FireLite Titanium Esbit Wing Stove

Jason,

I've got the Wing stove. I've made a windscreen by laminating aluminum(?) exhaust repair tape onto both sides of a strip of PU Nylon – to enclose it. It can also be pegged down with 3x 1g Ti Stakes. It weighs 11g…

Jason,
For esbit I use a titanium Caldera cone with my default pot, a Titanium Snowpeak 900. The cone works (as intended) with the included alcohol stove, with esbit, with wood fuel, and even as a windscreen when using canister stoves.
In that last configuration there is sufficient friction between the cone and the pot so the cone stays with the pot, elevated a few inches off the ground. Thus the canister and stove do not overheat. This configuration is not recommended nor approved by the cone maker as far as I know..
I find that alcohol and esbit do not put out sufficient heat in the winter to quickly heat cup after cup of boiling water for my small group. So, In that season, I can use my Snowpeak canister stove and still get the benefits of my Caldera cone.
I tried various foil windscreens, but IMO they look hobo, and take much longer to set up neatly than a cone.
When weight is not so critical I still take my jetboil, such as on a car trip or 'extreme picnic'.

I can definitely see the benefits of the Caldera Ti-Tri. Would negate the need for the Wing Stove, but I can live with that. Have you used yours with Esbit, Brett?

Pot selection is next. I like the size of the Snow Peak Titanium Trek 700 Mug, but I suspect that it's tall slender profile means a tall Caldera cone, and I can probably find a lighter pot, so will keep looking.

I bought a Caldera cone sometime back, and it worked great with alcohol. On my last trip I had a bit of a leak with my fuel bottle (tried to go a little too light and ended up lighter than expected as a good portion of my fuel leaked out).

That prompted me to try Esbit. I had tried Esbit with a homemade setup before, and discarded it as too stinky, too hard to light and didn't give enough heat for windy conditions.

I ordered an Aloksak to hold the Esbit and the Gram Cracker Esbit holder to go with my cone and my tests so far have been stellar. The cone really captures all the heat, and the Gram Cracker with wings really does seem to slow combustion down and make the combustion very efficient.

Using my Snowpeak 600, I can bring 16 ounces of water to a full, honest rolling boil in about 10 minutes. The soot and gunk are GREATLY reduced using the Gram Cracker system.

So far the only disadvantage I see to this system is that Esbit is impossible to light with a spark. I'm done with alcohol.

Timothy,

Can you explain what the Gram Cracker Solution is?

Scroll down about halfway

The kit contains a solid fuel stand set to the correct height for the Caldera Cone system, 2 side panels to control the burn, a protective foil shield, 3 Esbit fuel tabs, and a reusable ziploc bag sized to fit your supply of solid fuel tablets and lighter. (lighter not included)
The stand and shield weigh only .2 oz / 7 grams

Tim,
Aside from the gratuitous Bic lighter, I also keep a small Aloksak with Firesteel Scout and Quik Tinder tabs. I recently found a not-so-weatherproof replacement: dryer lint. If you dry a load of denim jeans, save the lint from the filter. Grab a pinch about as big as a cotton ball. Hang it over the corner of the Esbit tab. I've found it lights easier on the corner than just sitting on top. Make sure to have wind shielded away. Throw sparks to lint. The cotton catches fire and burns long enough to ignite the Esbit. It usually lights on the first try for me, but sometimes does require a second try. Some folks use cotton balls and Vaseline for their fire kit. This would almost certainly light the tab on the first try since the Vaseline makes the cotton burn longer. I prefer cotton dryer lint as it's plentiful and one less thing I have to throw in the trash.

Jason,

500 ml of 45F water in 35F ambient air and light wind will reliably boil in my Caldera for the Snow Peak 700 ml. I use about 2/3 of an Esbit (7.5 min.) or 20 ml (9 min.) of alcohol in these conditions. It is my chosen solution for solo cooking. As you stated, the cone is tall but you can be creative in its packaging (I just wrap mine around my fishing rod tube).

For fish baking for one/two or boiling water for two, I use a Snow Peak 1.3 L pot with a Ti-Tri. A single Esbit will not boil 1L of 45F water in light wind and 35F ambient air (160 F max. temp.). Their alcohol stove filled to its maximum capacity of 40 ml will not boil 1L but will take it to about 190F. Two Esbit burns, two alcohol burns, or wood is required to achieve 1L reliable boils with 1L 45F water and 35F weather or more challenging combinations of water and air temp.

i've been real happy with using a drop or two of alcohol from a mini dropper on the esbit: fires right up with a spark.

All:

Following this thread with great interest…..thanks for all the kind words and support.

I am chiming in now because I want to tie together a couple of posts here and ensure that a feature of the Gram Cracker isn't overlooked.

First, if you look at the picture that is posted….it is true that with the side panels in place it makes the esbit much more efficient. However, if you look closely, one or both of the side panels can be removed to increase the cooking speed. By and large, we leave them on, but just wanted to point that out….which takes me to….

…the second feature. Notice on the picture that was posted, the side panels are a little longer than the stand? Well, the reason for that is to allow you turn them 90 degrees to accommodate *TWO* esbit tablets. Including a picture below. This addresses Richards comment about having to do 2 runs. With 2 tablets, with both side panels in place, we can get 6 cups of water to a boil in one run.

Thanks again for all the interest!

Rand :)

EDIT: I was hijacking the thread. Started new one.

Jason – I ordered an R-Guard aluminum foil windscreen from GG that works alright. It's a little clumsy, but like you I kept looking at the "Out of Stock" sign. It probably won't be my final solution, but it's helping me find out what doesn't work and what does.

This is the second thread I've seen here mentioning the efficiency of using ESBIT or FireLite fuel tabs with the Caldera Cone. I'm VERY interested in the Caldera Cone now.

My present Ti wing ESBIT stove setup uses an MSR aluminum windscreen with my JetBoil 1.5 L. pot. The efficeincy of the pot is greatly enhanced by the MSR windscreen.

I've also used my Vargo Ti "dual fuel" stove (alcohol burner removed) with TWO fuel tabs side-by-side in winter. It works well and the extra tabs needed weigh very little more.

Eric

Thanks for all the great input!

I currently have on order:
1) a Caldera Cone
2) a Snow Peak 700 Ti mug
3) a pack of FireLite fuel tabs
4) a Graham Cracker solid fuel holder

I just retired to my gear closet:
1) a dear old friend, the Jetboil

Getting very excited for spring!

The forecast for my trip tomorrow is high winds with rain. Hmmm…. we'll see how this windscreen holds up (or falls down). Maybe I'll have a CC on order too….

… and Rand's post is why I think the TD guys are beyond awesome.

Any new-user experience over the spring? Feedback appreciated.
-Ken

Jason, i to have converted to a cc and esbit. i had been using a triad titanium stand with fuel tabs for a number of years. i felt the stand was not all that sturdy and always was uncomfortable with it. i ended up buying a pot also, since my dear old msr titanium did not fit the newer cc stands. anyway, if anyone is interested in making their own windscreen, i made one to go with my old system, and it worked just fine. i purchased a piece of printers tin from the local newspaper for about 50 cents. (it is extremely light but strong). put together my pot with stand and measured up from table to about 1 inch above bottom of pot, then measured around to include the handles of the pot. cut it with tin snips or you could use very sharp scissors. punched holes around bottom of tin for air flow and bend both ends in opposite directions in order to make a round cylinder. just a easy and inexpensive project…. .

The TiTri (Caldera cone) is the first system that has allowed me to boil 500 ml repeatedly with one Esbit tablet (not the same tablet…). With other stoves/pot/windshield combos often I get some bubbles but rarely a roaring boil. Obviously if an incompetent would-be Esbit user like me can succeed with the TiTri, anyone can.Considering the consistent performance even in the wind and at different temperatures (only down to 5c/41f so far) , I think that the TiTri /Gram Cracker combo wins as a lightweight no-fuss solution. Backyard testing only because I still prefer alcohol.
Franco

I tried for a good half an hour with different sparking techniques to get my fire steel to light the esbit stove. based on the epic fail, i figured I'd check this forum to see how people actually light an esbit fuel tablet without a lighter. So….dryer lint or cotton balls and vaseline. that will transfer my spark to turn into a lit tablet?

when i've used esbits & lit with a sparker, i've brought a small dropper of alcohol – couple drops on the esbit tab & it takes a spark pretty readily

Just got my Caldera Esbit system, and my first impressions are so,so?

1) Seems as if the boil times are slower than my BPL Ti wing stove and Firelite 550 mug. (16oz water)

2) Actual overall tablet burn time seems much faster as well, with the Caldera system?

3) I have a hard time lifing the Fosters can out, without burning my hand, (yes this is with the beer band in place)

4) Stuff-sack fits too tight over the Fosters can/pot.
I'd like it to be large enough, to fit over the can, with a can cozy over the can as well, which would also protect the can while stuffed inside your pack.

With my BPL Ti wing stove I can boil 12-16oz of cold water, and still have enough Esbit left burning to heat another 12oz for my morning coffee (not to a boil, pre-treated water)

IMHO, there is way too much air space in the Cone, thus wasting heat or the transfer of heat.
What I've found with my BPL Ti wing stove, is that the tighter I wrap my windscreen around my pot the faster Boil times I get and the longer the tabs will burn.

I probably need to actually use the Caldera system longer though, before I pass final judgement.

What I've found with my BPL Ti wing stove, is that the tighter I wrap my windscreen around my pot the faster Boil times I get and the longer the tabs will burn.

Same here. I use the Ti Wind stove and literally "wrap" my windscreen around my pot. That said, I haven't used the Caldera setup so cannot comment on it's efficiency.

I had an esbit wing stove but it's legs fell off. Was this just bad luck or has anyone else had this problem? I am trying to decide if I should buy another or try something else. I am using Vargo Triad Titanium Alcohol/Fuel Tab Stove right now but it does not work very well with my small ti cup.

Mary just get a small nut/bolt from the hardware store or rivet the legs back on. Mine are still attached but I've heard of this happening to others.