Esbit Questions:

What might help reduce the soot that you are getting is more Oxygen, if you are using something like a Caldera Cone.

The more height that you have between the esbit and the bottom of your pot should allow more combustion and reduce the soot.

However, you will get soot on your pot.

I have only used the Esbit tablets…not sure if it burns cleaner than other ones out there.

In the states, we can only have esbit shipped by ground as they are considered flamable/hazzardous.

To remove the soot is easy….spray on oven cleaner will remove the soot easily.

Spray on the bottom of your pot, leave it on for 10 minutes, rinse off….done!

-Tony

Esbit can be purchased on ebay from Germany. They ship International

Mike,

I have used ESBIT for decades in many different commercial and homemade stoves. But the VERY best stove I've used is the Trail Designs Caldera Cone called the Sidewinder. Using the clever "Gram Cracker" tablet holder is important and this setup of tab holder & cone will cut your fuel use by 1/3. I know this from my own experience.

The Sidewinder is expensive B/C it's made of titanium sheet to withstand the heat of a wood fire, for which it has an optional "Inferno" insert. You can spend less on an aluminum Caldera Cone if you will never use a wood fire.

My Sidewinder is made to fit Trail Design's 3 cup aluminum anodized pot for solo cooking and I think that size is ideal for ESBIT use. The nice thing about the Sidewinder design is that it is made to fit INSIDE the mating pot (except for the included alcohol burner).

Mike,

Esbit isn't that readily available in the US. For example if you thru-hiked the PCT you would be hard pressed to find it in most towns near the trail. Most large sporting goods stores carry here, which are usually in larger cities.

This is why so many thru-hikers prefer alcohol stoves. Cheap fuel, easy to find, and kits are very light.

However, if you have what we call military surplus stores in your country, you might find Esbit or similar there. Most surplus stores in the US seem to carry Esbit or similar stuff.

A Google search for Esbit on BPL should pull up enough threads to keep you busy for a couple of days :)