I would switch to Esbit over Trioxane, it burns a little hotter and doesn’t seem to have the contamination problem you talked about. But it does have a slight smell while burning, but not that bad. An alcohol stove may also be a good choice, I would go with the Trangia, it has a few features other alcohol stoves don’t. it’s very durable (most alcohol stoves are home made and quite fragile) and it can be sealed up and put away with fuel still in it. With all other alcohol stoves you have to wait till it burns out before you put it away.




What are you keeping in your BOB to eat that can handle real every-weekend type carry?

Can food is pretty much bullet proof when it comes to storage and rough use in a pack.


GSI makes some strong, waterproof storage cases. Not small, but very tough. Nalgene bottles work great, I use them for food in a cooler when camping. Shredded cheese in a zip lock, in a cooler always seems to get water logged. Not so when I put it in a Nalgene.

They make smaller Nalgene bottles (14-oz instead of the 32 oz bottles) they are 2/3 the height and ½ as big around. But they cost $6.00 for them. I have 3 or 4 of them and find them handy.