Trangia stove - material selection

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

I am helping my sister and her husband buy their first hiking stove, (for occasional multi day trips along Sth Coast NSW - B'Bay to Eden way).

Have been through the research/thinking/comparison of Gas cannister (MSR Windpro) v Trangia style stoves, and that is the topic for another forum thread (Not this one please, my head is still spinning).

Right now however I am looking at which of Trangia materials is best for their particular application. (Weight, although a factor for some, is not critical at the moment).

I am interested in hearing peoples views on the various materials Trangia use in their current range and some of the recently superseded models, namely

- Non stick aluminium
- Hard anodised aluminium
- plain lightweight aluminium
- duossal

Criteria are:
- performance - heat up rate and heat dissipation across the cooking surface, and;
- durability - overall strength, as well as scratch resistance of the internal surfaces for cooking/cleaning

Right now I am leaning towards Duossal. They are low tech people who prefer to keep things as simple as possible. (There are still a few Duossal stoves around on shops shelves across Australia)

Thanks

The Fuzz

[loric]

I've used the non-stick trangia branded pans (big one, med one and a frypan) for 15 years? now. I use it with an MSR whisperlite tho, but that won't matter any.

I only use polycarb cutlery, and when i nest the pans together a chux goes between them so they don't rub.

The teflon is a bit scratched up, but doesn't peel and has held up well.

The biggest plus is that you don't require a lot of water to wash-up (esp important on mainland and you have two walking days b/w water).
AND, if you *&%$#! up and burn rice/whateva the stuff comes off really easy.

To 'condition' the teflon you have to oil it once in awhile. Cooking with slightly oily food also works (such as packet mee goreng). One negative - is that the surface absorbs some 'flavour' and can make your tea taste a bit funny.
I get around this by using the small pot exclusively for heating water/melt snow and we eat out of the frypan and the big pot.

[Son of a Beach]

comparison of Gas cannister (MSR Windpro) v Trangia style stoves

Sorry to get a bit off-topic already, but don't forget that you can get a Trangia with a gas cannister kit. This is what I use, and for me it's the best of both worlds (just heavier and bulkier that the light weight stoves).

To get back on topic, my Trangia has the plain cheap aluminium pans. I've never had a problem with them. Yes, food can stick a bit, but only if you're not careful with your cooking, and it all comes off with a scourer anyhow.

[BarryJ]

comparison of Gas cannister (MSR Windpro) v Trangia style stoves

Sorry to get a bit off-topic already, but don't forget that you can get a Trangia with a gas cannister kit. This is what I use, and for me it's the best of both worlds (just heavier and bulkier that the light weight stoves).

Yeah, I love my Trangia with the gas burner option.

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks so far for those comments

Thanks re. comment on Gas conversion kits for Trangia.

(BTW: I know I said the type of stove was another discussion, but if it was my choice, as opposed to a recommendation, I'd be going the Windpro with decent set of pots. I like to "cook", not just heat things up.)

[Tony]

Hi bigtfuzzywarbler,

Trangia stoves are one of the best stoves ever built, easy to use, efficient and virtually unbreakable but they are heavy. I have two Trangia's.

As for type of pot material, I have run some efficiency tests on Aluminium vs Stainless steel vs Titanium and Ti came out on top followed by Aluminium but there was very little in it, this is because all of the pots are very thin and pot thickness is one of the most important factors in heat transfer physics. It basically comes down to what you type of pot you prefer and to me weight is very important.

As for stoves, if you are going to camp on the NSW south coast, it does not get that cold so a little 60g Kovea upright canister stove would be more than adequate.

A trangia 25 stove can weight from 863g to 1.2 kg depending on what kit you get, this is plus fuel bottle and and cooking for two people you would use 50-70 grams of fuel per day.

With a Gas stove pot setup
Stove 60g
1.4l pot around 200g
suitable windshield 40g
gas canister full (228g of gas) I think is around 350g (for two people use around 30g per day) smaller 100g canisters can be obtained.
Total around 650 grams

To me there is no comparison.

Tony

[Singe]

I've used the non-stick trangia branded pans (big one, med one and a frypan) for 15 years? now. I use it with an MSR whisperlite tho, but that won't matter any.

I only use polycarb cutlery, and when i nest the pans together a chux goes between them so they don't rub.

The teflon is a bit scratched up, but doesn't peel and has held up well.

The biggest plus is that you don't require a lot of water to wash-up (esp important on mainland and you have two walking days b/w water).
AND, if you *&%$#@! up and burn rice/whateva the stuff comes off really easy.

To 'condition' the teflon you have to oil it once in awhile. Cooking with slightly oily food also works (such as packet mee goreng). One negative - is that the surface absorbs some 'flavour' and can make your tea taste a bit funny.
I get around this by using the small pot exclusively for heating water/melt snow and we eat out of the frypan and the big pot.

My experience with teflon Trangia pans is much the same as loric's; I've never bothered with anything between the pans to stop scratching, just the plastic liner on the saucepan when packed up, and they're still in almost perfect nick after seven years of reasonably frequent use (take the trangia camping quite a bit in addition to bushwalking). The weight benefit of titanium pans is too marginal for me to bother, especially considering that the Trangia itself is a relatively heavy piece of kit. If weight were the main factor I guess a titanium billy and gas stove would be the go, but for practicality you really can't beat non-stick IMO

[theMISSIONARY]

Duossal ive had it since 1991 its been good this is not to say the others are not bad

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks for your respective comments.

I eventually bought them an MSR Windpro and an MSR Alpine Cookset (Stainless Steel).

I went stainless simply for durability. I appreciate the heat induction is not as good as aluminium, but there will be young children using this kit as well, sometimes unsupervised, so stainless seemed more sensible. Also, the extra volume of the Alpine cookset will be handy when the entire family is relying on the kit.

Why the MSR Windpro? Stability, cookability and reliability.

I think the total weight of the kit is around 1000 grams (ex fuel), so comparable weight wise with a 25 series Trangia.

What about "sustainability"? Good question. There are lots of opinions out there on gas cannister setups and their life cycle impact. Not much in the way of quantitative studies.

If you know of any reports, or have something to say about this topic, please post them under a new thread for review/discussion.

In the meantime I recycle my own gas cannisters (empty, puncture, crush) and am looking into ways of decanting from larger cannisters into smaller ones.

[Tony]

Hi bigtfuzzywarbler,

What about "sustainability"? Good question. There are lots of opinions out there on gas cannister setups and their life cycle impact. Not much in the way of quantitative studies.

If you know of any reports, or have something to say about this topic, please post them under a new thread for review/discussion.

In the meantime I recycle my own gas canisters (empty, puncture, crush) and am looking into ways of decanting from larger canisters into smaller ones.

I have not seen any quantitative studies articles on sustainability of canister for bushwalking to date.

If you want to refill canisters check this site out http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_G ... htm#Refill

Tony

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

For those of you who may have been on the edge of your seats waiting to see how these outdoor online adventure drama concludes...

...the person I bought the system for (my sister and brother in law) love it. Kit includes an MSR Windpro and MSR Alpine SS pot set. They have used it on two South Coast NSW trips and are already planning another in a few weeks. They specifically mentioned control, cooking power and capacity. Probably not the kit for solo trips but for them ideal.

Tim

[north-north-west]

Sorry to get a bit off-topic already, but don't forget that you can get a Trangia with a gas cannister kit.

Sorry to take this off topic again, but where can I get a gas burner for the Trangia? I've never seen - OK, never noticed - one in the shops up here. And (roughly) how much does it cost?

[Son of a Beach]

Sorry to get a bit off-topic already, but don't forget that you can get a Trangia with a gas cannister kit.

Sorry to take this off topic again, but where can I get a gas burner for the Trangia? I've never seen - OK, never noticed - one in the shops up here. And (roughly) how much does it cost?

Mine was a christmas present, so I can't comment on cost, but I've seen them in Allgoods in Launceston. I'm sure that any shop that stocks Trangia would either have them, or be able to order them in.

[BarryJ]

Sorry but I can't remember the cost of mine either but it was on the shelf with all the other Trangia accessories when I bought my stove and I just added it to the package.

[corvus]

Last time I checked they were around $95.00 and available from most BW Shops or on line,in non metro areas you may well need to order it.
c

[north-north-west]

Thanks, lads. I'm into the city for a few other things in a week or two, so I'll see what PP or one of the others can do for me.