Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Esbit stove was invented in 1936 by a German company that contracted their stove to the German Wehrmacht. During WWII, the stoves were "discovered" by American GI's, who often kept them as souvenirs. After the war, the Esbit company continued to manufacture the stove for the West German Bundeswehr. Many American soldiers who were stationed in Germany for the next 60+ years personally bought the stove for their own field use. For obvious reasons, the Esbit company does not proclaim their connection to the Nazis--given the climate in Germany in WWII, the company had little choice to refuse. Politics aside, it is interesting that Esbit has been producing essentially the same stove for 75 years. The difference between the stoves is that the WWII stove's "edge" that holds your pot or cup above the flame was flat, while post-WWII Esbits have two little teeth on each edge. I mention this not to be arcane, but because I have seen many Esbit stoves sold for $100+ by proclaiming they were original WWII, when they were made last week, and merely dragged through the mud. I have had the same esbit stove for close to 20 years, having bought it as a poor college kid/Army Reservist. To give you an idea how old my Esbit stove is, it has the West German Military markings stamped in the steel--and it is still going strong. There is no rust on it, and no dents. The rivets that hold it together are still tightly attached. I bought the stove and a pack of fuel for around five dollars back then, and the price does not seem to have gone up drastically in the intervening years (if only I could say the same for gasoline prices....). I've taken my Esbit camping all over the Unites States, and took it on countless field training exercises in the Army. I've cooked food on the Esbit in the snow and in the jungle, and it has never let me down. The stove is light weight, as is the fuel cubes. The whole package could be carried in your back pocket, or kept unobtrusively in your pack. At the low price point, you could buy multiple stoves and keep them in your car for emergencies. For those not familiar with the stove, it is a small metal box composed of three sections, which are riveted together. When the stove is closed, the box shape will hold the fuel cubes. To open it, the two smaller sections rotate on the rivets to form arms. The two arms will hold a canteen cup or small pot above the flame for cooking. As easy as can be. The fuel is a little white cube which sits on the base of the stove, and is lit on fire. By the way, the Esbit will work with other solid fuels. I've used Army issued Trioxane, Army issued pyro-gel, and some cheap/weird generic fuel with no problems. PROS: * Lightweight * Durable * Inexpensive * Dependable CONS: * Not a critique of the Esbit, per se. More of a warning for fellow shoppers. Despite the low price of the Esbit stove, there are scores of cheap imitations. Often the imitations cost the same, or more, than the original Esbit. I do not want to tell you how to spend your hard-earned money, but I respectfully suggest you get the original Esbit. None of the competitors make a better product.