The great alcohol stove shootout !!
- Thread starter maddave
- Start date
-
Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
That stove you link to clearly has a Trangia burner inside, looks like a hybrid!
The Clas Ohlson looks nice and works well for as far as I can judge what I've seen when others used it in Scandinavia. Good to see my Trangia is better though!
In case anyone would be planning on making the same mistake: never ever put alcohol gel inside a Trangia burner, totally clogs it up, hardly produces any heat compared to proper liquid alcohol and very difficult to clean it out (ended up buying a new burner). Learnt it the hard way at a festival where we than had half cooked spaghetti for a week
OK, this is perhaps my all time favourite alcohol stove (yes, even more than my beloved Trangia 25's and 27's), it the Optimus Trapper.
A very different burner design to standard alcohol stoves. Using the red tube and red measuring cup you fill the stove. The fuel is absorbed into an internal pad which is very effective, no spills even if the stove is knocked over (read Chris Townsend when he says you can roll these down hill without spilling a drop). The set comes with two pans and a frying pan lid.
The flame comes straight out of a burner tube and is controlled by a sliding rod which means that not only will this setup boil very fast, but it has without doubt the best simmer of any alcohol stove I've used.
The windshield is highly effective (like the Trangia) and this stove will perform well even in high winds.
These don't come up often on eBay and when they do they fetch high coinage but work so well
A very different burner design to standard alcohol stoves. Using the red tube and red measuring cup you fill the stove. The fuel is absorbed into an internal pad which is very effective, no spills even if the stove is knocked over (read Chris Townsend when he says you can roll these down hill without spilling a drop). The set comes with two pans and a frying pan lid.
The flame comes straight out of a burner tube and is controlled by a sliding rod which means that not only will this setup boil very fast, but it has without doubt the best simmer of any alcohol stove I've used.
The windshield is highly effective (like the Trangia) and this stove will perform well even in high winds.
These don't come up often on eBay and when they do they fetch high coinage but work so well
I've got a swedish army trangia and it is a good piece of kit, being as it is so versatile, however one thing i have to disagree on is the time it takes to come up to temperature and to bloom. Mine has never taken as long as ive seen here and other places on the net. Because i have two of the military burners i decided to risk one and to experiment. I drilled the jets out with a 1.5mm drill and now it lasts almost as long on one fill of meths but blooms in around 4 minutes and is really going at 5 minutes. Two little things i always do when using the trangia is to put some meths in the burner and then give it a good shake, does this really help ? well i think it does, as does putting the shield around the burner and a pot on top a.s.a.p. as i think this reflects heat back to the burner and speeds it up.
Which Trangia is this one in the original review - is it the 25 or the 27? I ask because I have a Trangia 25, and find my C.O. is quicker (even using the C.O. burner). It's not by much - a minute or so, but it tends to support my personal theory that the C.O. design is better because with its slanted sides, it allows heat up the sides of the pan, not just under it, as with the Trangia. Of course, if you have a 27, there, and report it quicker than the C.O., then my theory falls apart, a bit.
The 25 is a good bit bigger than the 27 but uses the same burner so the 27 will be a little faster perhaps. C.O.? Clas Ohlson stove? If so, great value for money, a copy of the Optimus 91/Tor Purple Flame, the Ranger Stove, used by some Scandanavian forces instread of the Swedish Army alcohol stove setup as it quicker.
Agreed - put the pot on asap while the stove is priming. Ive never found it detrimental. You can also use the windshield section as a woodburner which is a plus.
Rik a bit off topic sorry but where did you get the tube of carnation, I've been looking for that stuff for ages. Reminiscent of the old compo milk from the 60s - 70s era when the army was needin em not feedin em? 
Go into Tesco and they have it there. IIRC its in the home baking section of all places but may be wrong.
Sorry, yes, C.O. is Clas Ohlson. As I really rate it. I can even make it just a little lighter and a little bit less bulky by taking a pot lid off my Trangia 27 and use it instead of the bigger Clas Ohlson frying pan/plate. I'd probably only do it if I really needed to save on bulk, or if I was being particularly obsessive. Point is, though, the Trangia lid fits and makes a neater package, in my view. Of course, you wouldn't be able to fry as much as you lose maybe an inch or so off the pan.
I have the equivalent of the CO trangia copy. Here in the USA it is labellef "Lexmark" and retails for about USD20. I used it in camp last weekend. AT Breakfast, using 45deg f (7deg c) water and denatured alcohol (meths) at ambient temperature of 45deg f, boil time was under 5 minutes for 2 cups (470 ml) of water to a very vigorous rolling boil. I lit it and immediately placed the pan on the stand. This contains the heat of the burner reflects it to the burner and therefore heats up the alcohol more quickly so that it blooms (jets) sooner. The blooming is enabled by the alcohol boiling, so it is essential to heat up the burner as quickly as possible. If I were using it in freezing temperatures, I would place a foil dish containing a few drops of alcohol under the burner and light that before placing the burner on its stand and lighting that. I always prime my coke can stoves in the same way to accelerate blooming. I was very impressed with the performance of the CO/Lexmark set, but realistically, it can only be used to boil water for tea/coffee or dehydrated meals as it has no simmer ring and the pans have no non-stick coating. Very good value, but a bit heavy at 19 ounces (ca. 550 g) and bulky for backpacking.
Last edited:
Could you cook for 2 people in the swedish army trangia stove, i need to know because im doing a 3 day hike over 6 summits at scouts. Thanks
Dan
Dan
You might get a better response if you start a new thread with this question on the Kit chatter forum Dan - rather than resurrecting a five year old thread!
My answer is yes, easily, although the SAT is one of the last stoves I would take on a 3 day hike over 6 summits - way too heavy. No doubt young and fit as you are, you are going to be feeling every ounce by the end of day one - let alone day three!
To enjoy a trip like that, you need to go as light as possible. Google 'ultralight backpacking'.
My answer is yes, easily, although the SAT is one of the last stoves I would take on a 3 day hike over 6 summits - way too heavy. No doubt young and fit as you are, you are going to be feeling every ounce by the end of day one - let alone day three!
To enjoy a trip like that, you need to go as light as possible. Google 'ultralight backpacking'.
Last edited:
In terms of capacity - yes, (depending what you will be eating). If you already have the stove it will avoid you buying something else but............
In terms of weight, you might be better using the burner with pot stand or trivet (see here http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/bushcraft/RE103.html) and switching to a lighter pans and a foil windshield (make one from a foil turkey roasting tin - dead cheap), and of course a fuel bottle. Any kind of bottle that meths or alcohol comes in should be good enough unless there are safety regs for DoE??
What does your DoE adviser suggest?
In terms of weight, you might be better using the burner with pot stand or trivet (see here http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/bushcraft/RE103.html) and switching to a lighter pans and a foil windshield (make one from a foil turkey roasting tin - dead cheap), and of course a fuel bottle. Any kind of bottle that meths or alcohol comes in should be good enough unless there are safety regs for DoE??
What does your DoE adviser suggest?
Last edited:
