Esbit Solid Fuel Stove and Cookset

To be honest, I had never heard of Esbit...at least until some friends of mine who served in European militaries turned me onto Esbit's solid fuel cubes. I've since come to learn that Esbit is a European favorite for their outdoor cooksets and solid fuel cubes, which can be used for light cooking and fire starting. The main component of Esbit fuel is hexamine, which has long served in European militaries to heat field rations. The American military has water-activated MRE heaters. The British, Germans, and pretty much every other European military uses/has used hexamine. Hexamine has a long shelf life, can't malfunction, and is obviously compact. Esbit fuel cubes are approximately 1" white squares that are about 0.5" thick, and are more or less smokeless when  they burn. They are individually packaged.

 

I purchased the Esbit Solid Fuel Stove and Cookset off Amazon.com for a whopping $21.47. The unit is manufactured in Germany and appears to be quality kit. The whole unit nests inside the cup/pot and comes inside a mesh storage pouch.

The pot is made out of lightweight, hard anodized aluminum and weighs only 7 ounces. The hardware on the pot appears to be stainless steel and is attached by rivets. The unit consists of a pot, lid, wind deflector/pot stand, and mesh storage pouch.

The foldable handles are rubber coated and fold firmly against the pot. Also seen here is a small spout formed into the rim of the pot to facilitate pouring, and the ounce/milliliter measurement markings.

 

 

The wind deflector and pot stand can be seen here nested inside the pot. As you can see, it is simply a platform to hold the pot over an Esbit fuel cube. Theoretically you could make a small wood burning fire in the stand, but I haven't tried it. 

 

 

Fuel cube on the tray.

Fully assembled cookset.

 

As a practical exercise, I will see how long it takes for the Esbit Solid Fuel Stove and Cookset to boil 2 cups of water. The reason I decided to use 2 cups as a reference point is because that is the amount of water required to prepare your average Mountain House freeze dried backpacking meal. It was a warm summer day, and I performed the test on my concrete patio in my backyard. My backyard is fully fenced so the wind was minimal. In other words, ideal conditions.

Here, I lit the Esbit cube using a common Bic lighter. It's difficult to see if the cube is actually burning, but it ignites easily.

 

Unfortunately, just over 12 minutes passed without the water coming to a full boil. I had to terminate the test because the cube was flickering out, burning just the remaining traces of the cube left in the tray.

 

I don't consider the test a failure. Did the Esbit fuel bring the water to a full rolling boil? No, but the water was plenty hot enough to burn your tongue if you used it to make food or instant coffee. The water was obviously hot enough to prepare a Mountain House meal. I don't know about you, but I don't like eating scalding hot food. 

If your goal is to heat up your field rations, the Esbit cookset is a viable option for you. If you're looking to bring water to a rolling boil, such as for water purification purposes, you should probably look elsewhere.

Something else interesting to note, is the residue left by the Esbit/hexamine fuel cubes. It left minimal unburned residue on the tray, and a film on the bottom of the cup. It cleaned off for the most part using soap and water, but I still thought it should be documented for those of you that might want this cookset for the long term.

All in all, I think this is a sufficient minimalist cookset. It's self-contained, foolproof, and inexpensive at just $20. No need for liquid fuel or bulky fuel canisters here. Esbit fuel cubes can also be easily stockpiled due to their long shelf life and reasonable price. 

If something along these lines interests you, may want to consider the Esbit Spirit Cookset. For $40.01, it is essentially the same cookset, plus a slightly larger pot, and a brass alcohol burner. I know alcohol is a popular fuel for those hitting the trails, and has countless prepping applications as well. Food for thought.