View Full Version : Stratus/Zip Stove and Esbitt Tabs?
SunnyWalker
02-03-2008, 01:52
A question for those who carry one of the wood burning stoves: might a good combination here be to carry some Esbitt tablets for those nights when it is wet or hard to start a fire? I wonder if the Esbitt Tab would create a temperature to hot for the Stratus or Zip to tolerate?
:sun
fiddlehead
02-03-2008, 04:00
Sounds like a good idea to me. I never had a problem starting a fire but then i was in the boy scouts.
Like someone posted earlier, if it's wet out, look for the good stuff before you get to camp (inside hollow logs, under logs, dry sticks that you can carry ) and once you get a fire going, it's easy to keep it going. especially with the charcoal from the fireplace if you are near one.
but sure, take a few esbit tabs along. a half might be good for morning coffee if you are lazy that day.
When I hiked with a zip, I'd carry a small (~4 oz) bottle of denatured alcohol to help start the stove in wet conditions. Gather a large handful of kindling, drop it into a small Ziploc bag along with a cap-full of alcohol. Close the bag and shake well. Now empty the contents of the bag into the stove... and start it with one match. Of course, birch bark is pretty wonderful stuff as well, and may be all you need.
I have been using the light Vargo titanium stove and denatured alcohol, planning on going with Esbit stove and fuel tabs only this Spring. Simple, quick, easy. Light.
I have been using the light Vargo titanium stove and denatured alcohol, planning on going with Esbit stove and fuel tabs only this Spring. Simple, quick, easy. Light.
I like Esbit too, but you cant always find them in town unless there is a out fitter. you can almost always find alcohol.
I don't think the esbit would do any damage to a zip stove. But you might consider vaseline soaked cotton balls instead. They pack smaller, are easily available and probably weigh quite a bit less.
As an simple alternative to esbit, quarter a match light charcoal briquette and double bag them to keep the fluid in and away from your gear.
I made a homemade ver of the WoodGas stove, it is the hottest stove I have ever seen. It melted the 1/8 inch aluminum cross bar pot support I made for it the first time I used the stove. The aluminum was dripping into the fire, it looked cool.
I also play with Esbit tabs (I guess I’m a fire bug at heart) and they don’t come close to the heat of a wood fire. Go ahead and use them with any wood stove you have.
SunnyWalker
02-05-2008, 22:32
Hey thanks everyone. However, I have a (that I am currently using) a Stratus and an Esbitt. I don't think I would go with carrying any alcohol cuz in the past I quit that cuz I spilled some in my pack. Didn't really do any damage, but it was a thing that bugged me. So the Esbitt tabs and/or vaseline would be good. Thanks!
One of my trips to cumberland island I brought my zip stove. Everyone laughed at it, mocking. That night it rained all night long. We had a tarp though so we could still congregate under it. We couldn't make a fire so the little zip stove on the table was our "mini me" campfire and everyone loved it. All we could burn was wet twigs. It would get pretty smokey under that tarp sometimes but we didn't have a problem keeping a fire going.
Mine is an old one and is too heavy for solo backpacking. If you are going with more than one person and somebody wants to carry it I'm all for it!:). Just something to get it started is all you need. Vasoline and cotton balls is an all time favorite. Esbit tabs are good too. I like it as a back up.
I got to where I didn't really care for the soot either, for cooking I mean. A lot of people don't mind that.
Last summer i made my own fuel the first is saw dust and news paper. Next saw dust news paper bees wax. Last sawdust bees wax sugar. I made a press to get the water out oh i mix it in a blender dry in the sun. I tried to dry in oven no good the wax starts to melt.One of these burns as long as two esbit one.Yep there is soot. Forgot burn time and boil tome i must get a log box you think:D
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/th_sawdust.jpg (http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/sawdust.jpg)
Lanthar Mandragoran
02-06-2008, 12:04
Last summer i made my own fuel the first is saw dust and news paper. Next saw dust news paper bees wax. Last sawdust bees wax sugar. I made a press to get the water out oh i mix it in a blender dry in the sun. I tried to dry in oven no good the wax starts to melt.One of these burns as long as two esbit one.Yep there is soot. Forgot burn time and boil tome i must get a log box you think:D
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/th_sawdust.jpg (http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/sawdust.jpg)
Oops, so you're just blending scraps and pressing until it holds together?
One of my trips to cumberland island I brought my zip stove. Everyone laughed at it, mocking. That night it rained all night long. We had a tarp though so we could still congregate under it. We couldn't make a fire so the little zip stove on the table was our "mini me" campfire and everyone loved it. All we could burn was wet twigs. It would get pretty smokey under that tarp sometimes but we didn't have a problem keeping a fire going.
Mine is an old one and is too heavy for solo backpacking. If you are going with more than one person and somebody wants to carry it I'm all for it!:). Just something to get it started is all you need. Vasoline and cotton balls is an all time favorite. Esbit tabs are good too. I like it as a back up.
I got to where I didn't really care for the soot either, for cooking I mean. A lot of people don't mind that.
That "personal campfire" option is one of the best things about a Zip stove. Particularly because you can do this inside a shelter, safely. I wouldn't try it inside a tent, tho.
envirodiver
02-06-2008, 12:28
I'm a fan of the zip stove, to keep from having to keep up with and/or think about fuel. Once you get up the learning curve and become proficient with the stove it works great.
It's a little heavy and for that reason I've been eyeballing the titanium version that they are selling. It's about 7 oz. which since you have no fuel, gets it into the realm of a light stove. Not sure of the weight of alcohol, but water is about 2 oz/ lig. oz. (alcohol is lighter). So you can see, if you have a 1 oz. stove and 4 oz of alcohol fuel you are carrying about the same weight as the Ti zip stove.
SunnyWalker
02-07-2008, 01:16
I'll have to weigh my Stratus Trail Stove. I have read here that some felt that it was not good because they had problems with the air flow. I would like to try it out myself. So far all I have used as is an alcohol stove. As I was re-reading this thre this evening I realized that the vasoline and cotton balls are probably a lot less expensive and easier to obtain than Esbitt tabs. -SunnyWalker