Esbit Pocket Stove

Priced: $10.50 - $10.95 Rated:   - 4 stars out of 5 by 82 reviews.
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Esbit Pocket Stove -

Please Note: THIS PRODUCT WILL ONLY SHIP UPS GROUND
The Esbit Pocket Stove has been around for decades. It has been used extensively by the German and various other European armies since WW II. The Esbit Pocket Stove folds to 3"x4"x3/4" thus allowing it to be stored virtually anywhere including an aircraft map compartment, pocket or aviation survival kit.
It is constructed of plated tensile structured steel and burns Esbit Solid Fuel Tablets. Each tablet, which cannot self ignite, provides intense heat for cooking or emergency warmth. Because it is practically odorless and non-toxic, it can be used within an enclosed area. Each tablet will produce approximately 1400 degrees F of heat and will burn for 15 minutes. In short, the Esbit Pocket Stove works, is small, light, reliable, safe, and inexpensive. Rarely does one find a seasoned camper or hiker that doesn't have one of these great pocket stoves.

Sizing:

  • Its small size and stable fuel source make this stove a great addition to your emergency preparedness kit

Features:

  • 2-position design permits a low flame for controlled cooking or a direct flame for a quicker boil time
  • Powered by Esbit® solid fuel tablets (6 included); each tablet burns for approximately 12 to 15 minutes,
  • Non-toxic fuel is environmentally safe, has no ash residue and is nearly odorless
  • Additional fuel tablets sold separately
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Average Price History: Price History
Review RatingNumber of Reviews
44
25
7
5
1
Activity:Backpacking
Auto ignition:No
Average boil time:14 minutes
Burn time (max flame):(per cube) 15 minutes
Dimensions:4 x 3 x 0.75 inches
Fuel:Esbit fuel tablets
Fuel type:Tablet
Weight:3.25 ounces
Compare specifications to related products.

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Esbit Pocket Stove with FuelEsbit Pocket Stove with Fuel$10.50

Subcategories of Stoves & Fuel:

Esbit Pocket Stove Reviews:

Positive Reviews:

great stove for backpacking

this stove is perfect for what it is supposed to be. a light weight backpacking stove to heat food/drink for those on the move. it was designed to be used by soldiers during wwII. today it is used by the lightweight and ultra light backpackers. it's primary use is to boil water for a hot beverage and to add to the dehydrated food such as the mountain house dinners. car campers and chefs may want a different stove with greater capabilities. for backpackers on the go this is the ultimate stove and its design is over 60 years old.

some of the negative reviews are entertaining. perhaps these users did not understand the above mentioned design features of the esbit stove.

performance of "all hiking stoves" require the use of some common sense. they all require a wind screen. to increase efficiency, all pots must be sized properly for the stoves used and when used to boil water the pots should have a lid.

my experience with the esbit stove has been nothing but positive. i mate the gsi aluminum teapot to it. it holds a liter/quart of water. it is about 5" in diameter and has a lid. i get rolling boils for 2 cups of water in, between 6 and 8 minutes, depending on environmental conditions. a tablet lasts 13 minutes. the unused portions of the tablets can be conserved by simply blowing them out like a birthday candle. 2 cups of water are good for oatmeal and coffee/tea for breakfast, or, to rehydrate a mountain house dinner and a hot drink. ultralight backpackers get by on <2 tablets per day.

the fuel tablets weigh 1/2 oz each. the stove weighs 3.5 oz with the aluminum wind screen windscreen. it fits in your pocket or in your pot. for those worried about scorching the ground below the stove fold over a piece of aluminum foil and set it below it. the foil will reflect the heat up to the pot.

my white gas stove (svea123) is over 19 oz's. then you have to add fuel and worry about leaks. white gas flares and smells. it is also very flammable when all over your gear.

the pop can and trangia stoves use alcohol which can also leak and require a container to carry the fuel in. these stoves do no more cooking than the esbit stove.

when you have the lindel valve on a canister stove leak, leaving you with no fuel you will swear off these too.

after having a liquid fuel container leak all over my pack i no longer use liquid fuel stoves. for me now, it's solid fuel only. and the most convenient solid fuel is esbit followed by wood. the tablets also make great wood fire starters in an emergency.

a popular complaint is that solid fuel blackens pots. the esbit residue is easily washed off. much easer than the wood residue. some prefer the blackened pot as a black pot heats faster than a non blackened stainless, aluminum or titanium pot. use a plastic grocery bag to keep your gear from getting sooty. another complaint is that the tabs smell. well white gas, kerosene and alcohol smell too. the esbit smell is very faint. only noticeable when you stick your nose to it.

lighting a fire is a mandatory skill that needs to be learned before going in the woods. those who have trouble lighting the esbit tablet (or feel compelled to eat raw chicken) have no business being in the woods. they will be a hazard to themselves and those who have to rescue them. the tablets easily light with a match, lighter or blast match. one should practice with their gear before needing to rely on it for survival. they will then know the limits of their gear and themselves.

the esbit stove is a great light weight backing stove for it's intended purpose.
joseph matza at REI on 09/09/2009

Perfect for its intended uses.

I was first made aware of this style of stove while reading the "SAS Survival Handbook" where it was recommended as part of a survival kit. Much later, while looking for ways to minimize bulk and weight in my pack I revisited the Esbit stove as an alternative to an isobutane/propane canister. At half the size of a 220g canister it nests easily in any cook kit and adds almost nothing to the overall weight.

This stove is intended for people on the move. I make a distinction between hikers and campers, with hikers being focused on the hike and campers focused on their camp.
For trips where the plan is to make a moderate hike to a campsite and remain there for several days, a more robust stove than this is called for. Persons transporting fresh meats, eggs, bacon and other "luxury" foods will find this stove unsuitable.

For the packer who plans on covering large distances each day and eating freeze-dried meals at a new campsite each night, this handy little thing will be ideal for boiling water and warming up tea.
On a calm day at 60 degrees Fahrenheit one tablet should be more than sufficient to bring 2 cups (1 pint) of covered water to a boil. It is essential to cover the water pot, with this stove or any other. Naturally altitude, wind and freezing temperatures will extend the time required and it is always important to prepare based on your destination and the time of year.

Although simple, the Esbit stove is far from idiot-proof. To get the most utility from the stove, it's necessary to use it properly.

Before lighting the fuel tablet, the water pot should already be on the pot stands, filled with water and covered with a lid. The Esbit opens in two positions; typically the half open (angled) position is stable enough for a quart pot and should be used. This position directs the airflow over the fuel tablet better, generates more heat and focuses that heat to the bottom of the pot.
If needed a windscreen can be fashioned from aluminum foil, but it must be placed in a way that does not prevent air from flowing beneath the stove.
Lighting the fuel tablet is best accomplished by striking a match and holding the flame near one corner of the tab. Because of the narrow space inside the stove and the angle it would have to be held at, using a lighter is not recommended and will result in burned thumbs.

With proper use, 2 cups of water can be brought to a boil before the tablet is fully consumed. The remaining tab can be extinguished like a candle and it will be stuck to the depression in the stove. The stove can be folded up over the used tablet without worry of it rattling around inside, and that remaining fuel can later be used to warm up some coffee, cocoa or tea. It is worth noting that the heat output from the fuel tablets is highest at the start and drops off sharply in the last few minutes of burn time. It is unlikely that a second pot of water can be boiled on one tablet, but a fresh tablet can be placed on top the remnant of the first before relighting.
Partially- or mostly-consumed fuel tablets can also be used as an excellent firestarter.

The Esbit fuel will leave a tacky black residue on the bottom of your pot. This easily washes off with biodegradable soap, water, and a fingertip rubbed in a circular motion. Sand or dirt can be used to scour stubborn patches, but if cleaning is done shortly after cooking it should not be necessary. I have even found that cleaning off the Esbit residue also pulls off blackening from old wood fires which I had not been able to remove.
Dog Star at REI on 09/09/2010

A Practical Gift

This Esbit stove was given to me as a gift last fall. The guy who gave me the stove, used one on a 45 mile trip we did together in June 2010 in the Sierra's over Forrester Pass in Snow Conditions. He had hot water the whole trip even at one 11,000 foot camp in below freezing temps. My canister stove was a little hesitant until I warmed the canister in my jacket.

I have been winter camping/hiking/backpacking/skiing for 35 years now, and never owned one of these stoves till now. I own/have owned a Coleman Peak 1, Hank Roberts Mini-Stove(my first gas stove 31 years ago), a Svea 123, an Optimus 8R Hunter, a MSR Whisperlite International, a MSR Simmerlite, an MSR XGK, a propane Scout stove, a Crisco can wood stove(my first stove ever), 4 different alcohol stoves, a Sterno stove(junk) and a Markill Hotshot(butane/propane mix).

With that said to show I have used many stoves: I would like to say the ESBIT is impressive for what it was made for--to boil water or minor cooking(heating MRE's etc.)I used the stove several times in the Sierras this past winter day X-C skiing, on several hiking trips and a couple of lightweight backpacking trips on the Coast this late winter and Spring.

When I did a 3 day snowshoeing trip in February 2010 on Mt. Whitney.CA with my girlfriend, I brought the MSR XGK with .22 oz of fuel and we brought the Esbit stove with 6 oz. of Fuel(that's 12 cubes) that's enough to make 12 2-3 cup pots of boiling water as a backup. We never used the Esbit on that trip. But I was confident that if the XGK failed, or we ran out of fuel,we would have at least had a sure heat source to have hot food and drinks to get us out of there if necessary.

I would not depend on the Esbit to melt snow unless an emergency, but if the water is liquid, it works well.

A windscreen is important(I use Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil in a complete 360 degree shield). Using a small pot is important. I have experimented and the Esbit stove with a 1/2 oz. fuel cube and proper wind protection will bring 3 full cups to a very low boil at about 9.5 min. and bubble for about 2 minutes more. It will bring 2.5 cups to a roiling boil in about 8 min.

I would say that for real lightweight trips these are very light and very dependable. I find alcohol stoves hotter and easier to use though, which I also have been experimenting with a lot lately. However, the Esbit wins over the alcohol for colder weather and high altitude though. The Esbit is lighter too for the amount of water boiled for the weight of the fuel.

I think I like this stove most for its reliability and very light weight fuel.
Tuatha De Danann at REI on 06/06/2010

Amazingly compact &amp; light stove.

Of all my stoves, this is the lightest one I own. I also have a Jetboil stove and a Stratus TrailStove, and I typically use my Jetboil the most. However, I am very impressed with this Esbit stove! Today I took this stove with me on a hike in the snow. I used this stove to boil two and a quarter cups of water to make a dehydrated meal. It was 32 degrees and snowing, but there was no wind. The most stable place I could find to set the stove was a picnic bench with about a quarter inch of ice on top of it. The Esbit fuel tab lit easily with a REI storm proof match and I placed my GSI Minimalist cup (with the 2 1/4 cups of water) on top of the stove. It took about one and a half Esbit fuel tabs to get the water to boil. When the first tab was almost gone, I simply put another tab on top of the one that was already burning, and it caught fire within seconds. I wasn't in a hurry to boil the water so I am not sure how long it took to boil, but it wasn't very long. I do plan on keeping a bit of foil with this stove to use as a wind screen... just incase I have to us it when it is windy. For the weight and space savings that this stove offers, I love it! I usually don't do anything more than boil water with my stoves when I camp or hike, so this stove does the trick for me. I also think the Esbit fuel tabs would make great fire starters in a pinch. As I mentioned before, when I carry this Esbit stove, I have a GSI Minimalist cook kit and I can place four fuel tabs inside the stove and then store the stove inside the cook kit. It is very compact! Some people complain that the fuel tabs have a fishy smell... and they do. However, I double bag them in two ziplock sandwich bags, and no smell gets out. I am very impressed with this stove and I will continue to take it with me on hiking and camping trips... especially day hikes.
Ian D. at REI on 01/01/2011

Perfect Product

My husband and I bought this stove a few weeks ago to go with our GSI soloist cookset, and LOVE it! It fits just as well into our pot as any other compact stove and we can keep all our fuel in there in just a plastic bag. No more worrying about fuel leaking into my pot and I never have to worry about the extra weight or if I have space in my pack for extra fuel.

We recently took this out on a day hike for a wet weather test of some of our newer gear and it did very well. It took two cubes to get a full liter of water to boiling in moderate rain and brisk winds, but just like any stove, it does better in good conditions. One cube got it hot enough for two cups of hot chocolate, so I'm guessing the one cube would have got a half liter boiling. Even with two of us I really can't see needing a whole liter of boiling water realistically at any point. It really works best with a windscreen and in the picture you'll see I've made a homemade windscreen out of tin foil that works just as well as the kind you buy and if it blows away I'm not broken up about it. Using it in the "A" frame position works best with our stove for stability.

The only issue at all is that for us it did take a lighter like you'd use on a grill to get it going and it took about 30 seconds to light, but of all the issues that a stove can have that is one I'm definitely willing to live with. Especially since it is a fraction of the cost of the next cheapest stove I found and is able to work anywhere in the world without any issues due to altitude or temperature issues.
RichardandJoslyn at REI on 11/11/2010

Impressive performance

I bought this stove about 6 years ago for an emergency earthquake kit. I already use a campming gaz stove for backpacking and never really thought about bringing this stove.
Just got back from a 3 day 2 night backpacking trip on the Rincon trail in Sequoia National Forest.
I brought this along as a backup just in case because my friend didn't have a stove and we were going to share mine.
I took it out while he was using my stove and started frying up dinner.
Wow!. It heated up oil so quick that I used it for the whole trip to cook breakfast and dinner.
It did take a while to boil water but I was trying to boil a lot of water. (think cheap mess kit pot full)
I used my gaz stove for that.
Keep in mind that we love food and don't pack ultralight. I brought a bag of Jimmy Dean Skillets for breakfast that is chopped potatoes bellpeppers onions and sausage. Dinner 1st night was 1 lb pre-cooked bbq ribs from fresh & easy and second night I had 2 hormel roast beef & mashed potatoes ready meals just heat package in boiling water)
We were so impressed by the performance that he is going to buy one also and might use it as his primary stove.
This thing is so small I can keep it in the little bag my stove came in with my gaz stove or inside my mess kit.
The fuel cubes work great for starting fires also.
No need for kindling just pile larger sticks in your pit and light a fuel cube under them.
Less work and you get warm real quick.
sparkaj at REI on 10/10/2010

Lightweight, easy to use.

This little stove has served me well. The stove and fuel are lightweight and cheap. It provides a more stable cooking surface than some other types of backpacking stoves.
When the stove is closed it holds 4 fuel tablets. One fuel tab only weighs 1/2 oz. The stove weighs 4 oz. Each fuel tab is good for cooking 1 meal. The fuel tabs are also great for emergency tinder and work when wet! The stove itself is indestructible. And there's no worries about spilling fuel. No heavy fuel bottles to lug in. Exchange that weight (and money) for something more fun, like a nice comfy trail chair to spoil your back at the end of a long days hike.

Some have complained about it not working well in wind. This is a common complaint with most stoves. I carry a square of aluminum foil for extra windy days to make a wind screen. This solves the problem fine for me.

Note: this stove is best for those of us that only need to boil/heat water. There is no temperature control, this will not be be able to handle evenly heating a large skillet. It will however boil a liter of water in your small pot suitable for 2 people.
Also-the fuel tabs are difficult to find if you're hiking the AT. You will have to have them shipped in your drop boxes or choose a different cooking method. Personally I'd rather deal with this little stove and have the fuel shipped in.
hikes with dogs at REI on 05/05/2009

Great at 5 deg. weather

This thing is great I bought this to have a small stove to fit in my cookpot for day hikes. I also travel for work a great deal and wanted a little stove to heat water and soup. I like the simpleness of operation. You basically unwrap a fuel cube, put it in the center of the stove in the indentation. and light. If you are using a cigarette lighter or matches light the cube then put it in the stove. I burnt my thumb the first time using my lighter. I boiled 1 1/2 cup of water in roughly 5-6 min.. It is nice and compact so I can throw it in my backpack or cook pot. It also fits 4 fuel cubes in the folded stove. I recently used it for a overnight backpacking trip on the PA AT. temps. ranged from 10 deg. int the morning to 40 deg. in the afternoon. The fuel cubes can faintly smell of rotten fish but is not notifiable after a while. The stove is also very stable it hold my 2 cup aluminum pot very well. The stove also needs a windscreen, but you can easily fashion one out of a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Take a piece of foil that is about 3 in. bigger then your cook pot, fold over length wise once and secure around your pot with an alligator clip. All in all this is a great stove, it boils water quick is compact, cheap durable, and light.
Hiker1025 at REI on 02/02/2009

Like it!

Used on a couple of four-day backpacking trips this month. Temps were below freezing overnight, so in the morning, the stove boiled water from a temp that began at just above freezing. I needed about half a cube to boil 14 oz. Lighting the cube in such cold temps wasn't too difficult-I put a glob of hand sanitizer on a corner, put a lit match on top, voila.

My 16 oz Snowpeak cup didn't look secure on top, so I created a solution.(see pic) I cut a couple of 3" lengths of ½" wide aluminum strapping material, and folded them lengthwise. The strapping comes in a roll and has holes along the center. I just place them on the stove's top edges, and I have a level surface. I remove and stow them in the stove when done.

When opening the tablet package, I found that if I run a fingernail along the outer edges of the top, I can pull away a large rectangle of aluminum. When this is placed on the stove underneath the tablet, it keeps the black gunky stuff off the stove.

I keep the tablets and stove in a zip-lock bag so the slight smell won't transfer to other items in the backpack. The stove zip-lock stays with the food bag, when hanging from a high branch at night. I suspect some night animals might find the fishy smell yummy.

All in all, a small reliable lightweight stove to heat water.
azhiker2000 at REI on 12/12/2011

good enough for antarctica

if you watch the bonus features on the MARCH OF THE PENGUINS dvd you'll notice a scene where the film crew make their meal in -40C weather using a fuel tablet stove (can't be certain it was esbit, but sure looked like it). this is probably the most inhospitable place & conditions & they opted to use a solid fuel tablet stove.

i tested esbit hexamine fuel tablets vs trioxane(army surplus) vs coghlan/hi-gear in a water boil test.

20 oz water / 2080' elevation / 78 degree weather.

esbit hexamine : 10 min usable burn time : boiled in 8 min
trioxane : 5 min burn time : never reached boiling
coghlan : 8 min spotty burn time (had to add another tablet )

overall, the esbit tablets worked the best. trioxane tablets, which you can buy at most army surplus stores, are poisonous & you are warned to keep the flaky powder away from your food. they are cheaper, but not worth the money. the coghlan tablets are round & smaller, so you'll have to carry at least 2 to match just 1 of the esbit.

although the coghlan & hi-gear fuel tablets are similar to esbit, their stoves are considerably heavier & larger. the esbit stoves are light, compact & can carry 4 tablets when closed. the fuel smells fishy so it may be a good idea to keep it in a resealable ziplock bag.
DancesWithWoofs at REI on 09/09/2007

Negative Reviews:

Think hard about Esbit.

Used Esbit stove on Mt. Waterman (8038') on 1/12/2008. Brought my Esbit stove to melt snow and make hot chocolate. Results: failure.

Goal: melt enough snow for 0.5 L of water.
Conditions: 55 F, clear, moderate wind. I started with approx. 0.25" of liquid water in the bottom of the pot and then added snow.
Results: After using four fuel cubes over a 30 minute+ period, I was able to melt the snow, but it was just slightly warm and was no where near the boiling point. The water temperature was not even suitable for tea or hot chocolate let alone cooking.

Problems encountered:
1. Fuel cubes difficult to light in moderate wind.
2. Takes a heck of a long time to heat water (low heat output).
3. Relatively difficult to load additional cubes to keep fire going (without getting burnt).
4. Required four cubes just to get slightly warm water in a relatively small amount.
5. Since stove sits directly on whatever pad you're using to prevent melting down into the snow, the pad gets melted even when covered with double alum. foil.

Maybe an Esbit stove would be OK for making hot chocolate out of already liquid water on a day with little or no wind in moderate temperatures. Perhaps one could use them for cooking in summer.

Moral of the story: For winter use, stick with cannister or white gas/multifuel stoves.
Hikin at REI on 01/01/2008

Just not that good

This thing really only works in absolute perfect conditions. You really need a windscreen to keep this thing going. Lighting the tablets can be hard and even worse is trying to put another in while the flame is still going.

It's mainly for boiling water, not for cooking. But even bringing water to a boil is difficult. The temprature is impossible to control and even the smallest breeze can bring your flame waaaay down. It usually takes about 20 minutes just to get the water warmed up and thats in dry warm weather, so you better stock up on those cubes because to boil water takes at least 3 of them.

This thing really does make a mess too. It's really hard to clean out the gunk on the bottom and it burns or melts whatever your cooking on. So if your cooking on the snow, watch out! Also the tablets stink!! They smell terrible!

I would only bring this purely as a back-up because it's just not worth it. You may save some weight and room, but I'd rather have a heavy yet reliable stove than something that just cant do its job.
llegoz at REI on 06/06/2011

The only advantage is weight

I have used this for bivouacs, for backpackng, and heating cocoa on a winter day hike.
It is light weight, but only about 8 ounces more than a canister stove w/ an empty canister. It is somewhat difficult to clean the black gunk of the bottom of the pan after cooking with the Esbit Stove. The Esbit is more effected by wind than a canister stove. The Esbit seemed to take a long time and in windy conditions, even with a nice wind screen, it did not get a pint of H20 near to a boil. There are many convenient things about a canister stove such as they can be controlled for simmering and you don't use more fuel than you need. In the end, if you calculate it out for a long trip you don't save much weight,if any, using an Esbit stove, and it is such a fuss to use I don't recommend it. In winter it could not get the water above lukewarm because of wind and freezing temperatures. I really liked the IDEA of the little Esbit, but IMHO it was a fun experiment, but it didn't prove practical for more than that.
Pliny at REI on 12/12/2010

Best in summer

Good in the summer. At 30 degrees, snow, 1000' and about a 20mph wind one tablet did not boil 18oz of water. With the wind out in the open it was hard to light and took several matches. I use a bivy so don’t have a vestibule to keep the wind out when cooking. I dug a slight hole to set it in and im sure with a little more tinkering one could make it more productive. If cooking on snow you need to put something underneath it because it would melt the snow.

Overall I think that its best in the summer or mild conditions ill still be taking my gaz stove during the winter to cook and speed things up so im not sitting outside the bivy as much.
Vernman at REI on 12/12/2007

Won't cook a Cornish game hen

I would never try to cook a whole chicken on this thing--that's just crazy. But I figured a Cornish game hen would be okay. They're so much smaller, right? No way. And stuffing? Forget about it. The little chunks of celery barely got warm. And since we only brought four fuel tabs, we spent the next day eating freeze-dried food out of the envelope thing. (Don't eat too much of that at one time.)
Buddy at REI on 12/12/2008

Beware

Be very careful when considering this stove. It really only heats water. Boils under only ideal situations and really needs a windscreen to be at all effective. I was disappointed and actually got rid of it after a couple of uses.
Nick the AK Hiker at REI on 08/08/2010

Neutral Reviews:

Good for some circumstances

I tested* the Esbit against my white gas MSR Whisperlite, which may not be entirely fair, but did reveal some interesting contrasts.

First of all, not surprisingly, the Whisperlite is considerably more efficient than the Esbit, using about 0.7 oz (2.0 fl oz) of fuel to achieve a rolling boil (one liter of water starting at 35 degrees F) in 14 min. The Esbit, on the other hand, used 1.0 oz (2 tablets) of fuel and took 23 min. So, repeated 11 times, an empty 22 fl oz MSR liquid fuel bottle would only slightly exceed the weight difference of fuel used. Of course, at 24 oz, the Whisperlite stove w. pump and essential accessories (not including fuel) is about 5 times the weight of the Esbit. But one has to bear in mind that, unless backpacking solo, cooking essentials would be considered shared gear, and so the weight would be distributed. Also, on a per-boil basis, white gas is about 1/5 -1/3 the cost of the Esbit tablets.

Other observations:

•The Whisperlite has many more potential failure points than the Esbit (though I've had my Whisperlite for about 15 years and it's been consistently reliable).
•With its pressurized tank, the Whisperlite represents a potential hazard, especially when changing fuel bottles, not present with the Esbit.
•The temperature output of the Whisperlite is easily controllable. The Esbit is either "on" or "off".
•The Esbit can be fussy to light and slow to reach max output.
•The Esbit leaves a stinky, waxy film on the underside of pots. (The Whisperlite, like all gas stoves, may leave a sooty residue if the pot is put on before the stove reaches max output).
•For two or more backpackers, the Whisperlite will boil more water in less than half the time of the Esbit.
•The low initial outlay for the Esbit (about $10) will eventually be eclipsed by higher fuel cost (about $1 per 1 liter of water boiled vs. about $0.25 for the Whisperlite)
•Because it is tiny, lightweight and almost fool-proof, the Esbit makes a good "back up" or secondary stove.
•As fuel is used up, the Esbit leaves only wrappers. With any gas stove you are still going to have empty fuel bottles to pack out.

*Controls for testing:
1.Sea Level on an overcast day with ambient temperature about 65 degrees F.
2.1.5 L stainless steel MSR pot with lid was used for both tests
3.Each stove with fuel was put in the freezer for 30 min prior to testing
4.One Liter of water in both cases was first chilled to about 35 degrees F
SJenni at REI on 04/04/2011

Good deal.

Thsi is a nice lightweight backpacking or survival stove. It's extremely compact, and appears to be very durable. My biggest complaint is that it did not do what the package claimed. The box claims the unit will bring 1 pint (2 cups) of water to a rolling boil in under 8 minutes. I tried this out on my back poarch today. after 11 minutes the fuel tab was almost gone and was losing heat. I had the water in a tin backpacking cup, and the most it did was a series of light bubbles at the bottom of the cup. I never saw a rolling boil.I think if I had used two tabs of fuel I might have gotten the rolling boil, but that kind of defeats the purpose to me as a backpacking or survival stove. If your water is already clean then this would be perfect to cook with, but without two or fuel tabs you're out of luck for purifying. I would still recommend this product due to its sturdy, lightweight design, and a cost of only $10!!! Plus, the fuel tabs can be used in a survival situation to start a fire. Had it brought the 2 cups of water to a rolling boil I would have rated it 5 out of 5 stars, but as it is I only give it 3.
SunDevil98 at REI on 06/06/2010

It gets the job done

All right, I have to say, I like the stove but am not a real big fan of the blocks of fuel since they don't burn real clean and leave a mess on the outside of the pots. To get around this problem I took a "deep" tea light candle out of its little tin container thingy and fill that container with alcohol. This burns long enough to bring about ¾ of a liter of water to a boil for about 3 or 4 min. It takes a little longer (about 7 min) to get it up and boiling compared to say, a pocket rocket but hey, it weighs almost nothing and it only takes a few ounces of alcohol to keep you going for an extended weekend. If it's windy you'll want to use some kind of wind screen around it to keep it from spilling the alcohol and setting things on fire when it burns down low (hasn't happened yet but better safe then sorry). You'll want to this with the blocks too in order to take full advantage of the heat they emit. It's not my go too stove, but for the price and in the right circumstances it works well and gets the job done.
Mountainman Sam at REI on 01/01/2013

The most basic &amp; cheapest $ stove

While having no previous stove, I picked this up while browsing and it has served its purpose for the last 5 years while car camping and day hiking. Mainly used to boil water with my small pot for freeze-dried foods, 1 tablet has boiled 2 cups in about 5-8 minutes.

The only thing I did not like about it is when the tablets burn underneath it can sometimes leave an ugly mark on the ground. This type of fuel tablet also gets the bottom of my pot more sootier than a natural flame IMO, have to wipe off the bottom before putting pot away if you don't use a stuff sack or other gear near it gets black.

What I think I will do is invest in the Snow Peak Giga Power Stove, my first upgrade, and keep the Esbit stove tucked away as backup. I want to have controlled flame and heat, for cooking more than just water, which the Esbit can't do. However this stove is the most simplest of design/concept & cheapest thing you can use to boil water with on a budget, if you don't mind cleaning up the sooty mess it leaves behind.
geobug at REI on 11/11/2008

Very lightweight &amp; compact

I used this stove at 5,000' elevation during the summer and I fashioned a crude wind screen out of aluminum foil. One cube burned for 12.5 minutes, as described. The package says it'll boil 1 pint of water in 8 minutes. In my test of cooking a 6-oz box of flavored cous cous, after 12.5 minutes, the water was very hot & steamy, but not boiling. The salt in the flavor packet likely affected the boiling point. The water was hot enough to cook the cous cous with.

I'm impressed enough by it's small size that I'd take it on a backpacking trip as long as I don't need to bring things to a rolling boil.
CKL at REI on 09/09/2007

Good but not Great

I was interested in the stove because I've been trying to lighten-up my pack and simplify my gear. This stove looked like a good alternative to a cat stove or MSR-type stove and has received several good reviews.

Good: The price, it is compact, lightweight, easy to use and quick to cool.

Bad: One fuel cube did not bring 2 cups of water to a boil - it just simmered. Flame was weak and required a foil wind screen.

All in all, I gave it a 3 out of 5. You can't beat the price and the size; but it didn't really get the job done for me.
thetomg at REI on 07/07/2008

Stove Works Well, But The Fuel Stinks!!!

The stove works well to boil water. The only downside is the Fuel Tabs STINK!!!! The smell is horrible!!! The stove is great for ultralight backpacking and survival lits.
Ketchikan at REI on 02/02/2008