Esbit Stove

[Jukie]

I saw an interesting cook set design that uses a Keg beer can for a pot and Esbits for fuel.

2oz Esbit System (http://zenstoves.net/2ozEsbit.htm)


And several other Solid Fuel Burner (http://zenstoves.net/SolidFuelBurner.htm) ideas. The easiest being:

http://zenstoves.net/SolidFuel/C-RatStove.jpg

[ridgewalker777]

I tried the usual Esbit without success--nice idea, thanks but no thanks. This might be an improvement...

[Frosty]

I saw an interesting cook set design that uses a Keg beer can for a pot and Esbits for fuel.

http://home.comcast.net/~agmann/stove/2ozEsbit.htmI am having trouble reconciling the numbers on your website.

You say that four HQ tabs are the equivalent of 1 Esbit tab:

One ESBIT tab weighs ~14gm (~1/2oz)
Four HQ tabs weighs ~15gm

One ESBIT tab will get 16oz of water to a good boil with the system above.
Four HQ tabs will get 16oz of water to a slight boil.

But then you compare costs

ESBIT: Cost about $6 US for a box of 12 ($12 for 24 Esbit tabs).

HQ: Cost about $1.30 US for a blister pack of 8 ($7.80 for 48 ~ 24 Esbit tabs)

IF the ration is 4 to 1, then it would take 96 HQ tabs to equal 24 ESBIT tabs, and the cost for 24 ESBIT equivalent tabs is $15.60, much more than ESBIT.

Am I reading something wrong?

[SGT Rock]

No you aren't. Esbit is efficient but expensivve. You could buy the chemical that makes esbit in bulk and then package your own if you really want to use it but cut costs. I did some research on this once and I thnk it was available from chemical supply places in 50 pound bags.

[Jukie]

I've heard that Esbits were better. They burn hotter and all of it burns.

All the info on the web points to Esbit as being the lightest fuel around. So, why isn't it so popular?

http://www.kzpg.com/Backpacking/Stove/Stove_notes.htm
http://zenstoves.net/StoveChoices.htm
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=2&cid=56


Is it because Esbit makes a mess and smells compared to alcohol.

[SGT Rock]

Actually esbits are more fuel efficient when comparing weight. They do not burn hotter, Trioxane burns hotter than esbit, but they burn shorter and they require more weight to acheive the same results. I did a study of this a while back:

http://hikinghq.net/stoves/esbit.html#Esbit vs Trioxane Fuel

Esbit is Hexamine, and if you can find hexamine fuel tabs on sale, you are getting the same thing. If you could buy hexamine in bulk and make your own, that would probably be a the best of all worlds, because the big drawback to hexamine fuel tabs are the price.