anyone still use trangia/alchy setup?

[Strider]

Strider is that the Kovea "Spider" stove?
How is that compared to the MSR Pocket rocket?

Yes it is, not my pic though. I've never had the pleasure of operating a Pocket Rocket so can't compare the two sorry.

[RonK]

Strider is that the Kovea "Spider" stove?
How is that compared to the MSR Pocket rocket?

Yes it is, not my pic though. I've never had the pleasure of operating a Pocket Rocket so can't compare the two sorry.

I have both. The main advantages of course are being more stable and accordingly safer, and being able to invert the canister in cold weather.

And in fact it packs smaller as well, and the windshield I use now is half the height.

The Spider is a real winner.

[biggbird]

I use my trangia all the time and love it. Feel a lot more comfortable cooking in a vestibule with it than I would with pretty much any other stove I imagine. Wouldn't mind trying a primus omnifuel or omnilite ti eventually though.

[nocens]

Depending on my trip length/weather conditions/food I want to cook, I take either a Jetboil or a Firebox Nano with Trangia and foil windshield. Have to say I do love the Trangia and Firebox setup if it's not too windy. with a litre of meths costing $3.50 from bunnings, and the fact that the Nano and trangia take up nearly no space. Also the fact that if need be I can use the nano as a wood burning stove if the need arises.

First comment on this forum but have been lurking in the shadows for some time. Glad to be part of a great forum with lots of helpful and knowledgeable members!

Noc

[Tuna]

I just bought this!!! fancy little titanium alcohol stove, I've never been so excited to boil water, haha

[Gippsmick]

Lighter options for me now. Although I still have the trangia and most recently took the stove only as a back up for Fraser Island. Sure enough no gas canisters compatible with our Kovea stove were sold on the island, even after reassurances they were, so the old trangia stove and metho got a work out for a week. Without the pot support for the stove we made use of 3-4 tent stakes to sit the pots over the burner.

[Aidan]

I've a variety of stoves including the pocket rocket and omnilite ti.
However for my trips, mainly cycle touring, nothing beats the versatility of the trangia cook set (27) which includes a small kettle.
The way it packs down, no moving parts, maintenance free, two pots with frypan (lid) and kettle means I can have my cup of tea without having to worry about washing any pots first after my meal.
It took me a while to appreciate the trangia and to be able to get the best out of it, but I'd not look back now.
I like that I can put my porridge on in the morning (using the flame adjuster to a low flame) and have time to pack away bedding and tent.
I find I finish the packing away and my breakfast is ready for me with the only interruption to my packing being a quick stir of porridge in between sleeping bag and exped 7 ul roll up and tent dismantling and packing. I'm eating my porridge whilst the kettles boiling enough for my cuppa.
I'm drinking my cuppa whilst cleaning my pot and "Viola" I'm once again ready to hit the pedals and get in a few hours riding to my next campsite where the process starts once again.

[Izzybh]

I'm just about to buy a 27. Trangia's such a good budget option at the light weight end of cooksets (under $100!). This will be my first departure from the gas set up but I don't envisage any regrets. Whose in a hurry to boil water when you're camping anyway?

[Aidan]

Something that was recently brought to my attention was that the Trangia is not suitable (in Alcohol mode) in WA (and maybe other states) in the fire free season.
Something to consider for summer.
I guess for my next cycle tour I'll be packing my Primus Omnilite which can burn canister fuel.
I'm toying with grabbing the multi fuel burner for the Trangia which I think may also burn canister fuel (butane/propane)

[skog]

I'm just about to buy a 27. Trangia's such a good budget option at the light weight end of cooksets (under $100!). This will be my first departure from the gas set up but I don't envisage any regrets. Whose in a hurry to boil water when you're camping anyway?

I still use my old trangia that would be close to 20 years old. It still works a treat

I have looked at the jet boil range but I still like the trangia

[Earwig]

I bought my Trangia in 1983 and it carries the bumps and scratches of every walk I've done since. It's still going strong and I'm happy to sit and muse over the slowly boiling water

... and carry the extra weight, and the extra bulk ...

Maybe I do need to consider updating.

[skibug]

I run Duke of Edinburgh hikes for teens, and provide trangias exclusively to the students, mainly because of safety considerations. They are very stable - the pot really can't tip or spill - and the relatively low volatility of metho makes it a fairly safe fuel. I've seen a bottle leak inside a pack, you just hang everything in the sun for fifteen minutes and it's dry. The built-in windshield design works well in breezy conditions, and effectively keeps careless fingers away from flames. The stove is slow burning, which is less convenient for boiling water but better for unburnt pancakes and such. Fuel is easy to purchase, inexpensive and easily managed - it's easy to monitor and be aware if you're running out.

They are very heavy (stove itself and fuel, and the bottle as well), but they share one stove between 4 to 8, so it's not a significant issue. They are expensive, but they do last forever, and require no maintenance. In contrast, gas canisters pose a risk of leakage (especially inside tents), and the stove/pot combination is potentially unstable and more likely to result in serious burns. There are also all the issues of cross- threading the stove fitting, damage/contamination to the valve, and all the other possible problems that careless teenagers seem to discover.

I believe the Australian Boy Scouts still recommend trangias, and I can understand that, especially given lower ages, down to 12 year olds.

I personally prefer gas stoves, but sleep far better at night knowing my students use trangias.

Skibug

[drakkar]

I still use one - It was gifted to me by a friend for my first adventure, he used it in scouts at school 20 odd years ago.

It does what I need it to, I get better bang for buck weight savings elsewhere. I also mostly cycle tour, the extra weight is offset by not needing to carry spare canisters and knowing almost every servo or general store has metho. This year I'm hoping to do a couple of snow trips which might change my opinion/needs.

[Aidan]

Something that was recently brought to my attention was that the Trangia is not suitable (in Alcohol mode) in WA (and maybe other states) in the fire free season.
Something to consider for summer.
I guess for my next cycle tour I'll be packing my Primus Omnilite which can burn canister fuel.
I'm toying with grabbing the multi fuel burner for the Trangia which I think may also burn canister fuel (butane/propane)

Just been told a total fire ban means just that - total.

Cold meals I guess won't be a burden during the heat that decides these conditions, though I will miss my cup of tea.

[neilmny]

Absolutely Aidan no metho burners or gas burners allowed during a total fire ban in Victoria either.

[bushwalker zane]

Just chiming into say I love my Trangia. I grew up using them, so maybe I am bias. They are quiet and in my opinion that is a winner. Nothing like sitting around at camp at the end of a day to the sounds of birds singing and your stove quietly cooking a risotto or some other gourmet meal. They are ever so slightly slower than other stoves, but honestly not by much in my experience. And hey, I'm out there to enjoy the peace, I don't care if my water takes 30 seconds longer to boil for my cuppa.

[simonm]

I am a metho man also for similar reasons to zane.

[tryangus]

I'm a Scout Leader and apart from Trangia's being the fail safe cooking solution for youngsters, more than anything, they shut the kids up for a little while whilst they're pre-occupied with cooking!

For my own personal adventures, I generally use a coke can burner with a small Ti pot and a piece of aluminium flashing as a wind shield. The humble little coke can stove weighs all of 12g (compared to 100-odd for the brass Trangia burner). Always gets a laugh from fellow walkers.

543130_10151979004693054_1028667543_n.jpg (38.15 KiB) Viewed 18615 times

[proskub]

I don't use one anymore, for various reasons that everyone else has said, but they've got one massive advantage no other stove has ever (or probably will ever) beat.

You have NEVER seen a broken Trangia!

[highercountry]

Whadaya mean still using a Trangia?
I just bought a Hard-Anodised large setup a month ago and used it for the first time on a short bike tour a day or two back.
I had an MSR Whisperlite for a few years but it got crushed and broke ages ago.
I've been using an Optimus Svea 123 for decades, totally reliably but noticed recently the Shellite fumes both burning and raw give me headaches.
It got the flick and replaced with the even more reliable and importantly for these arthritis ridden hands (and body), stable and free of fiddly delicate little dinky knobs, threads, hoses, pumps and small parts Trangia.
I love it and couldn't care less about the weight on my bike.

[RonK]

I don't use one anymore, for various reasons that everyone else has said, but they've got one massive advantage no other stove has ever (or probably will ever) beat.

You have NEVER seen a broken Trangia!

You may never have seen a broken Trangia, but it's not impossible.

This what happens when the wind picks up and blows the wrong way.

[icefest]

This what happens when the wind picks up and blows the wrong way.

Gas or metho?

[neilmny]

I don't use one anymore, for various reasons that everyone else has said, but they've got one massive advantage no other stove has ever (or probably will ever) beat.

You have NEVER seen a broken Trangia!

You may never have seen a broken Trangia, but it's not impossible.

This what happens when the wind picks up and blows the wrong way.

You can still use it. Not broken just modified

[corvus]

neilmny what do the burner pot and windshield look like as it takes excessive concentrated heat (very very high ) to burn/melt Aluminium especially with Metho and with such precision
This is a good example of a gas burn out http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/show ... tid/22272/

[neilmny]

The worst thing with aluminium is that it doesn't glow hot like other metals it just collapses when it's hot enough.

[corvus]

The worst thing with aluminium is that it doesn't glow hot like other metals it just collapses when it's hot enough.

How on earth did it got hot enough for you to not notice it

[proskub]

I don't use one anymore, for various reasons that everyone else has said, but they've got one massive advantage no other stove has ever (or probably will ever) beat.

You have NEVER seen a broken Trangia!

You may never have seen a broken Trangia, but it's not impossible.

This what happens when the wind picks up and blows the wrong way.

Could still boil water on it!

[neilmny]

My experience is with observing aluminium welding not a hot Trangia.
There always seemed to be a fine line between collapse and fluid enough to weld.
I don't recall the temperature but in the scheme of things it is not all that hot.........
........... 660.3C Wikipedia

[corvus]

[quote="neilmny"]My experience is with observing aluminium welding not a hot Trangia.
There always seemed to be a fine line between collapse and fluid enough to weld.
I don't recall the temperature but in the scheme of things it is not all that hot.........
........... 660.3C Wikipedia[/quote

SHEESH that is friggin hot come on ? Pizza 220 c for around 15 min is in a hot oven, over the years I have used cheap Aluminium billys on open fires ,kerro,metho, shellite,and gas heat sources ,never melted one so sceptical about the real cause of this please as Metho Burners don't just tip over and in my experience do not convert to precise heat cutting tools in the few mins that they had enough fuel to do this what caused it.

[thejungleisneutral]

Despite owning various gas burners including the MSR Pocket Rocket, the Optimus Crux Ti and Jetboil Zip I have and use a couple of alcohol setups for bushwalking -

A basic Trangia Mini - Works best with a windscreen.

A White Box Stove - also needs a windscreen. I often use it with a quart pot and use a canteen cup stove/stand as the wind screen. Works well.


White Box stove and quart pot in action at my campsite near Mt Feld on Scotts Main Range.

While I'm happy to concede that a gas canister stove is simple, quick, efficient and lightweight I no longer wish to use one. To me, alcohol fuel stoves seem to be a more sustainable solution as they do not generate the volume of waste seen with canister stoves. Your mileage... etc. If I need more BTUs than a Trangia or other alcohol burner can provide, then I have an MSR Whisperlite or Svea 123R to fall back on.