I am currently looking in to alternative fuel for boiling water and am very interested in using esbit/ hex block
Does any one here uses them and how do they get on with them, please tell me more?

I don’t use them as they’re supposedly very dirty burning. What about a beer can meths stove?

I’ve used them..not a huge fan if there is a slight breeze you’ll struggle to even boil a pint of water..i have a esbit stove which can use either solid tablets or a trangia style meths burner, the meths is preferable..why you thinking of changing Anyway

Hexi is a very smoky burn and avoided by those who even get it for free – the Armed Forces. Look for something else.
It is being phased out in favour of one of the gel fuels – not sure exactly which one(s) are being introduced, but the bioethanol gel seems to be much better.

Caldera Cone System

Yeah, I’ve got one and have used it a few times. It is very slow and easily affected by the slightest breeze. I bought a white box stove on ebay from ths states and it was money well spent; much cleaner and faster for boiling water.

Ex-army. Hexi blocks waste of time. MUST be used outside.
Used a burner which screwed directly onto butane can, posh ones had electronic ignition.
Low bulk and worked

I have a have a msr reactor already but wanted to move away from the bulk and weight.
The misses has got me a esbit stove for chrismas

http://www.esbit.net/product-detail/items/CS585HA-hard-anodized-aluminiium-585ml-cookset.html

So I just wanted to know what people fault of them, I think I can use gel tabs with it!
any way my whole idea is to just have a cup that holds 500ml max and bring it to boil with the minimum about bulk to the burner and fuel, Any suggestion on another sub £50 cook system of the shelf would be welcome.
thanks

I bought an Esbit off here for not much. I use Esbit fuel, not Hexamine.
I works well, but *must* have a windscreen to be effective in even a slight bereze – pic is take on an absolutely still day. 1 wee block = a mug of boiling water, even sub zero. 1 block = beans n sausage hot enough to eat.

Abernethy Ardeonaig staff training by matt_outandabout, on Flickr
Will it replace my main stove? Unlikely, but it is perfect for making a hot brew on river bank at lunch, or a one night bivvy or camp.
I have warmed to it more than I expected….
.
We also have military Hexamine stoves at work, and they are quite smoky, again need a windscreen, but are effetcive. Again, better than you may expect.
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I do want to play with meths and a caldera cone – hoping to make my own from the programme/thread on outdoorsmagic.

When out I generally use one of 3 options, an Msr pocket rocket gas stove, a mini woodburner (bush cooker) or a meths fuel stove. It all depends on weather and the kind of trip I’m on. I usually carry a couple of hexamine blocks as a back up, though as others have said, they are problematic in wind etc. I think esbit are better than hexamine, try to get military grade hex (usually lots of ex forces stuff on e bay) as camping shop stuff (by gelert etc) is weak and burns poorly.

agreed with a pocket rocket stove, however as much as i didn’t like using hexi, if you had good drills you really could get the things working well – dig a small holl big enough for you flash, messtins etc, place in and light – its the wind that kills those kind of tablets. Alternatively get a Jet Boil – they are very quick!

The US Army style gel bags are OK, they are activated with water which is not great as you cant drink it after and water is a precious commodity in some environments.

A storm kettle?

Hexi is horrible stuff. Ruined my throat and sinuses after cooking in a cloud of the stuff once on exercise and disliked it ever since. It’s also a swine to clean off mess tins afterwards, although the teabag trick works well enough.

Just use a meths stove or something.

You can boil water easily with hexy in any conditions, you just need to set it up correctly. The main problem with it is the dirty sticky residue it leaves on your kit. Comes off with water, but if it’s a dry day you don’t want to be wasting water on clean up if you can help it. I always carried a MSR pocket rocket with hexy and some long nails as a back up.