Trangia Burning Times

[Wildfisher]

For all the Trangia experts.

Any rule of thumb here?

How long would you expect to get from say a 1/2 litre fuel bottle full of meths?

[Traditionalist]

This is pretty comprehensive Fred;

http://www.diamondspirit.net/adunk/trangia.html#BurnTimes

http://www.diamondspirit.net/adunk/trangia.html

http://www.diamondspirit.net/adunk/metho.html

This may be of interest as well, it's a quote from the above site;

"Its also usful to know that mixing metho with 10% water can reduce the soot produced when its burnt".

TL
MC

[dazdidge]

Good links Mike,cheers. I have also tried putting water in the meths as Trangia actually recomend it too, but I didn't find much of a difference to be honest. Maybe I didn't get the right amount in so I will try again.

daz

[Traditionalist]

The right amount is quite critical. If you put too much in it doesn't burn well or at all! And the original quality of the meths also has an effect. I don't worry much about soot as such.

Somebody sent me this;

QUOTE
The results... [ Meths : Water ]

1 : 1         The meths-water mixture would not ignite even at an ambient temperature of about 40 deg C

1.5 : 1      The mixture ignited but burned mostly in the fuel well. there wasn't enough fuel vaporizing to power the burner

2 : 1          Like above, there wasn't enough fuel vaporizing  to produce jetting, but intermittent jetting happened towards the end of the burn cycle as the Trangia burner heated up

2.5 : 1       Took some time for the jetting to begin, and started off with a nice blue flame,  but turned into a gentle yellow flame which stayed the same even after the burner was too hot to touch. Ideal mixture at a room temperature of 40 deg C and strong enough not to go out even when I pointed my pedestal fan at it .(at its lowest speed)

3 : 1           Jets faster than the above mixture, but emits a tall yellow flame... although, it was not tested long enough, it is possible, that the flame would have got larger as the burner further heated up and vaporized more of the meths.  There was no point in further testing as the previous 2.5 : 1 mixture proved ideal.

UNQUOTE

I have not tried it.

TL
MC

[Fishtales]

My mate gets a week from his. Breakfast, dinner and some lunches but I suppose it depends on what you are cooking or how much water you want to boil. After he gets his food cooked he drops the burner cover on the burner to extinguish it and uses what is left for the next time or tops it up as required rather than letting it burn out.

His is the Swedish Army model.

http://www.factsurplus.co.uk/product/57

I know it says not to use the lid but he has always done it and so far not had any spillage

[Wildfisher]

I ask because I am thinking about this at £52.99

[attachimg=1]

Trangia 27 – non stick with kettle. It weighs less than my current gas burner +  pots and no kettle.

In both cases fuel has to be added.  After seeing RC's new stove I liked the look of it. The disadvantage of the meths burner is lack of speed and the heat efficiency vs weight of meths is not as good as gas,  but knowing how much fuel you have, reliability (a work colleague of mine had his gas stove fail in the wilds last year and was stuffed), safety in the tent porch  and quietness is swaying me. I have also  found gas to be  hopelessly inefficient  in the wind.

What do you reckon? I know both options have hard won fans.

[dazdidge]

Personally I wouldn't bother with the kettle Fred, I've found it just as easy to use one of the pots with the frying pan over the top to prevent losing water and to stop the bugs and dirt getting in, it also helps it to boil quicker. I usually use the kelly kettle for boiling the water though, much quicker and the fuel is free and found lying about you. I will boil the water in the kelly and then transfer into the trangia pot if cooking up pasta/rice etc. I kmow it is more weight but I don't venture too far so it's not really an issue for me.

daz

[Traditionalist]

I ask because I am thinking about this at £52.99

<SNIP>

What do you reckon? I know both options have hard won fans.

I don't think you can go wrong with a trangia. I still use some gas stuff but only for short trips where I am at short range from the car, and I don't rely on it. Basically only for making tea and coffee, maybe a soup or similar. Mostly because I detest how most stuff tastes from a thermos or similar.

I don't actually do much camping any more, my back is no longer up to any prolonged trips ( couple of slipped discs), and my knees are going as well now, so a couple of days is about my limit anyway, and I can no longer tramp very far carrying much weight. Shame, but that's just how it is. I have no real problems with just my fishing gear up and down the river banks, but a full camping load is no longer a feasible idea.

Over the years I have messed about with loads of stuff, ( I am a big DIY fan, in case you hadn't noticed!  ), I also enjoyed it a great deal, but to be honest, in a lot of cases I would have been better served to buy what I needed in the first place. 53 quid sounds like a lot, but it isn't really if you get what you want and in good quality.

I wouldnt bother with non stick, it never lasts long anyway and I wouldn't bother with a kettle either, just use a pan with a lid on. I would go for this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trangia-Cookset-With-Spirit-Burner/dp/B000QHIHQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331463545&sr=8-1

and it's cheaper still here;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trangia-Cookset-With-Spirit-Burner/dp/B000QHIHQQ/ref=sr_1_1?m=A1ZR1SUHACA71E&ie=UTF8&qid=1331464000&sr=1-1

TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

The forum reformats those links so that they don't work. Maybe you can figure them out anyway.

Better still, here's a screen shot;




TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

Although for 12 quid you really can not go wrong for that! From the link that Fishtales posted;

http://www.factsurplus.co.uk/product/57

TL
MC