Was doing some random surfing and found that Esbit actually has a line of merchandise. Some of it looked useful, others just repeats with their logo's on what has already been done, but I could see alot of people getting at least a mug or utensil just for the nostalgia factor. Link HERE . (you will need to download the PDF catalog located on the top right of the page.

Would be neat if a good company we all know would pick some of the items up, the ones I Google Foo-ed either weren't the cheapest, or were places I'd never heard of.

The Esbit 585 cookset looks interesting being very light at 197gms

http://www.campsaver.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=esb0004

Not to bad for about $25 and will boil enough water for a Mountain House satchet meal.

Could be useful for throwing in a day pack for emergency use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxxHZUVgzc

had not found that company. Wonder if they picked the line up more recently? I had found this a few weeks ago but was slow to post on it.

The alcohol stove they are selling is a dead ringer for the Trangia stove. The cookset has a similar look to it - very similar in price as well to the Mini-Trangia, which is a really great small unit.

and the esbit stove for a wetfire stove, folding utensils are bruntons, spork is like LMF... like I said, just thought some people might like it if for nothing else than the branding, and... to whip it out at camp and say "check this out" other dude "no way... an esbit ______" so I posted it.

cool find, thanks.

hi gang,i orderd one of those Esbit brand sets from REI here in Arizona a few months back..when they called me and told me it was in i picked it up that day after work and went out to my jeep where i opened it up to inspect my new toy...what hit me was the fact that the cook set was NOT German or even European made but made in china...for me vince g. thats a big no/go , so i put everything back in the box and promtly returned the item and got my money back...folks i like and enjoy Esbit products (used an Esbit cooker and tabs for about 30 years now)but my big turn off for me was a Esbit item made in china....you folks might not mind that its made in the far east but that fact did'nt do it for me vince g. 11b Infantry.....

I had the same issue with the iconic pinnacle of US technology; the Apple Iphone, I found out that it wasn't an American product at all. Apparently it was designed in the UK, engineered in India and manufactured in China. Apple just markets and sells them in the luxury markets of the world. Same with the new iPad.

After watching a recent UK TV series called 'Blood, Sweat and Luxuries' with an episode about an electronics factory in the Philippines, I don't think any Northern American or Western European would be able to compete with their Asian counterparts in terms of their hard work and productivity. The work conditions are so tightly controlled and would be completely unacceptable, (think dark satanic cotton mills in Northern England in the 19th Century, when the UK was the workshop of the world much like China is today), which is why some of the Chinese workers prefer to top themselves rather than assemble Apple iPhones and iPads for a pittance.

Its good to see that you stick to your principles favoring domestic products although I don't understand why you would purchase a German manufactured product over a Chinese manufactured product. Both are foreign sources of manufacture.

The country of origin of manufacture can sometimes also be difficult to determine, even the US flag patches on US military uniforms were secretly made in Thailand but fraudulently labeled as being made in the USA. The same issue happened with the US army berrets which was contracted to a British company, which then subcontracted them to a Chinese manufacturer. Apparently was a hell of a fuss made just because the British company was upfront about the origin of manufacture in China.

i like German/European made items of kit ,never said nothing about USA only items just the fact that the German Esbit company has outsourced to china and was not happy with a china made Esbit item..that being said i also know in these times we live in its really hard not to buy somethings made in the far east...but i do try real hard to buy items only from the USA or east/west european when it comes to my outdoors kit..thats just how i roll... vince g. 11b Infantry

Apple considers the phone hardware - other than the industrial design - almost a commodity with the software being the important part. Hence the US packaging for their products states that the product is designed in California and built in China - from Apple's viewpoint it's the software that matters and the hardware is not important.

The Chinese are quite capable of quality manufacturing now. Their biggest problem is past habit: their exporters are so used to being asked to produce cheap junk that they're not used to catering to the more quality-conscious crowd. That will change.