Well I picked this up to take along on our upcoming survival-ish trip in a few weeks and had a chance to give it a pre-game whirl in my backyard 
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Pros:
CHEAP ($10 at REI)
Seems to be pretty well made for what it is, stamped steel with rivets
Comes with 6 bars of solid fuel
Can be used with cheap trioxane fuel (.50 for 3 bars)
4 bars of Esbit fuel fit inside the stove when closed (only 2 bars of trioxane will fit)
SMALL, folds to just 4 x 3 x 0.75 inches
Weighs under 4oz without fuel
Cons:
Does not block wind very well, can make cooking slower/extinguish fuel
Depending on fuel, center section can be tough to clean
Prongs on top (when open) make it difficult to balance irregular containers
Flat bottom (no feet) means you need a flat surface to cook
Seems to cook pretty slow, despite a large flame
I attempted to boil a full Arctic canteen cup (16oz, or a half liter) with this stove, using both the supplied Esbit fuel and a full bar of surplus trioxane fuel, broken in half and stacked. Neither one was able to boil the full cup using one bar, but both boiled just over half a cup with some fuel to spare. This was in fairly moderate weather (about 60 degrees with low wind) and no cover on my container. If I had a lid on my cup it might make a difference, I plan to try it out with a few different containers to see also since my arctic cup is elongated and hangs some of the container off the side of the stove. With a circular cup it might work a bit better. Will also try it with a wind guard of some sort, whatever I can whip up in a minute or two.
On a side note, the stove maker claims it will boil .5L in 7 minutes using one fuel bar, and REI claims it will boil one full liter in 14 minutes using one bar. I didn't time how long the Esbit fuel lasted, but I think 15 minutes is a stretch for sure (10 minutes is about more like it).
Like I said I also tried the stove using good ol' mil-surp Triox solid fuel and it worked well. A little messy inside once the triox burned down, triox tends to leave a sticky mess behind if you dont clean it almost immediately (the Esbit fuel stayed solid the entire time and didnt leave any residue). Burn time and water temperature at the end was just about equal between the two.
In comparing the fuels I did notice that the Esbit fuel took a LOT longer to get lit. Using a pocket lighter I had to hold the flame to the fuel for a good 8-10 seconds for it to catch, and another maybe 10 seconds for it to really get going, where the trioxane fuel lit almost immediately and started to fully burn in just a few seconds. Something to think about if you only have a few matches I would say.
All in all though, its a cheap, easy way to get hot water (if not boiled water) on the go without taking up a lot of space or weight. A pretty good purchase I think, will report back once I have a chance to use it on the trail.
[Broken External Image]:
Pros:
CHEAP ($10 at REI)
Seems to be pretty well made for what it is, stamped steel with rivets
Comes with 6 bars of solid fuel
Can be used with cheap trioxane fuel (.50 for 3 bars)
4 bars of Esbit fuel fit inside the stove when closed (only 2 bars of trioxane will fit)
SMALL, folds to just 4 x 3 x 0.75 inches
Weighs under 4oz without fuel
Cons:
Does not block wind very well, can make cooking slower/extinguish fuel
Depending on fuel, center section can be tough to clean
Prongs on top (when open) make it difficult to balance irregular containers
Flat bottom (no feet) means you need a flat surface to cook
Seems to cook pretty slow, despite a large flame
I attempted to boil a full Arctic canteen cup (16oz, or a half liter) with this stove, using both the supplied Esbit fuel and a full bar of surplus trioxane fuel, broken in half and stacked. Neither one was able to boil the full cup using one bar, but both boiled just over half a cup with some fuel to spare. This was in fairly moderate weather (about 60 degrees with low wind) and no cover on my container. If I had a lid on my cup it might make a difference, I plan to try it out with a few different containers to see also since my arctic cup is elongated and hangs some of the container off the side of the stove. With a circular cup it might work a bit better. Will also try it with a wind guard of some sort, whatever I can whip up in a minute or two.
On a side note, the stove maker claims it will boil .5L in 7 minutes using one fuel bar, and REI claims it will boil one full liter in 14 minutes using one bar. I didn't time how long the Esbit fuel lasted, but I think 15 minutes is a stretch for sure (10 minutes is about more like it).
Like I said I also tried the stove using good ol' mil-surp Triox solid fuel and it worked well. A little messy inside once the triox burned down, triox tends to leave a sticky mess behind if you dont clean it almost immediately (the Esbit fuel stayed solid the entire time and didnt leave any residue). Burn time and water temperature at the end was just about equal between the two.
In comparing the fuels I did notice that the Esbit fuel took a LOT longer to get lit. Using a pocket lighter I had to hold the flame to the fuel for a good 8-10 seconds for it to catch, and another maybe 10 seconds for it to really get going, where the trioxane fuel lit almost immediately and started to fully burn in just a few seconds. Something to think about if you only have a few matches I would say.
All in all though, its a cheap, easy way to get hot water (if not boiled water) on the go without taking up a lot of space or weight. A pretty good purchase I think, will report back once I have a chance to use it on the trail.
