USGI Trioxane Solid Fuel Tablets

[Ryan Jordan]

Keep in mind my comments are given in context of backpacking and challenge the notion that these tablets are suitable for boiling small water volumes, a claim found on the Internet here and there by hikers and retailers looking for a cheap Esbit alternative.

These things are as close as you can get to absolute junk, when it comes to selecting solid fuel for a lightweight backpacking cook kit where you need to boil 2 cups of water at a go.

The attraction is that they are extremely CHEAP. You can shop around and get 5 oz of fuel for a buck. The saying, “you get what you pay for” doesn’t ring more true. After a week of using these on a trek, Mick was singing “you can’t always get what you want” round and round my head. What I wanted was a simple cup of boiling friggen’ water for a cup of Joe in the morning. It didn’t happen.

Consider the water boiling capacity of a 0.5 oz piece of these tablets around 8-12 ounces in optimal conditions.

Upsides: they light easily and are available in about any ‘army-navy’ type supply store in the country.

Downsides: they burn way too fast – which results in massive amounts of heat wasted, and the tablet petering out before your mug of water boils. Granted: these were designed to quickly warm meals (MRE components), not boil water, so I’ve bumped my early rating up a notch as a charity point, after reading the next review below, which is a very fair one.

[David Kuchtrczyk]

Trioxane tabs were not designed to boil water, at least not more than a cup full at a time. They are best used by breaking the tab into 3 parts and burning one at a time (for approx 12 minutes of heat). Very easy to find and typically the cheapest of any type of heating tabs.

Trioxane is best used for heating meals or for starting fires.

Hexamine / Esbit tabs burn hotter and are better for boiling.

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