Trangia Triangle

Review – Trangia Triangle
By John Fenna

I have used Trangia stoves in various forms for many years (remember the red ones? I do!) in more settings than I can hope to recall, but including snowy mountains, deserts, in mountain and African huts and by the side of many a river and lake, with groups on expedition, with Scouts, and solo – and I like them!

I like the simplicity and sturdiness of the system, but occasionally the bulk of the standard stand and wind-shield combination has proved more than I really want to carry.

Meet the Trangia Triangle. A new addition to the Trangia Range which addresses this and is extremely light and compact without detracting too much from the stove’s performance, and which can be used with the standard meths burner or the gas burner.

It comprises 3 stainless steel sheets (some 77mm x 130mm x 0.5mm with a 10mm projecting “pot stand”, a centre top and having 52mm assembly slots and 52mm long by 4mm wide locating tags, a centre ring support slot 3mm x 25mm in around the middle of the sheet, and two rows of 6mm diameter ventilation holes at the base and a 25mm x 20mm slot allowing passage of the gas burner fuel pipe), and a burner support ring of 3mm stainless steel wire which has an outer ring that fits into the slots in the sheets, and an inner “ring” made of 4 welded sections to give the burner support.

The overall weight of the Trangia Triangle – in its supplied stuffsack – is around 120gm and it packs down to a mere 100mm x 130mm x 50mm – somewhat smaller than the standard base and windshield combination!

Assembling the Trangia Triangle is straightforward (you get a pictorial guide to show you how). You simply fit the tags through the slots in the sheets to form a triangle (hence the name…), then push fit the burner support ring into the slots in the middle of each sheet. Once assembled, the resulting tensioned unit is surprisingly stable and robust, belying the apparent flimsiness of its components. Once you insert the standard Trangia meths or Trangia gas burner (not the Swedish Military burner which is too big) you have a combined burner stand and windshield stove unit that will safely and securely hold pans, mess tins or kettles with bases over 10cm in diameter.

The vents in the base of the Trangia Triangle give plenty of airflow, while the burner is well protected from the breeze for maximum efficiency. In still air tests there was no noticeable difference in boil times for one litre of water in a standard Trangia pan, from cold to rolling boil, but in windy conditions the Trangia Triangle did seem to take a marginally longer time to get the water boiling. The stand withstood holding a 4 litre dutch oven full of water (approximately 8.5kg!) without showing signs of the pan supports bending (though I would not recommend using the Triangle for such extreme weights), and it took great abuse with pliers to bend the stainless sheets (and bend them back), making me quite confident in the strength of the Trangia Triangle.

The thinness of the steel made everything feel “sharp”, but all the corners are rounded for safety, making the unit unlikely to actually damage you or your gear in use.

Overall, I have found the Trangia Triangle a great little burner stand and windshield for the the Trangia burner units and it follows the great Trangia tradition of simple, strong and pretty well idiot-proof stoves. Packing away tidily into a mess tin, billy or pocket, the Trangia Triangle is ideal for lightweight bushcrafting trips, costs around £20 and will be available in 2011.

For more information visit www.vango.co.uk

Trangia triangle disassembled