OK, so I decided to try out all the cooking fuels that I have in my inventory to see what burned the best and how they performed overall. I had several to use. an Swedish alcohol stove, German military issue fuel tablets, Trioxane fuel tablets, Gel alcohol fuel, and Esbit Fuel tablets.
For my first test I used the Swedish stove and the Gel Alcohol Fuel.
I used two Swedish Stoves with equal amounts of water in their pots. With in the first few minutes they both started to get real warm. Within 7 minutes they were both hot. Around the 15 minute mark The magic happened! They both began to hard boil, reaching temps of 210f , but by then the fuel gel was done, its temp quickly dropped to 180f and the Swedish stove kept a good rolling boil.
Around 20 minutes the gel had completely used all its energy, but the Swedish stove kept on cooking. I eventually put it out at about 25 minutes to keep testing going.
Next was the Trioxane Fuel tablets and the German issue fuel tablets. I used 1 trioxane fuel tablet at first and 4 German tablets as well. The Trioxane was very disappointing. It had consumed all its energy with in 5 minutes. The German tablets were going stong, I quickly added a second trioxane tablet to keep the fire going and was able to achieve a temp of 180f. The German tablets were able to reach 210f but quickly lost their energy after that.
Trioxane and German Fuel tabs.
trioxane burning.
German tabs burning..
Last but not least was the Esbit Fuel tabs. You have seen pics of my Esbit stove and I think its a pretty awesome little piece of gear. I have one in my pack..I used 2 tabs for this test and was able to get water to 210f but the tabs lost their energy after about 18 minutes, they burned over 20 minutes overall. Once again I am pretty impressed!
So how do I rank these. All were able to create safe water but they all have their good and bads.. So here is how I ranked them
1) Swedish Alcohol burner. It was able to get the water to a boil and hold it the longest. I had a hell of a time getting it out and it still had plenty of fuel left in the burner. I sealed it and will save it for the next adventure. The burner comes with a fuel bottle so if you have both in your pack when you head out you should have several hours of cook time. If not just get a few bottles of Heet in the blue label and you will be set!
2) The German Fuel tabs. For their size they put out a lot of heat and had good longevity. I did use 4 tabs and the stove does come issued with 12 tabs stowed in it. Would be nice to find a source for them. I was really impressed with the tabs.
3) The Gel fuel. For what you get you get a lot of heat! I was impressed with the energy it gave off and it did really well being used in an Esbit style stove. The gel fuel is really light and works well with the Esbit stove so I will be stuffing several of these into my bag as well...
4) The Esbit tabs. I really think they should be tied with 3 but it did take 2 tabs to get the water to hard boil. You can store 4 tabs in a Esbit stove so weight and space isn't an issue.You can buy Esbit stoves and fuel tabs at most major sporting good stores or on line.
5) The trioxane tabs. They did get the water to temp, I should have used 2 tabs and checked results. Their energy span was really quick,, 5 minutes and they were done. Also the box I had came with 3 tablets. When I opened one of them there was nothing but blue powder. It would not burn, so I was left with 2 tablets to use. I think I will use these for fire starting more than a cooking source.
OH! Be warned when burning alcohol or gel fuel remember the flame is almost colorless! I really had to look to see it, I felt the heat first. So be extra careful when using them!
Try these out for yourself and see how they work for you.
I used two Swedish Stoves with equal amounts of water in their pots. With in the first few minutes they both started to get real warm. Within 7 minutes they were both hot. Around the 15 minute mark The magic happened! They both began to hard boil, reaching temps of 210f , but by then the fuel gel was done, its temp quickly dropped to 180f and the Swedish stove kept a good rolling boil.
Next was the Trioxane Fuel tablets and the German issue fuel tablets. I used 1 trioxane fuel tablet at first and 4 German tablets as well. The Trioxane was very disappointing. It had consumed all its energy with in 5 minutes. The German tablets were going stong, I quickly added a second trioxane tablet to keep the fire going and was able to achieve a temp of 180f. The German tablets were able to reach 210f but quickly lost their energy after that.
Last but not least was the Esbit Fuel tabs. You have seen pics of my Esbit stove and I think its a pretty awesome little piece of gear. I have one in my pack..I used 2 tabs for this test and was able to get water to 210f but the tabs lost their energy after about 18 minutes, they burned over 20 minutes overall. Once again I am pretty impressed!
So how do I rank these. All were able to create safe water but they all have their good and bads.. So here is how I ranked them
1) Swedish Alcohol burner. It was able to get the water to a boil and hold it the longest. I had a hell of a time getting it out and it still had plenty of fuel left in the burner. I sealed it and will save it for the next adventure. The burner comes with a fuel bottle so if you have both in your pack when you head out you should have several hours of cook time. If not just get a few bottles of Heet in the blue label and you will be set!
2) The German Fuel tabs. For their size they put out a lot of heat and had good longevity. I did use 4 tabs and the stove does come issued with 12 tabs stowed in it. Would be nice to find a source for them. I was really impressed with the tabs.
3) The Gel fuel. For what you get you get a lot of heat! I was impressed with the energy it gave off and it did really well being used in an Esbit style stove. The gel fuel is really light and works well with the Esbit stove so I will be stuffing several of these into my bag as well...
4) The Esbit tabs. I really think they should be tied with 3 but it did take 2 tabs to get the water to hard boil. You can store 4 tabs in a Esbit stove so weight and space isn't an issue.You can buy Esbit stoves and fuel tabs at most major sporting good stores or on line.
5) The trioxane tabs. They did get the water to temp, I should have used 2 tabs and checked results. Their energy span was really quick,, 5 minutes and they were done. Also the box I had came with 3 tablets. When I opened one of them there was nothing but blue powder. It would not burn, so I was left with 2 tablets to use. I think I will use these for fire starting more than a cooking source.
OH! Be warned when burning alcohol or gel fuel remember the flame is almost colorless! I really had to look to see it, I felt the heat first. So be extra careful when using them!
Try these out for yourself and see how they work for you.
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