Trangia

[timmygowalkies]

A few years ago I went walking with my father. We went away and had the time of our lives. Just over a year ago my father died, the only memories I have left are of the mountains. One of my most treasured pieces of walking kit is my trangia, in fact it is one of my most treasured possessions.

It was given to my father by his father when he went away with his friends walking when he was at University. After my father died, my Mum said that all of his walking kit was mine. The trangia was battered, it has hundreds of dents and scratches, all of them telling a different story. But still it lives on, used most weekends in the winter and a lot in the summer on expeditions. Not only is it a valuable piece of walking gear it also holds a lot of sentimental value.

Over 40 years of use and it is still going strong, hopefully it will last another 40 years and I will be able to hand it on, the fourth generation to use a trangia lol. Unlike the new trangias that seem very thin and almost flimsy, this is built like a rock, fantastic!:D

Tim
xxx

[Ollie]

Some people seem to hate trangias with a vengeance. Personally I think they're fairly solid pieces of kit, although they do have their faults (but so do almost every other burner!)

Mine's stuck at the bottom of my wardrobe at the moment. Perhaps I'll dig it out one day soon :)

Ollie

[timmygowalkies]

It's by far my favourite form of stove for when I'm in high places. On the low lands I usually take my gas stove.

[Taff Craven]

I love my Trangia, when I'm out wildcamping the nice slow and relaxed cooking pace, the smell of burning meths in the air.

When out on the hills I like to take things nice and easy, no need to have a super fast super charged stove that can boil water in 1.6 nano seconds! The Trangia is ideal.

I have spoilt myself and bought the non stick frying pan, and the kettle is great.

Put me down as a Trangia Supporter!

[Ollie]

I think one of the benefits of the trangia might be that you don't have to sit and watch it whilst it's cooking? :D

[Marmot]

yer - you could go to sleep

[timmygowalkies]

Hmmm, that's debatable.

Some of the damage caused by trangias left unattended is catastrophic. In our bronze d of e training we were shown some pictures of tents on fire, burnt to the ground and pans with gaping holes in the bottom. All because the trangia had been left unattended for 5 minutes while someone wen to the toilet.

But I agree, trangias are relatively safe, compared to other stoves on the market.

[Taff Craven]

Let's put it this way any stove out there is dangerous in the hands of an irresponsible muppet. Trangia's are one of the safest and robust stoves ideal for D of E expeditions, that can be used again and again.

I know of one D of E area in the South of England that has converted all their Trangia to gas because an instructor (For god's sake! Should have know better!) decided to refill his stove while it was still burning.

It's down to personal choice, I'll always have a place for the Trangia.

I also use a Coleman Alpine stove that has lasted years!

[timmygowalkies]

I'll Agree with everything you just said :)

You do have to be careful when re-filling a trangia, as if it is still alight or hot enough it will brun the meths right into the bottle, effectively creating a bomb.

Tim

[allanscot]

I have seen someone do that, why because they wanted to know what happened.... They survived!

I like the Trangia's especially for using with groups but I always use gas in this country, it’s simpler and quicker.

[timmygowalkies]

Hmmm, when you are nice and high with a gale blowing, nothing can beat the speed of a trangia. They're designed to be used up high, hence the holes and stuff, so that the wind helps the flames.

[Marmot]

look guys, im all for a nice relaxing camp, but have just done some quick research and the average boiling time for a decent non trangia stove eg primus omnifuel, is about 2 min 30 to boil a pint of water, but for a trangia its 10 minutes!
need i say more?!

[pie2k]

having lived off trangias for a month i can say this:
they are reliable, however with evrything reliable, if you want to get anything done don't use them. Boiling time for one litre of water= 12 months approx

[timmygowalkies]

not on the top of inglebrough :P
Seriously the wind up there makes the trangia better than any other stove at height. You try using a gas stove on the top of a windy hill, alongside a trangia. The trangia will win in that situation, every time.

[Ollie]

Mmmm... me think we shall have to be racing them some time :D

[Marmot]

its not going to win, all the wind in the world isnt going to decrease the boiling time from 10 minutes to under 3 , and if, IF the other stove was feeling sick, or didnt have any fuel (and it yet it would probably still win...) you cant control them worth a dam.

You have to pick up the entire, hot,, surround and face it out of the wind, and thats assuming that the wind is constant and blowing in one direction, or you have to pick up the billy that youve been cooking in, and try and slot the limiter cap on top, or try and pick it out - whilst hot and try and adjust it again by tapping it with the pan handles - which are also crud as they get so hot, so you'll be trying to do this with a bunch of towels wrapped around them to try and give u some protection from the heat - cause the handles will leave circles of unburned flesh in the palm of your hand i can assure u

and by this time th fuel would have run out so you're going to have to wait for the reservoir to cool - otherwise the events of above happen - very extraordinary to see! - whilst the food youve just brough to about luke warm temperature cools and you have to start the process all over again....

PLUS! the burn time per volume of fuel is less for meths then for any other fuel so you have to use up more fuel to do the same amount of work thus having to carry extra weight


PLUS!! meths is very uncommon in alot of developing countris so it is very diffficult to get hold of - especially in malaysia where its just labeled as just white spirit if u can get you hands on the right type, as it isnt coloured or flavoured like ours is

[pie2k]

I find that a small amount of semtex brings the power of a trangia in line with that of a twig on fire. trangias are possibly the slowest cookers ever. only just faster than hexamine blocks.
Being serious though the idea of trangias is good, shame in practice holding a magnifying glass in the sun is more effective.
they've jus started doing a new model. which is a normal trangia with a gas stove instead of meth burner. i wonder why they did that. possibly because the founder of trangia passed away while waiting for his water to boil.

[Taff Craven]

Modern life is all about speed, fast food, quick living, everything done in a hurry, maybe it's because of my age or the fact that all week I have to fit into this go faster stripe lifestyle.

But when it comes to the weekend, time to take it down a few gears, a good walk to a decent wild camp site, break the Trangia, get the kettle on the go while I set my tent and sort myself out, it can be left to quietly boil up. pour myself a brew a chill out in the . Whilst chilling in my little "Glen of Tranquility" I stick my boil in the bag on the trangia, sit back and feel the stresses of the week ease away.

I agree about the availability of fuel for the trangia can be a problem in some countries, and I know that North Wales can get quite remote but I have never had a problem getting fuel for my needs.

Maybe I'm just an old fart these days who likes the slow relaxed pace, I don't go for the thrill seeking challenges, been there done that, it's a chance to destress these days from a busy week and the Trangia fits into my grand scheme.

[timmygowalkies]

Agreed.

Sometimes after a day slogging up the hills, or running down the dales. Climbing up the cliffs and scrambling down the scree. It is nice to sit, calmly, relaxed. Actually slow down, and let the heart beat slow, and the body rest.

I shall time how long it takes to boil up a ltr of water when I'm next out, in the lowlands and the hills. Compare them to my gas stove.

[Marmot]

surly the faster you get your cup of tea, the more time you have to relax without having to think about anything else at all?

[Taff Craven]

Well for me, my routine is get to the campsite, get the Trangia out and stick the kettle on, unpack and set up tent, sort my sleeping bag out get out my mug, open satchet of coffee and milk (2 in 1 Nescafe single satchets 10 for 99p from cheap shop, ideal and milky style coffee!) kettle boils pour steaming mug of coffee, sit down with book and chill. We all have our own little routines and preferences, this one suits me.:)

[timmygowalkies]

Sounds nice to me.

I must admit that I like being able to set up trangia and have the kettle boil in the time it takes for me to set up my tent asnd sort all my gear out. hat is in the valleys though.

Once up on the top of a hill it's a case of stop, put on trangia to boil water, eat sandwich pour kettle.

[Marmot]

I have been told on good authority that adding about 10% water to the meths in the reservoir will decrease the amount of fuel used for each burn time and will prevent the formation of soot and so leaves you pots clean - however does mean the flame burns invisibly so is even harder to tell when its lit

[David]

To throw my oppinion into the trangia vs gas debate, I have to say I agree with marmot. While trangias are compact, easy to use, durable and, perhaps most significantly to many, have the ephemeral 'outdoor feel' to them, they just don't cut it! Everything about trangias feels like they should be better than gas, but they are just too inconveniant.

If you hike all day and get somewhere late, you don't want it to get really dark and late while you are cooking. You can't easily stop and get some hot food or drink for lunch if you are doing a lot of walking in the cold. The points marmot has made I feel are really significant, much more so that any downpoints for gas; it is difficult to regulate the temperature and if (as can be quite likely) the meths runs out, you have to let the trangia and your cooking cool down before you can add more fuel. I haven't used trangias much, so perhaps I just don't know the proper way of using them; if there is an easy way to get around these proplems I would be happy to hear it and reconsider.

Finally, I have to say when I am walking seriously and it comes down to weight, I have to give up all sentimentality. You can carry fewer gas stoves and less fuel than you would have to with a trangia to cook for the same size group.

{as an aside, is there a way of combining all these trangia vs gas threads}

[wandering_fox]

Adding water to meths doesn't make it any quicker its the meths that's burning so it will take longer to cook. It may make it cleaner. (Yes less meths is used in 1min but that 1 min doesn't provide as much heat as before).

If the meths has burnt out you don't need to let it cool, more than just a little. If there meths is nearly out but still burning DON'T add any more!

Trangias and weight - depends on party size for gas you do still need pots and if you are cooking for 2 or 3 then you'll need pots etc which won't pack as well the trangia. For one it may be a different story.

You can adjust the burn a bit by knocking the cover ring partially over the flame. Its not a precise science though.

Gas is quicker and hotter, but to my mind the stove of choice is a multifuel things like the MSR dragonfly or severla overs. These however suffer from the pitfalls of reliability.....

[Emanresu]

I agree that they burn a lot better when they are in a good wind. The problem is, as soon as you take the pan of boiled water off - they blow away!

[Marmot]

I use the primus omnifuel as an example of a multi fuel stove, and have never ever suffered a problem with reliability and thats with using gas, petrol, diesel and vegetable oil!

[crazyanimal]

would you say it was better than the MSR equivilant? Or have you not used another sort?

[Marmot]

Yer i think it is beter, has a sturdier design and better support for pans, also the supports are serated which grip the pans better then the flat supports of the MSR which dont tend to hold th epans well on slopey ground.

the msr dragonfly also requires its own fuel pump where as the primus ones are all universal - the plus side for the msr is that the valves are self cleaning from soot build up - all they require is a shake - however the primus just requires the insertion of a wire - provided - into the valve which is hardly any hassle at all

[Marmot]

most stoves that ive come across will pack up inside the majority of pan sets so trangias dont have the edge on packability, however for all those who are endeared towards trangias their new range is being made from a new material which is making them stronger and 25% lighter

[weatherhead]

I have to agree with timmygowalkies, whenever I've been up to really high places, a trangia has worked better. I now have an MSR whisperlite international though, and haven't tested it up in the clouds, really. Might get out this week though.

I am a (currently in training) scout leader, and we were doing some stuff with the boys a few weeks back about stoves and cooking. The best one to start them on is a trangia, it's simple to light and put out, and I'd definitely prefer to give them that than a gas burner, as they are liable to leave the gas on for ages before being able to light it, and get big balls of flame.

[guru]

I've had my old trangia at least 10 years, gotta say I've never really noticed how long it took to boil water before but have been gutted when I realized I forgotton to bring tea-bags!

[Marmot]

youd probably have enough time to walk home and back again and still be back before it boils

[dasy2k1]

i trained on trangieas in the scouts for our lamp and stove part of the pathfinders badge
they work really well if you have used them often enough that the burner is worn in....
a new burner is horrable to use,
one 5 years old is a joy. and much faster to boot

still its possable to make a better burner out of 2 drink cans and some epoxy resin!