first trangia experiance

[Aragorn]

finally got round to seeing why so many rave about these little burners, and i've got to admit i may be converted.

first impresions are i love it, easy to fill, quick to light, jets were burning in about 2 mins, easy to extinguise with the use of the simmer ring, re lite it and it was up and burning straight now it was hot. I let the fuel burn out and was also impresed by how quickly it cooled down, thought i would have to wait ages.

my only concern though is the choice of fuel, i was using purple meths, whiched seemed ok, but i happened to get a whif of it when i put the flame out for the first time, and it smells really bad, no wonder they put so many warnings on the bottle. I have seen bottles of surgical spirits in our local boots chemist, the ingredience looked similar from memory to the purple meths, does anyone know if this would make a better fuel, it was twice the price so the advantages would have to justify the extra cost.

thanks

 

[addyb]

If you're going to bother with surgical spirits, just remember NOT to buy the 70% stuff. It's watery, smokes like crazy and doesn't put out very many BTUs. (Been there, done that). Industrial meths are about the best you can get for a Trangia I figure, but failing that any 90% surgical meths will work as a decent substitute. I tend to avoid purple meths as they tend to corrode the heck out of the burner as well as depositing some very unsightly crystals around the burner which need regular cleaning.

At least, that's the way I see it.....

 

[Aliwren]

The answer is upgrade to the gas conversion kit!! the gas burner unit still fits in the kettle (larger unit one, not sue about the smaller ones) in place of meths pot. You will need to carry a gas cartridge instead of a bottle of meths but these are relatively compact - the advantages which IMHO make it worthwhile are far more flexible heat, far cleaner pans and also safety ect as the meths flame can be hard to see - when the gas is off its off!.

Possibly one of the best bits of cooking kit I have bought !!

 

[Martyn]

I have seen bottles of surgical spirits in our local boots chemist, the ingredience looked similar from memory to the purple meths, does anyone know if this would make a better fuel, it was twice the price so the advantages would have to justify the extra cost.

thanks

Be careful, the stuff sold in chemists is often IPA or isopropyl alcohol, which is usually 70% alcohol, 30% water and not the same as meths, which is ethanol with methanol added to denature it. Pure ethanol would be a marvelous fuel for the trangia, but it carries duty so would be very expensive. There are other types of denatured ethanol that are not as offensive smelling as meths, but you need a licence to buy the stuff.

The answer is upgrade to the gas conversion kit!! the gas burner unit still fits in the kettle (larger unit one, not sue about the smaller ones) in place of meths pot. You will need to carry a gas cartridge instead of a bottle of meths but these are relatively compact - the advantages which IMHO make it worthwhile are far more flexible heat, far cleaner pans and also safety ect as the meths flame can be hard to see - when the gas is off its off!.

Possibly one of the best bits of cooking kit I have bought !!

I'm not sure a gas conversion is actually an upgrade, I would say just an alternative. I think a lot of people use the meths burners because they prefer them, not because they cant afford a gas cooker. Same thing goes for the optimus or primus conversions. People use the trangia because they want to use the meths burner, not in spite of it. Horses for courses.

If you go for a gas cooker, then a whole world of choices are available.

 

[Martyn]

Hmmmm, I hear Morrisons have started selling Bioethanol, a mixture of 85% ethanol with 15% petrol for 85p/litre - I wonder if a trangia would explode?

 

[MattW]

Gotta be worth a (long distance) experiment I think I might call by Morrisons on the way home and try it out on my Swedish Army Burner (a bit heavier - might survive a misshap! )

I wonder what an Optimus would make of it? (just got myself a secondhand multifuel 111, with a Russian 8r clone on the way).....

<edit> Ah, it appears that it's only in a few stores in the south of England at the moment so someone else will have to try it out

cheers

Matt

 

[Martyn]

I'd love to try some in an optimus Matt, be interesting to see the results.

 

[Martyn]

Matt, I just tried some home brew bioethanol with a 10/90 mix of naptha/methanol in a trangia - interesting results.

 

[MattW]

Matt, I just tried some home brew bioethanol with a 10/90 mix of naptha/methanol in a trangia - interesting results.

Cool!
Is that interesting "blimmin' great flamethrower" or interesting "might be worth trying"?

Matt

 

[Martyn]

I'd prefer not to comment further as it does feel a little like playing with Molatov's.

 

[MattW]

I'd prefer not to comment further as it does feel a little like playing with Molatov's.

Gotcha - say no more.....

Matt

 

[Aragorn]

thanks for the quick responce, although i take no responsability for you two blowing things up