I'm just beginning to get into this, having contemplated it for awhile and then saw the hurricane and the aftermath. I have a question. I have ordered a small Esbit pocket size stove, which comes with their tablets, and bought some extras. What can you tell me about Trioxane tablets? I have access to some much more cheaply. Would they work (are they the same size), and what are any disadvantages, etc? Thanks

I do believe trioxane will work. I use it both to cook with (boil water in a closed pot) and to occassionally start a stubborn fire. It is toxic - don't huff the fumes. For cooking it helps (increases efficiancy) to use a windscreen.

Cheaper Than Dirt always has trioxane at good prices.

>>What can you tell me about Trioxane tablets<<

They work fine and have something of a shorter shelf life. Old ones are not as effective as fresh ones, but I still use some that were out of date 6 years ago and am satisfied with them. Little or no residue on the cookware compared to hexy. It might be my imagination, but I think the optimum height above the tablet is higher than the esbit stove stand-off. Try using a portion of a tab - you can always toss another hunk on if the first one doesn't get things warm enough.

Ditto on the windscreen, no matter which fuel you use. Makes all the difference in the world, even in calm conditions. Roasting pan foil and a couple of paper clips; tall enough to reach 1/3 - full height of pot on the stove, and wrapped close to the pot (1/4" - 1/2" gap). Don't forget some air hole in the bottom for combustino air. Cheap, light, and effective.

HTH,

Tom

The Esbit stoves are pretty neat (I have one) but they're not a big cooker that you could use in an emergency to provide for your family. You can bring a Sierra Cup full of water to a boil, but don't plan on cooking a "family and friends" dinner of spaghetti. Just not powerful enough. Be sure and try the stove out in a non-emergency to see what it can and can't do.

Along these same lines (of "small cooker"), you might be interested in the Nuwick Emergency candles. I've been thinking about getting a few of these to stash in a Bug Out bag alongside the Esbit. I'd rather be stranded with a Coleman stove, but if you have to be moving you might prefer something small like the Esbit or Nuwick that can be easily carried.

Nuwick candle:
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores...mberId=12500226

From my experience, the esbit doesn't work very well. Bad in cold weather, bad in wind. Don't get the bang for the buck you can get with liquid fuel stoves.

buy trioxane before they ban it.

Is there legislation in the works to do this right now, or are you anticipating? (and I can easily see the gov't banning its sale)

I bought a set of alcohol stoves (swedish trancia) from major surplus some time ago. They were on sale 3 sets for $10.They have stove, screen, pot and bowl with them. I have cooked food on them and the full amount of alcohol will burn for quite a while. You can get the fuel at walmart or paint stores. 1 quart is about 4 dollars I think. Somewhat heavy but all in one, you don't need separate mess kit along with them.

Since trioxane burns (duh) I am surprised that they don't require a $20 hazmat charge to ship it to customers. Perhaps this will come to pass. BTW, I used a Bowen belt buckle knife so that I would always have a knife with me. Now NYS has banned "disguise knives". Thus, no belt knife. You never know what they will ban or restrict next.

I bought a set of the alcohol stoves from Major Surplus too. With a full load of fuel I couldn't get any of them to bring 2 cups of water to a boil using the pans in the mess kit. YMMV
gino

Thanks for all the good advice. I'll grab some Trioxane to have on hand. I didn't know it might be outlawed, either, so that was good to be aware of.

Is there some basis for the "triox will be banned" idea, or is this just speculation?

I've heard that triox is somewhat toxic. Not sure how toxic though, and haven't heard it from a reliable source.

IIRC, the London tube bombers made their (unstable) explosives with trioxane, hydrogen peroxide, etc.

Here's an interesting tidbit: http://hikinghq.net/stoves/esbit.html

As I wrote previously, I suspect that an Esbit stove puts the pot too close to the trioxane fuel tab.

what did you use for fuel?

I used denatured alcohol.
gino

Rather than an outright ban on trioxane, It just has to be considered hazardous material. If the shipping restrictions are upheld, the triox will be priced out of the market. Are you willing to order triox & pay a $20 hazmat fee?
This is info from the Firequest site:
"The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires a $20.00 handling charge for each package containing Hazardous Materials. Hazardous Materials cannot be mixed, therefore if you order two DIFFERENT items marked with Hazardous Material Shipping, they will be shipped in two separate packages with a $20.00 Hazardous Material handling charge for each."

If you are using the denatured alcohol like from a paint dept. in Lowe?s or Home Depot you should not have any trouble boiling a whole pot of water. (I understood you to say you were using the Swedish Army surplus stove) I have several of them and they cook like crazy for me. Even the ones I make out of Coke cans will easily boil water. I made one out of a steel can about twice the size of a tuna can that boiled a covered pot with over two cups of water in it dry during a test. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I used the denatured alcohol from Lowes.
gino