Mini Trangia

Overview

The Mini Trangia was designed for the KIMM as an ultralight alcohol stove. One has to be honest and start by saying that at 330g it is only ultralight when compared with classic Trangias. For 20 you have bought everything that you need to cook whilst backpacking. This makes it very good value.

As with all Trangias it is a beautiful piece of design. The burner clips into the stand and both nest inside the 0.9L pot. The frying pan can also act as a lid and clips onto the top of the pot to form a single unit. The base of the pot is contoured so that it will not slide around on the pot stand.

When it is all packed away the thing does not rattle simply because the stand fits into an indentation that has been designed into the pot.

The supplied burner is the 'standard' brass Trangia model which is common accross the entire Trangia range.

Indoor Testing

The standard test that I use is the time taken to boil a cup of water (300ml). The Trangia took an acceptable 9 minutes 50 seconds to achieve a good healthy bubbling boil.

Outdoor Testing

Well, so far it has not made it into my pack for an overnight test - mainly because the minimum weight (see below) soon adds up. It will make it one day.

My only initial concern is that it might need some sort of windshield to help it because unlike the 25 or 27 series the stand/windshield is a little exposed. However, I think it would be practical to assemble a usable windshield from rocks near to wherever I camped.

To assist with stability (which is already good when compared with many stoves) I would simply hook two spare(!) metal tent pegs over the potstand and drive them into the ground.

Early Conclusions

It is very easy to dismiss the trangia as being 'heavy'. This is a little harsh because it is not comparing like-with-like. With the Trangia you have a full cooking system that is sufficient for cooking 'proper' meals for one person.

The Trangia is beautifully designed and very rugged. I have yet to meet one that was not 'pack-proof'.

The strongest point in its favour is the fact that it is fully integrated and has nothing that can go wrong with it.

Realistic weights for a cooking system

So, for just boiling a cup of water it does end up comparing quite well with the MSR Pocket Rocket cooking setup 358g but less well when compared with the Vargo Triad at 183 to boil the same cup of water.

This test gives the other two stoves an unrealistic weight advantage. To add the equivalent size of Titanium pot and frying pan to the other two stoves in place of the Titanium mug then clearly the Trangia starts to look quite light for a 2-3 day trip.

In the end it all depends how 'hardcore' you are over cooking. If you want to cook 'proper' meals then the Trangia is a serious contender. If however all you want is hot water then maybe it is a few grams more than you might wish for.

Ironically after running all these tests I can see that the Trangia is still pretty good weightwise and it is also by far the cheapest system - Titanium is needlessly expensive.