MOD Heximane Stove: Any good?

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Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
If you don't mind dirty pots consider using wood and something like the Emberlit or the Honey. Wood in the UK at least is plentiful, can be foraged for free, and you usually don't have to carry it very far.

trouble is in the UK most places frown, discourage, and have by-laws against lighting fires, i understand why this is so but nevertheless tire and :sigh: at seeing signs like this
S-40.jpg
 

leon-1

Full Member
You don't need the stove. You normally need to dig the stove in to get the best out of it as well. Carry 6 inch nails and a small foil tray. Dig little hole, place in foil tray, hexi tablet is placed on tray, place 6 inch nails in ground to support pan just above ground height. If you wish to reduce weight, use 4 inch nails and only three of them.

Hexi is inefficient if it's not given a good windshield / windbreak, that's one of the reasons why the military used to teach to dig it in. When cooking with it make sure that whatever your heating vessel is that it has a lid, you'll get better performance.

Cleaning, yeah wet sand, wet grass, teabag, pretty much any wet item with a mildly abrasive action will work and yes as soon as possible after having cooked with it. The smell is toxic in confined spaces so you can't really use it in the awning of a tent if the awning is all closed up, it's common sense, just ensure you have reasonable ventilation.

It's not the quickest of fuels, it's not the cleanest of fuels, but it works in pretty much any environment without the requirement to do anything to it, you don't need to learn how to use it and it's simple. It is in many ways the ideal survival fuel. On the mountain and arctic side of life we used to be taught that every man carried two tablets of Hexi along with his waxes and his candles, they were carried in your jacket.

I still have some in an emergency pack that I carry when out and about.
 
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leon-1

Full Member
trouble is in the UK most places frown, discourage, and have by-laws against lighting fires, i understand why this is so but nevertheless tire and :sigh: at seeing signs like this
S-40.jpg

Yes mate, most of the time that actually means no open fires. If you carry a compact wood burner (ged suggested the honey stove and the emberlit) then you should still be able to use natural materials in them. By all means check the byelaws for the area, that will ensure that you can use a stove or cooker, for instance Dartmoor has no open fires, but you're allowed barbeque's and there are plenty of the foil containers littering the moor to prove it:aargh4:, and the use of camping stoves is also permitted.
 

kaiAnderson

Tenderfoot
Feb 11, 2013
95
0
Liverpool
used em in the army as they were free. would warm up a can of bacon burger but I wouldn't keep them in me kit if possible as they stank
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,714
1,960
Mercia
Hexi is inefficient if it's not given a good windshield / windbreak, that's one of the reasons why the military used to teach to dig it in. When cooking with it make sure that whatever your heating vessel is that it has a lid, you'll get better performance.
.

Exactly so :)



I find that a hexi stove and a crusader cup make a great "bimbling around" set up - can can fit in a small bag with some coffee bags and even a tin of beans and sausage. Thats certainly what lives in the boot of my car and its saved me buying an expensive lunch or when away from shops many a time - its perfect for that sort of use. I carry the whole shebang in a clip top box - saves mess and smell.
 
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Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
You don't need the stove. You normally need to dig the stove in to get the best out of it as well. Carry 6 inch nails and a small foil tray. Dig little hole, place in foil tray, hexi tablet is placed on tray, place 6 inch nails in ground to support pan just above ground height. If you wish to reduce weight, use 4 inch nails and only three of them.

Hexi is inefficient if it's not given a good windshield / windbreak, that's one of the reasons why the military used to teach to dig it in. When cooking with it make sure that whatever your heating vessel is that it has a lid, you'll get better performance.

yeah leon-1 i've done that as well, though i prefer to use the stove as the weight differential is so little (some nails can weigh more than the stove) as it's more convenient. hexy & esbit stoves about 120g (stove only without fuel) but esbit much smaller than hexy in size. Good point on using a lid.
 

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
Yes mate, most of the time that actually means no open fires. If you carry a compact wood burner (ged suggested the honey stove and the emberlit) then you should still be able to use natural materials in them. By all means check the byelaws for the area, that will ensure that you can use a stove or cooker, for instance Dartmoor has no open fires, but you're allowed barbeque's and there are plenty of the foil containers littering the moor to prove it:aargh4:, and the use of camping stoves is also permitted.

yeah there are two large lakes by me that attracts large amounts of people in the summer using those disposable barbecues, the ground is literally scarred in dozens of places around the edge of the lake with burnt areas from those barbecues, and when they leave often the barbecue is not ''disposed'' of at all but usually left where it was used complete with food wrapping and beer cans. That is why i can fully understand the ''No Fire'' signs, though it is not enforced in this particular case even though there are signs and regular patrols by rangers. it is an awful sight around the lake. :cussing:
 

andyc54

Settler
Dec 28, 2010
601
0
44
durham
I have real affection for them it brings lots of happy memory's of cadets always first up the smell of hexi on a crisp quite morning loved it.another tip cover the bottom of mess tins with washing up liquid stops soot sticking to them +1 for wet tea bag aswell
 

NGM6456

Member
Mar 24, 2014
18
0
United Kingdom
Thanks for your input guys. I started using a classic hexi with hexi tablets (the fishy ones) and was happy enough with the results. However, I then treated myself to an Esbit solid fuel stove (lidded pot and burner stand)and some Esbit fuel tablets. Made a windshield from a heavy duty tinfoil roasting tray and really prefer the Esbit stove to the classsic hexi. I did have some hexi tablets left so tried half of one in the Esbit and it boiled the water far quicker than a whole Esbit tablet did, and the half hexi tablet was only half burnt by the time the water boiled, so I actually got two goes out of the half hexi tablet. In conclusion, in my opinion, hexi tablets are better than Esbit tablets but the Esbit stove is better than the classic hexi.
 

Quixoticgeek

Full Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,483
23
Europe
Not read the replies to the thread, so someone may have already offered, but I have a MOD hexi stove (plus some fuel), It's been sat in a box for 14 years. You can have it. Try it out, if you don't like it, pass it on to someone else.

If you want it, pm me your address and I'll drop it in the post.

Julia
 
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