Which hexamine manufacturer?

In my experience, Esbit leaves less residue than Coghlans. I haven't used Academy Sports; they aren't available where I live in Washington.

I can clean my pot after using Esbit with just water. With Coghlans, I can't completely remove the residue without using something abrasive.

Ounce for ounce, I think they perform the same. I think Esbit smells worse than Coghlans but it really doesn't bother me and I just keep it in a sandwich bag.

I look forward to reading your review! Have fun!

Edit: I haven't seen military hexamine in a couple decades but I haven't looked for it either.

Edit part deuce: I shouldn't say that the Esbit creates less residue. I meant to say that the soot is easier to clean off.

where can you buy coghlan fuel tabs in Los Angeles?

http://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-9565-Fuel-Tablets/dp/B00079YU46/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1368380307&sr=1-1&keywords=coghlan+fuel

Apparently free shipping from one of the vendors.

Locally here in Washington I buy it from Wholesale Sports. I didn't see one near you ala google. They are fairly common so I'd be surprised if your local sporting goods stores don't carry them.

"I haven't seen military hexamine in a couple decades but I haven't looked for it either."

It think it is Trioxane, not Hexamine. Doesn't work as good as Esbit, but a lot cheaper and toxic.

Most of the military stuff that I've seen was Trioxane, packaged into O.D. foil packs. It is better than nothing, but it is not as good as Esbit.

I have seen hexamine round tablets sold in O.D. cardboard tubes, but it didn't seem as hot as Esbit, either.

–B.G.–

I havent seen it at sports authority or rei…maybe Big5 Sports?

edit:thx for link…that is damn cheap and free shipping too…is it the real stuff,have you bought from them?

Nick/Bob, thanks for the correction. We just called them "Heat Tabs" and to be honest I only used them a couple of times. I left Germany in '94 and never saw them in circulation after that.

Dave,

I can buy them locally so I've never interacted with this vendor. These Coghlan tablets are .25oz and [normally] the Esbit tablets are .5oz. REI sells a box of 12 .5oz Esbit tablets for $6.95 vs the 24 .25oz Coghlan tablets from Amazon so still $2 back in your pocket for the same amount of fuel.

There are 4g Esbit tablets out there but I don't have any experience with them nor have I seen them at any of my local stores.

"We just called them "Heat Tabs" and to be honest I only used them a couple of times."

Trioxane heat tabs are OK, but not great. In Korea, we had to use those in a foxhole to heat up coffee. If we didn't use Trioxane, we had to pry the back off a Claymore mine and pick a piece of C4 explosive out. It would burn about the same, but you just needed to be careful how you handled it (not recommended). In general, Trioxane heat tabs are much larger than Esbit cubes, so you were supposed to break the bar into thirds.

I have a box here:
FUEL, COMPRESSED, TRIOXANE
RATION HEATING
3 BARS
…
Chemical Compounding Corp., Riverhead, N.Y. 11901

Three bars in one box for $1.

–B.G.–

Another brand to consider is Bleuet.

I used Bleuet for the first time one year ago. It seemed to be virtually identical to Esbit brand except for a very slight pink color to it which makes no difference in performance. I only purchased the Bleuet because Esbit brand was unavailable, and the Bleuet cost was slightly higher.

–B.G.–

I found Coughlan's in a military surplus store in the LA area. I just bought a package of Stansport hexamine tabs to try out that has different packaging but the similar appearance (dont know if they are the same) at a military surplus store in Pomona.

Ian ,i just ordered some.

I ordered several packs of fuel and the stove from here:

http://www.campingsurvival.com/fueltablets.html

This is a very cheap place to get it from but shipping is not free so the amazon link might be better if you just want to try out one box.

I did see Dick’s sporting goods was selling the folding stove + fuel a while back.

I have to say the Coglans are a much better option for me. they have them at my local outdoor store (redwood trading post, redwood city) for $2.??.. something under $3 i think.. $2.55 maybe. And that is for 24 tablets. One of those tablets is perfect to heat up one cup of water for coffee/tea/hotchoc etc. One won't quite boil 2 cups of water but 2 tabs will for sure.
So compared to regular 14g Esbit brand which cost $7 for 12.. these are roughly more than half the cost and twice as versatile..