Trioxane Fuel Bars where originally manufactered for heating food for our military troops. This product can be purchased through surplus outlets. It is the cheapest and most dependable fire starter. www.sportsmansguide.com
Item # BX8M-77800 36 packs for $ 7.97

Jeepman72

I can remember seeing somewhere on one of the boards over the past year or so where somebody had done a test between trioxane & esbit. They made a big deal over how esbit was supposedly so much better than trioxane. Maybe it was just anti-military, since some seem to have problems with that.
Right now I have a trioxane bar stuck in with my homemade wood burner (along with the vasoline-soaked cotton balls) to take with me when I go out next. I told myself last year I was going to use the homemade 'coffee' stove more this coming year.
I took both the coffee stove & the Garlinton YACC alcohol stove with me when I went out on a day hike a couple of weeks ago. I let my hiking buddy talk me out of using then (it was a little windy). I think we modern folks have forgotten about the benefits of a small warming/cooking fire on a cold day maybe because its a little more work to collect the sticks while you walk, stick them in a sack hung from your belt & then lay the fire in a quickly dug hole or using a small collapsible stove. Needless to say, cooking w/o alcohol is something I've been thinking about for sometime. Now that the burn ban is back on in NC I'll have to be stealthy with it.
R.

I use Trioxane myself. It's the way to go..cheap and dependable.