Trangia super burner mod

I admit it, I love my Trangia burners. And I love messing around with what most people would describe as junk.

The other day, I noticed a similarity in size between the bottoms of a Trangia and the top of a 5 ounce can. Checking, I discovered that the can, when emptied and cleaned, is a perfect fit. Ideas!

First idea is that it could be used to hold my brew kit. Not a bad idea- the stove fits in a GSI or Olicamp cup for a Nalgene, put a couple of tea bags, some lemon, and some sugar in the 5oz can, and slide a water bottle on top. Not bad, could be better.

Idea two, use the can as a windscreen. Drilled two rows of 1/4" holes at one inch interval around a third of the can, one row offset from the other. Set it on the burned when it is going, let it run with a pot on top. Snuffed the flame.

Idea 2.1, go all the way around with the holes, use it as a pot stand. Still snuffs the flames.

Idea 2.2, add a ring of smaller holes at the very top of the can. Test burn at an 1/8th of an inch... it's ok. Open them up to 3/16th, as large as I can go with the test piece.

Light the burner. Set the stand on top. In a minute, it's HOT, a flicked drop of water blasts to steam almost instantly. Put the pot on top. The flames are still going... At about three minutes, I hear what sounds like a bunsen burner!



It seems that the alcohol vapor was building up until it was able to burn through what had once been intended as air holes. It brought a pint of water from simmering uncovered to a rolling boil in about another minute. I've had a boil, but never a rolling boil, from a trangia!

I tried it again with a liter of slightly cooler than room temp water in a bigger pot. Oh, oh wow- boiling in about five and a half minutes, roaring like a baby jet engine. Not tea water hot, not simmering, still not yet a rolling boil, but a sterile-not-pasturized, little bubbles in a steady stream boil. (OK, sometimes I get happy from the littlest things.)

Oddly, it won't reach this point without having something on top of it to weigh it down. I'm guessing it's a vapor pressure thing? But once it is going, as you can see, it stays lit.


This is how it looks nested:

It adds about a 1/3 of an inch to the height of the stove. I'm thinking that I'll actually wait until I have another can, and try doing the top burner ring, with a partial set of lower air holes. But this guy is going in my kit for now. Combined with the coffee can stove systemI've used, this should have some really impressive improvements over just the trangia.

And I'm also going to try nesting these this winter, using an unholed can packed with insulation, as a base to keep the fuel from cooling.

what 5 oz can did you use? looks usefull and a nice idea.

Lee

Hormel chunked ham. Yummy.

Does it come in deviled???

Not in this size. :P But you could use any 5 or 5.5oz can, they are all pretty similiar in size.

have you tryed the Swedish Army Trangia burners??
they are somewhat larger and in the cook kit with the
windshield that is made for the smaller burner the army
one will bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.it however
will not fit in the space for the small burner and has to
be set on the ground....i'm still working on a way to fit
the big one in without cutting the windshield up..

I was thinking of getting a trangia and using it in an Ikea cutlery drainer. A couple of tent pegs will hold up a can lid to serve as a base. Another couple of tent pegs above will hold a coffee can/billy can.

The can lid can also be deployed when using solid fuel tabs. And the drainer can be used with natural fuel like kindling size wood and pine cones.

And they all nest together. I am pretty certain the trangia will fit in there too.

My three are all supposed to be German army surplus, but they are marked as for Swedish military equipment. *shrugs* I don't care were they came from, I'm not parting with them. Not even the flaky one I use for testing this stuff that has a dead quarter. :P

you can open that "dead quarter" by clearing out the holes
with a paper clip..this is per "oop's" at "classic camp stoves"
who seems to know just about everything about ETOH stoves..

Tried it, doesn't change it.

Only way I can get it work is to squirt a little bit of fuel into each hole, then they work fine. That's why it is my test bed rig, not in my kits.

This could potentially be dangerous as it is causing the burner to heat up hotter then it should be. Tha is the reason the wind screen has holes in it. So I would use it with caution.
cheers

Here's something to consider...

wood burning stove/alcohol stove stand (click on the Penny Wood Backpacking Stove link)

...should work great as a stand for your Trangia mod (or any other small alcohol burner) and give you the option of burning sticks, pine cones and such as fuel if available and need dictates. At 3oz, it seems like a great addition for little loss of space and weight gain in a BoB.