EsbitCookset for solid fuel | Light Weight & Compact Packsize |Camping, Backpacking, Hiking | Outdoor kitchen

I bought this for a trip to the Highlands, but ended up using just the pot and buying a small gas stove to go with it. In my tests, solid fuel was not as efficient as gas per weight, and while it might be better in some situations, for me, has won. However, I do like the pot in this kit as it is lightweight and easy to use, so it wasn't a waste of money.

Great bit of kit for back packing; should really be used in conjunction with a mess tin as its a struggle to use with boil in the bag rations.

If you have seen my other reviews I try to be fair and balanced, I am giving this 3 stars based on the unit I got. I will cover the easy one first.I dropped of one star as 1 of the feet was missing and 2 of the feet were lose, the missing foot I found in the mesh bag and re-attached and tightened up the other 2, now it is entirely possible that you will not have this issue certainly no one else has mentioned it. This relates to build quality although the cup handles are certainly securely fixed.The other reason I am dropping a star is the poor design of the stove to act as a wind shield the first tablet I used failed to boil 500ml of water using a single tablet, the second tablet was half gone before the water boiled. Yes I know many people are testing with 200ml of water but "In reality" 200ml is not enough to be useful (for me anyways) I figured out via YouTube that the issue was the wind, I made a windshield out of tin foil folded over 4 times to give it rigidity (Height 5") and one end folded to a small taper and inserted into the other to make a tin foil hoop 5" high surrounding the cup I held it in place with a paper clip for the test and redid the boil.On the second test the pot (400ml this time) came to the boil in 12 Min and there was still 2 min of life in the Esbit tablet. the wind break got singed on the inside and stayed col on the outside thus doing its job.Overall the pluses outweigh the minuses and I will indeed use it as the windbreak fits inside the cup (for now, the MkII will cling to the outside and be a permanent solution offering variable ventilation), if you buy small dish (or use an empty T-Light container, or make one from tin foil) you could also use fuel gel. Fire Dragon do one (On Amazon) as do Blacks camping stores. Be aware that although Fire Dragon fuel tablets will technically work perfectly well they do liquefy when hot so will need to be used with a dish/tinfoil solution.Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? Yes I would as for me the pluses really do outweigh the minuses, and but for the badly assembled feet it would have scored 4 stars.Addition:I found an old circular tin (3.25 cm dia) and this made a world of difference not only is it a second windshield bit it makes it a true multi fuel stove, I have used the Gel and the Fire Dragon Tablets. these work really well. I am not going to bother making the small meth's burner as it is clearly not needed. Still a 3 Star but by overcoming the shortfalls listed above this is becoming a very useful little cook kit, for days out.

No issues with delivery times etc.I have used this a few times now and I'm wishing I had got the 2 man version now as you can use an alcohol burner with that one. The base on this is too low to get clearance for the alcohol burner, and the rubber feet would melt if you tried to burn wood in it.This holds enough water for 2 mugs of coffee, and while one esbit block is enough to get the water hot enough for a hot drink, it will NOT boil it. 1 cup of water WILL boil, which is great for coffee when you're on you're own, but if you want the water to hydrate a meal, no good.My little boy is getting into camping and hiking with me now, so I will probably sell this on and get something else pretty quickly (possibly the 2 man version. I will check the reviews very carefully).But to get this to work properly for me would require too many modifications.Shame, 'cos I really liked the look of this, it's very small and light, was just what I was looking for, but unfortunately it just couldn't quite cut the mustard when it came down to it.Addendum:I have tried a couple of other options since buying this, and I have arrived at the conclusion that what I needed all along was a multi-fuel solution.To this end I have just bought a Bushbox.This is an aluminium fold away stove similar to the Firebox, but smaller.It has the options for hexamine blocks, alcohol burner or wood. It disassembles and packs flat into a little stuff sack.It was a close choice between this and The Pocket Stove, which packs into a tin the size of an Altoids tin.In the end I went with The Bushbox because it looks sturdier and more stable, comes WITH a trivet and has an ash tray to stop you burning the ground underneath.My boy still uses the Esbit and it suits his needs at the moment, but it takes up a lot more space than the Bushbox, and he HAS to carry fuel whereas I don't.I hope this helps you out when considering a solo stove. If I had known then what I know now, I would have gone straight for something like this.There are a few options available to you on the market. As mentioned earlier, there is The Pocket Stove (Made In Britain) which was a very attractive option. Emberlit have their own version, Vargo do the Hex Stove and so on.You should check these out before you make your decision.Good Luck.