Esbit or Alcohol Stove?

I have both here – a couple of Esbits (which are cheap enough for everyone to have one..), and a Trangia metho' stove..

The Esbit is probably better for shorter and quicker trips; but I would prefer to take the Trangia for longer trips (though the Esbit could be small and light enough to take anywhere as a 'backup'..). The alcohol stove would be quicker to cook with, and cheaper to fuel over a few days – making up for any inconvenience from extra weight, or time setting up.

[ I also have an MSR multi-fuel stove, as well, which could be better for higher altitudes, colder temperatures, or international travel – but that's not part of this discussion..].

"Wouldn’t the Ti-Tri Caldera System, in wood burning mode, provide equivalent functionality to the Bush Buddy plus add alcohol and Esbit modes?"

Yup. I have it, and love it.

Oh, and to the next guy in line (BPL doesn't do multi-replies easy), there are a number of things you can do to prevent / reduce scarring with the Tri-Ti. I've listed them in order of lowest added weight to highest…

1) Only use the woodburning mode in previously established fire rings (TT won't add to an already scarred spot unlike a roaring bonfire)
2) Find a large-ish loose rock, flip it over put the TT on it, flip it back.
3) Put something under the TT. A SP Ti Plate seems about the right size and is cheap. One or two layers of ti (or SS if you can find it) would be lighter but more expensive (however is the way I intend on going).

The cat's meow would be doing #3 in conjuction with one of the other two…

I have several different stoves (esbit, alcohol, gas canister, multi-fuel & wood gassifier) and I find that I don't really have a favorite, because I let the hike determine the stove that I take. On a warm, lazy summer weekend I don't mind the slower esbit, alcohol or gassifier (homemade from a Heineken beer can), and enjoy the light weight. On the other hand, when the weather is going to be dicy or I'm going to high elevation I prefer the heavier gas stoves and enjoy the reliability.

How do you guys get the Esbit to boil water so fast? Are you using several tabs at a time?
It takes me about 15 minutes (or almost the entire tab) to boil 1.5 cups of H2O for a Mountain House meal.
My tin can stove, i.e., esbit and pot holder, aluminum windscreen and small metal tongs (to hold the esbit while lighting) weighs 5 oz.

10 Esbit tabs also weigh 5 oz.
If you blow hard enough you can extinguish the esbit like blowing out a candle.

Hi, Mark. The intensity of the Esbit burn can be increased by breaking up the tab, which increases the surface area. There are a couple of downsides to this , however. One is that to do so you'll have to handle the tab, and they have been known to cause a skin irritation. Another is that the level of CO produced goes up, so you don't want to do this in an enclosed space.

Looking at your stove with its few and small air inlets, I'm guessing that part of the reason for your 15 minute boil time is just plain lack of air. I use the BPL Ti "spider" stove (with a windscreen) and achieve a 10 minute boil for my two cups of water using an unbroken tab. Check out the thread: Stoves, Tents and Carbon Monoxide, Pt 5: solid fuels.

I posted a question on a Swedish outdoor forum (Utsidan.se)
to see if anyone had used the Bushbuddy in the Scandinavian mountains. A Norwegian gentleman (Harald) responded that he had used the Bushbuddy as his only stove for two years now. He also provided the following useful information:

He uses the Bushbuddy with Esbit tablets as a backup using aluminuimfoil under the potholder. He reported that the efficiency was decreased and he needed four esbits to boil a liter of water. This might be because the distance to the pot was too large. Still, this could be acceptable as a backup solution.

I'm thinking that it should be an easy project to construct a wire esbit grate or holder that could be used with the bushbuddy with more efficiency.
Has anybody tried?

The Gram Cracker Esbit stand by Trail Designs works perfectly in the BushBuddy. You don't really even need the extra 'wings' so it only adds ~1.5 grams weight and makes a perfect backup.