Esbit vs. Sterno?

“Hi all,
Between Esbit and Sterno stoves, which do you prefer? This is just for boiling water in moderately cool weather. Thoughts? Thanks!
last edited: 11/07/08 4:59:54 PM”

“Esbit! Much much much lighter weight.”

“i have never used sterno backpacking. i use esbit most of the time now. it's a very light setup.”

“lightest you can get for over three days. Less than three it's pepsi can stove and alcohol. Tarabull conducted a thorough study several years ago.”

“she ain't seen my setup... lol!”

“Your set up probably wasn't in existence back then.”

“the esbit wing over on backpackinglite is what i use....love it”

“I'd take one of those. Hope you don't buy your esbit there too. Get it by the case it's dirt cheap.”

“Esbit with wing stove totally rocks!

I can't remember where I got my wing stove...$6 bucks I think?

I can get a dozen esbit tabs, matches, wind screen, wing stove...all inside my pot.”

“Anyone have one of these?

ultralightoutfitters.com/stove.html”

“Stew you got a sweet deal. Or maybe it's just the ti version that runs $19?”

“I had picked up the Esbit wing stove at a gun show recently, and wasn't sure how well it would work (I've just used Sterno before). But after reading everyone's input I decided to try the Esbit on an overnight pack trip this past weekend, and I was quite happy with it. The Sterno is nice because I can put out the flame and only use as needed, but the Esbit stove boiled water faster, and allowed me to take a measured amount of fuel so it was lighter weight. Thanks for the advice!”

“sterno you got that awful can to truck around and cart out when it's empty. Generally speaking i don't take anything that makes trash the same shape as when it was new. I wouldn't want to crush the can as I would concerned about residue leaking.,”

“That's what turned me off from the esbit -- the oily back stuff on the bottom of everything. All cooking pots have some char but the esbit stuff seemed the most nasty. You can go really light, really simple with alcohol stoves, too.”

“Oh yeah Bess, take some paper towel or wet wipes to wipe off your pot bottom, or a plastic bag to put it in so you don't get esbit goo all over your gear.
last edited: 11/11/08 4:35:19 AM”

“I can't even find my damn wing stove. I guess that's one of the draw backs to being so small? I like Esbit for warm weather. I've been carrying my old Trangia alci stove the last few trips. I forgot how much I love that thing.”

“re the black stuff

it washes off. also, if you keep your pot in a lightweight mesh bag it doesn't get on anything. finally, the black coating on the bottom, in my opinion, makes the pot work better. no data to back this up.

my esbit setup uses the titanium wing stove from backpackinglight.com, a titanium-foil windscreen (same site), and a titanium cup. i have yet to find a more effective and lightweight combo. if there is a campfire i don't even fire up the stove, i just put my cup on the fire. so it's good and gunky black like any good backpacking pot should be! lol!

the "nifty factor" of gear goes up as it starts to look more and more used. hehe.

i carry a few extra esbit tabs than what i need. they are so light and so useful. now that i am old and crunchy i like to use them as fire starters... never miss even with wet wood.”

“And, just in case you all don't know, you can buy cases of esbit from the American distributor for dirt cheap. WAAAAAY less than you pay per box at the store or campmor, etc.”

“Sterno is made mostly for keeping things warm like in chafing dishes,esbit burns much hotter!”

“wait, that's not it. i thought mpi made those tabs, sass. wasn't that them? what is the url for the web site?”

“It was distributed through mpi outdoors. I think they have an 800 # on their site. I seem to recall I had to phone in my last order. Hope they haven't stopped selling esbit; I only have three boxes left (not counting the tiny esbits Birch bought on ebay for toy trains)!”

“I have a steam engine that runs on those!”

“Do you need some?”

“Yeah, cause Birch bought a box of 200,000 and Sass is sick of hearing him toot his whistle! :)”

“You wouldn't believe how many of those tiny tabs it takes to boil water! ;)”

“lol! i hardly ever run the thing. only when kids come over and see it. it's a huge hit. i break up an esbit tab. one tab gives four good runs with the thing.

i ALMOST bought that esbit "deal" on ebay... they were sooooo cheap. i don't know why but i looked deeper into the offer and realized they were those little tablets. so this was a real chuckle for me.

they make great fire starters. :)”

“I gots one of the Esbit Stoves iffin anyone would like to have it!”