Vargo Triad Alcohol Field Test.

Another Triad review by a Roger Caffin

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/vargo_triad_alcohol_stove_review.html

Experiences (using all the knowledge put to use in Rodger Caffins review)

Having had some success using the Triad Stove under controlled conditions in relatively warm conditions around 20C, a field test was now required. The stove is very simple, very lightweight (it was designed for the ultra lightweight backpacker community) and relatively robust, being manufactured from Titanium. Under controlled conditions the stove was able to boil over 700ml of water with a single fill of about 25-30ml of methylated alcohol. I now decided it was time to test the stove under more typical conditions whilst shore fishing for Cod. Today was moderately cool about 8-10C, with a moderate winds around 25-30 knots gusting to 40-45 knots combined with a little drizzle (later mild rain). So nothing to difficult to cope with especially compared to mountain conditions at this time of year.


The location.


Primus Kettle + Triad Stove + Primus Windshield (modified) etc in the most sheltered spot I could find.

Time for a Brew. I followed the same procedure for setting up the brew kit under controlled conditions, and after spending around 5-10 frustrating minutes of trying to get the thing started (using up most of the gas fuel in my Silva Storm Lighter to preheat the fully fueled Triad) the Triad stove finally looked as if was about to start up. Fuel spillage was a problem due to the wind and the way the triad stove accepts fuel through the very small depression and tiny fuel hole in the centre of the stove. Overall the stove is incredibly fiddly to get going in moderate conditions even with a good wind shield. Pre Fuel temperature is critical and the fuel bottle needs to pre warmed using body heat. I doubt the stove would be of any use in sub zero conditions without using preheating paste to warm the fuel and stove to get it going.

After I finally got the thing going I quickly put the Primus Kettle on the stove and waited and waited, checking occasionally that the stove was still alight. After about five minutes the triad stove went out due to a gust of wind even though the stove was still 2/3s full and the windshield and primus kettle was still in its place. I was now back to square one with the kettle full of tepid warm water.

I gave up after the third attempt with 3/4s of the 125 mls of methylated alcohol fuel being wasted through spillage and the rest being discarded to repack the Triad Stove. I never did get a cup of tea.

This stove is absolutely useless in less than perfectly still warm summer temperatures although the stove can also be used with hexamine fuel tabs. It would be much more sensible to use this fuel with the stove.

If a stove is critical to your survival prospects then stay well away from this piece of junk (though to be fair it does suffer due to the inherently poor performance of alcohol based fuel in cool and windy condition. It reminds me of the Apprentice Sandhurst Twit cooking sausages in France ) It is even a worse performer than the Zippo Blue Lighter. I will be sticking to a conventional Butane/Propane Stove.

Love these kind of field tests ... good for you!!!

Your cod fishing location is really pretty. Where is it?

Pete

It is located here at the centre of the google map.

good real life test..i would like to see more of these on all sorts of gear--wonderful photo!!!..

I'm not familiar with this stove. Does it create burning pressurized jets of alcohol when burning. Does it use a pre-heat cup (ie. burn alcohol around the stove first?) What is the performance with other types of alcohol? Everclear (ethanol) is supposed to work quite well but I never see it in our liquor stores so I just go for cheap methyl alcohol (paint thinner available everywhere $2.19/litre) or use gas line antifreeze (methanol not isopropyl). I've never thought about pre-warming the fuel with body heat, the difference it makes is probably minimal except when near or below freezing.

The reason I am asking is that I use a homemade stove with a shallow pre-heat cup (using about 10-15 grams of methyl alcohol) and about 25-30 grams in the stove itself. The jets start off about 150 mm high before I put the pot on and dwindle down to 50 mm after a while. In sheltered conditions above freezing (not dissimilar to your test except lower humidity) it works reasonably well. A jet stove will obviously work better in windy conditions than a simple open flame but I don't have any background on the Vargo. I thought it was way too expensive, especially when I compared it to the $.50 I spent on the pop can homemade stove.

BTW, is that a titanium spork I see in the picture? - same as mine! I use a hard anodized GSI double boiler (got two of these things!) and an aluminum windscreen that only projects up about a 5-6 mm higher than the bottom of the pot but is wrapped very close to the pot. I have a lot of air holes drilled into it to promote good air draw at the top and bottom. I've also used my backpack turned on the side as a secondary windscreen.

This mirrors my experience with alcohol stoves. My memories are of alcohol stoves working fairly well when it was warm and there was no wind or precipitation. They were a bit fiddly getting going and took a little longer to boil the water compared to gasoline but given time the water boiled and all was well enough.

In a cold gusting wind with misting rain, when you need it most, ignition was difficult and unreliable. Those times we got it lit the stove was weak as a source of heat compared to white gas and propane stoves in similar situations and prone to going out. Slow to boil in good conditions became an exercise in staring at water that refuses to get hot enough to make a cup of tea.

Then again some people claim to have nothing but good experiences with them. Even in difficult situations. Perhaps it is just a matter of people in my small group lacking the touch.

I may have got a hint as to how the alcohol users may make the units work in lousy weather. A friend recounted a tale and mentioned that he 'retired to the tent to make hot coco'. That might be the key. If they won't work in less than ideal conditions you find a place with favorable conditions. Deep beneath an overhang, or behind boulders that block the wind, or inside a tent. I guess if you really, really need that cup of tea then working a stove inside a tent isn't too much of a hazard. Is that what the alcohol guys do?

I've never run my Svea-123, the stove I have the most experience with, inside a tent. A bit under the edge of a rain fly or tarp a few times but never all the way inside the tent. White gas inside the tent always seemed like a bad idea. Alcohol seems a bit safer. But then again with the Svea-123 it handles a fair amount of wind and rain pretty well so there was never any need to move it inside the tent.

I have used my White Box stove in adverse conditions and had no complaints. For windy conditions I dig a small hole to fit the stove and windscreen which just gets around my kettle.

Admittedly I wrapped a kevlar wick around the stove. I drip some of the alcohol onto it and light that which acts as a primer to ignite the main stove. It's much easier than trying to light the fumes directly inside the stove.