Hi,

I've been considering adding a commando stove and Esbit fuel to my kit. I'm wondering what sort of performance I can get from it. I just tried one out on my front steps, with mixed results.

- How easy is it supposed to be to light? I tried to light it with my metal match, first without magnesium flakes, and then with, to no success. However, I seem to suck at using a metal match. It lit pretty easily with a small strike-anywhere match.

- It seemed to last about 10 minutes, with the last half fairly weak. It was able to bring a cup of water to a vigorous simmer after about 5 minutes, but it never quite made it to a good boil. Is this about right? Perhaps part of the problem is that there was a bit of a breeze, and when the flame wasn't going straight up the water wasn't boiling.

- What is it? It smelled somewhat waxy as it was burning, with some other chemically smells I didn't recognize. Is it nasty?

- Does it have a shelf life? Are the ones I got from the neighborhood surplus store probably there because they are too old?

Benton

This answers the second part of my question:

http://www.monmouth.com/~mconnick/esbit.htm

I bought a "Pocket Cooker" from Cabela's a while ago before they quit selling them. Cost about $28.00 with shipping and all.

The "Pocket Cooker" is made of heavy gage metal with a door and a perforated bottom grate and all the parts are connected together. The shape is tapered up on two sides with the door on one side, and two flat sides. If you watch how you unfold it, folding it back up should be no problem, but you had better watch the first few times to avoid frustration when trying to refold it flat. You can open the door to feed the fire or lift up your pot and put fuel (Wood, paper, combustibles.) in from the top. If you put a small spacer on the grate, you could use a variety of fuel tabs on this unit, and with the protected sides you wouldn't lose heat to drafts like you do with the Esbit stove. You can leave the door open for more secondary air or close it so all the air feeds to the underside of the grate.

It folds up flat when you are ready to go and slips into a supplied carrying case.

I called the American distributor listed on the box in order to try becoming a dealer for this little bugger, but they quit importing them due to lack of interest. They were willing to take a 250 unit order, but the price at wholesale didn't make it worth my while, and they would not tell me who manufactures it.

If any of you know who manufactures the "Pocket Cooker", please give me a heads up as I would like to sell them on the local flea market circuit.

Bountyhunter

Benton:

I have an Esbit Stove, and yes, I do like it. Do I love it? Well?? It is not a burning relationship (pun intended). Lets just say we?ve agreed to remain friends. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

To answer you questions:

Exbit stoves, or sometimes called ?Hexi-stoves? were initially made by the Esbit company in Germany for the German army. Today, they are issued by several European militaries (Germany, Netherlands, UK to name a few) to heat rations, and are made by several manufacturers.

You can get Esbit stoves on e-bay, or at Campmor, for less than 10 bucks. Fuel for them is also rather inexpensive, supposedly non-toxic (as opposed to the US Army fuel tabs), and have enough heat to just about scare a canteen cup of water to a boil. On a good day. And not too cold. And, NO wind. I have used mine many times and it does give good service. But?.

Without a windscreen, you can wait a lifetime to a rolling boil. I use an MSR wisperlite windscreen with mine, and it improves things drastically.

The Esbit is rather heavy if all you want to do is heat a cup or two of water. Today, I now use a US Army canteen cup with the cup stand/stove that fits around the cup for storage. Very compact. Toss a few Esbit fuel tabs in the bottom of the canteen cover, and you?re all set.

For larger quantities of heating and cooking, I take along a Swedish Mess kit with a Trangia alcohol stove. The mess kit has a windscreen as a part of the kit. I can boil 1.5 litres of water in about 9 minutes. Rolling boil. Plus the stove fuel is denatured alcohol, which is a darn site better for the environment if it spills. One fill-up will last about 25 minutes of burn time. Plus, in a pinch (or, if you want to impress the crowd with your rarified tastes) it will burn gin. I swear.

Yes, Esbit fuel tabs can be a bit of a trick to light. I usually set a twig alight and place it next to the base of the fuel tab. Seems to work. The fuel is a waxy base, which explains the ?waxy? issue. I have no idea about the shelf life of the fuel. You see, I keep mine in a trunk. (Sorry. I couldn?t resist that one.) <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Recommendation? Not an EDC carry or PSK carry, but it does have its uses. It is more flexible than the canteen cup stove/stand when using other pots/pans. Operationally, it is simplicity itself. Pop open stove. Pop open fuel tab. Cook. You can hold 4 fuel tabs inside in safety. (5 if you?re REALLY good). As long as you take a windscreen, for the money it is a good buy.

Hope this helps.

?..CLIFF

The army surplus store in my neighborhood has the esbit stove for like $6.50 with 3 fuel tabs, and a 6-pack box of fuel for $1.75 that fits inside it.

Benton:

Make sure the Esbit tabs you get are the the individaully wrapped variety. I have seen some of the open box kind, and..... I'm not too trusting on their effectiveness.

.....CLIFF

They were wrapped in 3 packs. Even then it's a tight fit, with one being upside down so the foil backing didn't interfere with each other. If I open one strip and take one out, will the others oxidize or otherwise deteriorate in air? I noticed that they were sort of a yellowish color, whereas the 3 that came with the kit are white.

Get the ones in the individually wrapped pop-out wrappers(they look like REALLY big cold pill containers, with the foil on the back). I have always wondered if they will deteriorate. You reporting about the color change and the difficulty lighting seems to confirm that they do.

.....CLIFF

I only experimented with one of the white ones that came with the kit. They were individually wrapped, in such a way that it wouldn't fit well into the stove. They lit fine with a match. I'll try one of the yellowed ones, as soon as my boss stops bothering me to get some work done. I kind of wanted to keep them together as a package, because that would seem to be the nicest way to pack it. It's just $1.75, I can get more. But yah, the yellowing is suspicious, and you have to be wary of things you get at a surplus store.

Here are some simple lightweight metolhds to make a windscreen. In fact the first one is a stove and windscreen combined.

stove/windscreen combo

modified esbit (you have to scroll down to the stoves section then click on modified esbit)