Trangia mini

[IJL]

I'm thinking of getting one of these for a bit of lightweight camping on the bike, I believe the youngsters call it bike packing.  Has anyone used one ? are they reasonably stable? I know there a lots of gas stoves around that would do the job but my inner Luddite likes Trangia's and the mini can be found at a good price.  Its only going to be for brews and heating a can of breakfast

[Aunt Maud]

I had a Trangia a long time ago and thought it was a pain. I've got a small MSR with a gas canister which is quick, clean, easy, and packs down small.

[Polar Bear]

If you like Trangias then you'll love the mini.   

Clearly it can never be as stable as a full size 27 or 25 but find a flat surface or a brick or stone and you'll be just fine.

[MalRees]

It's perfect for the use you describe. Used one just in the same way myself.

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

Isn't the triangle better than the mini:
has more of a windshield/gathering design like the 27/25?

[Dave_C]

....  Its only going to be for brews and heating a can of breakfast

Breakfast comes in a can?? Oh Tennants? ;o)

[Kim]

If you like Trangias then you'll love the mini.

Dispute that.  The main advantage of the proper Trangia over pretty much everything else is that the outer enclosure makes it stable (one-handed stirring is possible without losing your dinner) and spectacularly windproof with no need to muck about with windshields.  Works well with either meths or gas burners.

With the Trangia Mini you've got a well-made lightweight meths-burning stove with all the usual disadvantages of small stoves.  Whether you like it comes down to how much you prefer an alcohol burner compared to one of the many small gas stoves.  Personally, as someone who uses stoves almost exclusively for cooking food (I don't do tea or coffee), I like meths for cycle touring because you have a much better idea of how much fuel you've got without the bulk of carrying a second cartridge as you have to with gas.

Caffeine fiends make much fuss about various stoves' speed of boiling water (gas or pressurised liquid fuel being much faster).  I say you're camping and what's the problem with waiting a couple of  minutes.  For simmering food, the difference is irrelevant.  Meths burners are silent, which is something that anyone who's been awakened by a fellow camper's XGK rocket engine will appreciate.

I like the Trangia for normal touring but if I was going super lightweight (eg. for a brew up on an overnight ride) I'd use a MyTiMug with a screw-on cartridge top gas burner and a known-good cartridge.

[Chris N]

The Mini needs a windshield, IME.  The frying pan lid is a nice touch but the whole thing is rather bulky, inefficient and messy.  I'd much rather have a small gas stove and 100g cartridge in a large ti mug for quick brews and simple rehydrated food.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I've only ever used a trangia knock-off or a home-made meths burner.

Either go full-size or make your own, I reckon. I made my own from a deoderant can, took maybe 10 minutes and it weighs about 13gms. Add a windshield and you are cooking.

Have mislaid that so will have to make another, fortunately have found the makings in the garage, might do that this weekend.

[andrew_s]

The Mini needs a windshield, IME.

+1

All meths stoves need a reasonably efficient windshield, as you can't just turn up the flame when it gets breezy.
If it does, and you don't have a decent windshield, you could end up waiting forever for a boil (i.e. until the fuel in the burner runs out).

Stoves than come with a good windshield are a full-size Trangia, a Caldera Cone, or a clikstand (of which the Triangle is a rip-off). Everything else, you've got to bodge the windshield yourself, and strike the right balance between letting air in to keep the flame going and letting heat out too fast.

[Canardly]

I have one but only used it once before moving on to a full size Trangia with both meths and gas options. At the moment a small gas stove can be had for £6 or thereabouts e.g.

https://www.springfield-camping.co.uk/mercury-backpack-stove

[TPMB12]

I got a mini Trangia clone for £10 years ago. First trip out with it was a real pain. It was an unusually mild February and we were doing part of the west highland way. It needs a windshield or it loses all it's heat. Really quite poor.

As an aside, on that trip by pure chance my mate took his real mini Trangia with him. He's a veteran Trangia user. We compared our mini Trangia stoves and the cheap clone was better made. It was more solid, better made and a fraction of the cost. My mate was annoyed by that and I don't think he uses it anymore. Mine is in few cupboard split up as I have used the pot on its own with a foil lid, windshield and a variety of other stoves. It's never been used intact since.

Look at caldera cone made for a pot you already own. It's a very good meths stove.

[Veloman]

The Mini needs a windshield, IME.  The frying pan lid is a nice touch but the whole thing is rather bulky, inefficient and messy.  I'd much rather have a small gas stove and 100g cartridge in a large ti mug for quick brews and simple rehydrated food.

My bold

Agreed.  After considerable use of many stoves in many environments, I have to agree, even if it does mean having the cartridge in the sleeping bag for very cold conditions!  Cheap and very light wind shield is some aluminium foil doubled-up and wrapped around pot.  Favourite stove is the wide legged low profile alpine stove that is very stable.  Most scary stove is of course a good old MSR!

[Vince]

I have a Trangia Mini, It heats water, cooks beans and fries bacon.

When you get fed up of the random control of the flame size, you'll find that a Vango* gas stove will fit inside the pots.

* Other stoves are available.

[TPMB12]

It'll do those things but it's a seriously flawed design IMHO so other solutions are a lot better. Waste of money even for a cheapo rip off!

[scottsept86]

I use a Stanley adventure cookset and a homemade hopcan stove that doesn't need a pot support. A DIY windshield made from a foil roasting tray sits nicely inside.
Unless you're set on fried breakfasts, I think it'll work better than a trangia mini, and will hold a 100g canister and stove inside the pot if you decide to convert to gas later on.
Also the shape lends itself very well to being strapped to an anything cage or similar.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[IanDG]

Dropped to -1c when I was at Kielder, I couldn't get my Trangia lit. The person in the next tent lent me there gas stove.

[Charlotte]

Although we have a proper Trangia for when weight isn't an issue, my first meths stove was a Clickstand - the design of which was ripped off by Trangia to make the Triangle.

The main difference between the two products (other than Trangia shamelessly stealing Clickstand's wonderful design) is that the original product comes with the facility for an ultralight windshield.  When used properly, this makes it almost as good in a breeze as a proper Trangia, yet much lighter and smaller to pack (it all goes in a pot).  I really rate it.

[Kim]

Dropped to -1c when I was at Kielder, I couldn't get my Trangia lit. The person in the next tent lent me there gas stove.

The procedure for lighting a Trangia in extreme low temperatures probably doesn't work with the Mini or Triangle, as it depends on being able to suspend the burner above the cap (with o-ring removed, and a small amount of fuel burning within, possibly using something as a wick to get it started).

I've lit a Trangia burner straight from the freezer by spilling some meths on the top of the burner and holding a cigarette lighter to it, but that took some effort, and was in warm air.  The coldest I've used it in the wild has been a little above zero.

It's the opposite problem to gas at low temperatures: Once you get a meths burner going, it'll keep going.  With gas it'll light instantly, but the butane won't boil quickly enough to keep up with demand.  The proper solution is a stove with a pre-heat loop that can run on liquid butane from an inverted cartridge (the Trangia gas burner is such a design).  The bodge is to immerse the cartridge in a pan of liquid water, increasing the supply of heat to the boiling gas.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've never used any sort of Trangia but as for windshields, I'd say that gas stoves need them too.

[IanDG]

Dropped to -1c when I was at Kielder, I couldn't get my Trangia lit. The person in the next tent lent me there gas stove.

The procedure for lighting a Trangia in extreme low temperatures probably doesn't work with the Mini or Triangle, as it depends on being able to suspend the burner above the cap (with o-ring removed, and a small amount of fuel burning within, possibly using something as a wick to get it started).

I've lit a Trangia burner straight from the freezer by spilling some meths on the top of the burner and holding a cigarette lighter to it, but that took some effort, and was in warm air.  The coldest I've used it in the wild has been a little above zero.

It's the opposite problem to gas at low temperatures: Once you get a meths burner going, it'll keep going.  With gas it'll light instantly, but the butane won't boil quickly enough to keep up with demand.  The proper solution is a stove with a pre-heat loop that can run on liquid butane from an inverted cartridge (the Trangia gas burner is such a design).  The bodge is to immerse the cartridge in a pan of liquid water, increasing the supply of heat to the boiling gas.

Thanks - After my Kielder trip I did see a video of someone using a night light under the burner unit to warm up the meths.

[alexb]

I'm planning to use a simple meths burner made from a drinks can just to boil water on my next trip out.
I figure having that sitting to one side getting the kettle on will allow me to focus on playing with an adjustable gas stove for the main meal.

The can burner is tiny and the fuel and stove wrapped in a poly bag will happily sit inside my tea cup.

[Kim]

AIUI the drinks can burners make up for their incredibly light weight with increased fuel consumption, but YMMV.

I figure having that sitting to one side getting the kettle on will allow me to focus on playing with an adjustable gas stove for the main meal.

This makes good sense, particularly if you're doing more complicated cooking, where swapping pans between stoves is less hassle than adjusting the output of a meths burner.

[andrewc]

https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/index.php?seo_path=30ml-spill-proof-meths/alcohol-burner

Meths burners, pots & windshields.  Recommended on another blog.

I used a Trangia Mini for 2 weeks in France.  Hated it, I've now got a triangle but wouldn't use it for more than an overnight trip where I wasn't doing proper cooking.   The full size T27 has been all over with me & I wouldn't change that.

[davelodwig]

https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/index.php?seo_path=30ml-spill-proof-meths/alcohol-burner

Meths burners, pots & windshields.  Recommended on another blog.

I used a Trangia Mini for 2 weeks in France.  Hated it, I've now got a triangle but wouldn't use it for more than an overnight trip where I wasn't doing proper cooking.   The full size T27 has been all over with me & I wouldn't change that.

I also have a T27. It's been all over with me both on meths and gas and frankly I'd leave other stuff at home before that stove.

Some might say it's an emotional attachment to something from my youth but I've got tiny gas stoves, jet boils, kelly kettles, titanium doo dads and all sorts that fit in a mug but I still take my reliable T27 and leave other stuff behind.

D.