I had used my pot in Norway, but I had put the pot directly on the coals of a small fire we made. I felt like I might want to cook when I went into the Highlands in Scotland, but it didn’t look like there were going to be many trees where we were going, so I bought this on a whim as I was in Aviemore right before we started our hike. I really regret doing so.

The stupid stove just wouldn’t stay open. There are 3 states it can be in: closed for traveling, fully open for large pots, and partially open for smaller pots and/or concentrated heat.

Since my pot was on the smaller side, it necessitated keeping it in the half-open state.

Unfortunately, the bumps that keep it in place did a poor job, and it would collapse in on itself with any weight applied to the top.

I could push down that flap with barely any force from my pinky

Granted, the first time worked well enough, but by the second use, it was no longer stabile. I had it stored within the pot, so it’s not like it could have gotten sat on and deformed that way, and I only managed to get one use before it lost all structural integrity.

My pot unfortunately slides right in

When that happened, I had about half a liter of water cooking, and then it just dipped down. Without thinking, I reached out to save the pot, and I ended up burning my fingers on the handle (which is a problem with the pot). I ended up with blisters, and that was not a pleasant way to spend the next few days hiking. Had the stove just stayed in form like it should have, that entire mess could have been avoided.

If one is using a pot that is wide enough so that the stove can be fully opened, then it should work fine. Curiously, I have seen photos online of others using it only half open, but it certainly didn’t work for me. It could have been that mine was defective, but I am done with it. It’s going in the trash.

I do like the idea of the Esbit solid fuel tablets, so I have since bought a tiny tripod that better fits my pot. I have yet to use it, though, so I will post about it in the future.

Pros:

Packs small

Cons:

The flaps don’t stay half-open, so it doesn’t work well with narrow pots.