Trangia for 2

[trekker12]

Having recently discovered the joys of cycle touring Mrs Trekker and I are out shopping for better quality camping kit of a lightweight nature.

We have used a cheap gas burner for making tea etc but most of our camping in recent years has been car touring so can carry a larger cooker for dinner. I've always liked Trangias - although I've never actually owned one so am going to invest.

I am of the opinion the website is right when it states a 27 series is sufficient for cooking for two people but Mrs Trekker doesn't believe me and thinks we should get a 25, which will take up more pannier space.

Is it a significant amount of packing difference? At this stage we will only be away for three to four days at a time so don't need huge amounts of kit but I'm thinking slightly more long term (I hope).

[Polar Bear]

We started with a 27 but soon graduated to a 25.   The pots are simply a tad too small in a 27 when cooking for two in our experience.

There is very little difference in the bulk and I keep the 25 in a drawstring stuffsac which goes in my kitchen pannier - an Ortlieb Front Roller plus with the meths bottle, cutlery and crockery. 

[Kim]

It's about the size of the pans, mostly.  A 1-litre pan is fine for boiling water for two cups of Brown Drink, and about right for cooking a single large portion of amorphous rice-y pasta-y stuff (remember, you need enough space to stir it without spilling).

So, it depends exactly what and how you're cooking.  You can obviously do two one-pan meals on a 27, or a two-pan meal if it divides up reasonably well, but you probably won't get enough pasta for two decent portions of pasta'n'sauce out of a single pan, if you see what I mean.

For simple boil-it-with-water meals, cooking in series with a 27 is a legitimate technique.  It's not like you're usually in a hurry while camping.  Probably not so good if you're chopping up an assortment of meat and veg for something posh.  If you're frying, then the smaller area of the 27's pan is going to be quite restrictive.

Looking a the specs, the size difference doesn't actually sound like all that much, and presumably you can make use of the increased volume to stash more of your cutlery/condiments/washing-up kit inside the 25.  I don't think I'd mind touring solo with a 25 series (I have a 27), given that when I'm being really lightweight I tend to leave the Trangia at home and carry a basic gas burner.

[mrcharly-YHT]

If you don't take the kettle, then the trangia doesn't have much bulk - stuff things inside it.

Even if you do take the kettle, it is a convenient volume for packing a lighter/matches (inside plastic bag), some J cloths for cleaning/drying duties.

[Polar Bear]

I never take the kettle.   

[trekker12]

25 it is then, thanks for the tips.

Not sure I'd go without the kettle but I guess water can be boiled in a pan. Will suck it and see.

[woollypigs]

Yes go big well in targia case go smaller in number. It's like a meal for two packet which just a about feed one. Do take the tea pot, great for extra hot water, and storage, especially when other pots are dirty or busy.

[Kim]

25 it is then, thanks for the tips.

Not sure I'd go without the kettle but I guess water can be boiled in a pan. Will suck it and see.

I have a 25-size Trangia kettle, which was erroneously bought by my 27-series Trangia's previous owner, and while it can just about balance on the extended pan supports, it's fiddly and precarious and inefficient.  Barakta and I use it on the low-pressure gas stove when car camping, for which it is a good size, and I have no pressing desire to obtain a 27-sized kettle.

The 1 litre Trangia pans are surprisingly cooperative to pour with (can't vouch for the larger ones), which is in my mind the main advantage to using a kettle, other than having a permanently clean container for boiling water.  Drinkers of Brown Drinks or creators of copious washing-up may find the latter to be a substantial advantage - I don't.

I've not tested it scientifically, but I doubt there's anything in it efficiency wise between a pan with a lid and a kettle, and pans without lids boil water just fine anyway.


If you're concerned about packed volume I'd certainly say that you're better off with a 25-series Trangia sans kettle than a 27-series with.

[Polar Bear]

...
The 1 litre Trangia pans are surprisingly cooperative to pour with (can't vouch for the larger ones), which is in my mind the main advantage to using a kettle, ...

If you're concerned about packed volume I'd certainly say that you're better off with a 25-series Trangia sans kettle than a 27-series with.

Or just convenience.   A kettle adds clutter and seems pointless when you have pans. 

[IanN]

I've found a small gas burner very useful in addition to a trangia set up.
You can have two pans going at once - pasta in one, veg/sauce in the other.
A second handle helps. Tall, tippy gas burners don't. 
I have a 27 and an MSR gas burner, which we used for (motor) cycle touring and backpacking
We ate out of the pans to save space.

I've added a 25 now. With the 27 as well we manage to cook for 4. I still can't get my head around 'family' camping with all the gear.

Of course you need a kettle! Doing the dishes before a cup of tea? 

[Vince]

it is a convenient volume for packing a lighter/matches (inside plastic bag), some J cloths for cleaning/drying duties.

I get all that inside my Trangia Mini.

One thing to consider is that the burner is the same on all models, so there isn't more heat available to heat the extra food/water in the pan.

[Mad cyclist]

I have the Trangia 27-1ul which is perfect for me but you would be better with the 25 if you are cooking for 2

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

.....
I've not tested it scientifically, but I doubt there's anything in it efficiency wise between a pan with a lid and a kettle, and pans without lids boil water just fine anyway.
...

I would have expected using the lid 'properly' (ie inverted) in the storm cooker mode
(last diagram on this page http://trangia.se/english/2934.the_trangia_principle.html) to be more efficient than the kettle which allows heat to escape up  the sides:  the stormcooker mode should have more the enclosed efficiency of a caldera cone I would have expected:  I suppose some one could test it. I have fitted a bail to my lid to make it easier to use stormcooker mode (my 27 lid is never used as a frypan).

I would expect any effect to be less on a 25 due to the wider base area of pans/kettle.

[DrMekon]

Trangia seems like a large thing to lug around. We love ours (25 and 27) for back of the car camping, but not for bikes. Below is my current two pot solution for food and drink. You could both carry one and still save weight over a 27.

8g bearbones meths burner (designed to boil a full mytimug400 - need 22g version if you want to boil the 650)
22g cut down alpkit concertina (half height, only 3 panels)
14g light my fire mini
98g alpkit mytimug650
74g alpkit mytimug400
10g 60ml hdpe bottle
17g alpkit folding ti spork
10g alpkit mytimug bag (all fits in the one from the 400)
=253g plus meths.

Pack size is same as the mytimug650 - ie 10cm diameter, 10cm tall, and leaves space inside to pack 2 coffee bags and 2 hot chocolate sachets.

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

Has anyone who already has a 27 but finds a 1litre pot too small for a proper 'cyclists/hillwalkers' dinner    tried using a  2.0 to  2.5 litre-ish plastic tub (to fit neatly-ish on outside of the packed trangia 27) to allow one inner 1L pot to cook pasta or similar and the outer 1L pot to cook veg and protein and sauce then combine into 2L of dinner in said tub?

[rogerzilla]

From observation of other people's Trangias, they seem reliable but very slow and nigh-on uncontrollable.  For minimum weight I'd go for one of the cheap titanium stoves (about £15) which have more power than you'll ever need, aluminium cookware and a small gas canister or two.  But I'm rather attached to Coleman white gas stoves for, well, everything except weight.  And maybe safety 

[Ruthie]

Trangias are slow, but when cooking that's not a bad thing.  It's quite hard to badly burn your dinner in a Trangia.

ETA:  Me and mcshroom had a system.  The kettle sat on his Jetboil, while I cooked the food on the Trangia.  Hot coffee while cooking outside, lovely.

[fuaran]

I notice Alpkit have a meths burner coming soon - Alpkit Bruler. https://www.alpkit.com/products/bruler
How does that compare to a Trangia?

[Kim]

Looks functionally similar to a Trangia Mini (which, IMHO, misses the main point of the Trangia - if you're going for lightweight and wobbly, you might as well use one of those little gas burners).

Trangias are only slow at boiling water.  For most cooking this is irrelevant.  TBH, if you're that fussed about doing things quickly, why go cycle-touring?

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

From observation of other people's Trangias, they seem reliable but very slow ...

They are not that slow at boiling as long as you boil 0.5litre or less at a time, i.e. match water volume to burner power. Anyway they are silent: so relax ,read a book or something 

As for controllability , yes the simmer control is a bit of a pain (I suspect less so in a 25 due the wider windshield, others will know): a pity the Optimus Trapper* didn't do well enough to force Trangia to respond with a similar drop-in meths burner with low to 100% controlled by an external slider, just like gas ....

The modern Trangia company seem to have no desire to change/improve such things 
 I am going to try a redspeedster/zelph starlite style stove in the trangia gel holder to see if 0 to 100% simmering is possible...

Gas stoves shout loudly at you whilst on 

*http://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-trapper-81.28479/

[Kim]

From observation of other people's Trangias, they seem reliable but very slow ...

They are not that slow at boiling as long as you boil 0.5litre or less at a time, i.e. match water volume to burner power.

Also, they take a while to reach full power.  Not optimal for caffeine addicts, I know.

Anyway they are silent: so relax ,read a book or something 

That's a definite bonus with meths stoves.  Some stoves can be so loud that it's hard to have a conversation while tending them, at least if you run them at full power.  Actually, that's another plus point for the Trangia - the efficient wind shield design means that it's pretty much silent when cooking with the gas burner, too (though obviously you can turn it up to a roar if you want to bring something to the boil quickly).

[fuaran]

Looks functionally similar to a Trangia Mini (which, IMHO, misses the main point of the Trangia - if you're going for lightweight and wobbly, you might as well use one of those little gas burners).

Maybe, I already have a Pocket Rocket gas stove. But I'm wondering if meths could be more convenient than gas?
For lightweight, could take a small plastic bottle with just how much meths you need. Instead of a whole gas cylinder. And what do you do with the half empty gas cylinders, which are not quite enough for a trip away?

[Kim]

That much is true.  Liquid fuels are much easier to work with when you're trying to keep things lightweight / low volume.

With gas, you generally need to carry two cartridges - the one that's in use, and a full spare.  Or always start with a known good one.

I tend to use gas for heavyweight camping (when spare cartridges aren't an issue), or single overnight brew-ups (where one reasonably full cartridge will be sufficient), but if it's a multi-day cycle tour, I prefer to use meths.