Coghlan's Fuel Stove Tablets, 24-Count

Make sure you keep this product in a cool and dark place . May be like the basement or other places away from you. Why? Because this product can let off a fishy smelling odor and it could be strong to some people. The product is great!

These tablets are just perfect for me as I do a lot of solo camping. Easy to use. They’re light, do not take up space, not noisy like a canister stove that pushes out isobutane/propane, so you’re not disturbing neighbors if you have any at a camp site.They heat well. The heat level isn’t as great as compared to a pressurized isobutane flame however, if you’re camping, relaxation is what you’re after. They may not heat as fast but, you get a good boil out of these fuel tablets. Can get a boil in about 8-10 minutes.

A must for anyone who has come, camping, Prepping, and everyone who wants to be able to light a fire after the electricity goes out for more than a couple hours. Will heat a cup of water in five minutes. Best used with other burnable material, such as wood or branches.

Very satisfied

As the headline states, Coghlan provides two sealed plastic bags of 12 round, 6g Hexamine Tablets. Now Hexamine is pretty much the same in terms of heat generated, and burn time and heat output will vary by the total weight being burned. So the Coghlan package is on the less expensive side in terms of $/g (dollars per gram), and affords a more 'granular' approach (burning 1 to 4 tablets at once in a solid fuel stove, for example) versus other brand offerings. Especially less expensive than Esbit's 4g packages, which seem unduly expensive.However, since the packaging doesn't seal EACH tablet, but 12, you need a well sealed container to preserve these once an inner package is opened (Hexamine has a 'shrimp scent' and can gradually deteriorate in air). Small size "Smell Proof" heavy duty Zip Lock bags (Coghlan's or other brands), or small plastic jars, or tape sealed tins can help.Uses for these include solid fuel for backpacking/hiking/emergency stoves to boil water or carefully cook, or as a long burning fire starter for a campfire lay.Note that Hexamine is definitely harder to ignite than vaseline impregnated cotton or similar commercial fire starters... scraping the surface to create a powder more easily ignited is an approach, or igniting a "long burning match made from waxed jute cord" to in turn ignite the Hexamine works as will using a hot burning, incendiary match (pricey approach). An ordinary butane lighter or even an Arc lighter will be challenged to ignite Hexamine, but a butane torch lighter will do the job.All-in-all, the Coghlan's Hexamine Tablets are a good value and size for solid fuel users.

These fuel tabs burn clean and hot and I like them much better than trioxane bars because of the lessened fumes. They do still smell unpleasant in the confines of any enclosure. I keep single tabs rolled in foil in my kits and vehicles for firestarters. A single tab will heat a generous cup of coffee with a canteen cup and stand; three fit well in a small pill bottle with instant coffee in another.

I paired these with the BCB stove, which makes for a really nice budget setup totaling about $12. If you bend down the metal tray in the BCB stove, you can fit a 12-pack of these tablets plus a mini lighter.The tablets do have a slight smell to them, but the smell is pretty mild and not noticeable through the plastic they come wrapped in. Don't worry about the smell, it's really not as big a deal as people make of it. As long as you're not sticking them up your nose it won't bother you. They do produce a little bit of soot, which can be easily washed off your pan. Be realistic though, even wood produces soot. So this is just a normal part of cooking over a fire. Once again some of the review blow this out of proportion.One tablet was able to boil a couple cups of water. I cooked a pot of instant mac & cheese using just 2 tablets. So they really are a great value for the money. Part of this is probably due to the wind guard on the BCB stove, which does help.These tablets make a great backup for when you can't make a fire. Sure, if I had to cook over them 3 times a day for weeks on end, it would get annoying. But for cooking a quick meal while camping you can't beat the convenience and price.

I wanted these mainly for emergency usage, basically to try out against other products of this nature. While it may be great for certain stoves meant for it, trying to use it to help in an emergency heat source isn't ideal.I took some of these on my recent dispersed camping trip and I'm glad I did BUT, they literally just caused the damp wood to smolder. I added small, dry tinder to the pile of lint I had also included, and nothing lit up, like it should've.It was a new area for me but unfortunately, a very well used one and that meant that most of the good/dry wood had already been used up. Remaining wood was pretty damp or rotted, and it was quite chilly, so I just wanted to warm up a bit.They're really small tablets and I'm sure they would be good to keep around and use with the right stove to warm up some food in a pinch, but that's all you're going to get from these.