisters. Canisters require carrying way too much extra fuel plus the empty canister weight. Plus near the end of the canister's life, you either have to carry a second one, or dump the first one before its empty which causing it to loose some of it's economical advantages over Esbit. And while alcohol can be measured exactly, it can leak when stored in a non-original sealed bottle for weeks and is difficult to mail.

That said, on hike where you are buying as you go, Esbit is difficult to obtain without mailing it to yourself, so its alcohol or canisters. I still find alcohol/heet easier to obtain than canister stoves in small towns. So I do favor alcohol except when fire restrictions rule it out.

As for safety, I find Esbit the safest stove type. Esbit's are sensitive to wind which is why they need a really good wind screen to use effectively. I can blow a burninng esbit cube out about as quick as it takes to turn a cannister stove off. It doesn't spill burning liquid if kicked over, but will continue to burn the same as it did before. A cannister stove kicked over will tend to flair up and I've seen flames shoot out the base of the stove when an o-ring failed. Cannister stove systems tend to be top heavy when a pot is set on them, so they are more likely to fall over. That said, not all alcohol stoves are the same either. There are some designs much more safe than others. Non pressurized ones with the flame out the center of the top can be snuffed out easily. Some designs don't spill out any liquid if turned over as they have an absorbent material inside so they don't spill out the alcohol (see Zelph's starlyte stoves as an example). The use of a caldera cone keeps the flame much better contained than many canister stove systems that aren't jetboils. So its seldom an apples to apples comparison between stove types. But rules are often written for the lowest common denominator and there is often some ignorance of everything that is available by the ones having to craft the rules.

[MuddyWaters]

Esbit has no practical use , when compared with other options.

Its messy, hard to light, hard to find


People use it for sul experiment short trips to say "i did overnight with 4 lb gear", or a emergency backup in cook kit, mostly

And it makes your pack smell like it.

I been using mine for couple years to light my charcoal for grill to get rid of it. And the cheap weber cubes work better for that too. Light easier, burn better.

[cmoulder]

I've been using esbit this year for every trip and for me the smell/mess are so minimal that it barely causes a blip on my annoy-ometer. FAR cleaner and FAR less smelly than wood. But that's for shorter trips... anything requiring resupply, unless cached, and I'm using alcohol.

[Deacon]

I've been using esbit this year for every trip and for me the smell/mess are so minimal that it barely causes a blip on my annoy-ometer. FAR cleaner and FAR less smelly than wood. But that's for shorter trips... anything requiring resupply, unless cached, and I'm using alcohol.

Yeah, Esbit is all I ever use. It’s measured perfectly in those half ounce cubes, and because they’re individually wrapped, they just don’t smell that bad. Not only that, they’re quiet burning. Can’t stand the roar of a canister.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Miner]

Esbit has no practical use , when compared with other options.
Its messy, hard to light, hard to find
People use it for sul experiment short trips to say "i did overnight with 4 lb gear", or a emergency backup in cook kit, mostly
And it makes your pack smell like it...

If you want to know how to invest, do you ask the guy who lost his shirt or Warren Buffet? Just because it isn't practical in your typical use or you couldn't make it work for you, doesn't mean others will have the same experience. You should have prefaced your comments that for your typical use, it isn't practical. My post immediately before yours shows some situations were I found it very practical and when I don't so I obviously disagree with such a blanket statement.

For long trips like an AT thru-hike where I'm often buying a resupply in a small town, then I totally agree with you that it isn't practical. But I don't just use it for short trips like you imply. I used it last year on the JMT and the 410mile Condor Trail the year before where my resupply choices (or in some cases my only possible choice) made it most practical option. For short trips, I don't even bother with a stove and typically just buy a bag of fast food hamburgers or burritos on the drive to the trailhead and throw it in my pack. And 2 days later, it still tastes better than the typical backpacking food.

And like most things, if there is a will, a way will be found. If you put a large drop of alcohol hand sanitizer on the edge of the cube, Esbit can be very easy to light since the alcohol immediately lights and it helps get the esbit burning. It's no different than people using a charcoal grill and squeezing a little lighter fluid on it to make it easy to light. For those that don't use hand sanitizer this method doesn't help, but given most hikers carry it... And there are other methods of lighting Esbit easier, but I only mentioned what I normally do.

My pack doesn't smell like esbit. I never notice the Esbit smell at all except when cooking. I do use a small ziplock bag to store the esbit and the tiny esbit stove. Not so much to avoid the smell but due to storing them in my pot I don't want any residue in my food. Pushing hard while rotating the bottom of the pot on sandy soil or vegetation cleans off the loose residue from the pot after cooking. My pot is stored in a small stuff sack made with either silnylon or cuben fiber (which weight almost nothing <1/3 oz), keeps any remaining residue on the pot from getting on anything else until I get home and can give it a good cleaning.

[Scrambler35]

Esbit has no practical use , when compared with other options.

Its messy, hard to light, hard to find

Esbit are not the only company making and selling solid fuel tablets...I use Strider tablets, which are round rather than rectangular. They are cheaper than Esbit tablets but must work better, because they hardly make any smell when burning and they are easy to light...I get around 8 minutes of burn out of one Strider tablet...One isn't always enough to boil a cup of water in my 450ml pot, so I sometimes use two at the same time.

[QUOTE=MuddyWaters;2219244]

People use it for sul experiment short trips to say "i did overnight with 4 lb gear", or a emergency backup in cook kit, mostly

And it makes your pack smell like it.

Only if you don't store them properly...I use empty Berocca tubes to store my Strider tablets, which are airtight, so no smell! I get 8 tablets in each tube.

I been using mine for couple years to light my charcoal for grill to get rid of it. And the cheap weber cubes work better for that too. Light easier, burn better.

Sounds like the Weber tablets might be the same as the Strider tablets, but under a different brand name?
Apparently there aren't that many factories in the world making Hexamine solid fuel tablets so it's possible the same tablets get re-branded for different markets.
And they needn't be messy either...Wipe a very thin layer of washing up liquid on the bottom of your pots before putting them on your Esbit stove, and the soot will wipe off easily afterwards with a damp piece of kitchen paper, leaving the bottoms clean again.
The first time I tried this, I used an empty 50ml handwash bottle to hold the washing up liquid and ended up with it all over the place!
By the next time I went to use the stove I had found a totally mess free solution...I use a large cotton ball, dipped in a little washing up liquid, and I store it in a tiny 40ml (1.4 fl/oz) watertight "sauce pot", with the dipped side down so you can pick the cotton ball up by the clean side.

[zelph]

My pack doesn't smell like esbit. I never notice the Esbit smell at all except when cooking. I do use a small ziplock bag to store the esbit and the tiny esbit stove. Not so much to avoid the smell but due to storing them in my pot I don't want any residue in my food.

If you remove them from their original plastic/foil package and let them sit in the open air over night, they will off-gas that stinky smell. Repackage in zip-locs. Is that what you do?

[Miner]

If you remove them from their original plastic/foil package and let them sit in the open air over night, they will off-gas that stinky smell. Repackage in zip-locs. Is that what you do?

I carry the unused esbit cubes in their original packaging inside a sandwich sized ziploc. However, when I use one of them, most of the time I score it with a line on front and back and break it into roughly half by applying pressure on part of the line with a thin object. I then burn one of the halves to boil my water and then put the other unused half back into what is left of the original packaging so any esbit crumbs stay together (bending whats left of the foil back into place) and put that back into the sandwich ziplock that the unused ones are in and seal it shut after trying to remove most of the air. After scrapping out any esbit ash left, I put my esbit stove into another similar ziploc and seal it so any esbit residue on it doesn't get inside my pot. I take my pot and push it hard into the ground on sandy soil or thick vegetation and rotate it vigorously to remove the loose black residue off my pot's bottom. I toss everything (esbit cubes, lighter, stove, wind screen) inside my pot whose lid has 2 small holes (not that the lid stays completely on when it's packed up given it's not the original lid but instead a Ruta Locura carbon fiber one that is only sized to rest on top with a bit of slop). I put the pot into a small cuben fiber stuff sack with similar dimensions to the pot with the lid side facing the hole of the top of the stuff sack. I toss that into the top 30% of my pack somewhere where it seems to fit sometimes upgright and other times sideways. Never notice an esbit smell when packing or unpacking things, only when actually using the esbit which only get taken out of the ziploc when I'm ready to cook with it.

And I'm looking forward to my new 550ml cook set I ordered from you yesterday. I was too quick on the trigger when you announced the size was back in stock and didn't know about the BPL freebies until after I ordered since that post came later.

[Venchka]

Hypothetically speaking:
How many cups of water will 9 grams of Esbit / Equivalent solid fuel boil?
Wayne

[cmoulder]

Hypothetically speaking:
How many cups of water will 9 grams of Esbit / Equivalent solid fuel boil?
Wayne

Can vary wildly depending on conditions, starting temps, etc, but this time of the year I regularly boil 2 cups with that amount. Starting with colder water, say 40°F, and similar ambient temp, will likely require a full 14g tab IME.

Subjective observation: My setup actually seems more fuel efficient if I leave a good bit of soot/residue on the pot. So I give it a little swipe now and then to remove the major chunks and leave the rest. Life just gets easier and easier.

[zelph]

Hypothetically speaking:
How many cups of water will 9 grams of Esbit / Equivalent solid fuel boil?
Wayne

As far as I know, there is no equivalent solid fuel that is equal to esbit.

3, four gram esbit will boil 2 cups of water.

[zelph]

And I'm looking forward to my new 550ml cook set I ordered from you yesterday. I was too quick on the trigger when you announced the size was back in stock and didn't know about the BPL freebies until after I ordered since that post came later.

I'm glad you found the sale going on over at backpackinglight.com. I'll include the freebies. :-)

Which state are you located in to help me find your order?