[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[at-l] Firelog cubes as Esbit fuel



I've been experimenting with alternative Esbit fuel sources, due to the high
cost (in my modest budget) of real Esbit cubes.

An AT thru-hiker I met one day at Mount Rogers Outfitters in Damascus, Va
enthusiastically recommended chunks of firelog (y'know, those wax and sawdust
fake logs they sell at the grocery store). They *do* work rather well.  I took
an old ice cube tray, sprayed it with olive oil, then broke chunks off a
firelog and pressed them into the cube tray to create nifty little homemade
esbit fuel cubes. They aren't as efficent as "real" esbit fuel, but cost like 1
cent each (vs 50 cents ea for Esbit). You could probably make about 200 cubes
from a $2.00 firelog. But, here are my concerns:

1) The wrapper on the firelog says NOT to cook over it. Why is this? Is there a
health hazard there? The ingedients are only wax and sawdust, doesn't sound too
toxic..but.

2) The firelog cubes soot up my pots REAL bad and this makes a unpleasant mess.
Any tricks to reduce the sooting or mess?

Would appreciate any input, advice or discussion.

Disc n Dog


* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================