Trangia Mini Stove
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A good windscreen is to use your rucksack, it´s probably with you and it comes to better use as windscreen then just aying there for no use =)
Just backpacked the Hadrians Wall Trail over the last few days and cooked on a popcan stove with meths. I had to stop using the aluminium foil windshield as the heat reflected back to the stove was heating things up too much and burning fuel too quickly.
After the wet weekend, Monday to Wednesday was very cold and the meths seemed reluctant to light. I've never had that much trouble before even in the cold and was starting to think that the meths was watered down.
Stove worked a treat once going and only weighs 11 grams.
Stu
After the wet weekend, Monday to Wednesday was very cold and the meths seemed reluctant to light. I've never had that much trouble before even in the cold and was starting to think that the meths was watered down.
Stove worked a treat once going and only weighs 11 grams.
Stu
I've been pottering around the last few days trying to 'winterise' my trangia. What I've come up with is an old baked bean can (actually I think a tinned pea can), both ends cut out, and sliced down the side to open it up a bit and allow enough air in. It acts as both a windshield and potholder for a SP 900 saucepan with the burner sitting inside. Then I drilled some holes in the can about 1.5" up and zigzagged some wire through to hold the trangia above the ground (stops the ground conducting heat away = faster heating), and to allow a little tea light candle to sit below it to heat it more in very cold conditions. One trick I've also heard when it's very cold is to take the o-ring out of the trangia lid, pour a small amount of meths in, light it and sit that under the burner instead... apparently gets it going in no time which I quite believe.
I posted a while back that I'd had a small problem with meths leaking from the edges of the burner. Well I finally got round to emailing Trangia about it and less than a day later I had a reply asking for my address so they could send me another one. That was a couple days ago so assuming it turns up I'll be very impressed with their service.
In the meantime I'd bought a cheap highlander (I think) burner off ebay and I've continued using both the civvy and the swedish army one. A few nights ago I did a semi-scientific test of them all to see how they performed. I filled them up with about 2/3 fuel (recommended), weighed them, lit them, timed how long it took for them to start burning at full power, weighed them again at that point, timed while all the fuel burnt, then weighed them once again. Through that I could calculate fuel burn / time - it's power - and by far and away the winner was the civvy trangia. It was fast to heat up so the jets were working, and you could tell it was better than the others by the stronger and more bluish flame. The Swedish one seems bombproof, but it's heavy and takes a long time to heat, while the Highlander one doesn't (I would guess) have enough jets.
This might all sound quite obsessive, but I do like the trangia and I would like to take it with me on a few week long trips this winter. Even with pans, windscreen, pot cosy etc it's still lighter than my nova (my usual winter stove), and although the nova's a great stove you can't really beat the trangia for reliability.
The others I've been looking at recently are A. the jetboil, which I think is an excellent stove in all respects apart from that it's slightly too heavy and gas by it's very nature isn't so good in winter, and B. the Svea 123R for it's simplistic reliability.
Trouble is I think it's a bit too easy to start becoming a stove-a-holic!
I posted a while back that I'd had a small problem with meths leaking from the edges of the burner. Well I finally got round to emailing Trangia about it and less than a day later I had a reply asking for my address so they could send me another one. That was a couple days ago so assuming it turns up I'll be very impressed with their service.
In the meantime I'd bought a cheap highlander (I think) burner off ebay and I've continued using both the civvy and the swedish army one. A few nights ago I did a semi-scientific test of them all to see how they performed. I filled them up with about 2/3 fuel (recommended), weighed them, lit them, timed how long it took for them to start burning at full power, weighed them again at that point, timed while all the fuel burnt, then weighed them once again. Through that I could calculate fuel burn / time - it's power - and by far and away the winner was the civvy trangia. It was fast to heat up so the jets were working, and you could tell it was better than the others by the stronger and more bluish flame. The Swedish one seems bombproof, but it's heavy and takes a long time to heat, while the Highlander one doesn't (I would guess) have enough jets.
This might all sound quite obsessive, but I do like the trangia and I would like to take it with me on a few week long trips this winter. Even with pans, windscreen, pot cosy etc it's still lighter than my nova (my usual winter stove), and although the nova's a great stove you can't really beat the trangia for reliability.
The others I've been looking at recently are A. the jetboil, which I think is an excellent stove in all respects apart from that it's slightly too heavy and gas by it's very nature isn't so good in winter, and B. the Svea 123R for it's simplistic reliability.
Trouble is I think it's a bit too easy to start becoming a stove-a-holic!
You could just mount your Nova in a Trangia 25 or 27, now thats a real winter stove Conversion kit is £6.50 and a couple of quid postage from basecamp
The 123 is also fantastic, perfect for a solo camper, very frugal on fuel. If you have a bit of cash to spare, look out for the SIGG Tourist Cookset which was designed for the 123, its wonderful and you can easy cook for 3 with it
As you can see, the pans stack, and the base unit provides a fantastic windshield for the 123. They do come up on eBay, are not cheap, but work so well
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:middle:uk
Conversion kit is £6.50 and a couple of quid postage from basecampThe 123 is also fantastic, perfect for a solo camper, very frugal on fuel. If you have a bit of cash to spare, look out for the SIGG Tourist Cookset which was designed for the 123, its wonderful and you can easy cook for 3 with it
As you can see, the pans stack, and the base unit provides a fantastic windshield for the 123. They do come up on eBay, are not cheap, but work so well
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:middle:uk
You've got one of those? They're as rare as... something very very rare!
I thought about the nova / trangia combo, and if I was sharing with two or three people I'd probably go for it. It's a bit heavy for solo though; nova at over 400g, fuel bottle 140g, trangia set around 800g without the burner! I've been trying to cut down on my weight a bit (I mean that of my rucksack, though after Xmas undoubtedly in both senses!); been using just a cooking mug and foil lid recently, or for real luxury a cooking mug, foil lid and plastic cup. Also using a metalised pot cosy to insulate them while waiting for dried food to rehydrate, rather than using fuel simmering.
How much does the SIGG Tourist set weight? It's like a turbocharged petrol powered trangia isn't it!
Also do you have a fuel pump in your 123?
To be honest one of the things that really appeals to me about it is that although it might be nice to have, it'll work fine without it. That's one thing that worries me slightly about the nova on longer trips; I've had the pump leather go once, and it's just a little niggle... failed pump = no hot food
I thought about the nova / trangia combo, and if I was sharing with two or three people I'd probably go for it. It's a bit heavy for solo though; nova at over 400g, fuel bottle 140g, trangia set around 800g without the burner! I've been trying to cut down on my weight a bit (I mean that of my rucksack, though after Xmas undoubtedly in both senses!); been using just a cooking mug and foil lid recently, or for real luxury a cooking mug, foil lid and plastic cup. Also using a metalised pot cosy to insulate them while waiting for dried food to rehydrate, rather than using fuel simmering.
How much does the SIGG Tourist set weight? It's like a turbocharged petrol powered trangia isn't it!
Also do you have a fuel pump in your 123?
To be honest one of the things that really appeals to me about it is that although it might be nice to have, it'll work fine without it. That's one thing that worries me slightly about the nova on longer trips; I've had the pump leather go once, and it's just a little niggle... failed pump = no hot food
I do indeed have the Sigg setup, and great it is too. I'll get round to weighing it for you in the next day or two, but its not heavy
I've got the midi and mini pumps for the 8's and 123's and they do work well. That said, if its very cold a double prime will get you up and running. The 123 seems to heat up better than the 8 range, mainly because pots sit over the tank and reflect heat I believe.
These Russian 8R clones are new old stock, well made, work very well. I've had a few off this guy, and although he won't take paypal, I've sent euro's through the post without problem in the past (at your own risk)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Benzinkocher-...oryZ8504QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Works out at £25 delivered, can't go wrong for that money
Pump leathers should be kept well oiled and checked before each trip, its not a big job to change one, but you don't want to be doing that when its cold. I carry a spare, ready oiled in a small zip lock bag, but don't ever remember needing to change one on a trip.
I've got the midi and mini pumps for the 8's and 123's and they do work well. That said, if its very cold a double prime will get you up and running. The 123 seems to heat up better than the 8 range, mainly because pots sit over the tank and reflect heat I believe.
These Russian 8R clones are new old stock, well made, work very well. I've had a few off this guy, and although he won't take paypal, I've sent euro's through the post without problem in the past (at your own risk)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Benzinkocher-...oryZ8504QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Works out at £25 delivered, can't go wrong for that money
Pump leathers should be kept well oiled and checked before each trip, its not a big job to change one, but you don't want to be doing that when its cold. I carry a spare, ready oiled in a small zip lock bag, but don't ever remember needing to change one on a trip.
