Do trail towns sell Esbit Fuel Tablets?

[C Seeker]

I am weighing my options on taking my Esbit stove on my thru hike. The only thing i'm worried about is if the trail towns will have the Esbit Fuel Tablets. Also is there anything else I need to know about having a Esbit on the trail?

C Seeker

[mweinstone]

esbit smells and cannot be contained either in its original wrapper or ziplock or even a nalge or seigg bottle. they simply smell bad and will make you smell them if you care. i cant be around that smell. but i own loads and have two esbit burnners. to me, they have a high fun factor. my friend mrs gorp uses one. i like waiting for water to boil forever sometimes. and luke warm food isnt so bad. all in all, its a poor choice for most and perfect for few. low heat output, big smell, lame flame and small heat print for small pots only equals just the right amount of quirk and trouble some hikers like. including me. confused? ive owned esbit all my life and may have used it once or twice on weekend trips. it can be found in trail towns as easily as canisters.

[daddytwosticks]

Here on the southern end of the AT, I'm able to find Esbit fuel at Mountain Crossings (Neel Gap), the outfitters in Franklin, and at the NOC (Wesser, NC). :)

[10-K]

Esbit is my fuel of choice and it was readily available - much more than I expected. I generally allow myself 2 tablets per day and a lot of days only used one so I tended to accumulate a few extra tabs as well.

[ed short]

many do not like E. I think it works well. The odor is not particularly bad to me, and you are usually in a well ventilated area. For quick, reliable boiling of H2O it seems the best. Very lo fiddle factor. One and done!! Wood is fine and renewable, but unreliable when wet. Alcohol id OK, but can spill and has a highter fiddle. The stove weighs nada, put 5 drops alcohol on it and it lights quickly. With a Heiny (or now fosters )pot the entire outfit can be under 3 or 4 oz. (use a foil windscreen)

[Toolshed]

I keep a few in my pack for emergency. Stable, reliable and easy to light. I made a small grill to use with my pepsi can Stove, I flip the stove over and put the grill over the bottom and the esbit on the grill.
You can easily just use some small stones as pot supports and use Esbit on the ground, or a pice of aluminum.
Edited......Back to your question... I use 2/day and I have seen them at a few places along the trail, but it really needs to be an outfitter.
You can mail them to yourself easily enough. I remember back about 10 years ago, a thruhiker had researched the cheapest place to get a large stock of them for maildrops. At the time it was Southsummit.com, but I just checked - they no longer stock esbit. The tabs only weigh 1/2 oz, so even if you carry 5 extra days supply, it is only 5 oz.

[psyculman]

Military surplus trioxane tabs have no smell, cost less, and put out just as much heat. Mine are from 1985, and boil 16 oz. of water just fine. Cost 50 cents each. They weigh .5 oz. With a cone around my cup, it's perfect.

[QiWiz]

I use Esbit in a Caldera Cone stove. Budget 2 tabs a day, which is 1 oz. Usually use 1 to 1.5 tabs for dinner and hot beverage, and 0.5 tab for morning coffee. I had no trouble mailing them, double-bagged, in my mail drop packages, for recent three-week section hike on AT. Smell not an issue for me, but I agree if left unwrapped in closed container, when you open said container you will get a whiff of "spoiled fish" odor. :D