Esbit1300-Degree Smokeless Solid 14g Fuel Tablets for Backpacking, Camping, and Emergency Prep

These fuel tablets worked great on the Esbit pocket stove. They burn for at least the full 12 minutes and put off a ton of heat. If you're heating up canned soup, make sure and stir pretty constantly because it will scald it. Great for backpacking, camping, or just being prepared for outages. Much smaller than trying to tote a propane cannister for other camping stoves. It does leave some residue on the burner plate though, but it's easy to scrape off with a pocketknife after it cools. Great product.

I've been using these for many years while backpacking and they work great with my Esbit stove. There is not much odor while burning but the smell is discussing when stored in my backpack or garage. I now keep 4 boxes of them handy in three layers of ziploc bags which helps.

They work incredibly good but stink pretty bad. Super easy to ignite and will get a boil going. They SMELL

This review is for the Esbit fuel tablets in the 14 gram size. Developed in 1936 in Germany, these fuel tabs are made of hexamine and are in solid form. They have been used in purpose-specific pocket stoves for decades, in WWII, as part of humanitarian packets worldwide, and for years as part of NATO troops' standard kit. I use these primarily for the Esbit pocket stove but they also make for excellent fire starters, especially in adverse conditions. Amazon has proven a reliable source for these as well as a decent price, though I've found they can be had for comparable prices at local outdoor/adventure stores. I have been using these for years and have found them so reliable that they live in my home and auto-based emergency kits, my dayhike pack, and my backpacking gear. The following is a breakdown of my experience with the Esbit fuel tabs:Pros:* Utterly Dependable - It has been found that these fuel tabs burn just as long and just as hot after decades in storage. I don't know that I can say that about any of my other camping stove fuels: White gas, diesel, isobutane canisters, or alcohol. Any of the others would be prone to spills, evaporation, varnishing, leaky valves after an extended period of time. After years of use, I've never had one fail to light or burn, ever. This kind of dependability makes them ideal for long term storage in emergency kits, that you may not be opening regularly.* Flexible - My typical use of these fuel tabs is in the Esbit pocket stoveEsbit Pocket Stove, but they also happen to make excellent fire starters, especially in less than ideal conditions. If your tinder happens to be slightly damp, starting a fire can be a challenge. These fuel tabs will burn over ten minutes (14 gram size), giving time and heat enough to dry and ignite surrounding tinder. This allows you to save matches on those cold damp days when you really to get a fire going.* Performance - As a stove fuel, the Esbit tabs are perfectly reliable and can bring a pint of water to a boil with a single tablet, under good conditions. To increase the heat, or to extend the duration of the burn (a single tablet burns approximately 12 - 14 minutes), you can simply burn more than one at a time, or in succession. For large scale cooking, or when you really need to modulate the heat, a backpacking stove or camping stove is the way to go, however.* Clean - As a solid fuel, spills are never an issue. When burning, the flame is smokeless, usually less than a burning candle. The fuel tab can be reused also, by blowing out the flame - the remaining tab can be re-lit for the next meal. When completely burned, there minimal residue remaining. To keep your Esbit stove especially clean, just put a small piece of aluminum foil on the burn surface - after the fuel tab burns, just toss the foil with the residue on it.* Simple - This may well be a drawback to some, but this reviewer appreciates the simplicity of this fuel, along with the Esbit pocket stove. I've got several fancy backpacking stoves that have valves, o-rings, pressurized fuel bottles, multi-fuel capacity, and that can boil water in minutes flat. And sometimes that's good: When the wife is hungry and tired, it's not healthy for me to make her wait. But when I have that rare moment when I can be somewhere remote when it's just me and the silence, I really enjoy the quiet, dancing flame of my Esbit stove. No pumping, priming, adjusting, or extensive set up of a fancy stove, nor the jet engine howl of the gas burner. No. Just unfold the stove, light the match, and listen to the soft hiss as your water comes to a boil. With all the electronic connectivity of modern life, sometimes simple is good. Better than good.Cons:* Wind Sensitive - As these can be easily blown out, care needs to be taken to shield them from the wind if the best performance is to be had from them when cooking or heating water. I make my own windscreens for my Esbit pocket stoves by folding a long sheet of aluminum foil length-wise a few times until it is about 3 to 4 inches wide and about 18" long; I then make slits at the bottom to allow air to the flame and place the windscreen around the outside of the stove, allowing enough space for air to flow. Thus protected, I've never had issues with my Esbit-fuelled stove. Most backpacking stoves are likewise sensitive to the wind and need to be similarly protected by a windscreen.* Limited Cooking Options - When used in a pocket stove, Esbit fuel is ideally suited to boil a pint of water to reconstitute a dehydrated meal, cook ramen noodles, or to make tea, coffee, or hot cocao. This makes it ideal for minimalist backpacking, day hikes, as an emergency or backup stove, or for keeping in your truck (like I do) for those times when you are out in the boonies on a frigid day and could really use a hot cup of tea or coffee, or a steaming bowl of noodles. It's not that you can't cook a full meal on it, and I have - but it will never be as fast, easy, or convenient as using a more capable and adjustable backpacking stove.* Smell - When burning, the fuel doesn't give off too much odor unless you're in an enclosed space. (which, of course, you shouldn't be anyway) The residue, however, smells of old fish. I recommend storing your stove (which will have the residue on it after use) in the excellent Opsak bags by Loksak OPSAK Odor Proof Barrier Bags (3 Size Options) These bags will stop odor dead in its tracks. If you're backpacking or hiking in a regulated area, your stove bag also makes an excellent way to pack out human waste for those areas that are regulated, or if you just want to be a good citizen. (Side recommendation here: 12-pack WAG(tm) Bag Kit )Possible Uses:I carry spare fuel tabs, along with the Esbit pocket stove, stormproof matches, four tea bags, plastic baggies, a nano pack towel, an ounce of campsuds, and a titanium spork in a Snow Peak Trek 700 cup/pot. This little piece of kit is a surprisingly versatile cook kit that lives in my truck and goes on every day hike and backpacking trip. It's always at the ready to serve up a cup of tea, rehydrate a Mountain House meal, or cook ramen noodles. Of course, it's also there if I needed to boil water in an emergency in order to purify it, start a campfire, etc.Bottom Line:While there are many options for camp stoves, I always carry these Esbit fuel tabs in a pocket stove wherever I go and also use them for my home-based emergency kit. I've found them to be reliable, durable, and handy. I can unequivocally recommend them for outdoor recreation, simple camp cooking, emergency use, or for back up to other camp stoves. Great product, five stars.

Worked great last summer- I've used these since 2007 on Appalachian Trail. Such an easy way to boil water!

Fuel tablets made of hexamine can be a good camping fuel for simple lightweight cooking for 1 or 2 people. They contain a lot of energy in a small tablet that is easy to carry. You always know exactly how much fuel you have left.They produce fumes that some find unpleasant, and should never be used in a closed area such as a tent. They can be somewhat difficult to light in windy conditions. They leave a sticky residue on the bottom of the pot that is easy to remove with damp dirt, but can badly irritate your skin if you contact the residue.Burning hexamine fuel tablets can be blown out or smothered if heat is no longer needed, and the remaining partial tablets used the next time. If the tablets become wet you will no longer be able to light them, but they will burn if placed next to another burning tablet.The rate at which the tablets burn is determined by the amount of air that can reach the tablets and by the vertical distance between the burning tablets and the bottom of your pot.The stove sold by Coghlan's limits the amount of air that can reach the tablets and therefore limits the rate of burn. What I do is place the burning tablets on a small piece of aluminum, create a pot support from a strip of hardware cloth (the width of the strip determines the height of the pot), and surround the bottom part of the pot down to the ground with a large ring of lightweight aluminum to protect the stove from the wind.The pot that I use holds a quart. The distance between the bottom of the pot and the ground is such that the size of the flame when it reaches the pot is just a little smaller than the pot. If the distance were to be smaller then cooking would take longer and more heat would be lost to the environment. If the distance were to be greater then the flame would extend up the sides of the pot and heat would be wasted.A Vesuv Windscreen or a Caldera Cone can serve as an excellent windscreen and pot support. Either one must be matched to the pot that you use. They permit you to get by with a little less fuel. Either windscreen can also be used with any one of the many simple stoves that all burn either ethyl or methyl alcohol.Boiling a pint of water, adding pasta, and then bringing the contents back to a boil usually uses just under an ounce of fuel tablets. At that point I extinguish the flame and save the remaining fuel for the next time. The pasta continues to finish cooking without additional heat.Comparing purchases of similar amounts of fuel tablets:Godora fuel tablets in the form of 46 half ounce (15g) tablets, at 23.30 after the 10% discount, is just over $1.00 for each of my meals.Coghlan's fuel tablets in the form of 6 boxes, each containing 24 tablets of 0.24 ounces each, at 32.00, is a little under $0.90 for each of my meals.Esbit fuel tablets in the form of 3 boxes, each containing 12 half ounce (14g) tablets, at 22.50, is $1.25 for each of my meals.The Esbit fuel tablets don't leave a residue. The other tablets appear to use a different binder and leave a small residue. They all produce approximately the same amount of heat per unit of weight.

I have had these in my 'go-bag' for years. Went camping last month and it rained the whole time, so instead of cooking over the campfire I busted out my tiny stove and these fuel tablets to cook our meals. They worked great. One tablet helps you cook one pan of food, so if you're doing many items (eggs, then sausage, then bacon, etc) you'll go through many tablets. But for heating up one can of beans, or one can of Chef Boyardee, one tablet is perfect! Oh, and the tablets smell like fish (before and during the burning process).