Coughlan's Fuel Tablets

[Don A.]

Kittery Trading Post is still selling the Coghlan’s Fuel Tablets for $2.19 for a box of 24.  If you register with them you get free shipping with a $20 purchase.

Compared to the Esbit brand that sell at REI for $7.95 a box, this is a great deal.

[Gary Dunckel]

I found that the Coghlan’s tabs don’t perform as well as Esbit. But you are right, the price is right.

[Don A.]

Curious about the “performance” statement.  All my testing a has resulted in pretty much equal boil times for equal amounts of fuel, using the same cooking system.  The advantage of the Coughlan’s over the esbit brand, beyond that, is there is virtually no melting, less smoke, no need to break the rectangular tabs in half you’re only heating a cup or so of water.  I haven’t tried simulating cooking for more than one but I suspect using 2 round tabs would provide the same time performance as a single rectangular tab.  My experience only.  Others will vary.

[Gary Dunckel]

You are right, Don, we likely might all have varying results. In my case, I found that the Coghlan’s left a good amount of ash, and in some cases it rather coated the surface of the tablet and somewhat quenched the flame. My Esbit doesn’t do that much at all. I contain any liquid the Esbit might create, but it doesn’t seem to produce a whole lot. Like you, I stockpiled a bunch of the Coghlan’s tablets when Kittery had another ‘mother of all sales’. I vacuum sealed the boxes to try to increase the shelf life.

That was about 5 years ago, and I then proceeded to compare the performance of those tablets with that of Esbit and also Bluet. For my personal preference, I settled upon Esbit as the clear winner, with the Bluet 2nd, and the Coghlan’s 3rd. Keep in mind that all my testing was done either on my 5440′ elevation patio, or in my mountains between 8,000-10,000′. People using any stove/fuel at sea level will probably experience different results than I will.

But hey, they will all work OK, and the Coghlan’s is quite a bit cheaper. Esbit isn’t. It’s sort of like trying to determine which denatured alcohol is best. They all have their own unique characteristics, and different folks will prefer different brands.

[Author]

Posts