What's your choice of solid fuel (Esbit/Hex etc) ?

[paul standley]

Hi all, I use these round solid fuel tabs marketed by Gelert and others...
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/Img/Dyn/Cache/Products/7168_50323070002661565659174.jpg (http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gelert-solid-fuel-tablet-style-camping-gas-refill-p143367)
I don't use solid fuel very often, more as a back-up However, I don't find them particularly good and they burn out in 8 or 9 minutes and find I use 4 tabs to get a rolling boil in a pint of water. In cold weather even that's a struggle sometimes.

What solid fuel tabs do you recommend, what is working for you ? :campfire:

[Martin]

Like you Paul, I don't use solid fuel tabs very often but, when I do, I use hexamine. I am lucky to have a source for these though and probably wouldn't use any at all if it wasn't for this source. I haven't actually used them in anger for ages as there are always better alternatives out there for me.

Martin

[Fletching]

Hi Guys,

I used to keep a few hex blocks wrapped in foil but started making fire sticks when I came upon Ron Fontaine's method of making them on his survivalist blog:

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/how-to-make-fire-sticks/

They're easy to make, don't break easily like hex, burn when wet and you can get a good six/seven minutes burn out of them (roll them quite tight before dipping them and leave a couple of loose ends to the string so you can light both ends if needed). You can waterproof your strike-anywhere matches whilst you're at it.

Steve

[Fletching]

...I just uploaded a pic to Flickr of (some of) the first batch I made:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5314945517_dfacc7a138_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/57496601@N08/5314945517/)
fuels_01 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/57496601@N08/5314945517/) by newsxter (http://www.flickr.com/people/57496601@N08/), on Flickr

These are quite small (not as fat as the ones shown in the method) and burn for about 6/7 mins. The fatter you make them, the longer they burn. These are adjacent to hex blocks in foil and sit on top of bbq lighter blocks (the brittle 'chipboard' type not the mushy type), also in foil. When I tested the firesticks, I abandoned the hex blocks.

Steve

[Ben Casey]

I always found Hexi blocks a good send in the Army in our ration packs we got matches that would burn just about anywhere and the blocks would to. They never let me down in 17 years the only downside was the mess they left on our mess tins.

[JEEP]

I have actually never used solid fuel (I mostly stick to alcohol burners), but coincidentally I have just ordered a titanium solid fuel stove, with matching titanium mug and foldable cutlery from Esbit; http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/titanium-esbit-wing-stove.html Apparantly it is the lightest cooking system available.

My fiancee has been making and using firesticks, like Fletching's, for years. I think I'll borrow a couple and give them a try.

[troopermaz]

i have always used hexi blocks cos thats what im used to but the downsides are as mentioned they make a god awful mess of mess tins and the smell, but it is a kind of reminiscent smell to me of times on exercise

[Ben Casey]

I have to admit they bring back a lot of memories some funny ones to. Take care if it is windy I nearly set a whole range on fire once and looked a right idiot trying to put it out LOL

[paul standley]

Thanks all for the feedback so far... Keep it coming

I am intrigued by the 'fire sticks' so I'll definately give them a look.

Cheers, Paul

[Fletching]

Glad to be of help Paul.

If you do decide to make some,

[excerpt from Ron's method] "First obtain a piece of corrugated cardboard, preferably without the backing on one side. If all you have is cardboard boxes you can easily remove the paper backing from one side using a pair of needle nose pliers or similar tool. This is what I did and it worked very well." [end excerpt]

...I've tried both and find that leaving both sides of the cardboard on actually gives better results. Give both a try!

Steve