Perhaps they have improved the tabs since you got out of the military. I burned one of the old 1 5/8 inch tabs in the kitchen sink recently and I didn't detect any foul odor. In fact, no odor at all and no smoke. Just a hot, blue flame that, to me, was very impressive.

Again, I caution anyone buying them to be sure you are not getting the old tabs which were less than half the size of the current version.

Nonetheless, thanks for your input.

Boone