Thinking of getting a trangia

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Jul 7, 2020
6
1
30
Sussex
Hi guys, this is my first post!
Im a long time deer stalker and have travelled around hunting quite a bit and through that I’ve got into wild camping and a bit of bushcraft.
This weekend I’m planning to head out on a 2 day hike with my other half and I’m thinking of perhaps getting a trangia. What do people think of them and what alternatives Åre recommended?
 

uncleboob

Full Member
Dec 28, 2012
915
53
Coventry and Warwickshire
Welcome! Many of us on here will have owned and used a trangia...I still have the one I purchased as a youth, it still works, it will never break, I like it...now there are a world of possibilities when it comes to cookers...again...most of us on here will have owned one or twelve!

I’ve slimmed things down now and have different cookers for different eventualities (lone lightweight, family/ groups, base camp, trad, low-tech)...enjoy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hodge

Forager
Aug 3, 2018
245
165
63
West Midlands
Which trangia were you thinking of? The 27 is smaller than the 25. I use the 27 and I have used it for 2 people for a couple of nights. I would suggest that you get a trangia fuel bottle as it makes filling the burner easy without any splashes. Must admit I use the trangia triangle more often now with a trangia kettle and smaller stainless steel cook pots which I find easier to keep clean as they do not scratch like aluminium ones do. I have more stoves than you can shake a stick at but if I was restricted to 1 stove it would be the trangia as it is bombproof and has no moving parts to wear out.
 
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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Trangias are and always were my stove of choice for expedition work, camping with my wife and more or less anything other than solo trips :) If I use a stove these days when I am out solo it will be a Trangia burner in a Crusader 2 windshield.
Trangias are the nearest thing to unbeakable, idiot proof and versatile - but they are not exactly fast, light or compact - but I still love 'em! :)
 
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Riven

Full Member
Dec 23, 2006
428
135
England
Trangias are pretty bombproof and come with pots and pans so not much else is needed. I have owned and used mine for over 30 years and it's still fine. I did upgrade to the gas stove insert so it's now even more versatile, meths will bleach clothing as I found out the hard way.
 
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baggins

Full Member
Apr 20, 2005
1,563
300
49
Coventry (and surveying trees uk wide)
I've used Trangias on and off for years. Yes, they have pros and cons, just like everything else on the market. They are heavy, slow to boil and bulky. but, they are quiet, you can cook a wide range of proper meals on them (just have a look at RMs new wildfood cook book). I still use mine when we are out wildlife spotting, and there is something quite calming about them compared with my MSR whisperlight. Like alot of things, there are newer, faster and sleeker items, but sometimes, the older things just work.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,153
1,546
Cumbria
We use trangia 25 with gas but very meths too. However that's for car camping or cycle touring where the bulk isn't an issue. However we're often cooking pasta plus sauce meals rather than just boiling water for dehydrated foods. That's a family of three with a fussy 7 year old. If I was going on my own for a multi day trip I prefer a light gas burner. Trangia isn't a stove I would carry far on my back due to bulk. Plus if I'm camping out I prefer a faster boil because a hot drink is likely needed more than the trips we use the trangia for.
 

TriggerRover

Member
Jun 17, 2018
16
10
Lancashire
I've got a pocket rocket and Coleman stove since....... but they're an idiot proof right of passage, won't let you down, and the more the wind seems to blow the faster they cook (if vents turned into the wind)! I'd sooner part with my others if I had too stick with one.

Trigg
 

Minotaur

Native
Apr 27, 2005
1,600
232
Birmingham
Buy one there brilliant pieces of kit. See if you can get a deal with the gas set up as they tend to be cheaper than buying separate. The gas add on is the most expensive trangia part.
Also instead of meths look for heater ethanol they sell if for use in home heaters, it clear so it does not level as much ash on your pots.
 

Silverclaws2

Nomad
Dec 30, 2019
287
155
56
Devon
Now it is I have both an MSR Whisperlite and an ancient Trangia, to report they are both excellent stoves, but each has their advantages and disadvantages, where it was in my mind to combine the two, to make what I would call the ideal stove. So I looked into creating a conversion so I could also run the Trangia on cheaper to purchase and use pressurised Paraffin, to have found I would need to find an Optimus 'Butty Box' paraffin stove to provide the parts necessary only to find old Butty Box stoves had suddenly become collectable to well stuff up that idea as I was skint at the time hence the need for a cheaper fuel.

A few years later I had discovered Trangia had done just that, to create 'add ons' that would enable the design classic that is the faithful Trangia to run on other fuels including gas, so if I want to revisit that past idea again, it will at least be easier this time around, but just to alert you to the fact these days they don't just run on meths.

The benefit of the Trangia is that it uses about 90% of the heat produced by the burner to cook the food, for not only does it apply heat to the bottom of the pan, but also the sides and if one uses the 'frying pan' as a lid that other 10% or less is also utilised in the heating, so, they can cook food quickly thus saving fuel. In addition the Trangia comes with it's own windbreak, burner support and integral pans to perhaps only suck in terms of bulk and/or weight

The MSR is just a multi liquid fuel blow torch albeit a well designed and built reliable blow torch applied to the bottom of the pan and minorly the sides, but one still has to carry pans and a windbreak.

My next stove of which perhaps I will get next month will be a Stainless 'Wild Woodgas' stove so in terms of fuel I can use contained woody material to create flammable gas as fuel or I could use my Trangia meths burner in it, as my outdoor cooking needs have changed.

And of course the Trangia meths burner is a cooker in itself.
 

TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
3,092
1,624
Vantaa, Finland
I have the old KAP kerosine burner (I think not available any more) for trangia, one can melt rocks with it. It is more than slightly over powered for summer use but I guess just right for -40C.
 
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baggins

Full Member
Apr 20, 2005
1,563
300
49
Coventry (and surveying trees uk wide)
Took the good lady out for dinner the other evening. Goulash, mushroom mash, vino and a beautiful view of Pen Y Fann and Hay bluff.
It was so lovely and quiet and the stove just purred away happily, no noise, no fuss.
 

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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
I would try to buy a Swedish army mess kit.

It contains a Trangia burner but can be also used hanging over a wood fire.

They exist in a stainless steel version which is rare and a newer aluminium version.
 
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Laurence Milton

Settler
Apr 7, 2016
605
170
suffolk
Which trangia were you thinking of? The 27 is smaller than the 25. I use the 27 and I have used it for 2 people for a couple of nights. I would suggest that you get a trangia fuel bottle as it makes filling the burner easy without any splashes. Must admit I use the trangia triangle more often now with a trangia kettle and smaller stainless steel cook pots which I find easier to keep clean as they do not scratch like aluminium ones do. I have more stoves than you can shake a stick at but if I was restricted to 1 stove it would be the trangia as it is bombproof and has no moving parts to wear out.
Swedish army one if you can? Bigger burner too! Just love it, compact, complete.
 
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SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
1,631
1,177
Ceredigion
There are plenty of lighter options if you'll be carrying it around a lot, but it's hard to beat if you want something sturdy, fuss-free and reliable that will last forever.
 
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