Isle Royale Forums

The last straw was an absurdist afternoon running around the Lodgepole CG at Sequoia Nat'l Park trying to beg an isobutane canister from a total stranger, because the park store was out. I've decided to retire my canister stove and find an alternative. This would be for my solo trips, where the stove would only be asked to boil enough water to rehydrate Via and ramen. Does anybody have experience with esbit stoves? Are you allowed to check or carry on the solid fuel tablets? Are they fussy to light? Are there "stove"/windscreen combinations that work particularly well? (I'm using "stove" to refer to the thing you put the tablet in, which in some setups appears to be a wrigley's gum wrapper bent into a rectangle.) Etc.

Thanks!

I've got one and have used it to boil water for coffee and Mountain House meals. It works okay. Definitely light weight. The tablets do burn dirty but if that's not an issue give it a try. Search for it on YouTube and I'll bet you'll get some reviews and info. I'm not sure about taking it on flights. Nowadays, I highly doubt it. Never used their windscreen either, but the tablets light easy enough.

Wood stoves are a good back up. Some of the newer ones seem pretty reliable.

torpified,

Have you seen or tried these?

http://brasslite.com/

I am on my second one and happy using it. I usually travel solo and they are light, small, and simple to use. Because of their simplicity, they do not break down and you don't have to repair them in the field. They use very little denatured alcohol which I haul in an old, plastic soda bottle, appropriately labeled of course.

By the way, my name is Brent and we met this past summer at the South Lake Desor junction. I liked your trip report and was happy to see that you had a good trip!

I've used esbit on a homemade 'stove' & windscreen. It worked great. Sometimes you can use a tablet for 2 cycles. But they smell extremely bad and they leave a sticky mess on your pot.

I doubt you can bring them on a plane, maybe if you checked your bag. That should be easy enough to find out.

Thanks, all (and Hi, Brent!). The alcohol stoves look like a good option---you can get alcohol nearly anywhere, nearly anytime. My complication is that I also walk (when I can) in the Sierras, and alcohol stoves are periodically banned in some jurisdictions there because they're seen to pose a fire risk.

I looked into it: the FAA doesn't allow solid fuel in either carry-on or checked baggage. So much for the fantasy of bringing my fuel source with me when I fly. . . .

https://emberlit.com/stoves

I have seen some good reviews on these stoves, they come with a "removable shelf" to use with the Esbit tabs. I am going to try one. In any case I always bring Esbit tabs with me no matter how I am cooking. They also make excellent fire starters in a pinch and you could use it and some rocks for an impromptu stove if you had to.

Esbit stoves work great if you don't mind the gunk on the bottom of your pot. Supposedly solid fuels are not allowed to be transported on airlines. Have you considered a pop-can stove using alcohol? You can buy the yellow bottles of STP at any gas station and they are the ethanol fuel for the stove, with disposable and distinctive fuel bottle included! I still like my canister stove, and I carry an "emergency" canister of the smallest size I could find (it's a JetBoil branded canister) that I haven't used in the past few years, just to hedge my bets if I miscalculate fuel usage on any given trip.

I realize that I am late to respond to this thread. I would suggest you look at the Emberlit FireAnt stove. It is an awesome stove. If I am backpacking with my wife, we take it as a backup. If I am going solo, it is all I take. It can be used with several fuel sources
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First it was designed for use as a wood burning stove. Free fuel, just pick up sticks.

The second fuel choice is, it will hold a trangia stove and burn alcohol. It holds the stove about an inch below the pot, which is about the optimum height
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The third choice is solid fuel blocks. The stove comes with a shelf that holds the blocks.

The FireAnt comes in two versions, stainless and titanium if you are worried about weight. It also folds flat and takes up no space at all. If all you want to do is boil water, this stove is a great choice. If you want to do more cooking, the stove works for that too, just collect enough sticks before hand. There are a lot of reviews on youtube to watch, if you are interested.

https://emberlit.com/stoves