Esbit Strikes Out!

“I bought an Esbit Stove and some of their fuel tablets, recently, and tested it in the Everglades National Park. Amongst their claims that I evaluated were:

"Does not liquefy when burning."
The tablets do liquefy when burning and an oil like liquid runs all over the bottom of the stove. STRIKE ONE!

"boils a pint of water in 8-9 minutes."
One cube, burning 12 minutes, was unable to boil 14 oz. of water, (not cold water). STRIKE TWO!

"leaves no ash residue" The tablets do leave a residue, sort of a hard glob about the size of my small fingernail and up to an 0.125 inch high. It took a knife to remove it from the stove. Since it is a residue from burning, I would qualify it as an ash residue. FOUL TIP!

"12 to 15 minute burn time per tablet." 12 minutes was the burn time with each cube. But during the last two minutes, the heat was not enough to do much. STRIKE THREE AND OUT!

I hate to think how much less efficient the stove would be with the cold water available from the creeks and springs in GSMNP. It will definitely require at least two cubes of fuel to cook almost all of my meals and, also, to prepare 16 to 20 ounces of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. However, it could probably prepare a cup of soup(6 oz. of water) or oatmeal(4 oz. of water) with just one cube. This I have not tested, yet.

However, it is lightweight and small. I decided to order some fuel and take it with me for occasional use on the next bp'ing trip. I called Campmor and was almost completed with ordering 6 boxes at $5.99 each. Shipping was $7.xx. I hesitated and did a calculation. Each cube was going to cost 61¢. NO WAY! My food usually cost less than what this fuel would cost for preparing my meals. I signed off Campmor without submitting the order.

Esbit stays home. I'm taking my Sierra Zip Stove. It still works, althought reluctantly at times. And I can still cook over a fire or eat food that does not have to be cooked.”

“All true... Did you use a windscreen, ns?”

“The trioxane bars work better.
Streamweaver”

“Yes, on all but the first test, when there was no wind. However, the windscreen could have been improved. Their literature did not specify that a windscreen might be necessary.

I would use the stove, except that I feel that the fuel cost is too high.”

“I agree. An alcohol stove is more weight efficient, imo. I carry one or two esbit tabs for emergencies, though. They are a great way to make a cheater fire :)”

“I have a soda can stove, given to me by jerbear. I will try it sometime. But I already know that my zip stove is faster, it fits in my pot and requires no windscreen under most conditions. And, other than one or more AA batteries, depending upon the length of the trip, there is no fuel to be carried. I do carry a few small cubes of fire starter for use with the stove.

My favorite way to cook is over coals from a campfire.”

“The zip stove weighs about a pound, right? I thought about making one for awhile, but never go around to it.

I carry a soda can stove that is based on the photon-type. They take me about five minutes to build, cost nothing, weigh about a half ounce, and work well. I carry a small windscreen and use three of my tent stakes for a pot rest. I've been able to do all the cooking I want quickly, and the total weight for a five-day trip with it and fuel is ten ounces plus the stakes (which I carry anyway). I use about an ounce and a half of fuel per day for dinner and hot water.

I agree with you that anything else I want to do can be done over a campfire.”

“Make yourself a Altoids Can style stove that will fit into the esbit stand. Any can that fits will do. No mess, takes 9 or 10 minutes to boil 20oz. of room temp water with 1 oz of Alcohol.
I use Perlite in mine as suggested. Seems to add to the burn time.”

“Does any stove really state in it's literature that a wind screen might be needed? That's up to the individual to decide, isn't it?

That little bit of "ash" in the bottom of the stove is actually leftover tab, if you leave it in there it will eventually burn off.

A windscreen makes a huge difference in burn time, as the stove is rather open.

It does make an icky, sticky mess on pot bottoms, but I'm surprised that bothers you NS, as you use the zip stove and deal with dirty pot bottems all the time.

The esbit stove is a good reliable stove for someone who's just starting out. I have found it to live up to it's claims pretty well. Everyone has their preferances and what works well for one may not work well for another. I find my esbit boils water much faster, and with less fuss than my zip stove.”

“I agree with Sass. A windscreen makes a huge difference. However, I recently recieved a beauty of an alcohol stove that has me converted. I like the simplicity, the quiet and the no mess of alcohol.”

“BC, What have you heard about using an alcohol stove at high elevations. I was thinking of using pepsi (?)can stove this summer in Yosemite and on the Sierrapalooza instead of my pocket rocket. What do you think? I am hesitant.”

“tinker with homemade stoves using esbit tabs, you'd be amazed at how good some work”

“tinker with homemade stoves using esbit tabs, you'd be amazed at how good some work”

“tango: jerbear used his alcohol stove on the montanapalooza trip last summer and it worked just fine.”

“Thanks for your post. There are a number of good things about the Esbit. Please note that I only stopped after looking at the fuel cost. I was going to buy some tablets at 40 to 50¢ each. I backed out when I saw the cost at 61¢ per tablet. I decided that it was too expensive for me.

When I go bp'ing in the mountains, I usually go for months. (My trip last fall was not a normal trip.) Many people, with work and/or children, are lucky to get long weekends, and they are in a different situation. If I were to average using 4 tablets per day, a 90 day supply would cost about $215. Some shipping could probably be saved if I bought them all in one order. My zip stove would only need about 5 to $8 of batteries for 90 days. Bring in some other factors, like using my coleman stove between hikes, and I might save only about $100 during a 3-month trip. I'm sorry to admit it, but $100 is a lot of money on my budget.

With regard to the three strikes, I was only listing areas where I felt the stove did not live up to the claims. The evaluations were with regard to the way in which I would like to use the item. (I could adjust.) Boil time means nothing w/o knowledge of the environment that led to the figure. I have suggested previously that there should be standardized testing for the products so that they can be compared.

Esbit is light, easy to use and dependable. Operation is costly, I feel. But to really compare, it would be necessary to include the original costs and replacement costs, as well as the operational costs. Further analyses might require putting a price tag on weight, size, reliability, ease of operation, and other factors. I would be happy to use the Esbit. But, for my nest trip, operational costs are my main consideration.”

“i know you've already made up yer mind, but if ya ever try it again, just use a doubled-up bit o' tinfoil tall enough to pinch around the top of yer pot. i got creek water a-boilin' in around 6 minutes last weekend. course, the air temp was prob'ly around 50 degrees (the water was colder) & i ain't never used it in COLD weather. and i got no idea why i'm usin' hillbilly vernacular. best o' luck workin' out yer cookin' kit.”

“I ran a small test this weekend comparing an Esbit stove with Esbit fuel and trioxane, and a small alcohol stove of my own manufacture. The results are at home (couldn't post them because TT WAS DOWN) and I'll post them when I get home. In short, however, the alcohol stove won one of the tests, Esbit the other.”

“I will agree with you on the high price of esbit. I wouldn't use it as often as I do, except for that a friend of mine gets me cases of it for $39, through the Sierra Club. I can't find the darn box to count how many boxes are in a case, but I know I figured it would last us about two years, with boating and backpacking. I think it was sixteen or twenty four.

I like the alcohol stoves too. They're great when you can't have a bonfire too...nice sitting around the blue flame, lol.”

“A Scientific Test of Stoves and Fuels

Or

Fire is cool!

I set out to quickly test a couple of stoves and different fuels to see how quickly they would boil water. The stove/fuel combinations tested were as follows:

Esbit stove/Esbit fuel
Esbit stove/Milspec compressed trioxane fuel
Homemade alcohol stove/Commercially available denatured alcohol.

In each case, two cups of 55F water were set on the stove immediately after the stove
had been lit, and the tester measured the amount of time it took to get the water to a full rolling boil. In between each test, the water was discarded and replaced with the same amount of water at the same temperature, and the pot and lid were cooled with tap water to remove any residual heat. The testing was done on a concrete driveway to simulate the use of a rock in the backcountry. All references to "the ground" actually mean "concrete driveway".

The vessel used for testing was a 1 qt. aluminum pot and lid. The lid can be made to fit the pot tightly by depressing it.

Each run of the alcohol stove used ~1oz. of denatured alcohol.

Results:

| Alcohol stove | Esbit fuel | trioxane fuel
----------------|------------------|-----------------|--------------
windscreen used | did not boil | 9:00 minutes | did not boil
----------------|------------------|-----------------|--------------
no windscreen | 6:00/13:00 min | 9:00/10:00 min | no trial

Comments:

I was a little surprised by the results, since I have seen an Esbit stove boil two cups of water in less than 5 minutes. The poor performance of the Esbit fuel makes me wonder if the formulation of the Esbit fuel tabs has been changed. Also, in both cases, so much of the Esbit tabs were gone that the water was just barely boiling. It was hot enough to rehydrate a dehydrated
meal, but not boiling.

The trioxane fuel left a lot to be desired. It leaves a lot of residue on the stove, whereas Esbit tabs leave very little residue. Also, the trioxane
burned with a strong, unpleasant smell. The smell of the Esbit tabs isn't great, but I've never felt the urge to get up and walk away, like I had to do with the trioxane. These drawbacks were sufficient that I felt no need to
re-test the trioxane with no windscreen.

I apparently need to do some work on my windscreen. Just prior to the test, I modified it yet again to allow more air in by piercing it around the circumference with a series of .375" holes. While none of the stoves went out (which has happened with the Esbit fuel before when using this windscreen) it did seem to affect the performance of the alcohol stove in particular.

For the test without the windscreen, I made a simple wire pot stand out of some copper wire. This stand suspended the pot about an inch or so above the alcohol stove. This seemed to work quite well. Also, for the no windscreen test, I used a few bricks to make a simple windbreak. The wind was still able to get by this and affect the flame of both stoves tested. For the Esbit stove, the pot was simply placed on top of the flanges of the stove.

The alcohol stove trials varied in that for the first trial, some of the fuel which I measured out spilled on the ground as I filled the stove. On the second trial, I poured more carefully, so this may have affected the results, although they burned for similar periods of time. I had some trouble lighting the stove on the second trial, however, and realized the alcohol that had been spilled on the ground during the first trial was needed to heat the stove enough to make the alcohol vaporize. I spilled a small amount of alcohol on the ground around the
stove, a little more into the priming pan on the stove, lit this and the alcohol on the ground, and the stove lit quite readily. No doubt the use of a tea candle to preheat the stove and the alcohol would work for this as well.”

“Thanks for all the information and comments.
-----------------------------------
bitpusher - I feel that just reaching a rolling boil is not sufficient for untreated water. I want a good bubbling boil.

Most of my dinners require 5 to 8 minutes of boiling. It appears that Esbit will require at least 2 fuel cubes for these meals. (Change my meals?)

I am ordering some more fuel tablets and I will work on a windscreen. I will play with the alcohol soda can stove, too. But I think most of my cooking will be over a campfire or with my zip stove.”

“For untreated water, it's not. I filter all my water, so it's not as big a concern for me. Plus, I use pretty much just dehydrated food, so all I need to do is get the water boiling, and dump it in the food. The alcohol stove seems to be superior if you want to have continuous cooking. On my test run, the stove burned for another 7 minutes after the water got to the boiling point, and I could have put a little more alcohol in at the start if I had needed to.”

“I used my esbit stove recently on a day hike to Rainbow Falls in GSMNP. With 4-6 inches on snow on the ground, I found a waist high rock and cleared off the snow. 1 esbit tablit wasn't enough to boil so I added another. Too much water/ice in the kettle so I removed some, and hey who put ice in their water to winter bp anyway. After 2 more tabs finally the water started to boil. Enjoyed Cappucino while looking at the falls. I only use the esbit on day hikes for weight savings, but will try an altoids alcohol stove when I get around to making one.”