Alcohol Burner

[Adrian]

This might seem to be yet another free plug for Outdoorcode, but I swear I'm not on commission. I've been using a trangia for over 30 years now on both backpacking and vehicle mounted trips, and overall I do swear by it (and often at it). I've just got the stainless steel Tatonka alcohol burner from Andrew, and it's a beauty! Fits the trangia set like the original burner, but with a greater capacity - about a third as much again, and easier to clean. Again, delivery was fast - Andrew got it in on the Monday, and I had it first post on Tuesday. I got the flame control accessory, and it seems to work better than the old trangia one. Seems to be good kit, and good price too.

 

[Kirruth]

Trangia's are jolly good things: though I prefer the smaller size and more compact fuel storage of a hexy stove, it must be said that stuff cooked on a trangia tastes nicer

 

[lardbloke]

I thought Tatonka just did bags, how wrong!!

Could you provide any piccz in action of the new burner and possibly a mnin review of the new burner against the trangia i.e. burning a pint of water in what time, how long the fuel lasts in comparison, dimensions of the burner???

Found a nice link, if anyone is interested in these items:

http://intranet.tatonka.com/infosys/infocgi/artinfoe.dll?4126

 

[Wayland]

That looks like a useful bit of kit but I can't find it on the OC. site, does he have a shop or something?

 

[Adrian]

No, Andrew'll order it for you from Tatonka.

 

[leon-1]

The main question is what was the cost.

I had tried getting one of these earlier in the year and to get one imported from abroad the cost was prohibitive. Tatonka sell them for very little, but will not sell to individuals, "only businesses" was the curt reply from them.

 

[Adrian]

The burner and additional flame control (for simmering) came to £10 incl p&p - but this might vary from day to day depending on the exchange rate. Best thing is to call Andrew and ask!

 

[leon-1]

Thanks, he sent me a PM with the details

 

[MagiKelly]

Perfect timing. I was just about to buy a new burner as I wanted a clean one to use with the IMS. My current one still has lots of the dye in it.

I have actually ordered two. The price is still £10 each in case anyone is wondering. Also they are not in stock till next week as Andrew is just placing an order at the moment so if you are interested you may want to get your name down for one before he places the order. Otherwise you may have to wait a while for him to get another batch.

Adrian, can you confirm if the burner is the same diameter as the civilian Trangia? The reason I ask is that the civi trangia fits perfectly inside a steel mug I use as my brew kit.

 

[moduser]

Just want to give some feedback.

Yesterday I recieved two Tatonka burners and flame adjusters from Andrew at Outdoorcode. Nice bits of kit (shiny as well ). They have a larger resevoir than the Swedish Army ones they are replacing and are also lighter as well.

Burning with the flame adjuster is good although just like the Trangia one it's a bit fiddly to change once it's alight.

Pleased with the kit.

Moduser

 

[MagiKelly]

I got two as well. They work well and fit the clickstand as well. Only thing is because they are a bit deeper than the standard civi trangia it sits about 5mm higher in the clickstand. Not a problem.

Also they are fractionally wider than the civi trangia they do not fit in the steel mug I use as a brew kit but again this is not a problem as I will still use my trangia for this and keep the new ones for use with the clickstand and crusader mug.

 

[moduser]

Hi Magikelly,

When you say use with "Crusader mug" do mean the metal mug or the Crusader cooker?

I understaund that Andrew has more of these coming if anyone is interested.

 

[MagiKelly]

Hi Magikelly,

When you say use with "Crusader mug" do mean the metal mug or the Crusader cooker?

I understaund that Andrew has more of these coming if anyone is interested.

I mean the mug. I use it with the clickstand.

 

[moduser]

Thanks for that. Come to think of it there's not enough room in the cooker for a burner. :sulkoff:

 

[addyb]

I've looked at the Tatonka, and it interests me except for one thing:

It's stainless steel, and stainless steel is an absolutely horrific heat conductor. Meths dont' put out a lot of BTU's, and theres a reason why Trangia's are brass.

So how does it stack up against the original?

A.

 

[moduser]

Good question. I'll try and do a head to head at the weekend and post the results

Moduser

 

[Bumblebee]

I did some tests yesterday, and here are the results.

Setup:
Swedish army stainless steel mess kit was filled with 1 litre of cold water.
Both burners were filled to the max, ie filled until the meths level is approx 1 cm below the top.
Tests were done outdoors, but in a wind-free spot.
The mess kit lid was not used, so I could use a thermometer and to "torture" the burners a bit.
All kit was left until they had the same temperature as the surrounding air between tests.

Cost:
The Tatonka burner costs £10 inc simmering ring, for the army one it's tricky to say since they are rarely avaliable separately. Can be found for £1.50 now and then . Army burner wins, since you get an complete mess kit for less than the Tatonka burner.

Looks:
No question about it the Tatonka burner wins easily. It's SHINEY!

Time until the water was burning:
Both took 15 minutes to bring the water to 100 centigrades. The Tatonka burner started "jetting" immidiately but burned with a yellow flame, and generated a lot of soot! The army burner took it's time to start jetting but burned with a non-sooting big blue flame when it finally got going. Had the tests been done with both burners already at working temp the army burner would have won easily.

Conclusion:
Hard to say really, I didn't like the soot generated from the Tatonka burner but it comes with a simmering ring. I quess you have to decide yourself what's important.

 

[MagiKelly]

Funnily enough I did a similar test yesterday. I was using a standard Civi Trangia againstt he Tatainka. They were burning in a clickstand and heating 0.5l of water in a crusader mug with a lid on.

Both took 8 min and there was no noticable soot from either but I was burning IMS. I agree that the Tatonika seems to "gas ring " quicker but the civi trangia was not very far behind, a matter of 10 - 15 seconds or so.

One thing I did notice is that the Tatonia does cool down much quicker so you can pack away a lot sooner. Price wise a Civi trangia burner will cost you £10 generally so it is a draw on that front.

 

[moduser]

Magikelly/Bumblebee,

thanks for posting your tests, I didn't get round to doing the head to head at the weekend (wife had me fixing things around the house )

 

[Bumblebee]

... Tatainka ... Tatonika ... Tatonia ...

Itty nitty picky... You managed to miss-spell Tatonka (= buffalo in Sioux) in three different ways

I was using IMS as well so the sooting surprised me greatly!

/Tommy