Appreciate any advice from your hard-won AT experience: How hard is it to find Esbit stove fuel as one winds north on the AT? Thanks much.
McIntyre
Esbit stove fuel availability?
system
#2
McIntyre, On my 2003 hike, I successfully used an Esbit stove and tablets (actually I went through 3 stoves due to broken hinges). As I remember, every outfitter carried them and if you go to southsummit.com and search fuel tablets (they don’t carry Esbit) you’ll find that you can buy 12 for $4.95. That’s a dollar more than I paid in '03. I always put some in my mail drops and kept more in my bounce box. If the temps were low, it took 2 tablets to boil 2 cups of water.The only thing I didn’t like about them was the smell!
Journey
system
#3
Esbit is awesome stuff. I’ve done some section hiking and was able to find it in NH and MA. I also have a great website that sells it for a pretty cheap price. This website doesnt sell the stove but it sells the tablets.
super scout
system
#5
Great fuel source for a thru - Light, predictable, and safe! But I wouldn’t risk stumbling upon the stuff without calling ahead and checking with a local outfitter. In my experience on a 2002 thru and 700 miles of sections since, most stores do not carry the tabs. I use maildrops to re-supply, but the material is considered “flammable” by the USPS and has special packing and labeling requirements which requires the use of a separate box. If you stick it in with your other re-supply stuff, big brother might get you!
Matt
system
#6
I sent it in my resupply boxes… I figured that I would use one a day. I ended up using like 3/4 of one on the nights that I cooked (as opposed to eating in town or something). I grossly overestimated the amount of esbit that I needed.
One really great thing about it is that I could usually cook most meals on 1/2-3/4 of a tablet. Then I would blow out the flame and wait for the rest to cool and put all the partials together for my next meal. I never cooked a hot meal in the morning, and I bet I averaged using about 4-5 tabs a week.
I always looked in outfitters at trailtowns just for curiosity’s sake to see if they had them… most did not. I would definitely ship 2-3 weeks worth to about 7-8 maildrops evenly spaced just to be sure. Make those maildrops your official maildrops, tell your friends about themm… and wait for the cookies and cards to come!
windex