Lighting Esbit

[twinkles]

I just completed my first ever overnight backpacking trip. I have learned a lot from this site. Only problem I had was lighting my esbit wing stove. Temperature was probably in the high twenties. I was using a bic lighter and I just couldn't keep the lighter burning long enough to get the esbit going. Well eventually I did, but not before my thumb was sore from striking the flint on the bic.

I am going to experiment with an alcohol stove next trip.

Question, are alcohol stoves as hard to light?

Is there a better lighter than a bic---that lights easier and stays lit?

[tlbj6142]

I've read that several folks do one or more of the following to help light their esbit stoves.


Scrape off a few shavings from the tablet and light those. not sure exactly how this is done.
Put a drop or two of alcohol hand cleaner on it.
Light the tablet from the bottom. Obviously the "stove design" has to allow this.
Alcohol can be just as hard to light in sub-freezing temps, but by warming the stove's body (with your lighter) prior to adding the fuel and warming the fuel bottle by placing in your jacket (arm pit?) for a few minutes you can make it work. Also, it is very important (at these temps) to insulate the stove from the ground. Place it on a bit of foil coverd pad does the trick.

[Blade]

I've had good luck lighting esbit by putting it on top of an REI storm match, then lighting the match. Lighting any tinder that you can put in contact with the tablet works pretty well (keeps heat concentrated on the tablet until it catches).

Also, I have a cheap lighter I got from the gas station that just has a button to push down on ... no thumb wheel involved. I picked this one because it is transparent and it lacks a child safety lock, which just gets in the way in the field.

I'll second the warming of alcohol stove & fuel in cold temperatures.

[Uncle Silly]

keep your lighter in your pants pocket when not in use -- the same problem that affects the alcohol fuel (cold temps) affects the fuel in the lighter. as any smoker can tell you, it'll work much better warm.

[HikeLite]

Cricket lighters are better than bic in my experience.

[the goat]

yeah, either a cricket or a djeep lighters are easier to light, but nothin lasts longer than a bic.

[SnakebiteSurvivor]

One thing I read somewhere, which does seem to make the tablet easier to light, is to scrape the corner briefly on a rock to roughen it. Hold the tablet in your hand just above the stove, light the corner, and ease it down into the stove.