Folding Stoves
A reliable means of heating food and water is a necessity for any sort of emergency kit, whether it be a stationary at home kit or a mobile one (Go Bag, Bug Out Bag, Get Out of Dodge Bag…). One of the more popular and cheaper options is the Folding Stove
The Test
I used 4 of the fuel pellets and 8oz of cold water as my baseline for testing. I used 8oz of water since this is the amount that a single serving package of Mountain House
I was surprised at how well these things burn, it was a bit windy out this morning and they flared up nice and hot.
The Results
In 4:08 minutes I had 8oz of water boiling at a good clip, but this consumed all 4 of the fuel pellets.
Conclusion
For a short camping trip or emergency situation I feel that you can get by with one of these stove. They are compact and light but they aren’t up to the task of purifying large amounts of water that might be needed in a longer duration emergency situation. A nice benefit of these stoves is that they are a true multi-fuel option because when the pellets run out twigs, cardboard, paper, and whatever else that is small and flammable can be used as a fuel source.
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We had a blackout a couple of weeks ago and my son got our little stove out and heated up a can of food. I was pleased to realise that I don’t have to worry about him in an emergency. I have found that because we are above 1000 feet elevation that it won’t boil water. The water gets hot but not boiling. I would probably have to use a whole packet of tablets to get it to boiling. Nevertheless, I do find them handy.
Cool! My sons are 4 years and 5 weeks so I’ll be worrying about them for a while more.
I use an Esbit folding stove as a backup for my gas stove in my backpack. It’s smaller than the one you tested. You can fit 5 Esbit fuel cubes in the Esbit if you pack them right so it can keep you in hot food for a day or two.
The Bluet and several others are almost identical to the Esbit but the Bluet fuel really stinks so buy another brand of fuel.
The cheapest fuel I’ve found is the grill starter cubes but I haven’t tested them.
I don’t think any of the solid fuels I’ve looked at are safe indoors and some is actually based on formaldehyde. .
An Alcohol stove burning Everclear is your best option if you don’t want toxic fumes indoors.
It takes about an oz of alcohol to boil water give or take depending on altitude, temp, wind and the stove.
Purifying water doesn’t actually require boiling but it would require more than one Esbit tablet to keep it up to the right temp. A fuel tablet is almost the size of a bottle of water purification tablets so there are better options.
FWIW, Esbit makes an emergency model that is carried flat and a folding charcoal grill which would be better for wood and a large group.
Thanks for the comment James! Who knew Everclear wasn’t just for my killer punch!
You can use vodka, rum or other drinkable spirits but remember that the proof rating is twice the % alcohol content. 151 or higher proof is going to burn a lot hotter than what comes in a cheap bottle of vodka.which will probably be between 70 and 100 proof.