Solid fuel users

[Lynn Tramper]

I'd like to do a survey of who uses what kind of solid fuel (Esbit, Coghlan's, etc…), and what sort of volumes of water are you heating?

I have personally found Coghlan's to be both cheaper and slightly more fuel efficient than Esbit, but there are other brands out there too.

[Einstein X]

I use Esbit. I take two or three tabs (@ 4 grams each) and boil about 3/4 to one pint.

Eins

[Lynn Tramper]

Einstein, do you mean 14 gram tabs?

[Einstein X]

Nope. Esbit comes in different shapes and sizes. In the us apparently Esbit tabs weigh 14gram and the ones I can buy here in Holland weigh only 4 g. So in the beginning (after reading on BPL that one tab is enough for boiling a pint) I ended up with luke warm water. After asking on this forum what everybodies tabs weigh I learned I should use three tabs. But if I now say here that I use three tabs to boil a pint one could wonder why I use so many tabs, hence I specified the weight of my tabs, which really are 4g a piece.

Eins

[George Matthews]

FireLite Titanium Esbit Wing Stove 11g

FireLite Solid Fuel Tablet 14 g each

Typically 16 oz of water boils in about 8-10 minutes using either:

FireLite SUL-1100 (1.15 L or 39 oz capacity) Titanium Cookpot 3 oz

MSR Titan Kettle ( .85 L or 28 oz capacity) titanium 4 oz

[Joshua Mitchell]

??? Really? That's wierd… do they come in, like a jar or a baggie? I can't imagine having to individually unwrap those tiny ones…

[Christopher Plesko]

12oz water using 1/2 tab (7g) of Esbit

[Einstein X]

They come in a small box of 20 tabs, they're not indifidually packed like in the US, which kinda sucks cause you shouldn't really touch Esbit with your hands.

Eins

[Roger B]

Chris
What pot and esbit holder do you use

[Christopher Plesko]

BPL ti-wing stove. Sterno can pot. 12oz is totally full so perhaps it's an oz less? It's enough boiling water for one of those couscous boxes and my tea/cocoa which is about all I ever cook.

In winter I have a Coleman xtreme for snow melting.

[Roger B]

Thanks Chris

Love you and your wife's blogs still trying to work out all those laterals

[David Lewis]

I use Esbit… it's the only brand I can buy in Canada. I use one 14g tab to boil about 2 cups of water in 8-10 mins using a beer can stove.

[Ken Bennett]

I use the Firelite tablets, usually 1/2 of a 14g tab is enough to boil 500ml of water. It has taken more fuel in very cold and windy weather (worst case was 2 full tabs for morning coffee at an A.T. shelter where the wind was coming straight in the open front.)

I did some testing against Esbit tabs when I first got the Firelite stove and fuel, and the Firelite was better in every test. (But Esbit, bought locally, was cheaper.) Haven't ever tried the Coughlan's.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I use both ESBIT & FireLite but like FireLite best B/C they are a bit hotter & cook faster.

My solid fuel "stoves" are many:
1. BPL Ti wing "stove" W/ aluminum pipe flame concentrater
2. Vargo Triad EX *My preferred stove*(alky burner removes for solid fuel use)
3. ESBIT folding steel stove
4. ESBIT-like (but smaller) aluminum folding stove

An MSR aluminum windscreen is used with all stoves I own.
My "pot of preference" is a 1.5 L. JetBoil with its very efficient "Flux Ring" heat exchanger bottom. I usually heat only 1 to 3 cups at a time.

SOLID FUEL TAB USERS UNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR ALKY!
ESBIT UBER ALKY!

[Lynn Tramper]

Ken, when you say Firelite was better in every test, do you remember what kind of margin it was better by? Faster cooking by minutes or just seconds, or just longer burning? I certainly find the Coghlan's to be both faster AND longer burning than the equivalent weight Esbit, and this is supported by Zen Stoves info:
http://zenstoves.net/SolidFuelBurner.htm

[George Matthews]

from the BPL shop…

Comparison: FireLite vs. Esbit
Tests were performed on a Backpacking Light Folding Titanium Solid Fuel Stove and 16 oz of cold tap water (same temperature for all tests) in a Vargo Titanium Mug (indoors, no windscreen).

Comparison of FireLite and Esbit solid fuel tablet performance. Esbit FireLite 14g 1/2 Esbit 1/2 FireLite 14g FireLite 10g
Tablet Weight (g) 14 14 7 7 10
Burn Time (mm:ss) 20:20 20:00 14:40 14:50 17:00
Boil Time 9:00 7:30 9:45 9:30 9:30

here

[Steven Evans]

David Lewis – who are you going to for your esbit now? I have read your "esbit in Canada?" thread, very i nformative, but just wondered who you found easiest to deal with or if you had any new leads.

[David Goodyear]

Eric,

Do you have any links for your modification of the wing stove? "1. BPL Ti wing "stove" W/ aluminum pipe flame concentrater "

I am trying to lighten my kitchen and I am considering the esbit style of stoves.

Thanks,

Dave

[Gregory Doggett]

My set-up:
Firelite Ti Wingstove
Firelite 14g. tabs
Aluminum under the stove to reflect heat and catch any of the burning liquid that might drip from the Firelite tab
Ti foil windscreen
Firelite SUL-550 pot/lid
Firelite SUL Folding Ti Spoon

I can get one Firelite tab to boil water to rehydrate a "Freezer Bag" style dinner and, while the dinner is cooking in the bag, boil water for an 8 to 12 oz. cup of hot chocolate which I drink from the SUL-550 pot.
Greg

[Lynn Tramper]

David, if you want to seriously lighten up your system using solid fuel, you should keep an eye on Trail Designs. They are in the process of designing a Ti solid fuel stove that weighs less than 3 grams, is incredibly fuel efficient when used with a Caldera cone, and has some ability to control the heat output. This stove was one of the reasons I started this thread, as the guys designing the stove need to know what size and shape fuel everyone is using so it will be versatile enough for many uses. I've been testing the prototype of this stove, and it really rocks!

[P. P.]

I have never used firelite. Does it smell as bad as esbit tabs?

[Lynn Tramper]

P.P.

I believe ALL solid fuels smell like stale fish…

[P. P.]

Will you be posting a review of the stove?

[Lynn Tramper]

P.P.

The stove I am trialling is just a prototype, so I won't be doing a full review on this particular stove. The guys at TD are tweaking things a bit more, so I'll do a full review when they're completely happy with the design. In the meantime, I did a mini review in this thread:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=10448&startat=20

[Steve Parr]

One thing I like about the Esbit tabs I can buy here in Michigan is that they are individually wrapped … helps cut down on the odor problem. Do the FireLite (10g and 14g) tabs come individually wrapped?

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