Now let's say you wanted a reliable stove. No, not just ordinary reliable, I mean reliable. Really reliable. A stove that will operate under any conditions. A stove you could leave in the trunk of your car for years, fuel it up, and it would work fine. A stove that just doesn't quit. I mean does such a thing even exist?

You bet it exists, and I'm going to tell you about it. In fact it's this week's Stove of the Week: The Trangia 27.

Included on my blog post is a link to a nice article on the history of the Trangia for all you aficionados out there.

HJ

Ah... I have such sweet memories of making supper on a trangia cook set

Good point on not extinguishing the flame with the lid: This ruins the O-ring, which means you can't have alcohol inside the burner during transport any longer.

I use the trangia 25 with the UL-HA (ultra light, hard anodized) configuration and a trangia gas burner. This is really an excellent setup.

Hi, MostlyHarmless,

Which type of gas burner do you have? The older Optimus one or the newer Primus made one? Got any pics?

I'd like to get a gas or multifuel version. The only problem is that both of my Trangia sets are older than 1988 when they added openings for the fuel hose and control knob. Maybe some day.

HJ

Great review. I have been a satisfied user of the Mini-Trangia for many years. Simple and foolproof. Thanks for the link to Trangia history.

I haven't the burner at hand right now, but I believ it simply says "trangia". It is a few years old, I'll check out what it says and possibly post some pics if that can aid in identification.




Now THAT is an easy fix: Aluminium is easy to work with...
But I guess that you don't want to use dremel on your family heirloom...

My Trangia 25 is from the 1960's. It's got the old style burner and a solid leather strap. It's vintage cool. I won't be drilling any holes in that one!

My Trangia 27 is a beater from the 80's. No biggie if that one gets banged up a bit.

I'd probably just get a new Trangia 27 (or 25) if I decide to get a gas or multifuel burner. If you get the gas or multifuel burner, you've got a really powerful winter snow melter.

If your gas burner is a bit older, it's probably the one made by Optimus for Trangia.

Is the control knob on your gas burner black with groves like this?

(not the best image, sorry)

Better image:


Does the control assembly and knob look like the above?

HJ

Hikin_Jim a request Sir...I bought my Trangia burner as a back up to my propane camp stove(s) for hurricane season, and in part just because it was so highly recommended on this forum...I will probably never use it for a camping heat source, but would like you to evaluate its potential for an inside source....while I do have a quart of denatured alcohol stored, I really wanted to be able to fuel it with 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol which is more likely to be around the house...so I have attempted to generate a little more heat with the lower BTU fuel

my idea was to make an external priming system like several of the "penny stoves" I've seen, and hopefully generate enough heat in the stove to boil the alcohol with enough residual heat to keep the flame stable... took a 7" section of 5/8" kero lantern wick and stapled the ends together to form a ring, ended up slightly larger than the burner ring...soaked with rubbing alcohol and placed the wick on a ceramic cup saucer...placed the Trangia on the on the wick, and lit it...might not want to try this inside the first time...

after the initial flare up, once the wick burned out, got a flame somewhere between Sterno and good alcohol in the Trangia with a blue flame from the jets, and a yellow/orange flame in the well of the burner...

would you evaluate this modification, or possible offer a solution to using the lower percentages fuel?... thank you

Les,

Let me tell you my philosophy on stove fuels: If it burns good, it is good.

Seriously. If you're getting a good flame, then I'd say that's a good fuel. It's certainly not going to hurt anything unless you see charring, warping, soot build up, or something like that.

Important point at this juncture: You were using a 70% solution. Normally, high concentration isopropanol is a smokey mess that doesn't burn cleanly. So, important tip: If you're going to use isopropanol as a fuel, it must be a lesser concentration.

HJ

I have had good results using Purell hand sanitizer in a well shielded Trangia. I believe that is 62% isoproanol - wrong! Per the label it is 62% ethyl alcohol. It is a handy multi-use item, especially for a back up stove in offices and the like.

The idea of using Purell is sheer brilliance. NO ONE will question you if you have a bottle of Purell in your bag. Carry around a bottle that looks like fuel, and there could be questions at the office or work place.

HJ

Whats the difference between the burner in the 25 and the newer model burner?.

Lee

Hi, Lee,

The older burners did not have a cap. No big deal, but I prefer the newer design where if there's alcohol left over after a burn, I just let things cool down, put on the cap, and I'm on my way. No screwing around with trying to get the alcohol out or having to waste fuel just because I can't retrieve it. With a modern burner, if you're going for a day hike, just add fuel to the burner and stick it in your pocket or pack. No need to carry a separate fuel bottle.

The simmer ring on the older burners was permanently attached by a hinge. The ring just flipped up out of the way when not in use. The simmer ring only covered the jets but did not have a "door" like today's simmer ring -- the center of the stove was still wide open. With the old simmer ring, you could reduce the output of the stove, but you had far less control over the flame than you do with today's burners.

Here's a photo of my vintage 1960's Trangia, still going strong. You can see that the simmer ring is flipped up. I apologize for the low photo quality. I think this is a cell phone photo.


HJ

Yes.

Cool, nice pics too.

Thanks HJ
Lee

OK, then you have the version made by Primus.

HJ

You're welcome of course.

HJ

I didn't have time to expand on this earlier, but if you've got the Primus made control, you should be able to mate it to a Primus Omnifuel pump, if you ever decided that you wanted/needed to. Like this:


In other words, with that fuel hose/controller, you could run your Trangia mounted burner on liquid fuels like white gasoline or kerosene. Trangia + liquid fuel burner? Talk about the ultimate cold weather snow melting machine! Keep it in mind for your next South Pole expedition.

HJ

Now that is absolutely AWESOME - I would NEVER have dreamed of that!

How about the nozzles - should they be exchanged when changing fuel? Or will that nozzle work well with other fuels?

The jet (nozzle) would have to be changed for things to be efficient. Getting a set of jets wouldn't be that big of a deal.

From my blog:

In other words, you'd just buy jets intended for a Primus Omnifuel and use those with your burner. You'd need an Omnifuel pump, and you'd need a fuel bottle from one of the following brands: MSR, Primus, Sigg, Optimus, or Snow Peak. You'd want to check that the threads on the Omnifuel jets will screw into your burner, but I'm pretty sure they're going to be compatible. Even if they weren't compatible, there are ways to modify gas jets if needed.

The jets shouldn't be too expensive, but a pump, well, those aren't cheap. But if you ever did some serious winter travel, you have the option of going multifuel. Pretty cool.

HJ

That's my first reaction as well. Call me old fashioned, but I stick with optimization for a single fuel. I'm OK with changing nozzles, but running one fuel through a nozzle optimized for a different nozzle gives med bad vibes.



Absolutefantastically!

You're better off using the right jet for the fuel.

Using a jet that is smaller than spec for a given fuel usually works well, but you just don't get quite as high of output.

For example, if you use a gasoline jet and burn gas, it will work well, but your max BTU's/hr will be a little lower than they would be if you had used the proper jet.

The opposite is generally not true. Use the above example, but substitute kerosene. The jet will be too large, you'll get too much fuel in the air/fuel mix, and you'll get yellow (inefficient) flames.

HJ

But wait, there's more...at no additional cost, you also get carbon monoxide! Such a deal..

Yeah, that too.

Generally, using a jet with an aperture that is too large is a bad idea. Too small might drop your power output a bit, but it should still burn clean.

HJ

So the gas burner for trangia can preheat and vaporize liquid fuel?

Yes, I believe so. I'm less sure about the jets being compatible, but the gas burner should be able to vaporize liquid fuel.

Here's the burner I'm thinking of:


Notice that it has a preheat "loop". For sure it use gas with the canister inverted. I'd research it further before plunking a lot of money down, but if it's got a preheat loop, it should be able to vaporize liquid fuels like gasoline and kerosene just as it vaporizes liquefied gas.

Here's a photo from the internet of what appears to be the same burner hooked up to liquid fuel:


HJ

Neat, I've never seen a trangia gas burner, didn't know it can do that.

Yep. Super convenient. Add the non-stick version of the pans and such, and you've got a real cook's stove.


HJ

Looks virtually windproof too.

Yes! It's the ultimate cold weather stove.

The original concept came from Gunnar Finn who produced his KAP Arctic stove which is considered by many to be the ultimate harsh weather/extreme cold stove.


The original had an Optimus 111C type burner (although I believe the 111T type burner would work as well). I believe the Swedish military used the stove for winter operations in the far north. A bit of background on the KAP Arctic.

The KAP Arctic is no longer produced, but it can be emulated by installing a kerosene or gasoline burner in a Trangia set up. The combination produces a very efficient, very windproof stove.

HJ

Oh, and when I said in the post that began this thread, yes, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but the Trangia really is that reliable, particularly if run as designed (on alcohol). If you absolutely must have a stove that will work no matter what, the Trangia is that stove.

HJ

Now I'm very curious if the jet can be changed to run liquid fuel. It gets expensive though, the 25 plus gas burner is already about same cost as omnifuel, then you gotta add the pump and jets and it's $200+. Probably easier to fabricate a similar windshield system for the latter.

Yeah it can get pricey. I tend to watch and wait on stove items. You never know when something might come along.

I bought my Omnifuel used for less than $100. It was in wonderful condition.

I bought my Trangia 27 used also. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't much. The lid, pot gripper, strap, and burner were missing. I had to buy a burner (less than $20), but a friend had a spare lid, and I was able to piece the other things together from what I had on hand.

With my Trangia 27, I can probably just take the legs off my Omnifuel and rig up something to hold the burner in place inside the windscreen. No need for me to buy the Trangia gas burner since I have a full Omnifuel.

For someone who already has a Trangia gas burner, they just need to buy a fuel pump that has a 7/16" UNEF threaded connector. No need to buy the whole stove. The pump from a Brunton Vapor All Fuel is one. The pump from an Omnifuel is another. There are also some cheap Chinese fuel pumps available on eBay. I wouldn't trust my life to the Chinese ones though. Of course you'll need a fuel bottle, but any fuel bottle with compatible threads will do: Sigg, Primus, Optimus, MSR, and Snow Peak all have the same threads. Pick one up for cheap at a garage sale.

If you don't have an Omnifuel or a Trangia Gas burner, the burner from an Optimus 111C or 111T will work great. You could also use the burner from an Optimus Nova or an MSR XGK/XGK II. I'm not sure the XGK-EX could be used. I'm sure there are other burners that could be used.

Anyway, all that to say, there are ways to piece together the parts depending on what you have on hand/what is available to you that won't break the bank. The end result? Perhaps the ultimate cold weather/extreme conditions stove. For someone who does snowmobiling, back country skiing, winter mountaineering, is on rural roads in a cold climate, etc, it might be a really nice stove to have.

HJ

Putting omnifuel inside is an interesting thought. Wasn't there an legless version made for putting inside trangia, or did I confuse some other stove with it?

I'm not 100% sure about this, but from the photos I've seen, the multifuel burner now sold for the Trangia is (basically) an Omnifuel without the legs. There's a sort of "adapter" to hold it in place in the Trangia, but I think you could rig something up. Omnifuel + Trangia = NICE.

HJ

I looked at some photos on the net. The current multifuel Trangia burner is clearly a derivative of the Omnifuel. It has a cup shaped adapter to hold the burner in the proper place. I notice however that the valve adjuster at the burner has been removed. Not sure why that would be. Perhaps it didn't fit well inside the lower windscreen?

If you look at this Flickr photo stream, I think you'll see what I mean: Photos of a Trangia Multifuel Burner.

HJ

That's definitely an omnifuel burner. So one can just buy that instead of the gas burner and have a windproof omnifuel.

Yes, I believe so. The one question I have is why they took the control off of the Omnifuel. That's not making sense to me although it may just be that the valve doesn't align with the stock openings in the lower windscreen. Otherwise, why on earth would you "cripple" a beautiful Omnifuel? It's one of the finest stoves in existence. Why diminish its capabilities?

I haven't tried this, but clearly that's a modified Omnifuel burner, and I've read of people making homemade adapters to use their Omnifuel in a Trangia, so I'm confident that it can be done. There might be a couple of hurdles, but I'm confident it can be done.

HJ

I saw this post on another forum: Modifying a Trangia for use with an Omnifuel. The individual made it work, but it took more doing than I would have expected. I've seen other posts elsewhere that made it sound easier, but the above post was detailed and had photos.

He did not need to remove the valve-at-the-burner control, but he did have to widen the opening in the lower windscreen. Widening the holes in the lower windscreen doesn't sound too bad. The part where he lowered the burner sounded more difficult.

I'm periodically researching this as I have time, hence the occasional odd post (such as this one). I'll post updates as I find out more.

HJ

OK, so I've looked into this a little more.

Apparently the X2 Trangia multifuel burner is a combination of the Primus Omnifuel and the Primus Multfuel EX. The performance has been backed off a bit in an effort to preclude the melting of the windscreens. I've read that the larger Trangia 25 will be a little more resistant to melting than the more compact Trangia 27. Seems even weirder that if there's a potential windscreen melting problem that they'd remove the fine tuning valve at the burner, the very valve that could be used to moderate the flame and prevent potential melting.

That being said, I've seen several posts on the net where people adapted a stock Primus Omnifuel for use in a Trangia set up, so it's clearly possible, but isn't completely straight forward. The adapter and the windscreen will both need some modifications.

Sounds to me that if you have an older Optimus Nova (before Katadyn bought out Optimus and messed things up), that might be a better option for use with a Trangia set up. Trangia had used the Nova burner for a number of years. When Optimus was bought out, moved production to China, and started having serious quality control issues, Trangia switched over to the X2 burner from Primus. I can't say for sure that the switch was due to the quality control issues, but the timing sure makes it looks as though that were the reason.

HJ