For the test I chopped a esbit tablet in half as the tray is slightly smaller than this and put 500ml in the Snow Peak 600. I didn’t bother to time the exercise nor weigh the chunk of esbit. The test was carried out indoors in a well ventilated room with a windshield in place.
The fuel got the water to a good boil with some to spare. There was spillage of the flame up the side of the pot. This was due to the pot’s diameter and, perhaps, the size of the chunk of esbit used. Cutting the tablets in quarters and stacking two on top of each other should help concentrate the flame under smaller diameter pots.
The next step is a quick test to ascertain the fuel efficiency, speed of boil and to see whether it integrates with my Bush Buddy.
Doing this quick test reminded me why I used my old army solid fuel cooker; it’s simple and effective. But as with all stoves it’s not without it’s downsides with the fumes and blackening of the pots.
7 comments:
LOL, I was testing mine last night and have just posted the results.
Agree with what you say about simplicity, it may be slow but set it up and leave it while you set up camp and the spped doesn't matter.
Weird co-incidence - and Darren posted a video on his blog about the same too.
Great minds think alike, me thinks! Long live the esbit revolution :)
LOL, I saw Darrens after reading yours. Is Esbit the new Meths? :-)
Well, the BushBuddy soots probably way more than Esbit me think. Are you planning to use Esbit as a back-up with your BB on rainy days or when you're to tired to search for fuel? I was thinking to use a simple meths burner as back-up, but the weight is probably higher then the Esbit. Looking forward to your experiences :)
The new black and the new rock and roll :)
I think I'll be sticking with meths as a back up for a BB in wet weather just because of the fumes.
Interesting - an Esbit tablet fits perfectly in my stove (which seems identical) and the flame forms a 'point' centred on the pot base. I've used a Snowpeak 900 and MSR Titan Kettle to good effect. I shot a video of this a few days ago, but it's mind-numbingly boring so I'll post a few stills at some point.
A benefit of Esbit is the portion control - on a multi-day hike you can easily post the required number of tablets ahead in re-supply parcels and know exactly how many you need.
The tablets I picked up are quite large - I think I'll have to get a ruler and scales out to do some measurements!
That's a good point about planning fuel usage, which you can do with meths, but esbit is safer to post :)
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