Tatonka Burner Stand Review

[bikething]

I used to think that was the meths evaporating, or draining away, but it's just flowing into the outer cavity.

It's normal to fill a trangia burner twice... first pour seems to "drain away", and the second pour fills up the internal reservoir.

There's also a wick between the outer and inner walls which will suck up the meths

 

[Landy_Dom]

I think I will modify the legs slightly to bring them in a bit - will post pics soon.

Well, as promised...

Here is the setup I intend to be playing with:

The stainless billy is modified from a woolworths tea / coffee / sugar set I bought on sale for a fiver, using a piece of 1.5mm braided stainless wire and a couple of choccy bloc connectors (great idea pinched from Wayland - thanks!) The dark grey hard anodised set is a Gelert Ascent solo which I've just bought but not played with yet. I like the Gelert set because it nests over a standard 1L Nalgene polycarbonate bottle - tidy!

As you can see, the support legs are just a little wide for either set:

So I went ahead with the minor mods to the legs - bend one:

and bend two (note keep top of arm at 90 degrees to the piece that slots into the ring:

Check that all 3 legs are bent identically:

I discovered that the critical dimension is the distance betweeen two of the support arm tips - too tight and the burner won't go in without removing one of the legs (not a massive problem but annoying nonetheless). I found the optimum for me was to have this distance set to JUST allow the burner to slide in:

As you can see, the smallest pot (the stainless billy) is just about supported ok now:

This is now the setup on the smallest pot:

And the largest I am likely to want to use on it (frying pan from Trangia 27):

I will look into the hexamine tray next - I think the lid of that tea container billy might be just the thing to start hacking up

Dom.

 

[spamel]

Now, you're using the trangia burner unit there, so what would that last shot look like with the Tatonka unit? Red? I know the Tatonka unit is deeper, does it clear the ground?

 

[British Red]

It clears the ground by quite a way Spam

 

[Mang]

Glad you've reviewed this. I'd seen it on the web but never seen much said about it on here. I'd looked at this http://www.trekdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Pocket_Cooker.html but I'll have to have a think, especially as I can't find them anywhere-Oh that's a lie actually, I saw one in a sale in the US...kit $14 but p&p $59!

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

What about wind ? Does it effect the burner flame ? Normally my trangia burner is in the trad.set and protected or in the mil. set and protected.

Nick

 

[rik_uk3]

If you're woodland camping and you site your stove carefully, it's usually possible to minimise the wind problem. Tucked between the roots of a big tree, or else a few piles of branches around the stove, and you can block most of the breeze.

Worth chucking in 8-10% water for spirit burners, helps with a "cleaner" flame and means less soot to clean off the pans.

no water please, it slows down the cooking process

 

[spamel]

no water please, it slows down the cooking process

Surely only by 10 per cent though!

 

[Landy_Dom]

I will look into the hexamine tray next - I think the lid of that tea container billy might be just the thing to start hacking up

OK - here we go...

I started with the lid from the tea cannister I'd made the billy can from. I marked out a circle with a deodorant can (just happened to be about the right size) and marked 3 equally spaced corners using the Tatonka ring:

I then decided to mark out six tabs to stop the hexamine tab sliding about / off:

Here is the flat pattern cut out of the lid with a dremel (marvelous tool!)

I scored the bend lines with the dremel before bending up using the closed jaws of my largest adjustible spanner:

Here it is with the tabs fully folded, trimmed and radiused:

7 Holes drilled for air flow:

Use the original Tatonka ring to mark the bend lines for the outer tabs:

The finished item (upside down):

And on the stove holder (right side up and ready to go):

Hope this is of some interest / help...

Dom.

 

[spamel]

Neat! Will it fit in the lower position, through the gaps in the side? There should be enough space as you have it between hexy and pot, but just wondering.

 

[Wallenstein]

no water please, it slows down the cooking process

Barely noticable, and you save time the other end by not having to scrub yer pans.

 

[Landy_Dom]

Neat! Will it fit in the lower position, through the gaps in the side? There should be enough space as you have it between hexy and pot, but just wondering.

Yeah I guess it would - although you'd need to cut a third slot in the ring (there are currently only 2)

Not a bad idea - a bit more flexibility - less weight too!

Dom.

 

[spamel]

Oh yeah, didn't notice the fact there were only two slots. Why is that?

 

[Landy_Dom]

Oh yeah, didn't notice the fact there were only two slots. Why is that?

My best guess is because they stamp their name / logo on the third side

...not that that would stop me chopping it out

Dom.

 

[spamel]

I'd leave it as is. It was just a thought, but I reckon that will work as is quite well. Have you got a windshield sorted for it?

 

[Landy_Dom]

Not yet - might keep a look out for a piece of 0.5 - 1.0mm ali

Dom.

 

[spamel]

I've just had a thought due to another post, adjustable flame on a spirit burner. They are woefully inadequate these flame adjusters. Could a butterfly valve be incorporated in some way?

 

[scanker]

The other thing you can do, whilst it won't prevent sooting, it will make cleaning the billy easier, is to smear some washing up liquid on the bottom of the billy before you start cooking. It sort of forms a film, that makes cleaning really easy.

 

[nige7whit]

It's like being back at school (chemistry, bunsen burner). Yellw flame= sooty, blue flame = clean. The Decagon stove (i have one) has the pot sitting right in the blue flame zone, whereas the Trangia has the pot sitting above the area where the flame has had the opportunity to mix with air and cool a little, hence the soot.

Wallenstein that's a good point and one of the few things I didn't used to like about trangias. For some reason though with my decagon that's never a problem; you can burn it all day with no soot whatsoever. Why? I've no idea

 

[He' s left the building]

Just got a Tatonka burner and stand today, very impressed (thanks Lurch's shop ). Coincidentally I discovered that the burner, stand, simmer-ring and legs all fit very neatly into one of these: http://www.geonaute.com/EN/digital-camera-bag-4108077/ which I bought from Decathlon today for 8.90 euros.

The whole package then slips neatly into a one-litre pot (with space to spare) without rattling. I would post a picture but my wife has taken the camera to a christening in Hampshire and won't be back until next week

I've cut down an MSR windshield to use with the burner (trimmed edges with TufCut medical shears and folded the edges over).

I had a bad experience with two Peak stoves, both leaked at different times, as I'm not overly keen on laying in a sleeping bag next to the red-hot metal/flame/pressurised unleaded combo it looks like I will be ordering another Tatonka and sticking with alcohol burners for a while, much safer!