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#278090 - 12/21/15 04:40 AM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: Russ]
hikermor Offline
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Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Why not carry both, along with some Vaseline cotton balls so that you can start a fire with wood even when it is ridiculously cold? Vargo makes a stove designed to use both fuels - http://www.vargooutdoors.com/triad-xe-multi-fuel-stove.html#.Vnd6FFl2E2A - kind of pricey, but it should do a bang up job.

There is also a three legged Esbit holder that weighs almost nothing. It should work well along with your Fancy Feast stove. Regardless, you will have only a finite amount of fuel and you need to be ready to transition to wood at some point.

I use alcohol a lot and I like it. It is readily available, relatively safe and non toxic (at least compared to petroleum fuels). Keep it in a good tight bottle and it will be just fine. In cold weather, consider sleeping with it so it will work in the cold early morning.

If I am doing serious cooking, I do like canister stoves a lot. They are hot and simple, like some of my old girl friends (my apologies for my sexist comment, but I couldn't resist).
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#278091 - 12/21/15 04:40 AM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: bacpacjac]
Phaedrus Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 3165
Loc: Big Sky Country
I really like ESBIT. It does stink pretty bad and leaves a crappy residue but it burns great and keeps forever. It's a lot better emergency tinder than Wetfire, too; I promise you that if you count on Wetfire eventually you'll be let down. The packaging seems prone to leaking, and once air hits it it's inevitable that it will fail if you store it long enough. In my experience the stuff just isn't that reliable. But ESBIT is! You could leave a block of it unwrapped on the coffee table and it will still work a few decades later.
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#278094 - 12/21/15 07:19 AM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: bacpacjac]
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA
bacpac i saw you using that stove just a few days ago on Youtube.
i have a couple of those,the real German Army ones but never really used them.i had one in my PFD ditch kit and some Esbit tabs.
what i liked about that little folding stove/pot stand was that it gave you a dry spot and some wind shield for any sort of fuel you could get your hands on.
for day hikes i would use some sort of alcohol burner and for a
survival kit the Esbit tabs and matches folded up inside.


Edited by CANOEDOGS (12/21/15 07:20 AM)

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#278097 - 12/21/15 08:26 AM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: CANOEDOGS]
Tom_L Offline
Addict

Registered: 03/19/07
Posts: 690
Originally Posted By: CANOEDOGS
for day hikes i would use some sort of alcohol burner and for a survival kit the Esbit tabs and matches folded up inside.


+1. The good old Esbit is very compact, can be carried easily in a pocket and works really well as a "survival" stove.

An alcohol stove (Trangia being my favorite) takes a little more room but is more convenient as a general purpose outdoor stove.

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#278099 - 12/21/15 12:51 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: bacpacjac]
LesSnyder Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 1680
Loc: New Port Richey, Fla
Jacqui... nice to see your byline again... an option for an alcohol, paraffin (sooty), gel or twig stove...I opened up the fuel feed hole of a Swiss Ranger stove ($10US about 3 years ago), originally to fit the Trangia, and then enlarged it to fit the Sterno canister... I was not aware that there were smaller Sterno canisters, and would not have opened it up as much for a do-over... the 500ml cup has tapered sides and heats quickly... with the kit is a spun aluminum bottle with cork top that nests...


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#278108 - 12/21/15 04:24 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: Russ]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: Russ
I actually prefer little wood-stoves. Not for use in SOCAL, but assuming you have wood in Canada...
Vargo Hexagon Wood Stove


Thanks Russ! There are very few things in this world that I enjoy more than cooking over a campfire. I have no budget for a new stove, but a girl can dream...

We made a couple of IKEA cutlery caddy wood stoves last year and I am such a happy camper with them. I keep one in my bushcarft & camping kits. They're obviously bulkier and weightier than folding stoves, but I stash my cookset inside mine so it really doesn't take up much more space.
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#278109 - 12/21/15 04:29 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: hikermor]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: hikermor
Why not carry both, along with some Vaseline cotton balls so that you can start a fire with wood even when it is ridiculously cold? Vargo makes a stove designed to use both fuels - http://www.vargooutdoors.com/triad-xe-multi-fuel-stove.html#.Vnd6FFl2E2A - kind of pricey, but it should do a bang up job.

There is also a three legged Esbit holder that weighs almost nothing. It should work well along with your Fancy Feast stove. Regardless, you will have only a finite amount of fuel and you need to be ready to transition to wood at some point.

I use alcohol a lot and I like it. It is readily available, relatively safe and non toxic (at least compared to petroleum fuels). Keep it in a good tight bottle and it will be just fine. In cold weather, consider sleeping with it so it will work in the cold early morning.

If I am doing serious cooking, I do like canister stoves a lot. They are hot and simple, like some of my old girl friends (my apologies for my sexist comment, but I couldn't resist).



LOL!! wink

Man, I've missed you guys!! Thanks for the awesome advice my friends!

For now I am doing exactly this, hikermor - carrying both, with backup wood fire starting supplies. smile I just added a 9 oz bottle of meths to my pack. (Re-purposed a kids shampoo bottle, and added a Naglene squeeze lid.)
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#278110 - 12/21/15 04:31 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: EMPnotImplyNuclear]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: EMPnotImplyNuclear
Hi bacpacjac,
So what is the tallest/widest cooking container you have?

Pick your dedicated boiler (say a bottle)
and wrap aluminum foil/flashing around it,
this is your pot skirt (more than a wind screen)
attach to bottom a metal can/cup with skewers,
this is your grate / wood stove / pot stand
you can put soda can stove inside this cup


Links to construction/theory/fancier version in this caldera cone thread


NICE! Thanks so much EMP!
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#278111 - 12/21/15 04:34 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: Phaedrus]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: Phaedrus
I really like ESBIT. It does stink pretty bad and leaves a crappy residue but it burns great and keeps forever. It's a lot better emergency tinder than Wetfire, too; I promise you that if you count on Wetfire eventually you'll be let down. The packaging seems prone to leaking, and once air hits it it's inevitable that it will fail if you store it long enough. In my experience the stuff just isn't that reliable. But ESBIT is! You could leave a block of it unwrapped on the coffee table and it will still work a few decades later.


Agreed, Phaerus. Wetfire too small and expensive to count on. I like that they're waterprooofish, but it's still not worth it to me to buy more. The cheaper brands in a good waterproof container works better, IMHO. The more I test them, the more I lean to the ESBIT brand tabs. I have to go out of my way to get them, but it's worth the trip if I stock up a bit. wink
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#278112 - 12/21/15 04:38 PM Re: Esbit or Alcohol Stove for GHB [Re: Tom_L]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: Tom_L
Originally Posted By: CANOEDOGS
for day hikes i would use some sort of alcohol burner and for a survival kit the Esbit tabs and matches folded up inside.


+1. The good old Esbit is very compact, can be carried easily in a pocket and works really well as a "survival" stove.

An alcohol stove (Trangia being my favorite) takes a little more room but is more convenient as a general purpose outdoor stove.


Totally agreed, Tom. Love my alcohol stoves and I actually have an ebsit pocket stove in my EDC purse. LOL! I'm an addict, what can I say. smirk
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