Esbit Alcohol Stove Follow Up

This is an update to discuss some of the flaws and gripes I have with Esbit's alcohol stove and pot stand. The fact that the burner leaks fuel ended up being a deal breaker and I plan on returning this kit. Unless you are mainly after the cook set or you plan to use solid Esbit fuel cubes, my conclusion is that your money would be better spent elsewhere (but it's possible that I have a defective burner). I recommend getting a Trangia stove with one of the many pot stand options it has available and then buying a separate cook set if necessary. This would be an incredible value (I spent under $30 shipped) for a solo or 2-person cooking setup, but there are just too many flaws for me to keep it.

[jornisoutdoorwelt]

I bought the esbit cooking set in 2019 and I have the same issues like you did . The pot stand gets dammed hot and the burner leaks with fuel . I agree with you, the pots themself are good, the pot stand and the burner are crap

[Therealt]

You're absolutely right. You are not the problem. The design is flawed. Look at a trangia 27 or 25 system. That is the design philosophy for an optimal alcohol burner/cookset.

[Hammermag]

Great Vid and observation on the Pot flame going outside pot stand acting as a Heat Sink. If your Lid is leaking the O-ring, Gaskit or whatever is used to seal the lid to the Pot may be dried out. Try Lubing it and see if that helps. Keep up the Great Vids.

[MrCepstrum]

I burned 1 liter of fuel with it and my esbit alcohol burner isn't leaking. i filled in 70ml (max load) of alcohol and stored it upside down over night. no leaking. I have to admit the flame pattern isn't effective as it could be. Like you pointed out in you review the flames hitting the edge of the pot and also surge up the pot. The pot stand has to many openings. i use tinfoil to cover up all big holes axcept the large front hole. this reduce boil time. Overall a good cooking set. I like it.

[ColoradoCamper]

@Jollyprez I agree, especially since most pots are fairly narrow and most backpackers seldom use a frying pan.
There are a few alcohol stoves that have inward facing jets that I'm aware of such as the Atomic from Mini Bull Designs.

[rlrskr]

Using the smaller Esbit set designed only for hexamine tabs, I used my ha'penny stove (penny stove made out of red bull sized cans) and it worked very well. I did find that picking the pot up off the stand near the boiling point made it start to boil a few seconds early, so I agree that the stand is acting as a heat sink. Boiled 1 cup of water on VERY little alcohol in 5 minutes.

[littlejimbridger]

thanks for the heads up about leaking. Was gonna get the whole kit, but if there's even a chance of leakage, forget it!!!

[Therealt]

The name of the game for alcohol stoves is efficiency. The fuel has only half the energy as petroleum fuels so you can't afford to waste it out the sides like that. Adding an additional windscreen would help, but the trangia is best.

[brianferris]

I like that set up for the alcohol stove

[MrCepstrum]

@ColoradoCamper No i never used the tab plate. I did some experiments varying the distance of the burner to the pot. I used piles of metal coins to bring the burner more close to the pot. Step by step using more coins. The result was bad. Longer boil time. The default distance seems to be the best. More space by lifting the pot causing a smaler flame pattern and actually speed it up a bit. The side effect was the flame wasn't totaly blue but yellow and much more soot at the bottom of the pot.

[ColoradoCamper]

I ended up returning the Esbit due to the leaking. But you're right, lubing the o ring would be good to keep it from drying out and cracking.

[gettingverypissed]

Mine works great for frying up fish and fries. I pack light and ride my motorcycle to the favorite fishing spot for a shoreline lunch. Just use the lid as a frying pan. Efficient, light weight, and portable. Doesn't get much better than that!  

[myevilplans]

I ran my own boil test of two cups of tap water (about 70 degrees) to boil (210 degree) and found the flame was perfectly positioned, proper bloom and it took about 9 minutes.
My fuel was kleen strip denatured alcohol (the 'eco-freindly' one) labeled as stove fuel.

[highonimmi]

i noticed this when I bought this esbit system.  when I placed a larger pot on it (1.7, 2.1, 3.0) with and without heat exchanger the flame doesn't get wasted.  in regards to the esbit leaking fuel I thought only the trangia was able to store unused fuel.  I need to look into that....nice vid, hun.

[ColoradoCamper]

@rlmarin1968 I'm a big fan of DIY gear myself and I'm currently experimenting with some homemade stoves that are performing well so far. Thanks for watching. Cheers.

[ColoradoCamper]

@foreignpress1 I should add that it would still leak when I used the Trangia's lid on the Esbit burner. So I think the issue is with the stove burner and not the gasket/lid. I tried the Esbit's lid on my Trangia and had no leaks, so the common factor is the Esbit burner.

[rlmarin]

@ColoradoCamper: Understood. I was just curious if there was some clear reason I was missing. I am a pretty cheap camper...so I make due with my homemade, 9min boil time stove...lol. Thanks for posting...I enjoyed the vids.

[ColoradoCamper]

@MrCepstrum I would have liked mine overall too if it didn't leak. I think mine must have been a bad burner. I really like the pots, I just think the burner is too big for them.
One thing I thought of was to use a soda can alcohol stove on the little Esbit tab plate. Have you ever tried that? If it worked it would cut down weight and might improve performance too.

[Hikecdt]

Use a piece of foil to wrap around stove except for big window(place it downwind). Does your stove have a stand for the solid fuel which you can take in and out? If so turn it upside down and place it in stand and drop the alcohol stove on top of it(it will fit in petfectly.

[rlmarin]

Also, I grew up in N Central Colorado (Greeley/Ft Collins area). I live out of state now, but miss the Rockies, RMNP and Estes...beautiful country out there. I just don't miss the snow...ha ha.