myog esbit stove

[Bob Gross]

For allowing air movement, you don't need any holes directly underneath the Esbit cube. However, if there are holes in that little metal platform, it is likely to be lighter in weight.

–B.G.–

[Daniel Fosse]

Ya, esbit burns fine on a non-airated surface. I was just trying to reduce the material. Now that I think of it, it may be a bad idea. Esbit gets kind of runny when it burns. I don't know if it will drip through the holes or not. I need to order some tabs and test it. Anyway, the beercan bottom is just as light and should work for esbit too.

I'm not a big fan of alcohol burners. I'm sort of clumbsy and tend to spill fuel. I also never seem to meter it properly. While esbit is smelly and leaves goo on my pot, it's pretty fool proof. 1 cube will get your water boiling. It won't leak and if I need to boil 5 times, I bring 5 cubes. It's a no brainer.

Still I like to keep my options open. My problem is that I have no local source for esbit but I can find alcohol everywhere.

[Bob Gross]

I don't know if this will mean anything, but I found a good Esbit footplate material in a piece of old power supply heatsink shield. This is aluminum sheet punched full of holes, but I use only about one square inch of it. The holes are slightly less than 1/8" in diameter, and there are five holes per inch.

As a result, it weighs almost nothing. Plenty of air reaches the cube. The metal is not enough to be a heat sink to the hot cube. The aluminum is thick enough that it does not melt from the heat. The holes are small enough that the molten Esbit does not drip through it.

I made a similar one out of titanium foil, but it is slick and the holes have to be punched.

–B.G.–

[Mark Hudson]

I know this is about making your own, but I have been experimenting all weekend with what stove to take for a group cooking setup for 3 on the jmt this year.

I have a CC for a 900 ml bpl pot and with one cube it boils the heck out of 2 cups of water, I would estimate that there is half to .4 of a cube left when that water boils, and i did this in about 30 degrees with very cold water.

I am hoping to get 6 cups to boil with one cube in my new 2 qt set up I ordered this week.

i know its a stretch, but hey I can always add wood, or use two tabs, or try alcohol.

so far esbit wins out over any method I have tested to boil 2 cups (canister, alcohol or esbit)

[michael levi]

BUMP………… :)

Yes I am thinking about going esbit, any good links with DIY? I have a sheet of Ti foil by the way.

[Author]

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