Esbit Stove

Esbit stoves are simple, inexpensive, rugged, and lightweight backpacking or 'emergency' stoves. The stove system burns solid fuel tablets made up primarily of hexamine, a smokeless, high energy per cubic volume chemical, which leaves no ashes and does not liquify. Though the fumes from the tablets when burned can be noxious, the tablets are non-toxic and easy to handle. The stoves are cheap- you can purchase them for under $10. Made of plated tensile steel, the traditional stove design is made up of three sides of stamped metal held in place by hinge rivets. You place the fuel tablet inside, and a pot or pan on top. Unlike other lightweight backpacking stoves that burn liquid fuel or gas, like the MSR Reactor or Whisperlight (which are great stoves also!) that can weigh over 2 pounds when you include fuel and canisters. The esbit stove weighs only 3.5 ozs and each tablet weighs only 0.5 oz! The stove folds up to the size of a deck of cards and can hold 3 fuel tablets inside.

Ok - this is easy. Unfold the sides of the stove unit, drop a cube of fuel in the middle and light it. That's it. One fuel pellet will burn for about 10 -14 minutes and can bring a pint of water to a boil in under 8 minutes.The sides of the esbit stove make a stable pot stand.

This stove is perfect for when you are backpacking and are trying to keep your pack light - when all you really need is some hot water to make your dehydrated food edible.

Esbit stoves are great because they are:

- superlightweight - less than half a pound with half dozen tablets

- efficient - each cube can generate 1400 F of heat for 12 minutes

- weather resistant

- small and compact (size of a deck of cards)

- durable

- smokeless and non-explosive

- a great campfire fire starter

- stores great - a perfect emergency stove for an earthquake of disaster emergency kit

Like all things in life, the esbit has some downsides. In comaprison to other 'lightweight camping stoves' the Esbit:

- has unadjustable heat source - i.e. perfect for boiling water, not so perfect for cooking an omlette

- can be sensitive to wind

- fuel cells are not as widely available as liquid fuels like white gas or alcohol

- some complain that the esbit has noxious fumes (i haven't found this to be the case)

The fuel cells are really the key to the esbit stove, as a result, there are various types of esbit stoves out on the market. These variations of the esbit tweak features in an effort to improve on weight, stability or efficiency. My favorites are the original military style stoves (that fold up to the shape of a deck of cards), and the "esbit stove and cookset." But, also imagine taking an empty tuna fish can and puncturing the sides with a few holes for airflow...sounds like another perfect variation of an esbit stove, right?

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