If you’re sensing this is shaping up to be a David versus Goliath matchup, you’re probably right. I’m not so naïve as to think a ten dollar, solid fuel, disposable pocket stove has a fair shot against an eighty-five dollar, white gas-fueled camping stove. The difference in construction and power between the two stoves is obvious. It’s clearly not an apples-to-apples matchup. Still, it was an interesting experiment for me. If the Pocket Stove did what it said it could do, there would be a whole range of situations I’d prefer to have a Pocket Stove over an MSR Whisperlite or comparable stove. When, exactly? I’d use a Pocket Stove over an MSR in any of the following scenarios:
- Flying overseas. We had a recent trip to Iceland. The airfare there was reasonably priced, but once you’re staying there, everything is expensive. Gas is expensive, beer is expensive, souvenirs are expensive, and dining out is very expensive. We packed our MSR Whisperlite with an empty fuel bottle that we filled there. The plan was to hit the grocery store and cook anything easy from the stove to save money. It’s the scenery you’re after in Iceland, after all. The first day there we searched Reykjavik for Coleman white gas, a bottle that we used little of by week’s end. A solid fuel Pocket Stove would have been much more convenient and we could have packed it on the plane.
- Day hikes. Here in New England, it’s not uncommon for us to make a day trip to a local mountaintop. It’s nice to do it not bogged down with weight/gear. It’s also nice to have a hot cup of coffee or tea at the top, and maybe a hot lunch if it’s late season hiking. I don’t know how much the Pocket Stove weighs, but it’s barely anything. The MSR and its bottle of fuel have weight, weight I’d rather leave at home.
- Emergency kits. The Pocket Stove is tiny and easy to slide into an emergency kit for your vehicle or backpack. No worries about liquid fuel, and less costly to purchase if you’re only buying a stove for just-in-case purposes. One of these Pocket Stoves, a small pot, a few Mountain House meals, and you’re in good shape.
- Bug out bag. Theoretically, your bug out bag (BOB) only needs to get you from point A to point B. Hopefully that’s not a great distance to travel, and if you’ve got to do it on foot, the less weight and size your stove has the more weight and room you have for other items. The Pocket Stove seems more suitable to a BOB.
The more I think about it, the scenarios above are exactly the types of situations I use my Whisperlite in, so the Pocket Stove—if effective—could prove to get far more use than the Whisperlite.
So what are the Pocket Stove’s advantages?
- Lower cost
- Lighter weight
- Smaller size
- Stable, solid fuel
- Fewer moving parts
The MSR, of course, has its own advantages:
- Gas power
- Multi-fuel
- Larger, more stable cooking platform
- Made in the U.S.A.
The Whisperlite’s bendable windscreen is a great benefit. Not only does it help reduce wind hitting the flame, but it reflects the heat back toward the burner and up the sides of the pot for greater efficiency. The Pocket Stove has no such screen, making it more susceptible to wind. There was another problem, however. The Pocket Stove’s flame is very low to the surface level. Needless to say, it caught the picnic table on fire in the process. Sorry Baxter State Park officials!
Sadly, this little stove failed to live up to the claims. The only purpose I can recommend it for… is… well I guess I can’t recommend it for any purpose. I took the remaining fuel cubes and tossed them into the campfire to watch them burn. The foldable stove I threw in the trash. I guess you could use the fuel cubes for emergency fire starters, then the unit goes from being a cheap stove to becoming an expensive set of fire starters. You can do better than that. Esbit could do better, too.
Don’t buy the Esbit Pocket Stove. Save your money and splurge on an MSR, Jetboil, or similar quality camping stove. You won’t be disappointed.
Derrick Grant is the founder of Prepper Press, a publisher of post-apocalyptic fiction and survival nonfiction. Follow his Facebook writer page for all things apocalyptic.
All Photos Courtesy of: Derrick Grant
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How appropriate that this review was done by a fiction writer, facts are apparently optional! The Esbit folding stove is not new, it is said to have been developed during WW2 for use by the German army and is still being made and used in very large numbers. The Esbit is a multi-fuel stove for in addition to the fuel cubes it can be used as a wood stove (read twigs, not logs), an alcohol stove (even a used tuna can will work), with chafing fuel canisters (unfold, rotate 90 deg., lay on the canister to use as a wind shield and pot holder), and my personal favorite, tea light candles with about half a cotton ball as wick (which put out a lot of flame for about 4 cents each)! The Esbit can carry its own fuel internally and a small piece of aluminum can be used as a wind shield and fit easily inside when stored! Your test seems a bit bias toward the MRS stove, don't all gas-based stoves burn hotter than solid-fuel-based ones? Except maybe thermite! The MRS is a great little stove, a bit pricey, but not too bad, but it is a camping stove, the Esbit is a survival stove, apples and grapes! I prefer a small propane stove for most camping because propane is the easiest fuel to use IMHO and once you've had a liquid fuel leak into your backpack (not a good memory, Coleman fuel) you're not only out of fuel but your gear is now a potential flaming suicide pack! IMHO, the Esbit is the BEST survival stove ever made, the only one that comes close is the canteen cup stove that takes up almost no space when mated with the canteen cup and canteen! GLAHP!
Since I do not go (anymore) above the tree line or into austere desert areas I go with ground litter and a #10 can punctured in all the right places. this also allows me to carry a fire bundle or dry tinder to another site. It also contains the fires coals and if you puncture with a nail it limits sparks and can use it as a sieve to cover traps a empty #10 can with a wire handle has many uses and cost nothing after you eat the contents.
I take a propane torch head w/ piezo igniter and a couple of slender 1 pound cylinders a torch will do things a stove will never do and since all I use it for is a light for a tinder fire it's infinite control allows it to be used to heat without smoke heat items like stuck lug nuts start a fire in a blizzard if you got the gonads you can start it with one hand and cauterize a wound. it has a blue flame not real obvious if you needed a covert fire to boil water this is it no worry about liquid fuel leaking or catching you or your BOB on fire and worse blistering your skin.
I am a prepper not a camper although I can camp if you have an adapter you can refill 1 pounders and it is important to KNOW HOW or become a flaming skin beach ball.
A 1 pound bottle last 4 hours at full flame daffy dope could start a fire with ice cubes in 4 hours with a torch.
The writer is a fool. Use two tabs if one doesn't get you to the temp you need. The stove is also usable with other fuels such a sterno,Heet,hand cleanser, and denatured alcohol placed in the lid of a mini altoids tin, inside the stove. Conveniently, it can also be used as a twig stove when solid or liquid fuel is unavailable. Think outside the box…adapt and overcome.