Coghlan Fuel Tablets

A number of years ago I conducted a few quick and dirty tests of Esbit vs. Coghlan's fuel tabs. As far as I could tell they were close enough to equivalent that I moved to the less expensive Coghlan's. After the test I found a good price online, bought a lifetime supply, and I continue to use them, most recently a few weeks ago in the Wind River Mtns., Wyoming. By the way the purchase was made in 2009 and the fuel is still viable. Yes, the Coghlan's tabs are messier than the Esbit; they leave more residue on the pot bottom. Keep the pot in a sacrificial plastic bag and/or carry a paper towel and use water to wipe the pot bottom. Most recently I used an Epicurean Titanium stove with two stacked tabs per burn. The Gram Cracker stove works OK, too. For easy ignition I take a small dropper bottle of alcohol, drip about 8 drops down the sides of the tabs, then apply the lighter flame. A cone style wind screen/pot support is used. It's an inexpensive test (buy both) to conduct on your own to see what you like. Give it a backyard try!

Ounce for ounce, they're the same. Coghlan tablets are .25oz, which is normally all the fuel I need to heat up 16 fl oz of water enough to rehydrate food. I was previously burning half an Esbit tablet and throwing the other half in a ziploc so the size alone was enough for me to switch over from Esbit. The fact that I can buy a box at half the cost (again… ounce for ounce) of Esbit is certainly frosting on the cake.

My experience is the same as John's and Ian's. On a weight basis the Coghlan's are basically equivalent to the Esbit 1/2oz tabs. As Ian emphasized besides the cost the size makes sense for 1-2 cup boils. I wasted a lot of esbit tabs and boiled my pot dry needlessly before changing to the Coghlan's. I could supply you with a lot of figures regarding boil times using various stove configurations, pots, windscreens etc. In the field the numbers are pointless from my perspective. I can heat 1.5 cups of water (my usual max) with one Coghlan tab in just about any conditions. Lately I've been doing dry baking using a variation of Jon Fong's (Flat Cat Gear) method and one Coghlan tab bakes one biscuit, lasagna, muffin etc. it makes my life simple. I haven't found that the Coghlan's create a lot of mess but I think that's a factor of the tablet to pot distance and available oxygen. The pictures will give you a better idea. 550ml pot bottom residue using pot stand and wind screen with Coghlan tab Fosters can bottom residue using cone system with Coghlan tab

Thanks for the information and experience with he Coghlan Fuel Tablets. Just purchased a box. I normally only bowl 1.5 cups of water and always had leftover Esbit (I've used a Four Dog Titanium Esbit Stove in conjunction with a SP 600ml Ti Mug and DIY windscreen made from aluminum flashing for the last 4 or 5 years) so the smaller size of the Coghlan should be perfect. Cheers

Any thoughts on what stove to use to slow Coghlan tablets down for the most efficient burn? I'm thinking a tea light would choke the airflow a little. The round shape seems harder to choke than a square Esbit in a Graham Cracker…

I am wondering about the best stove for the Coghlan's tabs too, Matthew. When somebody recently alerted us about the great sales price at Kittery Trading Post, I scored a "lifetime supply." I can't seem to get 1.5 C to boil using one tab in my pop can bottom holder. The usual 1.25" tab-to-pot distance doesn't quite work, even in my MOOG caldera clone cone. Yesterday I made another holder, this time with a tab-to-pot distance about 7/8". We'll see how that does. I expect that there will be more deposit on the pot, but if I can get a boil I'll be happy. Also yesterday, I contacted Coghlan's regarding my dilemma. The CS guy told me that "It is indeed difficult to get a boil using just one tab. We recommend using 2-3 at a time." Hmmm…that doesn't compare well with Esbit, does it? Especially since Esbit burns almost completely, and Coghlan's doesn't. I can get two-1.5 C boils with one 14 gm. Esbit, just barely, if I blow it out in time between burns. That works well for my two morning cuppa-joes. Those screw-top containers for quarters hold 5 Coghlan's nicely, which I was hoping could get me through a quick and dirty 24 hour outing. It's kinda looking like I'm dreaming on that one. If I could figure out how to cleanly cut an Esbit tab in half, that would likely be the answer to quality 7 gm. tablets. So, yeah, what type of stove/tab holder would work best for these Coghlan's tablets? I'm trying to figure out if a modified BG holder might work, using 2 Coghlan's tabs standing on their sides next to each other. Now, how to make a rounded base for the holder…?

Gary writes: “If I could figure out how to cleanly cut an Esbit tab in half, that would likely be the answer to quality 7 gm. tablets.” Two 4 gram ESBIT tablets would work. Harder to find than the 14 gram tablets, and ounce-for-ounce, even more expensive. http://esbit.de/en/solid-fuel-tablets-20-x-4g-001-020-00/ — Rex

I usually cut a couple coglahn’s fuel tabs in half and carry them as fire starters in a ziploc bag.  I usually cut them in half before my trip so i don’t have to mess with that in the field.

I have found it very easy to cut them in half with a standard 84mm or 91mm SAK blade.  Not sure if the classic would work easily or not.

20% off and free shipping today at Kittery Trading Post with the checkout code “Cyber20”.  Coghlan’s fuel tabs normally run $2.19 for a 24 pack, so that puts them around $1.75 per pack.

That is a very good deal!

I came across this thread today searching as to how easy it would be to cut Coghlan’s fuel tabs in half.  Mike W’s advice was spot on, very easy to do with a sturdy blade knife, little to no mess.

Another reason I chimed in was to answer matthew k’s unanswered question (at least in this thread) as to how to slow the burn down.  I use a Flat Cat gear epicurean stove to do so in simmer mode.  I am using this for dry baking on an upcoming 3 week trip.

My past experience has been there is a small amount of unburden fuel when using the stove with Coghlan’s fuel.  I recently tried putting the tablets in a tea light tin to contain the remaining unburned liquid.  Reason being, I wanted to keep the surface plate flat so the burn of the tablet would be slow and consistent.  What I have found is in this configuration, the fuel burns much more completely, and there is NO liquid left over.  Sometimes just a bit of fuel under the ash which the Coghlan’s tabs leave.

So far I am finding it a bit hit or miss in terms of slowing the burn down enough for dry baking my cookies.  Putting the fuel in the tea light tin seems to have the effect of making it burn hotter in the epicurean stove.  I have tried cutting the sides of the tea light tin down (maybe reduce thermal feedback?) and really no change in results.  Tea light candles work much better for baking in my experience, but I am not using them on this trip for various reasons.  I think cutting the Coghlan’s tablets in half could slow the burn down enough to reduce or eliminate the burning I am having with cookies.  Baking bread seems to be less of a problem so far, but I have not baked a loaf with the fuel in the tea light yet.