Making my Trangia Lighter

[enduro]

Hi all, I've been hiking for a while and always want some ideas to make my gear lighter particularly with some dodgy knees and ankle these days.

I have a Trangia 27 with two 1L pots (Duralloy or what ever they call it lining) with the fry pan kit. For starters I normally drop down to one pot and have a mini wooden spoon from a kitchen store.

I really want to be able to drop the stove stand and wind shield for weight reduction and have a smaller, lighter stove holder/wind shield combo - or at least just a lot smaller one. However since I will be using it next in Tassie Overland Track in Nov (cold) I'm wondering if I will just be shooting myself in the foot with the reduction in fuel burning efficiency this set up might cause. I also want the conversion to be cheap and potentially something I can make at home and fit inside the stove to save on pack space.

Any ideas. I doubt I will want to purchase a whole new stove.

[Son of a Beach]

Unfortunately I can't find the photos, but I reduced the weight of my Trangia to 1/6 its former weight as per this topic (from which the photos have also gone). I only ever used it once or twice before ditching the metho altogether and converting the full sized Trangia to gas (using the Trangia's own gas kit), but it was good and effective (although needed the addition of a home made alfoil wind shield).

Note that I've since purchased a Kovea Supalight stove - it weighs a mere 60g (and there are even lighter ones on the market now). It was not terribly expensive, and I much prefer gas to metho. It's a lot smaller lighter, and better to cook with than any Trangia modification.

[Tony]

Hi enduro,

Before you spend time lightening the Trangia, look at making your own super light alcohol stove there is a lot on myog stoves the web these days

This site is one of the best http://zenstoves.net/ or this forum might help http://www.bplite.com/

If you want to buy an ultra light stove there a lots of cottage manufacturers.

http://www.bplite.com/ (Zelph stoves, makes several very good stove designs, bpl.com is a forum for alcohol stove makers)
https://end2endtrailsupply.com/Home_Page.html (makes several stove designs)
http://www.whiteboxstoves.com/ (the White Box stove is a classic)
http://traildesigns.com/ (Caldera Cone stoves are one of the best stove/pot/windshield systems around)

I own and have tested stoves from all of cottage manufacturers above, the stoves that I have tested worked very well, but I prefer to use canister gas stoves when I walk.

Tony

[tasadam]

Here I go again...

Why would you make a Trangia lighter when you can buy them so cheap?


Sorry

[Robatman]

Just kidding

I like the idea of using the mini trangia stove (Trangia 28) and shield and just taking a pot and fry pan- for some reason i havent gone the gas route yet.
Having said that for a saving of around 350g you do lose that stability and peace of mind.

In my current lightening phase I have upgraded-


Shell MD 920g replace with Peter Storm 320g __Save 600g (warm wether only)
Sleeping bag 1.5kg Replace with MD 920g __Save 600g (warm wether)
Tent 2.7kg, Gunyah 1V 1.1kg ___Save 1.6kg (except snow)
Backpack 2.7kg ??
Trangia 700g ??
Thermarest trail pro 910g To buy- Neo air** 410g ____Save 500g
Scarpa SL Attack 1950g To buy- lightweight GTX's TNF hedgehog or Scarpa Aria approx 950 _____Save 1kg

Total saving around 4kg's

Robert

[north-north-west]

Shell MD 920g replace with Peter Storm 320g __Save 600g (warm wether only)
Sleeping bag 1.5kg Replace with MD 920g __Save 600g (warm wether)

*bites tongue*
Must . . . not . . . make . . . New . . . Zealand . . . joke . . .

[Jellybean]

Shell MD 920g replace with Peter Storm 320g __Save 600g (warm wether only)
Sleeping bag 1.5kg Replace with MD 920g __Save 600g (warm wether)

*bites tongue*
Must . . . not . . . make . . . New . . . Zealand . . . joke . . .

Gee, ewe make me laugh

[sef]

Canister gas is the way to go, although it's kind of awkward. The fuel's more efficient per gram than alcohol, but you have to overcome the weight of the empty canister and the weight of residual fuel. This is dead weight if you're not out for a 110g canister's worth (10-12 litres) or if you're out for longer and need to take an extra canister / the next size up. If your stove is 30g and you're getting ~30g/litre from metho, it'll beat a Ti stove setup weight for four, five days.

Back to the original post (seeing as they don't want to buy a new stove anyway!) -- you can make a light windshield out of alfoil baking trays pretty easily. The pot stand is where you're going to come undone because shonky efforts (which have a big place in my heart) will probably lead to severe burns. A coke can might work if carefully cut.

... At which point you may as well build one of Tony's pepsi can stoves. Vargo make a nice titanium PCS clone, the ti-triad. Fifty bucks or so.

[Tony]

This is a picture of a Trangia pot stand that I made for a friend, it is made from some Stainless steel mesh cut and rolled to suit, combined with a aluminium foil windshield it reduces the weight considerably, She is off doing a long distance walk and I hope to hear how it has performed in a couple of weeks.

Tony

[Son of a Beach]

Nice work Tony. I presume that the height has been cut to match the same distance from the burner as the Trangia pot stand?

[Tony]

Nice work Tony. I presume that the height has been cut to match the same distance from the burner as the Trangia pot stand?

Yes

[tasadam]

Nice work Tony. I presume that the height has been cut to match the same distance from the burner as the Trangia pot stand?

Yes

Can you tell me the height? I have a burner, but no Trangia.
Top idea.

[Tony]

Hi Adam,

Nice work Tony. I presume that the height has been cut to match the same distance from the burner as the Trangia pot stand?

Yes

Can you tell me the height? I have a burner, but no Trangia.
Top idea.

The pot stand is 52mm high and the gauge of the wire is 1.6mm which is what I had in stock, 1mm should do if you can get some.

Tony

[Robatman]

Nice work Tony. I presume that the height has been cut to match the same distance from the burner as the Trangia pot stand?

This is an interesting page showing burn times for different heights and comp to a Ti pot- it seems that a little further away burns quicker.

http://ultralight-hiking.com/stoves-trangia.html#anchor448004 scroll down abit for the table.

Robert

[WarrenH]

I've used a Trangia for years ... but the thing about a Trangia is it is still only a Trangia and a metho burner is still only a pathetic metho burner.

When you know how long it can take to light a Trangia burner? Know how long it takes to boil half a litre of water and how impossible it is to boil a litre of water? How much fuel you go through and how much fuel has to be carried ? Plus the weight of the fuel bottle? ... and if the humidity is high how inefficient the Trangia burner is? How much maintenance the burner needs to keep the ports open? How often have you not been able to get the screw cap off a Trangia Burner? ... get with the programme switch to Iso-butane in the self sealing canisters.

I'm sorry that I wasted my time with the Trangia. Trangia burners are a very ordinary product. I know, I own one, I've cooked hundreds of meals on it ... and I now own a Kovea Eagle. The Kovea Eagle burner when folded up is smaller than the Trangia pot gripper.

Not all is lost with the Trangia though, I still sometimes use the Trangia pots and the ridiculous warping Trangia frying pan and pot gripper. Trangia is at the bottom of the range not at the top.

Would you buy Trangia quality in tools ... as a professional tradesman or craftsman or an engineer? What else would you buy with Trangia quality? ... anything?

Warren.

[dancier]

I've used a Trangia for years ... but the thing about a Trangia is it is still only a Trangia and a metho burner is still only a pathetic metho burner.

Gas canisters are fine if you're leaving from home, or you know where to get them from.
Often I fly to a destination and head bush straight away, metho's always obtainable along the way whereas gas bottles are not and I've experienced this first hand. When I fly I take the trangia, if I leave from home I'll take either but at the most all I want to do is boil 500mm of water.

Edit: The biggest weight in he mini trangia system is the burner but the new Evernew Titanium burner weighs 34g, this might be an option to reduce weight.

http://www.campsaver.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=eve0001

[Macca81]

How much maintenance the burner needs to keep the ports open?

Cant say i have ever had this problem, and i have been using a trangia since i was about 10...

How often have you not been able to get the screw cap off a Trangia Burner?

only once, when i had epoxy leak all over my camp equipment...

[ninjapuppet]

Thanks for pointing that out Dancier

I checked the evernew out, and it actually also comes with the optional DX stand. I thought I heard about most commercial alcohol stoves on the market but somehow overlooked this evernew Ti. turns out that its only recently released. Its a very interesting set up. Cant see myself using wood the wood burner in our national parks, but the fact its got 2 rows of jets to enable a hotter burn, and the option to slow down the burn is very clever indeed. abit expensive at US$87
heres a cool video of it in action, have a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYHbfwcP61s


Ive actually gone from playing with nearly every type of MSR / optimus stove, to now tinkling with alcohol and esbit stoves. i find its more convenenient when just doing overnighters. playing with stoves and tents is half the fun in this outdoor hobby.

I once misjudged the amount of remaining gas in a cannister and had a cold dinner up in the mountains and dont think i'll like to repeat it.

[Rolfe]

Here's my mod. Stand from coat hanger wire (wide base quite stable), foil from disposable baking tray, lid from cheap billy (fit handle upside down for packing). All fits into 1l pot (except foil), weighs 330g. Can fit enough fuel in the stove itself for a weekend trip so no need to carry fuel bottle/ canister.

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[Area54]

Here's my mod. Stand from coat hanger wire (wide base quite stable), foil from disposable baking tray, lid from cheap billy (fit handle upside down for packing). All fits into 1l pot (except foil), weighs 330g. Can fit enough fuel in the stove itself for a weekend trip so no need to carry fuel bottle/ canister.

P1010710.JPG

P1010711.JPG

P1010712.JPG

Love the metalwork.

If you wanted a rust free option, you could make the stand out of stainless steel bicycle spokes, the most common size is 14G (2.0mm) but thinner is also available.

...and yes you can buy them in titanium!

[Rolfe]

Good idea Area 54. Can you bend these metals without them breaking? I thought stainless steel was a bit brittle. The coat-hanger wire actually doesn't seem to rust but titanium would be even lighter. Thanks for the tip, I might have to look into Mark III.

[sailfish]

Good idea Area 54. Can you bend these metals without them breaking? I thought stainless steel was a bit brittle. The coat-hanger wire actually doesn't seem to rust but titanium would be even lighter. Thanks for the tip, I might have to look into Mark III.

IMO, not a Problem cold bending most stainless around a curve (rod) for this application. It's certainly less ductile than mild steel and will fail if bent back and forth 2 or 3 times. If your concerned you can always bend at red heat. Mostely you will find 316 (marine grade) or less. If you go cold bending tempered 440 (used for cutting tools), you will have a problem.


Regards,
Ken

[Franco]

If you want a strong/light reusable shield, and feel you have spare cash about, have a look at the Ti foil that Titanium Goat sells.
(you can roll it up pretty tight for transport)
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/windscreens.html
Franco

[curlywood]

Here are some pics of my Trangia stand which I use in conjunction with some aluminium flashing as windshield. It has been cut from 2mm (appr) aluminium sheet with a jewellers saw (like a very fine coping saw).
Very stable, light and fits flat inside pot.
Also trangia lids are VERY heavy. I found a cake tin (i think that's what it was) at an op shop which fits nicely and is around a third the weight. It's made from thin aluminium and so gets dinged quite easily but I've been using mine for five years now and just bend it back into shape as needed. Works well.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Only just saw this thread.

The best way to make the trangia lighter, is to throw it in the bin and get a 20th century stove......

[corvus]

Only just saw this thread.

The best way to make the trangia lighter, is to throw it in the bin and get a 20th century stove......

And you suggestion is ? O Enlightened one !!
c

[ILUVSWTAS]

...

Sorry Corvus, ....
THROW THE TRANGIA AWAY AND GET A NEWER STOVE.

minor moderation in line with forum rules

[juju]

Damm! - was looking for a raspberry blowing smilie and there isn't one...
ILUVMYTRANGIA

[ILUVSWTAS]

Damm! - was looking for a raspberry blowing smilie and there isn't one...
ILUVMYTRANGIA

Yeh I loved mine too, Still use it when I go car camping, Just too many reasons not to take one on multiday trips

[juju]

Yeh I loved mine too, Still use it when I go car camping, Just too many reasons not to take one on multiday trips

Mustn't have been real love then - only infatuation - so that's a raspberry!

ISTLLUVMYTRANGIA