Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove with Solid Fuel Tablets

This is as advertised. It seems to have good fit and finish as you open it up it has positive stops at different places to adjust the size. The other little stove like this that I picked up came with a small metal wind deflector in the box. I don't know how important that is to have. I would think maybe very important if it is real windy. I want to try both of them out soon and see if there's much difference between them, and if I should find a wind screen for this one, and get an idea how much cooking time you get out of the solid fuel chunks. See if cutting them in 1/4 will spread the heat around and prevent hot spots that I've read about. Better to try them before I need to use them.

Keep it simple is what Esbit did. Handy for camping or emergency situation. Clever design. Should have purchased long ago.

Serves its purpose for boiling water when one doesn't want to haul around a canister stove for a substantial weight savings. One block will boil 1/2 liter of water in the 7-8 minutes it runs full steam (it will rapidly cut-out and burn all the way out at around 10-11 minutes or so, depending on the wind). One fuel block won't boil a full liter of 70 degree water in 80 degree, slightly breezy weather (water got to about 180 deg, about 30 deg short of a full boil). You will need to put down two fuel blocks for a full liter of water. Fuel blocks smell a bit like fish oil and will leave a slightly sticky black burnt residue on the bottom of your pots. A good workout scrubbing with Barkeeper's Friend liquid and a scour pad got it off, but it was a good workout. My GSI 1.8L Pinnacle Dualist pot fits within the side and end supports exactly with no wiggle room. To avoid messy buildup of burnt fuel block residue, consider cutting or folding small aluminum rectangles that can sit down on the deck of the stove to place the fuel block(s) on. This cuts out 2/3 of the residue (as you can toss the aluminum sheet later).

If you are looking for a compact, reliable, durable, and inexpensive to operate packable solid fuel stove, this is it. (Just try to get through that sentence in one breath.) You're not going to cook a family sized pot of spaghetti on it, but it will cook just about any single (even double) serving of almost any food. I'd also recommend a GI style canteen cup (around $5 here on Amazon) as a basic cooking container for use with this stove. A 1 quart GI style canteen fits nicely into the cup and a variety of canteen covers are available to help carry both.Back to the stove - great for personal use on the trail, during an emergency, during a power outage, as part of an emergency preparedness kit, etc. I've used this stove to heat up military rations, singe the hair off game, warm up on a cold wet day (be careful, it is an open flame), fry an egg or two, fry bacon, boil water...

I ordered this for a power-outage emergency kit and tested it out. The fuel tablets light up quickly and stay lit for quite a while. The mini folding stove is sturdy enough for a small pot of a mug. Others have commented that a tablet couldn't get water to boil, but I was able to get a very small pot to boil, and there was easily enough heat to heat up some soup or a mug of coffee. The biggest downside is that these tablets put off a pretty bad odor. I don't think I'd want to use them inside. But for emergency purposes or if you want something that can warm something up while camping in the rain, this should work fine.

I was afraid of buying the little itty-bitty pocket stoves that are out there for sale. I just could not imagine something so small holding up to anything more that a coffee mug sized cup. So, when I saw this, I bought it immediately and I was not disappointed! This is actually about 4"x6", and about an inch and a half or two inches tall. I would compare it more to the size of a small burner on a regular stove. It's not quite that big, but it will support a larger pot or pan. I haven't tried it out yet, but I think I am going to like this a lot! And it comes with twelve of the fuel tablets, which overall, makes it an excellent buy. Try it out for yourself!

Simple and foolproof. Does exactly what it’s made for.

Like the Esbit Folding Stove, but have a bigger pot to cook for 2? This one is large. Works just like the regular size one. 'Locks' opens completely like the ad picture shows, or 'locks' with sides at 45 degrees, or completely closed, enclosing the included package of Esbit tablets. And 'locks' into its indents firmly, so the stove can support the larger, heavier pots that this large size is intended for. Of course, some use these folding pocket Esbit tab stoves with tinder, twigs, and small branches fed into the flame, and this larger model is even better, holding more fuel. In fact, for the size pot one would support with this stove, the biomass approach might give better results with an indefinite burn time. Esbit certainly can be used, but likely two tabs at a time and refueling would be needed to cook a larger volume with that 1.6L or larger pot.