Swedish army Triangia, first impressions

[Greywolf]

I heard good things about the Triangia, after all it's bombproof and idiot proof, but would it turn out to be Greywolf proof?

Well, I had to find out. So, after a chat with the Boss, I ordered one online.

It arrived this morning and I have been like a kid on xmas eve waiting 'til I could play with my new 'toy'. I had to wait until the kids had gone to bed before I could fire it up and see what it could do.

On opening the box I was pleased with the quality, the aluminium panset were light, yet had a 'decent build' feel to them. I had a couple of practice setups, without fuel, just to get used to how everything went together, hardly rocket science.
Put Fuel in burner
Put burner on stable surface (the concrete patio)
Light burner (ok, I had to pretend that bit this morning )
Place windshield over burner
Take windshield off, fold out the pan supports (D'OH!)
Place windshield over burner
Insert large pan over the flame
Wait...
Make imaginary cuppa.

Easy, right?

O.K. wind on the clocks 12 hours...

...step out onto freezing patio, taking care not to slip in the dark, using a torch fill the burner with fuel (Hey, its all gone, oh no, wait a minute, it's settling at a lower level...Ah yes of course, its filling up the OTHER side of the dividing wall too )

Set down on the floor and light.....and light......and light.....and light...
By this time my forehead is bulging with the effort of trying to get the thing to stay lit by willpower.

The freezing concrete floor was sucking the heat out of the unit before it could get a chance to get properly lit, I would get a small flame and then it would gutter and die. I found a piece of thick aluminium foil (cut from the rice container from a take away ) and put this under the burner. This time it lit and stayed lit.(Hurrah!)
Filled the cookpot with water (approx 2 pints, hey I have a large family and they ALL want a warm drink when we go for a walk )
Put lid on
Placed over the flame
Waited for it to reach the right temperature for a brew.
15 minutes later the water had reached a 'Is it ready yet Dad?, There's steam!' temperature and within a couple more had reached a good brew temperature.

So, I made myself a coffee *cheers*

Not a particularly quick boil, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted a reliable and easy to use method for when out and about. Chances are I won't have to boil 2 pints all in one go, but I have an idea of how long it will take

All in all, I think this little cooking unit is great.

A couple of eureka moments happened whilst I was waiting for it to boil. (This is probably teaching Granny about egg sucking, but as a new comer to the cooker, I had to find them myself)
Slipping the pot into the frying pan/lid after the water had boiled gave me a handle with which I could control the water flow into my waiting cup (grab bail in one hand and pour the water by tilting the frying pan handle)

A tin can placed upside down over the burner is a good snuffer for the flame.

A piece of aluminium foil will live in the cookpot for when its cold under the unit.


Greywolf

 

[morch]

Slipping the pot into the frying pan/lid after the water had boiled gave me a handle with which I could control the water flow into my waiting cup (grab bail in one hand and pour the water by tilting the frying pan handle)
Greywolf

Never thought of that cheers Greywolf

A piece of aluminium foil will live in the cookpot for when its cold under the unit.
Greywolf

Thats a great tip, didn't think of that either

 

[Goose]

You can put the hook into the clip on the side of the pot too, so the bail arm is held in place for pouring.
Good tip about the foil, if it is cold fill the ridge around the burner to heat everything up quicker too.

 

[richardw]

I have found that the best way to deal with the lighting problem is this:

1) spill a little of your fuel around the lip of the burner and light
2) wait until it has burnt off and immediately light inside as normal.

This method makes it much easier to light initially and seems to heat up quicker too.

Incidentally I have not found this problem with the civilian Trangia burner.

Cheers,

Richard

 

[Greywolf]

I wonder if the civilian version is made from the same brass, or if they have gone with thinner stuff to make it easier to light?

good tip Richard and Goose I'll be a bit more careless when filling it from now on

Greywolf

 

[Goose]

The civi burner is a lot lighter and smaller so there is less area to heat up, the military burner is designed to be squaddie proof and burn longer therefore is heavier and takes longer to warmer up.
The other advantage with the civi type is that the burner is held off the floor so ot is not warming rocks etc up.
Tommy(bumblebee) was telling me that the fuel bottle is supposed to be carried in a pocket so the fuel is warmer when used too, in extreme cold.
I beleive a metal tray underneath the burner with fuel spilt on it works well too, something I haven't tried and probably won't, if its tooo cold for the meths to light its too cold for me!

 

[Greywolf]

I've been thinking on this. I was wondering how Swedish squadies cook on these during the winter months, after all they dont like the cold and they cant heat up on snow etc.
Then it occured to me if the burner and cookset were placed on a folding shovel or something like that it would be a reasonable way of insulating it from the cold

Have to try it before I recommend it tho


Greywolf

 

[addyb]

I'm wondering the same thing myself. Sweden (apart from the lovely blonde ladies) is bloody cold in the winter. I've always been taught that meths are completely useless in the winter, and that a Trangia will never melt snow, so don't bother taking it for a winter hike. But.....if the they use 'em in Sweden....do they melt snow on them? You see, I've had a Trangia stove now for 3 years now, and seeing as I live in BC, we never have enough snow in my city that lasts long enough for me to winter test my Trangia. Like last week, we had snow. Two days later, it was all rained out, and now we're back to green. $20 bucks says we'll have a Green Christmas in Nanaimo. (like very year)

Adam, who would also like to proudly announce that this is his 200th post since he joined in July. And no, he will not be buying rounds at the pub, as he frowns upon English beer and it's "celler temperature" drinking style.

 

[fa11en ange1]

Other than the obvious difficulty in lighting the burner in the cold, once it's warm it should be fine. I fail to see how it will struggle to melt snow if it can boil water as well.

I love my little SA Trangia and have used for all kinds of cooking. I've used it for heating soup & beans, making a brew, cooking a curry/chilli/quick stew from scratch and can even manage a simple fry up. Fantastic bit of kit which I prefer to my civi setup.

 

[steve a]

you could get one of these add ons if you wish
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangiaeng/28-9.htm

 

[Nemisis]

Not 100% certain but I think the SA burner is bigger than the civvi one so might be unstable with that pre heater thingy. I found a small cast aluminium candle holder originally took a square four wick candle shaped like a small table and it just takes the SA windshield a treat
Dave.

 

[addyb]

Oh I'm not worried about pre-heating the burner, or it being difficult to light in the snow. The name of the game (so I've heard) is to put the burner into your pocket while you putter around camp in the morning getting dressed and do your morning fluid evacuation. By then I've heard the Trangia burner's usually warm enough to light.

What I AM worried about is BTU output and fuel consumption. Methylated spirits put out quite a bet less BTU's than a petrol or LPG stove, and consequently are slower to cook on. Now, I haven't had any problems with this in 3 season backbacking; the fact that my Trangia doesn't waste fuel in the priming process and flame control is instantaneous is a real plus.

But for wintertime (below freezing temps) where I would need to melt snow, I'm unsure. And I won't be trying it out anytime soon, there's zero snow here.

Adam

 

[tanto]

Here are some tips from my time in the Swedish military using the jägarkök (direct translation: hunter kitchen) made by Optimus. In cold conditions i carry the burner and/or burner liquid in a inner pocket close to my body to keep it warm. Only to take it out when the kitchen is put up and ready. This becouse the burner gets cold really fast.

The pan can be used as a snowsupport to keep the kitchen from sinking down in the snow. As for melting snow i have done it down to about -15 celsius, It aint quick but it works. When melting snow you can use the pan as a lid to keep the heat in and quicken the process but you got to use something else as a snow support.

As for lighting the burner before putting it in the kitchen sounds really strange and dangerous for me. Its easy that you misjudge how hot it is and as a result you drop it and spill burning liquid all over the place (tent, yourself and others if your unlucky). The method i use is to put the burner in the bottom part of the stove and then light it, Preferably using a firesteel. When using a firesteel you can also light it when the windsheild is on.

The flame can be hard to see in daylight so dont put your fingers in the stove to feel if its burning. Especially when you have cold fingers the heat can be hard to register until its too late. Rather use grass or a small stick to test or gradually and slowly lower your hands against the flame to test if you know what your doing. Dont put the lid on the burner until it have cooled down or there is a big chance that you will destroy the O-ring.

Here is some pictures and text about the jägarkök (In Swedish): http://www.soldf.com/jagarkok.html

 

[addyb]

Wow, thank you VERY much, Tanto! I will be sure to use my Trangia, and the tips you've outlined if I ever get around to doing a winter hike.

I mean, they're amazing stoves, are they not? No priming, instant flame control, and no moving parts to go wrong or no gaskets to wear out!

Adam

 

[oetzi]

Nice story, Greywolf
As much as I like the level of workmanshift in the trangia and its ability to work in high wind, I really hate its low output.
In earlier years I resorted to modifying the lower windshield to fit a MSR Whisperlite and now I simply use the Gasburner made by Primus to get good results.
If I want to warm water to get a cup of tea etc I use an Esbit-stove.

 

[addyb]

Yeah, but the low BTU output isn't really such a bad thing, when you think about it. I mean, Tanto just proved that one can melt snow on a Trangia, even when it's 15 degrees below zero. (centigrade) I have a Trangia 28 "mini" that I've modified a bit, and I've used it in three season weather. And now I intend to use it for winter expedititions, if I can ever get away from school and work.

One must also think of it this way: Although a Trangia is not "faster" at cooking per say, it IS, however, faster to set up, and much, much safer to use. Think of your petrol stove, your MSR Whisperlite. You open the fuel cock, fill up the priming tray, light it, fiddle with it to get it going, and cook. When you want to turn your Whisperlite down, it takes a good few seconds before the flame control moves the output.

Now with a Trangia, provided you keep your burner warm, you light it, and that's it. It's ready to rock-and-roll. When you want to simmer, the flame control ring with "achtung: heib" stamped onto onto it does a wonderful job of instantaneous control.

How many of you have had near-death experiences with petrol stoves? I've singed my eyebrows more than once, my Dad's almost been blown up by a mischevious Svea 123, we've almost had to cancel a trip the first night due to a cracked o-ring, the list is endless. (In all fairness, some fellow climbers at the bottom of the col gave us an o-ring)

On the downside, I've been told that getting meths is an impossibility in certain countries, Kerosene is the norm. As well, a Trangia (or any generic meth stove) isn't the stove for you if you want to melt snow for 6 people, cook a 3 course meal, or any sort of welding/brazing. That's what petrol stoves are for.

In the end, all you have is personal choice.

Adam

 

[oetzi]

Addyb, I agree with your comments about the volatility of a petrol-burner, basically. But I also like to show people what can happen with a Trangia if you give it a kick while burning .....
Luckily I dont travel that much anymore and on a daytrip a real fire or an esbitstove are mostly sufficient.

 

[addyb]

Ohhh yeah. Kicking over a Trangia is a really easy to way to burn down a nylon climbing tent!

Adam

 

[jay120970]

cotton wool ball on the upper edge when lit with strike a light will burn and light cold meths also good for lighting open fire when meths runs out

as for cooking ive used my trianga (military) for everything from sausages bacon eggs rice to tinned curry leav the curry or beans in the tin poke hole in top and place in boling water heats up tin and you get a brew aswell
also you can place beans on top in lid and boling water under heat of water heats up lid and cooks beans again you get a brew aswell with your hot beans
well theres some food for thought

 

[Goose]

Or you can use roasting/baking bags to empty your tins into and you have boil in the bag! If you are careful you have clean water left for a brew and no washing up if you eat straight from the bag.
The baking bags cost about £1 for ten from most supermarkets.