trangia argument

[Graham_S]

there is an army surplus shop in lanark selling them for £5 (at least they were last time i was home, i've been in belgium for a month)
i've used several stoves over the years. i hate hexi, the fumes are poisonous and it takes too long to do anything. my peak one is good but i love my SA trangia after all, i can use the pot over a fire if i want, and the fuel is cheap and easy to get.

 

[Womble]

Out of interest, who has got the oldest trangia here?. I've had mine some 22 years or so. Bit battered and bruised, but still does the biz..

Mine originally belonged to my dad, who bought it in the early 1970s when he became a civilian instructor at an Army Apprentice College. There were times when it was very handy for him indeed - especially on Dartmoor in October! I inherited it in the early 90s, and it's still in good woking order now.

 

[AJB]

Hi, I love threads like this! Let me be honest I am the worst kind of person – a kit freak who seldom camps! Over the years I’ve collected so much kit it is embarrassing (but never paid full price), but I love it all. I have, MSR petrol, Trangia (plus gas conversion), Mini Trangia, Gas, Green gel, Kellys Kettle and Hexy. They are all good and bad in different ways.

The MSR, I wanted one from being a kid, I love it. I find the idea of pressurised petrol 9” from a naked flame terrifying but it works well. I find having to preheat it a pain as it gets very sooty. It is very hot, but too hot to cook things on sometimes try simmering something!

The Trangia is very good; you feel part of the in crowd in the lakes. But meths feels expensive even though it isn’t. Everything gets a bit sooty, but not as bad as you do handling an MSR. It feels very bulky, but then you should compare the alternatives in conjunction to a wind break, two pans and a kettle.

The Gas conversion just works well, but it all seems to be a bit of a palaver!

The Mini Trangia is really quite good and I tend to take it with the big one to have two burners on the go.

Gas, boringly efficient. The VW of the stove world.

Green Gel – I got a Crusader cup and stand for Christmas and some gel, not impressed, still not managed to get a mug of warm water to a boil even inside!

Kelly’s Kettle – It was a present and I don’t really use it, it just seems to get so dirty and is bulky. I suppose it looks great in a Range Rover or a by a salmon stream with a black lab. It works well with a coke can meths burner in it though!

Hexy, I loved when I was a kid and I don’t know why I don’t use it more. Not high tech enough I suppose. I think it is because I don’t have a feel for how much fuel I would need for x number of days. But if you consider weight, size, cost and effectiveness it’s difficult to beat, so I don’t use it.

So all in all, go to the chippy!

 

[Ravenn]

I like my trangia. I have the civilian module. The only complaint that I would have is the wind screen. I just picked up the army canteen cup holder that can be used with heat tabs. The trangia fits perfectly under it. Should work better.

Your kidding? This the one that the cup sits down inside the canteen cover??
Gotta try that!

 

[Rebel]

Note the sides of the kettle are black ,I now use industrial spirits and this eliminates the soot deposit (caused by the purple dye) and reduces the meths odour.

Where do we get this product and what do we ask for? I don't like the idea of soot covered pots, not because of aesthetics but because it's horrible stuff that gets everything disgustingly dirty.

Thanks for the review by the way, interesting and helpful.

I've been a gas user but that's because I camp with the family and we are always back at base camp for the cooking. Gas is fast and convenient but what I've got is a major size family stove that you wouldn't want to carry anywhere except in a vehicle.

Now that the kids are getting older I want to have a more portable setup for cooking away from "home". No major expeditions just a simple meal out in the woods for three or four.

I've found this thread helpful because I've been looking at Trangias. To me the Trangia sounds ideal and more windproof than gas which blows out very easily especially when simmering. There's many a time I've come back to my gas stove to find it blown out and leaking gas, and that's with a windshield.

 

[AJB]

"Your kidding? This the one that the cup sits down inside the canteen cover??"-yeah, I was thinking that to, from memory my crusader cooker won’t fit a Trangia burner in it! Or will it?

Plus where do you get that "clean" spirit from?

ta

 

[PC2K]

the "ringstove" that fits underneed the US army field bottle (and the dutch) and cup will have enough space for a trangia. But you have to turn the cup 180 degrees. Or else the cup will sit on the stove directly, cutting the flames. Thats how i use it, great for short hikes. Not very efficient in the wind, though...

 

[BorderReiver]

Here are my observations:


- Not enough heat for a fry-up!

.

Always worked for me .

 

[AJB]

I was thinking about this last night and suddenly remembered the Gaz Globetrotter stove I got 27 years ago!!!

It was a small stove that nested in two pans. With the stove removed the mini Trangia in its stand/wind break fits as if it was designed to. It’s the perfect solution, a Trangia, pot stand two pans and a handle which when packed is 4”x4” cylinder!

 

[Brangdon]

I'm not very hard-core. I just need a mug of coffee in the morning, another in the evening and maybe a bowl of noodles - other meals I get from a local pub. For what it's worth I'm a hex fan.

It's adequate to my needs. It helps to use the army-style rectangular tablets, rather than the round pill-like ones you get from Millets etc. I am experimenting with Trangia stoves but I think liquid fuel is a bit scary - what if I spill the meths? What if the bottle leaks? I have a petrol stove which I find very scary indeed, especially in the period between when I've put it out and when it cools down.

 

[Ravenn]

the "ringstove" that fits underneed the US army field bottle (and the dutch) and cup will have enough space for a trangia. But you have to turn the cup 180 degrees. Or else the cup will sit on the stove directly, cutting the flames. Thats how i use it, great for short hikes. Not very efficient in the wind, though...

Thanks PC2K!...old habbits die hard, been carrying the USGI canteen/cup/cover for a # of years in different situations, but always used an Esbit to brew up my Ceylon tea,rather than the issue cup stand for some reason known only to my psyche. Trying to get my mitts on a couple of type 58 bottles though..canteen junkie I suppose I am!

 

[bogflogger]

My trangia is getting on for 30 years old! I have both a meths and a gas burner, so it's pretty multi-fuel (at least in europe). I have replaced the standard pans with "duossal" (stainless/alloy sandwich) pans, they were worth the cost. I also have a non stick frypan, plastic lid/strainer and a large billie that the whole stove fits inside. This last item is useless on the stove, as it sits too high up from the burner to boil water, but comes in handy for wood fires. I have also made an ultralight stand and windshield, so I can leave the rest behind in summer,or if dashing off peak bagging. Of all the stoves I have owned the trangia is the only one that has never let me down...ever.

 

[Rod]

I was "converted to Trangia" about three years ago - thank you God!

Totally swear by them now. I have 3!

Mini - for lightweight / stealth trips - add small kettle if required
27K with non-stck pans and plastic strainer for winter/entended trips
Military - with civvy burner - its quicker. Nice self contained bushcraft rig

Still have an MSR Rapid Fire (you don't see many of them) and a Pocket Rocket. They form the "how we used to cook section" in my kit cupboard

 

[oops56]

I got all kinds of alcohol stoves some cook some just warm up .now just for one perk cup this is one way the burner on 1/4 oz fuel burns for 7 min but outside will need a wind screen

 

[oetzi]

And a Trangia combined with a Primus (or even a Whisperlite) is definitely Top of the heap!

 

[Basemetal]

I have had and used a Trangia since 1981 (24 years) and love the kettle!
But...I rarely carry it for day trips or weekends because of bulk. To be honest it got most of it's use when cycle-touring was my thing -meths was easy to pick up as you were in towns every day or two and weight was less critical.

I also have a tiny SVEA 123 Petrol stove -this replaced a Coleman Stove in 1981 (which got too severely dented in a fall) For week long trips the higher efficiency of petrol won out over meths.

These days, to my own surprise -I'm using mainly Hex and boil-in-the-bag food with a Crusader rig. It isn't sexy, but it does the job if I can't light a fire. The army can't be all wrong (though there are tactical reasons for gas and petrol -speed v noise v smell )

I was happy to see someone mention the GlobeTrotter Gas Rig -I had one of these in 1979 travelling round europe and it did the job at a price (expensive cartridges). Serious problem wa binding the two pots together if sand got in between -separating could be a MAJOR problem. And then these were the days before sealing cartridges so there was always a nagging doubt and smell of gas in the rucsac...

 

[directdrive]

Trangias are great little stoves. I've used mine for years. The things I like best about them is that they have nothing to break or wear out or go wrong.....simplicity and reliability!
Another GREAT little meth burner is the Brasslite. You can find it at www.brasslite.com

Best, Bruce

 

[oetzi]

Yesterday I compared the big Trangia (civilian version) with the one from the swedish army.
The former took 20min to bring the kettle with 0,9l of water to boiling point. The military one needed 6min for 0,5l and 14min for 1,0l.
After 24min the big burner of the military stove was empty, after the same time the small burner of the civilian version had suffered a lower level of the meth of only 6mm. Thats when I stopped.
It seems I will cut a bigger hole in the lower windshield of my trangia to accomodate the big burner.

 

[neo_wales2000]

I'm suprised to see this thread still running after a year. As in a post of mine last December, I still say the Trangia is the best cooking system designed overall.

Pro's:
Bombproof

Always work (use a match to light in the cold)

The fuel evaporates leaving no smell, unlike petrol stoves

Using the simmer ring will let you cook for an hour without refill (with practise)

Burn better in high winds due to design

Practise makes perfect, and they are a "safe" stove to use in a tent.

If they are good enough for Arctic Norway, they are good enough for any UK season

If you can't do a fry up on one, then you just can't cook, stick to HP beans

Petrol burners like the MSR are good, but prone to clogging if you use un-leaded fuel (plus all the cancer giving agents you inhale) instead of Naptha (Coleman fuel), Parafinn stoves seem better needing less maintainence, although the fuel smell stays forever if you spill it.

My stoves of choice:
Trangia 25, 27, or military

Plus, if there are two of us or more, one of the followng:

Svea 123 with SIGG Tourest Cookset
Optimus 8 or Russian R8 clone
Optimus 111 multifuel, heavy but burns ANYTHING

If you have any stove questions or need advise on maintaining your stove feel free to email me

Neo, Classic stove collector

 

[Razorstrop]

Trangia with gas conversion. Love it use it all the time


Mr Strop