'health risks' with solid fuels?

[10074405]

I've used solid fuels out on our wild camps a few times, used plenty of shelter and always done safely but never inside.. Now people have told me in the past a couple of times you're not supposed to cook on them? But what's the point in them for a solid fuel (hexamene) stove if you're not supposed to use them for cooking/water?

Does anyone know the reason and/or if its a myth?
Thanks

 

[Mesquite]

By solid fuel do you mean something like coal or heximene or esbit tablets.

If it's the later then they're meant for cooking over though some people say it taints the water.

Coal etc I'm not sure what is said about that.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

It's a myth mate. The British Army issued hexi for many years for cooking rations in the field. I used them for 8 years without problems. The fumes are toxic so ventilation is essential. There's no reason to be paranoid but ventilation is necessary. For that reason the Royal Marines didn't use the in Norway as hexi is unsuitable for snow holes etc.

As for tainting food or water I never found it a problem. I never found them difficult to light either. In fact I insist they're not difficult to light. I must say I only have experience of the issued hexi which comes in white waxed packs of eight blocks. I've no experience of other makes like Esbit.

I still use them as a back up to my wood stove.. They're biggest disadvantage to my mind nowadays is the price. They're not cheap, especially buying online as postage can be a killer.I buy mine from an Army surplus shop in Worthing at £2 a box but as I say I mainly use them as a back up or just for old times sake.

My dad would use them for heating up soup in the woods when I was a kid and I remember being fascinated by them, so I still have that childhood fondness for them.

 

[swright81076]

Several years ago, sat heating up a brew over a hexi stove. Biscuit in one hand, hexi block in the other..... Hexi blocks don't taste good.
I suppose that's the only health risk I can think of.

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[Goatboy]

All smoke is to a degree carcinogenic, coal ash is radioactive - all these things have a risk, we've just got to balance against exposure time/need and just being realistic. You'll die of starvation before the cancer gets you.

I think what folk were pertaining to when the were talking to you were the "Hexi-faries" - Squaddie term. Hexamine does give off some pretty noxious fumes and can make you hallucinate, especially if you've no ventilation. So yes shield your stove but try not to cook inside and don't huddle over it if possible.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Several years ago, sat heating up a brew over a hexi stove. Biscuit in one hand, hexi block in the other..... Hexi blocks don't taste good.
I suppose that's the only health risk I can think of.

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[John Fenna]

Several years ago, sat heating up a brew over a hexi stove. Biscuit in one hand, hexi block in the other..... Hexi blocks don't taste good.
I suppose that's the only health risk I can think of.

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I once mistook Hexi for a bit of Kendal Mint cake - a bad mistake!
I find the stink of Hexi makes everything taste of ... hexi!
I much prefer wood as a solid fuel

 

[santaman2000]

All smoke is to a degree carcinogenic, coal ash is radioactive - all these things have a risk, we've just got to balance against exposure time/need and just being realistic. You'll die of starvation before the cancer gets you.....

This sums it up best. Just might add that with any fuel the most immediate health risk is likely the risk of an accidental burn.

 

[VANDEEN]

Only time I've noticed it taint was using my old buldog pan set with hexi, think small issue mess tin with the big one over the top upside down to give you an idea how the lid fits, it gathers the fumes as they rise up & dumps them in the pot. Bleaugh!!!

 

[10074405]

Thanks Chaps, and Mesquite I meant Heximene blocks.

Thanks goatboy I've heard that tearm before, we've never huddled around it or used them indoors we always use them either as backup or we break a bit off and use it to start the fire off if we're trying to cook more than a tin of beans!

 

[rg598]

Don't eat your stove fuel, and you will be fine. There is always someone online freaking out about the health dangers of one thing or the other. They tend to be b.s. Everything is dangerous, including going into the woods, and even more so, driving there.

 

[rik_uk3]

Don't eat solid fuel, don't drink liquid fuel, don't snort gas and you'll be fine.

 

[Big Stu 12]

I ve used hexi many times, with mess tins, bulldogs never had a problem with taint no matter what I been using to cook in, but always in a ventalated area......

I only use hexi burners if I just want a warm snack on a walk, as I use a flask for hot drinks... or if now wood is about.. or I am in the mood to use it

 

[oldtimer]

Only danger I've experienced in years of using Esbit tabs is from SWMBO getting ratty because her brew is taking too long. She prefers a gas stove, but I prefer the lightness and simplicity of solid fuel for short trips. If we're out together she carries her own gas burner (if she remembers).