Esbit vs Alcohol

[xpaeanx]

What are the pros and cons of each fuel source?

[Hikes in Rain]

Availability (alcohol is just about everywhere). Smell (esbit certainly does!). Spills (esbit wins; hard to spill a solid). Plus if you had to, you could make your own alcohol fuel (note that this might fun you afoul of law enforcement, for some reason).

[Drybones]

Availability (alcohol is just about everywhere). Smell (esbit certainly does!). Spills (esbit wins; hard to spill a solid). Plus if you had to, you could make your own alcohol fuel (note that this might fun you afoul of law enforcement, for some reason).

Agree +.....esbit is lighter, esbit is more expensive.

[SouthMark]

Esbit burns hotter. Esbit will not spill in your pack. You can see esbit flame. Esbit is easy to blow out flame. Esbit will not flare up. Costs more. Harder to find. Burns well below freezing.

[Maddog]

I carry an esbit tab as back-up...just in case! Maddog

[QiWiz]

Esbit burns hotter. Esbit will not spill in your pack. You can see esbit flame. Esbit is easy to blow out flame. Esbit will not flare up. Costs more. Harder to find. Burns well below freezing.

Yup. Esbit a bit harder to titrate to just what you need, as you can break it into quarter cubes if you are careful, but that's about as fine tuned as you can do (though you can blow out or snuff and reuse the remainder). More BTU's per fuel oz than alcohol, so on a long trip you can save a few oz. For me, in cool weather heating 3 cups in AM and 4 cups in PM for hot breakfasts and dinners, I can do this with just 2 Esbit cubes (1 oz per day) or 1.5 oz alcohol, so I save a half-ounce every day. On a 10-day trip, that's 5 BIG ounces. ; )

[xpaeanx]

Thanks for all the replys. I was torn between whether I wanted to go with Esbit or Alcohol for my stove. Based on the replys it seems Esbit wins on all points except availability and price. I will mainly be doing 1-2 nights so availability isn't that important to me. And I don't go *that* often, so price shouldn't be too bad either.

I guess we have a winner then.

[SouthMark]

Esbit is perfect for 1-2 night trips. And FYI, the more efficient your setup the less soot on your pot. While your pot is still warm just swirl the bottom in the soil.

[daddytwosticks]

I love the smell of Esbit in the morning...

[SouthMark]

I love the smell of Esbit in the morning...

LOL. Ditto...

[10-K]

Esbit was my last stop on the way to stoveless. Hard to beat it IMO. Scrub the bottom of your pan in some sandy soil when it gunks up and you're good.

BTW, another plus is that you don't need a container to carry it unless you consider a ziplock a container. When you burn it, it's gone. Canisters - you have to carry the can no matter how much is in it. Same with an alcohol bottle. The container weight is constant, regardless of how much fuel you have.

[zelph]

I couldn't get used to the smell of Esbit. I recently purchased some Coughlan's fuel tablets. Sad to say they smell just like esbit

I was able to isolate the smell by putting them in small plastic containers that have really tight fitting lids. 4 tablets per container. There are 12 tablets per package of Coughlans. I could not find the tablets locally and had to get some on the internet. Same thing with Esbit, hard to find locally. Plastic containers were purchased on ebay. Some folks say your local pharmacy has medication containers that work well for storage.

Does anyone use Caughlans solid fuel?

[rocketsocks]

Esbit to me smells like rotting insulation

[levibarry]

I like esbit tablets other than the smell. I just found
fuel tablets that are new to me "Bleuet Solid Fuel Tablets".
Saw them at local outfitter store here in Portland, Oregon.
I can smell Esbits through the package but these I couldn't.
They have them on Amazon.

Levibarry

[SouthMark]

I guess that I am fortunate that I have a weak smeller. While I can smell Esbit, the odor does not bother me.

[xpaeanx]

Wow, does it really smell that bad? I have been blessed in life with a very bad sense of smell, but I do still have one. LOL. I've never used Esbit before. Not wanting to carry canisters, new stove comes set up for alcohol but I can buy a holder to switch it to Esbit.

Maybe I'll buy a small pack of Esbit and light one to see how it smells before I commit to buying the holder.

[daddytwosticks]

I carry my entire Esbit stuff in a small Countrytime plastic lemonaide container. The type that holds the individual tubs of powdered lemomaide mix. It will hold my foil windscreen, ti-triwing tab holder (stove), lighter, and 5 or 6 Esbit tabs (in their original wrappers). The container keeps all these items together and from being crushed and seals in any Esbit odor.

[zelph]

Wow, does it really smell that bad? I have been blessed in life with a very bad sense of smell, but I do still have one. LOL. I've never used Esbit before. Not wanting to carry canisters, new stove comes set up for alcohol but I can buy a holder to switch it to Esbit.

Maybe I'll buy a small pack of Esbit and light one to see how it smells before I commit to buying the holder.

They smell bad before they are lit and the smell is disgusting if you blow them out and have the smoke come up into your face. Lots of people say they snuff them out and save the remains for the next meal use. The remains are very hard for me to relight. The smell can creep into your pack when least expected. Take all precautions to isolate the fuel in your pack. If you have a weak sniffer, no problem.

[daddytwosticks]

Esbit odor smells better than most stanky hikers I've met. Me included.

[TOW]

What are the pros and cons of each fuel source?

alcohol is cleaner and cheaper