Do other fuel types work with this stove?

I have used wood, a charcoal bricket, a tea light and an alchol burner. all have boiled water very well. so yes you can use other fuels with it.

What is the shelf life of the fuel tablets?

I just opened a new-old-stock stove with an included pack of 20 tablets that's probably 50 years old I found for three dollars cheaper than they are on Amazon right now ($7 as opposed to $10 for Amazons prices) and just to test, made tea with the stove. The 50 year old tablets still lit and burned!

How many Fuel Tablets are needed to use this effectively?

The Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove does a very good job of holding the Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets above the ground, which allows better air circulation around the fuel tablets for better combustion and heat generation, and it does a good job of reflecting the heat up to the bottom of your cooking pot/canteen cup. If your definition of "effectively" is bringing 12-16 ounces of water to a boil in 10 minutes, with little to no wind blowing on your stove, then the Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove and probably one, or maybe one and one-half Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets (they can be easily cut in half or quartered if needed), would effectively bring that amount of water to a boil in 10 minutes. That would give you enough boiling water to prepare a freeze-dried meal pouch for one person. If there is wind blowing on your Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove, you will likely need two Esbit fuel tablets to boil that volume of water, because the wind will blow some of the heat generated by the fuel tablet(s) away from the bottom of the pot or cup used to hold the water to be boiled. If you need to boil more than 16 ounces of water (to make one or two cups of coffee, hot chocolate or Cup-O-Soup to go with your freeze-dried meal), or to prepare more than one single-serving freeze-dried meal or one multi-serving freeze-dried meal, you will need to use more Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets with your Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove to generate the amount of heat needed to boil that larger amount of water.To calculate the 'maximum' number of Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets, along with your Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove, you will need for a specific camping trip, you can use the following quick and dirty formula: Multiply two Esbit Fuel Tablets, times the number of people for whom you will be cooking, times the number of hot meals, hot beverages, hot cereals or hot soups for which you will need to boil 12-16 ounces of water. This "formula" allows some "fudge-factor" for how much of the heat generated by the Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets used with the Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove the wind can blow away from the bottom of your cooking pot. Using some "natural" fuel for your fire is OK, as long as it hasn't rained recently and soaked your "natural" fuel sources. Also, remember that if you decide to use "natural" fuel to supplement your fuel tablets, a surprisingly high percentage of the heat generated by your fuel tablets will be diverted from heating your water to heating the "natural" fuel to its combustion temperature, where it can begin to contribute its heat to your stove. You might be losing more heat than you gain if you use "natural" fuel, especially if your stove and cooking pot is small. That's why I only use Esbit 14 gm Fuel Tablets in my ultralight 5-piece cooking system, consisting of an Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove, Esbit 14 gm Fuel Iablets, a Rothco #918 Canteen Cup Stove (sawed completely through the shallowest point on one side to allow it to fit around the outside of an Esbit Folding Pocket Stove and act as a wind screen for my Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove), a Rothco #512 Stainless Steel Canteen Cup, and a Rothco #11512 Stainless Canteen Cup Lid. My 32 oz Nalgene Canteen sits inside and on top of my cooking components, with everything inside a U.S. Military MOLLE II Canteen Pouch. Ultralight, takes up little more space than my canteen by itself, with a specific mission for each component, and each component completing its mission very well. Happy trails!

Can this kit be used indoors?

Im not for sure if you can. I dont know what type of chemicals, if any, are released into the air. Its not very clean burning. The fuel cube leaves black residue on the bottom of my cup. The fuel cube does and can blow out very easily. I think you could use it in a ventilated area indoors. It burns very hot but is easily controlled. You could probably use it in a tarp tent, if you had a good base that was fire proof.

Brand	Esbit
Fuel Type	Solid Fuel Tablets
Material	Aluminium
Power Source	Solid Fuel Tablets
Item Weight	0.18 Grams
UPC	017971079133
Global Trade Identification Number	04021684020913
Country of Origin	USA
Item model number	E-STOVE-6X14
Product Dimensions	7.62 x 9.91 x 2.29 cm; 0.18 g
ASIN	B001C1UGVO

Esbit Ultralight Folding Pocket Stove with Six 14g Solid Fuel Tablets

Details

Description

Specifications

Have a Question? See What Others Asked

Common Questions