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Back in the day here on the fire seems there used to be a bunch of old timers and serious back country ultra lite guys. Anyway I just saw my first ESBIT stove in person. I either live under a rock or just thought a canister of iso butane was the way to go.

Any users here? Thinking of trying one just for the hell of it.


https://esbit.de/en/products/cooksets-with-alcohol-burner/

I carry two Esbit solid fuel tabs as an emergency fire starter. As for cooking...alcohol has just a little more than half the heating value (BTU's) as propane and butane. It's just not as efficient of a cooking heat source in the woods where ounces of fuel/weight matter.

That stuff smells like rancid cat piss when you burn it.

I still carry my little esbit with 4 cubes tucked inside. It’s easy for making tea or whatever. I’ve never used it as survival item just a convenience item instead of carrying liquid fuel.

Smokepole is right though - stay upwind. They sorta have a fishy smell to me but work great.

Google "cat can" alcohol stove.

You can make your own alcohol stove for the price of a can of cat food. They work well if you are careful about taking some basic precautions and into the ultralight stuff. I used one for a while but got tired of fiddling with it and just use a basic cannister these days, as I just want to fire one up, cook some stuff, eat, and go back to hunting.

I have used the solid esbit tabs and the folding military surplus stoves to heat water. And I have added wood over the top to create more heat. I have carried a can of sterno a few times too. Never had anything better to try. I’m sure there are better solutions.

Sounds like the soda/beer can stove. Al, so even lighter.

I made one and think I still have it somewhere.

I don't use Esbit but I do own an alcohol stove, which I use when I want a hot cup of coffee and I don't want to make any noise. I use denatured alcohol because it burns cleaner.

This is the one that I use.
alcohol stove

Alcohol will eat holes in an aluminum canister so carry it in a plastic bottle.

Never tried the alcohol stove. Figured with my luck the alcohol container would leak all over my chit.

About that denatured alcohol...some brands, like Kleanstrip, are a mix of ethanol and methanol and they don't tell you how much of either. Methanol is quite toxic and will readily soak through your skin if you don't get it washed off right away. You can get pure denatured ethanol. It's a little more expensive but much safer to use. I haven't used it but I've read that it doesn't have the smell of methanol.
You can also get 90% or higher Isopropyl. It's cheaper than ethanol, about the same price as Kleanstrip, but without the methanol. Amazon has some 99.9% for $28/gal.

A few years ago ultralight backpackers were all over alcohol and esbit but the trends have shifted back to ultralight canister top stoves.

Be warned that many western states require a stove with an on/off valve. I’ve thought about trying alcohol or esbit several times but keep coming back to the thought that it’s not worth to save a couple of ounces.

More of a novelty I think.

esbit is just the easy way for a day hunt. hot lunch and coffee. way lighter and no extra room taken up in your pack. too many times the canister will just be left out on a day trip.

after you get to 2 nights the canister wt equals out.

Denatured alcohol often has methyl ethyl ketone or methyl isobutyl ketone.
They make it poisonous, and can't be distilled out, they evaporate at similar temps as
ethanol.

Both are really nasty chemicals, I wouldn't want to cook over an MEK or MIBK fire.

I use all three, Esbit alcohol and canister ( and white gas for winter stuff). they all have their place. I have quite a collection of stoves, probably more than 20 so I have dabbled with quite a few variants. Depending on what you are doing and what you value its pretty easy to make a case for any of them.

A small titanium cup, esbit stove is just the thing for a long day hike or hunt where you want something hot. For those gram counters its much lighter than any thermos I have found. as a bonus the esbit tabs make decent emergency fire starters. They are a little stinky, make your cup dirty. for longer hikes alcohol and canister have advantages.


I have played with a bunch of canister stoves and alcohol stoves . Which is lighter depends a lot on how much you cook, how you cook, the exact stoves you would use. For me while I do several different types of hikes, I typically will go for 4-5 days or 7-10 days with a resupply and by my calculations alcohol is lighter. It also is nice because you can see very easily whats left. Certainly the canister stoves are usually faster and easier to use. At my age and condition I am going to walk around 8 hours a day, I don't really have gas in my tank for a week of 16 hours a day walking anymore so I don't bergrudge some time sitting around while my water boils. If I were backpack hunting I would probably value the ease of use of the canister stove more so as to maxiumize the hunting time.

These are easy things to play around with the esbit and alchohol stoves are very cheap or free and there are some economical canister stoves too.

well said

I have a tiny canister stove (under an ounce for the stove) that fits inside a 1/2 liter toaks titanium pot with a canister. The whole thing is 10.5oz. Light enough for me, and it works pretty well if you don't need to heat a bunch of water. Usually I don't have a stove for day hunts, but it can be nice.

http://rutalocura.com/?page_id=6004

I've used the Esbit pocket stoves for years with U.S. mil-specs Trioxane fuel tablets, as they don't smell like the Esbit brand does. An Esbit pocket stove, a half dozen Trioxane fuel tablets, and a BIC lighter fit nicely into an old plastic U.S. military IFAK rigid box. I use it to heat water for bouillon, coffee, or tea when I going to be afield during cold weather and want a hot beverage.

I have also found that the Coghlan's brand of alcohol heat tables don't smell and are commonly available.

The plastic IFAK box that I use is this one:

6545-01-094-6136
Insert, First Aid Kit Case

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