​​​​​​​

MESSAGE BOARD

THE CHALLENGE COMMUNITY, ON-LINE!

FRIENDLY ASSISTANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT AVAILABLE FOR CHALLENGERS OLD AND NEW,

FROM FRIENDLY AND ENCOURAGING CHALLENGERS, NEW AND OLD

PLEASE USE YOUR OWN NAME WHEN POSTING. THANK YOU!

Download route sheets, admin forms, event documents here

Any queries? Email the coordinators  Sue, Ali & Mick at tgochallenge@gmail.com 

The TGO Challenge Message Board
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
Esbit stoves

Hi,

has any one use Esbit stoves and tablets for a crossing and what was your opinion over Gas n Meths?

thanks,
Mark

Re: Esbit stoves

I used a Flatcat Gear Esbit stove on the 2013 TGOC and in 2011 I used a Caldera stove with Esbit . 14g tab per meal and hot drink in that boil up. For fuel weight it is unbeatable. But it stinks and makes your pot all sticky on the base. Easy to post to your supply points. So yes, an ok choice. I will be using Esbit come May on the next Challenge.

Re: Esbit stoves

What he said..
I also have a Flat Cat Gear Esbit stove.
It does leave a sticky residue but works well.
I also have a Meths stove from Flat Cat as well.
It is quicker, but you do need to carry liquid.
If you spill meths when alight (got the T Shirt) , it can quickly become a nightmare.
I was lucky, it was outside the porch and WET ground.
Esbit is much much better in this context, but harder to light.

Both are lighter than gas.

Although the Kovea Spider stove is a fabulous bit of kit.

What will I take in 2015?

Not sure yet.

Could well be the Esbit.
You will know if I smell of fish.

That is one downside to Esbit.

Re: Esbit stoves

I'll be using the Zelph Starlyte meths stove and a MYO 'cone'.
Starlyte's very fuel efficient and eliminates the spill issue.
I like the simplicity of meths, almost zero things to go wrong.

In full on winter conditions I use the Kovea Spider, an excellent piece of kit, but I'm ready to do field maintenance & carry a few Esbits 'just in case'.

Re: Esbit stoves

Hi.

I used mostly Esbit this year. (with 60ml of meths)I found it was lighter than using meths or gas.

I used a MYOG Cone with a modified Starlyte stove (My stove has the base of a drinks can glued to it. Inverted it makes a good esbit burning dish.

One thing I find is that Esbit can be hard to light. I overcome this by putting a tiny drop of meths on a tab - then one quick spark and it's away.
(I used less than 10ml over the 2 weeks for lighting the Esbit.- 2 to 4 times each day)

Re: Esbit stoves

Top tip Mole.
I had a bugger of a job lighting some Esbit the other week.
Mind you it was gusting to 20 in the valley.
The Meths lit 1st time.
I shall take a wee bottle with some meths.

Re: Esbit stoves

Hi Mark,

Like Mole I also used an alcohol/ Esbit combination this year (mainly Esbit) and I agree with pretty much everything that’s already been said so far in this thread. I’m not entirely convinced though that Esbit is significantly lighter than alcohol overall – I think it may depend on your system and precise needs.

In most conditions a full 14g tab seems a little more than I need to boil 570ml or so of water using my Caldera cone and Evernew 630ml tall pot. However, rather to my surprise, I found that 3/4 of a tab or 3 x 4g tabs won’t reliably produce a rolling boil.

On the other hand I spent some time recently trying to build an alcohol stove which would be optimal for my particular system and fuel – I use bioethanol rather than meths. I now use about 18ml of fuel to boil my 570ml which, with alcohol being only 80% of the density of water, weighs almost exactly the same as the large Esbit tab.

If your pot is larger than mine and you want to boil a bit more water then you might make better use of the full 14g tab than I do. Otherwise, you may find there’s little to choose between alcohol and Esbit on weight alone.