No problem; just curious.

I may eventually get a Ranger stove, particularly since I have a Borde stove which will fit into the Ranger stove. We'll see.

For now, I'm testing the Trangia 27, the Caldera Cone, and the Clikstand.

HJ

The snow in the photo was only a couple in inches deep on a flat stone. Even then this setup boiled about 1 litre of water in around 23 minutes at a temperature around -6 C. The Trangia burner did take about 2-3 minutes to jet properly though.

It was a test to check sub zero alcohol stove performance. To improve cold weather temperature performance using this Trangia setup I would now place a Snowpeak Ti plate and Trangia primer pan from a Trangia winter attachment underneath the assembly. A little bit of insulation under the ti plate would help with efficiency as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuvCxjFgKWw

Personally I still haven't yet come across an alcohol burner that outperforms the Trangia burner in terms of overall performance, usability and flexibility and cost. The ability for the Trangia to store residue fuel internally is a major plus.

There's a lot to be said for the Trangia burner. As one writer put it: "there are two types of alcohol stoves. The Trangia -- and everything else."

The "open jet" style of the Trangia burner is definitely my favorite, and I've experimented with quite a few styles. Easy to fill, easy to light, and effective.

HJ

Great review Jim. In order to use smaller pots on the Clickstand, I bent a stainless steel bicycle spoke into a triangle (bent around the outside of the pot supports). Works nicely.

Ah. Good idea.

I tried a 1000ml pot with the Clikstand last night. The nice thing about the 1000ml pot is that a) it fits on the Clikstand quite securely (a 780ml pot was unstable), and b) everything fits inside well (disassembled Clikstand, Trangia burner, fuel bottle, lighter, and fuel measuring cup).

HJ

Some stats for those who may be interested:

Clikstand with Trangia Burner
Clikstand S-2: 94g/3.3oz
Windscreen S-2: 37g/1.3oz (note: In my testing I used a BPL Ti windscreen, 25g/0.9oz)
Trangia Burner: 67g/2.4oz
Trangia Burner Lid: 21g/0.7 oz
Trangia Burner Simmer Ring: 23g/0.8oz
Total Trangia Burner Weight: 112g/4.0oz
Grand Total: The Clikstand with Trangia burner set up is 242g/8.5 oz total, including windscreen, burner lid, and simmer ring.

Note: The above weights are taken from the Clikstand.com website. SNOWGOOSE in Scotland wrote and gave me the actual weights for his Clikstand set up. His weights are a gram or two heavier in several cases. His total weight was 247g/8.7oz.

The Caldera Cone with 10-12 stove
Caldera Cone: 34g/1.2oz
10-12 stove: 16g/0.6oz
Grand Total: The Caldera Cone with 10-12 stove is 50g/1.75 oz

Note: The above weights are actual weights. The weight of a particular cone may vary depending on what type of pot it is designed for, the type of cone, and the material from which the cone is made (Ti or Al).

The Clikstand with Trangia burner is approximately five times heavier than the Caldera Cone with 10-12 stove.

HJ

Thanks for the information on the weights.

The Tatonka burner stand weighs in at 89g and the Titanium Foil windshield weighs 43g so the total including the Trangia burner etc is 244 grams. So virtually the same weight as the click stand. When the fuel weight performance of alcohol is compared to a liquid (naptha) or gas fuel (butane/propane) then even the recently reviewed MSR Whisperlite Universal is looking very competitive (even without all the advantages such as simmering control, speed and the ability to use inside a tent)



That is very lightweight, but the limitations on its use i.e. only really useful for boiling water with a single specific pot, together with the durability i.e. it would easily be crushed in an accident, make the stove less attractive than a 50 gram titanium gas burner. (the gas burner is even cheaper to purchase)

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/blaze-titanium-stove-p158215

Yes, but you have no windscreen on a small gas stove like that. In a stiff breeze (or more), I'd take the Caldera Cone set up every time. The pot in a Caldera Cone is a whole lot more stable than a pot on top of a small gas stove.

As for crushing, it could happen, but when I pack up my Caldera Cone and slip it in the Ziploc container, and then nest the container inside my titanium pot, things are pretty well protected. Foolproof? No. Reasonably secure? Yes, I think so.

I don't find the Caldera Cone all that limiting with it's pot-specific design. The trick is to pick a pot (and matching cone) that works for what you do. I've got an MSR Titan 0.85L kettle. It can be used as a mug, pot, or kettle. It has a full-width opening, so there's no difficulty with cleaning or getting things out of the pot/kettle as there is in some designs. True, you can't do real cooking, but the Titan kettle is still fairly versatile. When I'm out on the trail, I keep my food prep fairly simple for the most part anyway, so the Titan kettle works for me. I wouldn't try to fry a trout in it though.

HJ

A windscreen can be added and is still competitive for system weight.



Here is a comparable setup using a propane/butane gas burner setup

Hi Gear Blaze Titanium Gas Stove 49g
Primus Clip-On stove windscreen 60g
Primus Stove Foot Rest 22g
Alpkit MytiPot 1350ml pot + lid (doubles as frypan) + handle 172g
100 g Gas Cartridge 165g

Total - 468 g

At first glance this setup would appear to be heavier by around 55 grams but the pot is much larger at 1350ml (could even possibly cater for 1-2 people) and it has a separate fry pan.
To boil the same amount of water you would need around 195g of alcohol compared to 100g of propane/butane (Methylated spirit @0.026MJ/g compared with propane/butane@0.050MJ/g), but this difference is roughly equivalent to the weight of pot cozy and ziploc container. Initial purchase Cost is comparable in the UK @ around £85. Running cost is a different matter though, but in reality this is down to the type of cooking and type of food that it brought along. Boiling water only capability for a freeze dried mountain house is expensive.

Alcohol stoves aren't really considerably lighter except for the occasional single overnight stay where the liquid alcohol fuel weight can be dialed in specifically for that 1-2 day trip. Even then the weight difference of less than 100g still doesn't really outweigh the other major advantages of using a gas burner.



The MSR Titan Kettle is a great bit of kit (it is very expensive though in the UK). The Primus Tea Kettle is excellent as well but is about 1/3 the cost. For those on a budget the Tatonka Stand/Primus Tea Kettle/Trangia Burner is excellent value for money at around £32.

For a great bargain, consider the Mini-Trangia cookset, 35 bucks complete at REI. Add in some heavy duty foil to supplement the windscreen and you are good to go.

I suspect a lot of us have both cartridge stoves and some variety of alcohol as well, vacillating between them depending upon the trip, along with a white gas/kerosene rig for really cold excursions. The rule of thumb seems to be that for trips of a week or so, a well managed cartridge stove is as light as any alcohol rig.

In the USA, the Achilles heel of the cartridge stoves is the reasonably frequent inability to obtain fuel after flying to your destination. This is probably not a consideration in merrie old England.

For utter simplicity and rock solid dependability, it is hard to beat a Trangia when you absolutely, positively need to brew up a nice cup of tea with no fuss or bother.