Esbit vs canister

[PR Man]

Has anyone done a weight comparison between Esbit and Canister stoves.

Obviously Esbit weight drops as it is used up - but in typical conditions I wonder which is really lighter over the course of days.

[Venchka]

Canisters also get lighter as you use them.
How much is speed and convenience worth in grams?
How much is reliability in a multi day rain event worth in grams?
You can only look at grams. You can look at the total picture.
Your choice.
Wayne

[fastfoxengineering]

Lots of thru hikers agree that in the end it's almost a wash. If your going out for X amount of days then one system can be dialed in and lighter than another.

However, on a thru hike. Resupplies are always changing. Meals aren't planned to every last drop of fuel.

I have never met a thru hiker carrying Esbit. Not saying someone doesn't but I don't think it's that common anymore.

I meet less and less thru hikers carrying alcohol fuel.

The majority of hikers carrying a stove from my experience are carrying a pocket rocket or similar stove. Not too many jetboils which are real efficient but the unit itself is heavier.

Most of said thru hikers are carrying the larger 220gram? Canisters over the smaller ones. It's heavier upfront but it gets them farther.

If you end up carrying two canisters cause one is partial then you just swayed the graph.

Canisters are convenient, fast, and clean burning. Also a throttle control is a nice feature. Being able to simmer I mean.

Even if canisters are a little heavier, I think most folks prefer them due to the ease of use.

The only hikers I still know using alcohol do so because they are fascinated with alcohol stove designs, don't like the trash of using up canisters, don't like the noise of canisters, only boil water, only go out with a few meals of fuel so it is lighter. Typically one or two of these reasons.

Can't comment too much on Esbit. It's nice to know exactly how much fuel you have left. But for most, that's actually not a big deal. Also, they smell. Fact.

Some don't like the soot they put on their pot either.


In the end, unless your specifically bringing enough fuel for a smaller planned amount of meals. Then Esbit vs canister vs alcohol is really a wash. Too many factors.

Me, personally, if going out for 7+ days and no resupply. I grab my snow peak litemax and a 220gram canister. I'd rather carry one larger canister than that much smelly esbit

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[Turtle-2013]

You need to do your own "math" based on how you cook....

But the way "my" math works out counting total cook-set and fuel
comparing Esbit, Alcohol, and Canister

is that hands-down for any trip 3 or more days
my Titanium Sol JetBoil is the lightest by a pretty good margin.

for trips less than 3 days, my alcohol setup is slightly lighter

the real factor is that with a 5 day trip i use 5-8 oz of alcohol
and with the JetBoil I use about 1.2 oz for 5 days ... this offsets the weight of the canister.

HOWEVER, like I said .... you have to do your own math because cooking style is a huge factor!!!!!

[Leo L.]

I'm using Esbit exclusively, but only for boiling water to rehydrate dried meals and to make tea or coffee.
Some of my reasons for going with Esbit are, you can't spoil it, and so far I managed to bring it on the plane.

But, you can't really cook with Esbit, there is close to zero possibility to regulate the heat produced by the brick.
There is not much sense in comparing canisters with Esbit - they are just too far different types of ways to provide heat.

[rocketsocks]

Don’t forget to factor in food savings, to me Esbit smells like old musty wet insulation left on a dirt road and I tend to loose my appetite.

[Heliotrope]

Don’t forget to factor in food savings, to me Esbit smells like old musty wet insulation left on a dirt road and I tend to loose my appetite.

It’s repugnant.


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[Deacon]

Esbit is definitely lighter, when you consider an empty standard 100g size canister weighs 3.6 oz. The packaging of each half-ounce Esbit cube on my scale is 1 gram. Since I never carry more than five days food and heat water only for dinner, five cubes is the max. I’ll carry. With a full canister, you are forced to carry 20+ burns. With Esbit cubes, I can limit my fuel weight to the number I choose.

I’ve often thought I’d like to use a canister as that’s all I see others using on the trail. It seems much more convenient to use rather than my F Keg Caldera Cone setup with a gram cracker stove. But my entire setup including pot, screen, stove, spoon, and plastic container, which serves as a bowl and cup, weighs 5.9 oz.

My setup is a little less convenient to use than that of a canister, but couldn’t justify the extra weight. I’m use to making compromises and am will to put up with less convenience. I reason that I’m carrying my stove setup for ten hours but only am using it for a half hour.

Besides, I just don’t like the noise a canister produces.




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[Old Hiker]

Don’t forget to factor in food savings, to me Esbit smells like old musty wet insulation left on a dirt road and I tend to loose my appetite.

Are you sure that wasn't YOU after a few days of hiking?

Asking for a friend.

[Starchild]

I've used both, I would give the canister a edge over Esbit for a thru, though there is a place in my pack for Esbit at times.

Esbit can be a weight saver, when cooking demands are low, like in the summer (when I used it) and only really wanted one hot thing per day (morning coffee), but even then there are issues, fuel availability is undependable and unless you want to mail drop or call ahead, or can switch to alchy fuel to get you by, you end up carrying more then you need, thus weight gain instead of savings. Also the size of the package usually means carrying more then you need - though some hostels perhaps outfitters will sell then individually.

With a canister you can effectively skip through many more towns without refuel worries, often find canisters 1/2 full (plenty of traveling time still on them) free in hiker boxes as you go to exchange with yours which is 1/4 full. Also 1/2 full canisters are lighter then full ones. But you have to be comfortable and confident with them when they are less then 1/2 full and don't carry 2. This is a learning process and not everyone will feel confident enough to leave town with 1/4 of a canister estimated by the 'shake test', some even carrying 2 (use one up then move to the second, acquire a new full one, rinse and repeat'.

Canisters are also more convenient and faster then esbit, easier to use which is a plus when you are tired or want to get going. Time on a thru is divided up to hiking, sleeping, cooking/eating (and some other chores), time not spent on cooking can go to sleeping and/or hiking.

I find Esbit a good fuel for a overnight or 2 when your burn needs are known.

[Leo L.]

The original question was a weight comparison between canister and Esbit.
In many cases, Esbit would win, given the demand fits for Esbit at all.
The later, we don't know as there is not enough information about what the task would be.

I totally agree with you that Esbit plays its strength for shorter hikes in warm environment.
When you'd be going for a thru, or include melting snow or expansive cooking, other fuel/stove systems would be better, and maybe lighter in the long run.

An then there is the personal preference...

[Leo L.]

BTW, I've lightened my cook system by using Esbit:
I'm using an old military issued Esbit foldable stove, and just put my aluminium drinking bottle atop of it.
For a windscreen, I'm using whatever material is handy: Travellunch bags, the sleeping pad, plastic water bottles, stones, etc.

[hipbone]

Has anyone done a weight comparison between Esbit and Canister stoves.

Obviously Esbit weight drops as it is used up - but in typical conditions I wonder which is really lighter over the course of days.

Good thread comparing alcohol stoves vs canisters with really good info on esbit cooking also.


https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...d.php?t=127841

[Starchild]

...

But, you can't really cook with Esbit, there is close to zero possibility to regulate the heat produced by the brick.
....

Actually there are some out there, none which I used but just saying what the claim is. They work by closing off the air to the brick for a slower burn. Also just thinking one can use the smaller esbit 'sticks' (as opposed to the bricks) to gain a bit of control over flame size, now if that alone is enough control to cook over IDK.

[rocketsocks]

Are you sure that wasn't YOU after a few days of hiking?

Asking for a friend.

Naw, I just smelled like ass.

PS I like Esbit on day hikes for a hot cup o joe, or soup, a day at a time I can handle. As far a regulating heat, just employ the old trivit method, that is to say the further away (higher) the pot from the heat source the slower the cooking, use rocks to elevate.

[Leo L.]

If cooking means, boiling/simmering or frying veggies, noodles, rice or meat, I have to admit I've never tried this with Esbit.
And sure will never try, as I belive it would make no sense beyond just for a proof that it can be done.

[QiWiz]

I have done the whole length of the JMT, an AT section from Springer to Hot Springs, and several other longish trips with Esbit and been very happy with it. Have used a Caldera Cone system with the Esbit on these adventures. Good wind protection is key. I find that I can heat 2 cups of water with a half brick and boil 3 cups of water with a whole Esbit 14g brick. My fuel budget is typically 2 bricks/day (one ounce). This gives me a little extra for an extra cup of tea. With a canister system I would use less actual fuel weight, but with the weight penalty of the canister itself and the canister stove burner, etc.. For any type of fuel, it's important to know how much you will use for the type of cooking you do and bring enough, but not too much. Esbit has an advantage of being nonspillable and nonvolatile. I have mailed it to myself in resupply packages and carried it on airplanes both checked and carry-on, though there is no guarantee that you will be able to do that. You can definitely not mail canisters or bring them on aircraft. Esbit may be harder to find than canisters or alcohol, depending on where you are. I would not use Esbit for melting snow.

[Just Bill]

This is from memory... so a few grams here or there in error may be in here.
And apologies to QiWiz as I have never used your stoves!

Simplest is to assume that your cook pot is equal. As in jetboil is a bad comparison as that's a stove system with an integrated pot and other crap. A jetboil is a convenience choice with a weight penalty slightly offset by the heat exchanger.

So assume the same efficient cook pot and then add only a stove plus fuel. What folks call the 'dry weight' of the system you choose. This is like base load (what you have to carry without consumables).

The lightest canister stove I know of is the Ion Micro from olicamp (and the equivilent chinese knockoff) which weighs 45g.
Assume you will not use a windscreen and shelter the stove behind your pack or body.
The lightest canister you can get is the 110g size, which weighs around 90g empty.

So before you burned a thing- 45g stove and 90g canister brings you to 135g dry.

The most efficient way to use esbit (and a reason it gets a bad rap) is by using a caldera cone system. It's not a great fuel without a caldera cone to be blunt.
So if your opinion of it is via an esbit branded stove you probably were understandably unimpressed.

A trail designs caldera cone system can be stripped down for esbit use by bringing only cone, small piece of foil and the gram cracker stove.

The easy one is the gram cracker stove at 3g. (this also allows fuel control/simmer options).
Figure another 3g or so for the piece of tin.
The cone depends on your pot, but the sidewinder style is 25-40g.
For simplicity lets stick with 39g for fun... bringing us to a grand total of 45g for the stove system. (a hair high but it doesn't matter)

As pointed out above... the empty pods do weigh 1g each.

So canister setup is 135g dry vs 45g dry for esbit.
Of course to use the thing we need to fill the canister with the fuel (135+110g) and we start out with a fixed minimum weight of 245g.

Compared to the Esbit then we have 200g available for fuel before we 'break even'. Call it 15g per tab including the packaging and we can carry (200/15) 13 tabs before we exceed the weight of the canister rig.

Some folks have made the argument that the smallest box you typically would buy is 12 tabs , which is true, but conveniently even when 'topped off' without having to dump tabs into a hiker box you are still under the weight of a canister setup even if you are 'carrying heavy'.

Fuel efficiency is always tricky. Some folks like to say 20 boils a canister but that may be jetboil leaning, some folks say as little as 1 esbit per day. How efficient you get is very subjective.

Personally- I found 1.5 tabs per day about right. Half a tab for hot coffee in the morning, a full tab for dinner.

Most agree... a canister can get you a long weekend or even a 4-5 day stretch on the AT with some care and an average style of use.
12 esbit tabs divided by 2 per day gives you six days of fuel.

So easy enough to say either system will get you a typical section on the AT.

By contrast... let's say you go 5+ days. You have to start over with a second canister (or a 240g single can) and run the math again. (or compromise and stretch the fuel)
With Esbit... you can leave tabs back for shorter trips, or add tabs for longer trips at 1/2 ounce per tab... you are not packing fuel in 7-8 ounce increments.

So it has always been my opinion and experience that Esbit is the most efficient system. The math seems to back it up when using the right system.
If you feel that's a bit of cherry picking on the esbit stove... we are picking the lightest possible canister stove... most of them weigh over 2-3 ounces and skew the numbers even further in favor of esbit.

You'd need a lighter with either one. If you get a piezo stove... you still need to carry a lighter for safety and backup.

If you are the type who carries emergency fire starters... then both your stove fuel and your fire starter can be the same thing and you are backing up two systems with one item.

If you are the type who lights campfires... then you can both save fuel (or waste it) by cooking over a fire.
Having a fire every few days greatly cuts down the amount of esbit goop that builds up on your pot as the fire burns it off. The tab gives you the option for a quick meal in the morning (or hot drink really) and the Ti-tri caldera cone can be used in wood burning mode for a compact fire at a stealth camp. If at a group camp... once dinner is cooked (or while it's cooking) you can gather some wood and use your dinner fire for a starter to have an entertainment fire for the group by removing the cone and building it up.

There are plenty of good reasons to use a canister over esbit:
Fire regulations is number 1.
Some hate the smell, some don't mind.
Some don't want to deal with it, nor do they have the skill to cook with an unregulated flame... canisters are stupid simple to use.

Esbit is dirty. Probably won't get you many friends cooking inside the shelter... though gets you a few when you start a fire on a bad day.
As mentioned by QiWiz... esbit can be a tough way to go in the winter... but on the flipside you do have a woodburning option if you use your esbit only as tinder/firestarter. And unless you bring an inverted stove or a MiniMo you need to be careful with your canister in the cold.

It can be harder to get esbit 'on the go' for those who don't do maildrops. That said, hikers seem to shop via amazon these days so I'm not sure how much of an issue this truly is in real life.
For the rest of us mortals who are not THRU hiking... resupply shouldn't be a primary consideration or concern.

There is some generational bias against esbit here and there... mainly because most younger folks only know canister based stoves and didn't grow up cooking on/with fire.

https://www.amazon.com/Esbit-1300-De...rds=esbit+tabs

Esbit can 'expire' so ordering it 'fresh' rather than picking it off the bottom shelf in the dusty corner may be the better plan unless it's popularity improves. It is shelf stable but does get less efficient the longer it sits around. That said... that 12 pack is usually plenty even at partial strength for your average 4-5 day carry if that's your only option.

Easier, more user friendly, and of course JETBOIL are all decent reasons to or compelling arguments to be made go canister.
It is really hard though to argue that a canister stove is more efficient or lighter.

Especially on a trail with relatively short resupply sections (4-5 day) and eastern woodlands (abundant firewood, little restrictions) based trail like the AT.

I wouldn't explore the economics too hard... but plenty of folks will toss that 1/4 full canister in the hiker box if we are talking keeping weight down and just take the fresh one. If we are talking being cheap... in theory you can carry the partial canisters (or raid the hiker box)... but a canister and a box of esbits are about the same cost.

On the flipside... you'll rarely ever see somebody toss 1/4 box of esbit in the hiker box they just bought because they don't want to carry the extra weight. So even if a dozen tabs seems too many for a given section... it's not a big deal to over carry.

Sides... you never know when an extra esbit tab or three will make a decent story.

esbit tabs.pdf

[Starchild]

Most agree... a canister can get you a long weekend or even a 4-5 day stretch on the AT with some care and an average style of use.

I have heard 3 weeks on a AT thru on a full small canister. For me I expect and have gotten nothing less then 10l boiled with a small canister, so that alone is way over your estimate of 4-5 days. It amazed me that 3 large canisters is all that is really needed for a complete AT thru hike.

Perhaps instead of trying to improve efficiency of the alternatives you sould look into improving efficiencies of canisters if you are getting such low performance out of them.

[Just Bill]

Fuel efficiency is always tricky. Some folks like to say 20 boils a canister but that may be jetboil leaning, some folks say as little as 1 esbit per day. How efficient you get is very subjective.

I have heard 3 weeks on a AT thru on a full small canister. For me I expect and have gotten nothing less then 10l boiled with a small canister, so that alone is way over your estimate of 4-5 days. It amazed me that 3 large canisters is all that is really needed for a complete AT thru hike.

Perhaps instead of trying to improve efficiency of the alternatives you sould look into improving efficiencies of canisters if you are getting such low performance out of them.

Yar..... that is tricky.
Math is hard.

I heard some folks go stoveless and make zero canisters last the whole trail.
I know folks who burn a whole small can making coffee and cooking breakfast.
I know folks from BPL who buy 4g esbit tabs so they can control their fuel use to one tab for a hot cuppa, and two for dinner.

How many weeks do you think you could hike when using 7-12g of fuel per day?

Of course for you personally who gets 10L from a small can weighing 225g when you start with it... that would be 19 days of fuel for our 12g esbit user.
Or it could be a week for a more casual hiker having some coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, a hot meal dinner not made in a mylar bag, a cup of tea after dinner, and maybe the odd cup of afternoon coffee.

Or more generally speaking if we remove our esbit oddity... one 14g tab per liter boiled means 140g worth of esbit fuel for 10L boiled.
You could bring that up to 16L boiled before you broke even with your 10L per small canister... and we still didn't even add a stove.

Or another way to think of it... 110g of fuel divided by 10L= 11g per liter boiled. Much better than the 14g of esbit. Except for the metal can itself vs the 1g of plastic per 14g of fuel of the esbit.
So everyday the esbit system drops 14g while the canister system retains it's dryweight and only drops 11g per day.

That little tidbit makes arguing for using three large cans of fuel at 14 ounces each when full a very silly one. If you can stretch 110g of propane out for three weeks you'd be a prime candidate for using esbit... and likely slashing 12 ounces or more from your pack in the process. No matter how cleverly you use it- you can't efficient away the weight of the canister itself.

As many said here- how you cook dictates how quick you burn fuel. But it doesn't change how the fuel burns and what it weighs.

The OP asked a simple enough question, that oddly enough has a simple enough answer.
There is no scenerio in which an esbit system weighs more than a canister one.

I own all the stoves mentioned, including the Ion. I have two jetboils and a few caldera cones. I got white gas stoves and big old two burner colemans.
They all have their place, time, and trip.

I have a lighter and sticks, though can't quite do the no cook thing outside a summer weekend or two personally.

Lotta ways to skin this cat... but only one way to do math if weight is the measure of efficiency.