We took a look the other day at the QuickStove Fuel Cell, and we must say it was a pretty nice fuel source for the price. In certain applications it makes a whole lot of sense.
[UPDATE: talked with Spencer at QuickStove and he gave me a coupon code so you could save 28% on his Stove In A Can Product, just enter TSFR at checkout] Check out the video below and/or read the review below.
The QuickStove fuel cell is a hockey puck sized cedar wood and wax fuel tablet. The wax helps it shed water when wet so it can ignite after being shaken dry, a nice solution for people where floods occur. The fuel cells can be purchased for $2 a piece and burn for 30-45 minutes (spoiler alert: in the video you will see we got 33 minutes before we ended its life a little early).
The manufacturer sells this product for use in the Stove In A Can but these little portable fires can be used for a variety of uses and since they can be purchased separately they are worth a look as a fuel source for your bug out bag.
Here are our Pros and Cons:
- Competitively priced versus the Esbit type fuel tablets (who I see as their main competition)
- Can get wet and still work
- Ours would have burned for at least 35-37 minutes if we didn’t kill it at 33 minutes
- Can break in pieces so you don’t have to use it all at once, can relight too
- Can boil water in 6-7 minutes
- Long shelf life
[badlist]
- Doesn’t handle wind all that well
- Flame (when tablet is burning at full size) is too tall (10-12″) for proper cooking – unless your cookware is up higher.
[/badlist] Enter TFSR at checkout to get 28% off
All in all a good option for its class of product and price point. When looking at a product like this it is important to remember its price and some of its main selling points (long shelf life, non-mechanical – meaning it won’t break like a gas stove could) when thinking of how well it performs. Does this perform better than a MSR Reactor? No of course not, but it also is a fraction of the cost and will never have the possibility of breaking down and leaving you without a fire to cook and warm up next to.
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