Trangia Stove

[oldsparkey]

Set the outfit up as they instructed and as is pictured in this post by swamprat.

Let me regress , thinking about using the outfit for the Dec trip ... so I thought I better see what it will do.

Tried it with one oz of alcohol in the burner. Lit it and when going good , put one of the pots over it with 2 cups of very cold water in it.

To make a long story short ..... 2 1/2 minutes bubbles were forming and at 5 minutes it was a roaring and rolling boil.

If I was doing some soup out camping ( something I like ) I would say that after about 4 minutes supper would be ready for me. Then drop in the other pot with some water in it for hot tea after supper , or for cleaning the soup pot , or both. :wink: Especially since I had a flame left in the burner which burned out , after a while. ( wanted to see how long it would keep going ) , did not time it , Sorry about that , pups wanted a Milk Bone and keep me busy but it was plenty of time to heat up more water.

For slower cooking use the simmer ring for the burner if you had things to do and did not want as hot a flame for cooking...It would give you a longer cooking time. This might be how I heat up the soup , nice and slow so there is no problems and have a beverage while watching supper warm up.

More experimentation will be necessary but this is going with me on the trip. Out camping things can be learned since there is a lot of time for exterminating around.

Overall ... I have to say .........
Simple to set up , light weight , easy to use , reliable with no mess or fuss and it produces the desires results.
Besides about 99.9 % of the cooking for one person or two people is only reheating something or reconstituting a dehydrated meal and heating it when camping.... Frying and the rest could be done over this stove or a campfire depending on what or how a person wants to do it.

Yep... I like it and it will get a lot of use.

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

Tried the simmering ring they have with the burner.

If I am doing soup when I'm out camping that is what I will use. It only lets the center flame do the work and as far open as it will go and still fit in the outfit......

About 10 minutes the cold water was bubbling , actually before then but at a good soup eating temp after the 10 minute mark. The not burring you or sticking to the bottom of the pot but just a good temp for some hot soup to enjoy.
Slow and easy cooking. This would let a buddy use the other bowl for his soup and still use less then 1 oz of fuel in the stove. Or let him go 1st and then I could do mine. Nothing burned to the bottom of the pot like high heat does , just good hot soup and a welcome meal.

The up side is that I used the same amount of alcohol in this test .. 1 oz for the test ... after the test I had half , might of had more if I did not spill some putting it back into the graduated container to see what was used. Never said I was graceful. :roll:

That is one sure way of stretching out what alcohol you have for this outfit .... not the same with some of the guy's (Or Me ) that I camp with. That wine vanishes like our chow does. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just goes to show , going slow has it advantages.
Swamprat.. You need to play around with what you have and been using for cooking , NO ... NOT the COOK the STOVE. :roll: This little , simple , outfit has a lot of possibilities for cooking in the wilds.

Chuck.
Yep.. I have a new toy and playing with it ( as my wife says it ) to understand what it can do ( Better here then out in the woods ) .... I really , REALLY , Like it. It has a lot of possibilities , many that still have to be exploried.
Don't get me wrong , I will keep/have the Zip Stove as a back up. Same as camping in the hammock ( easy to do ) or using a tent. Most of the river trips I have both of them with me. So much for keeping it simple. If either are at home then they are of no use for me out there.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Chuck,

Are your pans aluminum? Anodized aluminum? Or stainless? I've thought about the anodized ones.

I'll be interested in its performance in cold WX. I'm wondering about it frying a steak in the 30's. I hope you can do a field report after your trip?

 

[oldsparkey]

The one I got is all aluminum .... The Trangia 27 - 3 Ultralight Aluminum Alcohol Stove from The Great Outdoos Depot.. www.greatoutdoorsdepot.com/trangia-stoves.html

Going to use it on the trip for all of my cooking , we do steaks on a grill over the campfire.

The thing was made to use in the Swiss mountains and I sure hope the weather in north Florida , south Georgia does not get as cold as it does in Switzerland. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[dawallace45]

I recently bought a Trangia 25 , I've used them many years before and had almost forgotten how good they are , haven't cooked on it yet but made many cups of tea and coffee with it when I was out hunting a few weeks ago , boils water very fast and is more practical than the twig stoves in many places , area I was hunting on is in drought and you are hard presses to find any thing to burn in some of the paddocks , pigs were feeding on the old dead sheep

David

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

Hmm, I never bothered to read the DIRECTIONS! :shock: LOL
Glad you like it Chuck....

When all else fails, read the distructions.

 

[oldsparkey]

Dec 13, 2008

I used my Trangia Stove on this last trip ( which I just returned from ) and it did everything I expected from it.

1. light weight , soot free.
2. It fit in my food box which it sat on when cooking.
3. Easy to set up.
4. No fuss or problems , preformed like advertised.
5. The simmering ring is the best thing to use when doing soups , no burning in the bottom of the pot.
6. Heating water for tea , no problem and add extra alcohol for heating a meal after the tea water is done.
7. Wind does not effect it when cooking.
8. Heat everything fast then use the simmering ring for cooking.
9. If you spill some of the fuel on you , no problem it just evaporates and does not cause any problems.
10. The stove can be used anywhere , in a tent , under a tarp ( when it is raining Cats & Dogs ) or out in the open.

Disadvantages that I found on this trip ......

1. When the alcohol gets really cold ( Freezing temps ) it is hard to light. Solution... Keep a small (plastic) bottle of it in your sleeping bag so it is
nice and warm.
2. Using the fuel bottle they manufacture , after you dispense the amount of fuel you want and turn it off , there is a small residual amount left in there so when the spout is pointed downward some will come out. Solution.... See # 9 above.
3. You do have to carry the fuel for it unlike the Zip which you pick up sticks to fuel it.
Solution.. The larger fuel bottle which will last a long time since the stove requires so little to start with. Using the simmering ring will stretch that out by 2 or 3 times but takes longer to heat up a meal.

That was all I could find fault with by using it.
Paddlin'Gator and I both used them on this trip and we both enjoyed there ease of use.
I have the #27 ultralight which is the two person one and Joe has the #25 which is the 4 person one. He has the non stick pots and the larger frying pan along with the tea pot which were all put to good use by him.

My idea of the perfect combination .......

For long trips ,the Zip and the Trangia. One you pick up the fuel for it as you go and the other for cooking in a tent ( of under a hammock rain fly) when nasty weather strikes. Or a combination of either ways depending on how things suit you.
Short trips .... Trangia.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I sure like the idea of a twig stove along with a fuel stove. It's obvious that the Trangia is a well thought out system of equipment. Its cold WX performance is the only drawback for use in my neck of the woods. And, hell, I try to not be camping in freezing temperatures anyway.

BUT - I hit the first freezing weather and snow in Georgia this year!! So, ya never know when cold weather can affect your camping. I have officially stopped using Coleman stoves and now have a Svea. sigh

 

[hairymick]

Good news!!

A little birdie told me Santa is bringing me a trangia 25 for Christmas! (with all the bells & whistles)

Bloody OUTSTANDING! 8)

 

[oldsparkey]

Mick...

I hope Santa brings you one , if you like it as much as I like mine you will find it an indispensable part of your camping gear.

Jack...

Some folks might think it sounds foolish taking two stoves on a long trip but in the light of reality , both of them weigh a lot less and spillage , a gas leak or explosion is not a problem with either of them.

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

Sierra come out with a titanium Zip Stove.

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

Mick,

I used my new Trangia 25 last week on the St. Marys trip. Loved it. Stove, frying pan, two pots and a small kettle, all in small package. I opted for the quart sized fuel bottle since one extra pound in the canoe is not as much of an issue as worrying about running out of fuel on an extended trip.

Joe

 

[oldsparkey]

Mick,

I opted for the quart sized fuel bottle since one extra pound in the canoe is not as much of an issue as worrying about running out of fuel on an extended trip.

Joe

Same with me , the larger bottle does not make any difference when canoeing.
In fact that last morning I filled the burner with more then needed for cooking. Did my pot for some tea and while drinking it and having a breakfast bar ( actually two of them ) warmed my hands over the burner as if furnished that so nice heat.

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

When using the Trangia and the simmering ring the main problem is getting it off the burner.

From my days as a medic in the service I have one of these , if you don't then for a small amount of pocket change you can get one from Cabelas or your neighborhood fly tying shop. Depending on the size you want.

Using the tiny URL .....
http://tinyurl.com/3wohro

Chuck.
PS. We called them Hemostats ( as in stopping the blood from flowing threw a vein or artery) . So don't clamp down to hard on the simmering ring.

 

[hairymick]

OK,

Had the chance to try out my Trangia over the last month or so.

Had it paddling and in use both at home and at our cabin when the power was off.

I think it is superior in every way to my lovely Zip stove. Quick, clean and efficient. Will boil two mugs of water on about an egg cup full of metho or white alcohol in about 4 minutes and absolutely no messing around, continually feeding twigs into the firebox (and no batteries to go flat)

I sit the bigger pan on top of the small one when boiling water to act as a lid.

 

[islandpiper]

After using my old Trangia in my Sigg cook kit, and balanced on rocks or wedged in the sand, etc, i finally got around to making a holder/pot stand for it. I used a tin can, i think it would be a No. 5 size. I cut a little square air intake on the bottom and a bunch of V-notches on the open end.

Where the Trangia will burn and cook and be hot enough for most used just standing there alone, in this tin-can enclosure it runs like a blast furnace. Wow!! I think the draft helps and I further feel like the extra heating factor of the can enclosure boils the spirits and makes it all burn faster.

I'll try to get a pic up soon.

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

If you get the whole mess from Trangia they tell you to aim the base unit which the stove sets in towards the wind when using it. The base unit for it has a bunch of holes drilled or punched in it for ventilation on one side. It does make a difference as far as the heat for coking something depending on how the base unit is situated to the wind.

The part I like is with the simmering top about 1/2 open it does take a few minutes to get things warmed up but in no time the food is hot and it takes about 1/2 of the fuel to accomplish the job as to not using the simmering ring.

I used mine on that Brazos River sand bar with one of Ron's little , gentile ,Texas breezes blowing over the sand bar ( the same breeze Darrell could not paddle against coming into camp and removed out tents that same afternoon ) :lol: Needless to say , I had a hot meal and still had some alcohol left in the burner when I capped it off.

They are some great little , light weight , camping stoves for anyone to enjoy. Either just the burner unit or the whole shebang they offer.

"O" in cold weather fill the burner to where you want it , cap it off and put in your pocket for a short time to warm the alcohol up , then set it up and light it off. It is a lot simpler to light then trying to light the cold alcohol which can be frustrating , at times.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I watched Joe Fennell use his Trangia on the Suwannee. It worked well. We didn't try the trick of a half-cocked simmer ring; it sounds good.

I couldn't help thinking that they could easily offer a burner that was larger. It wouldn't hurt to have the capacity for more heat, even if you didn't want to use it. A burner hole there an inch wider would have twice the BTU capacity. Then, choke it down with the simmer ring if that suits the occasion better. I like to have a potential for more power, then if I need it, it's there.

 

[islandpiper]

jack, the way this baby boils alchohol as it is I'd stand back if it was any bigger.

I'm planning to make a spirit fueled "jet" stove. See them on YouTube, just a coil of copper tubing with a hole in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqMLmllQczE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIYRwN_9UWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFGGPSM ... re=related

And, Jack, I know you'd love that jet engine sound in camp, too.

piper

 

[Kayak Jack]

#1 & #3 look unnecessarily complicated. #2 looks dangerous; it had fire uncontrolled coming from one side and running down. Frankly, I'd avoid these as dangerous toys that seem to have of no way of controlling or adjusting the heat. All they do is boil water; I can do that with a couple of tea light candles.

These stoves, like many other tin can alcohol stoves, seem to solve a problem that doesn't exist. But, they do keep delinquent children in off the streets for a while. Stick with your Thermette or Svea.