Here's some pics of my hex burner - sorry no action shots, I'm not up to it today.
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about to order a Trangia Mini...any better options?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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We have Trangias, a MRS Whisperlite multifuel, various kerosene stoves, and various gas stoves (primus, MRS pocket rocket etc). on a Bivi, without exception I'd go for the small gas stove (with shield) and cartridge, everytime. They are just loads easier and quicker and more adjustable flame.
when it gets cold and the can is half empty the gas will not vaporise properly and the gas stove hardly works
The ones where you can direct feed the liquid fuel don't have loss of power in cold conditions.
I have had trouble with gas ones in windy conditions or when its cold.
get a wind break (which also retains the heat), get one that can direct feed the liquid fuel.
This is the only foto I've got, but was taken on the Glacier Blanc at 3000m at about midnight, pasta meal for two, it was very cold and we had no probs, direct fed the liquid gas and used the shield.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Shields are the key. I have the larger trangia and as much as I have tried to like it IMO it performs poorly in comparison to the smaller gas models, with fuel its heavier and it is less controllable, as well as being larger.
My setup of choice, all fits into the mug.
Posted 1 year ago # -
molgrips - Member
"when it gets cold and the can is half empty the gas will not vaporise properly and the gas stove hardly works"
Yeah, but how cold? I always understood that if it was cold enough to hamper gas stove performance then 99.9% of people wouldn't be camping anyway.
Below about 5 C with a half empty can the issues start IME. NO amount of shaking will help much I found - with a half empty can thd fuel gets colder as it vaporises in the can as so the pressure drops to the point it hardly comes out.
The ones where you can direct feed the liquid fuel don't have loss of power in cold conditions.
Which are? Genuine interest. I have never heard of this? How does it work? YOu have to turn the can upside down?
I have a pocket rocket.
Posted 1 year ago # -
We have a Jetboil and it is fantastic.
Not done a bivi trip, but it should be perfect.Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm lead to believe that the little cartridges (like in surfers pic above) have less problems with losing power when 2/3rds empty, larger gas cartridges are more prone to this, I think. mini gas cartridges are quite an expensive way of doing it tho, I think.
The gas stoves that can burn liquid gas have the preheater routed into the flame. This is an example, they're a few grammes heavier than a pocket rocket, but the pros outweigh the cons against all the others IME. I've not looked at this stove particularly, it just shows best how the copper gas pipe is fed into the hottest part of the stove to vapourise liquid fuel.
Yes, you just tip the cartridge upside down.Posted 1 year ago # -
Ta BA
I certainly will be looking for a different stove before I go out in potentially cold conditions again.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Horses for courses really ... I was out last night, temps were down to around -4, all the water I was carrying had turned to solid ice by 6.30pm.
I was cooking on a titanium Vargo meths stove, no trouble at all. It was certainly cold enough this morning to have hindered any of my gas canister stoves to some degree. If I'm trying to cook / brew up for more than just me then I'll often take gas ... just so much quicker.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Trangia mini is a top buy,
the burner is exactly the same size and its much smaller in your rucksack
works even better in the wind so cant go wrong!
LewisPosted 1 year ago # -
If you want to be 100% cold-weather proof, then the old Primus type is a safe bet, running on paraffin.
I use them exclusively, mainly because they're brass, old, an engineering triumph, and they need a 'procedure' to light. Lovely.Posted 1 year ago # -
my first camping stove was one of these
I lugged it up Liathach one year, along with a 5L container of parrafin and various other old camping kit.Posted 1 year ago # -
Those brass Primus type cookers are brilliant (but very smelly in the wrong hands - such as mine)
Here's my old Valor, missing one of the legs due to overly enthusiastic priming....
It hasn't seen action for at least fifteen years but I used to use it back in my squatting days when a regular electricity and mains gas supply was intermitent. I've got a load of paraffin in the shed, I must get that broken leg welded back on and give it a whirl this coming summer
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've recently changed my views on ultra lightweight gas canisters that fit, along with a pocket rocket sized stove, into mugs,and small pans. They're less economical compared with larger canisters and you end up with a load of three-quarter empty canisters that don't have enough fuel left inside them to risk taking on an overnighter. Also, you can easily run out of fuel with a full one if it's providing a couple of meals and several brews for a couple of people. They might come into their own for ultra-lightweight mountain marathons, but even on last years OMM we took a 175g and a 125g canister between us as having plenty to drink and eat was more important to us on the overnight camp than saving a few ounces on the two days running.
A typical 100g canister, such as the one below costs between £2.80 & £3.99. The 175g canister on the right cost me £1.89 at a hardware store (and they're even cheaper if you buy them in bulk) 275ml beer bottle there purely to illustrate size. I always take whisky on the bivi
....
Posted 1 year ago # -
@Slugwash
You'll need the burner inner and outer caps, too. All too easy to lose (as in your case). One of the big advantages of 'roarer' burners (like Banana's Optimus 210)
You're a short step from the wonder of Tilley lamps here, too.Posted 1 year ago # -
One of the big advantages of 'roarer' burners (like Banana's Optimus 210)
Actually, that was just an image I stole that looked most like my stove, mine was (is!, it still resides in the group kit somewhere) a cheap imitation made in China, I seem to recall. Every bit of climbing kit I had back then was cheap.Posted 1 year ago # -
@Slugwash
You'll need the burner inner and outer caps, too.Hopefully the burner's still with the broken-off leg, in a big box of bike bits in the loft.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Actually, that was just an image I stole that looked most like my stove
Yeah, B.A.Nana's only got one photo in his album
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thanks guys, this is all very useful stuff. I'm borrowing a mini Trangia from a chum and I've also ordered a cheap ready made coke can stove with windshield (lazy yes but it was cheap & saves me the hassle just to try it out). I'll put these up against my pocket rocket-a-like (can't recall precisely which one it is I have) and see which I can live with the most. Keep the comments coming though, really interesting reading.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Bear in mind that boil times are not the be all and end all of a stove.
My jetboil takes around 2 minutes to boil 500ml of water and my meths stove takes around 7-8 minuntes, 99% of the time your cooking, your stopped for the night and are 5-6 minutes really THAT important.
Obviously a twenty minute boil is getting silly but you get my point.
My jetboil rarely see's daylight now.Posted 1 year ago # -
slugwash, I don't do much biving see, I'm more into me white water rafting.
Posted 1 year ago # -
That's one way to ensure you don't oversleep
Posted 1 year ago #
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