View Full Version : Trangia Swedish Army Mess Kit
I've asked for one for Christmas. Anybody use/rate them?
I've seen them on eBay for Ģ7.95 and on other sites for around ten quid. They seem like a good buy.
Thet are just great, have used them both in the army and as an civilian. You can pack in your mug, spoon and burner in the mess kit.
There are two versions of the mess kit one in stainless steel and one in aliminium.
A picture of a complete kit
http://www.soldf.com/images/s_enmanskok.jpg
Very versatile bit of kit, highly regarded......
Excellent piece of kit.
Have a good hunt around on the internet as you can pick these up new/unissued ...I've seen some that are realy battered... still work fine though. These things will last you years.
Ed
great bits of kit. i've even seen a stainless version, 8-) i've no idea where to find one though :-(
cheers, and.
Like most trangia kit, it's simple but effective. Nuf said!
Brian
hmm.. they somehow only sell the cooking pot and lid in the suplus store's here.....
theknight
19-11-2003, 08:46
Try woodman Jack at www.woodlandorganics.com they do them for about a tenner and having looked around this site, those chaps seem to come highly recommended, or have a look at a Calor Gaz stove, compact and efficent.
TK
New to this forum so big hello to awbdy ,after being an lurker in a few forums i think its about time i started participating so here goes my first posting
Crackin bit o kit , i got mine from surplusandadventure.com for about Ģ5 plus postage , it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get a pint of water to a rolling boil ( depends on how much meths the burner has in it it seems (if the well in the middle is too full then it does not work as well it seems to me) you also get a 300ml storage bottle for extra meths
plenty room left over for your brew kit , heres what i keep in my trangia when its all packed up.
burner , meths bottle
3 instant tea's and sugar
1 beefburger and beans meal
1 hot chocolate
1 cream of chicken instant soup
1 orange powder
2 vegetable stock
(all foodstuff is out of british forces ration packs)
tinder and an esbit block ( nothing to do with cooking on my trangia but i like to keeps additional bits and bobs in varios parts of my kit in case of redundancy)
KFS
strike anywhere matches , storm matches and a disposable lighter (the bic type with the removable flint/striker fella)
all in all a cheap compact unit that does the job (and when your budget is as tight as mine the cheaper the better :-D )
I think there must be two sizes of stoves. The large one I think is military. There's a smaller version though that is sold in backpacking stores. I have used the small trangia a lot and I've compared it to all kinds of other alcohol stoves and I still think it's the best. Certainly the most rugged. The larger one I keep in the trunk of my car for emergencies but the smaller one I have taken backpacking many times. IMO, the key to effectiveness is in having a good windscreen. I make my own usually out of aluminum material that they sell in rolls and use for flashing on roofs. I punch holes along the base using a paper hole punch, curl it in a circle, and hold it together using a paper clip.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/bpack/esbit/esbit5.jpg
Trangia makes 3 diffrent sizes Mini Trangia, Model 27 and Model 25. The mess tin kit is probably not manufactured by trangia anymore it is from WW2. To read more about Trangia check out the hompepage http://www.trangia.se/
Hoodoo, is it these you have?
Minitrangia:
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangia/minitrangiastor.jpg
Model 25 (The largest):
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangiaeng/kokstor251.jpg
i have a hoodoo inspired home-made trangia set. a good old pepsi can stove for the meths burner, a simple pot stand made from the grill of a disposable barbeque, and a windshield similar to the one above made from the tray of a disposable bar-be' just crease and fold the edges. it all nests nicely inside a titanium mug. to burn hexy blocks, just turn the pepsi burner upside down.
much cheaper and much lighter than a trangia. well apart from the mug.
cheers, and.
Interesting! I didn't realize there were three sizes. I like the windscreen on that bottom one. Actually the cookset that came with mine is neither of the two above. I have the minitrangia and the stove holder is an arrangement of three flat aluminum plates that can be locked into an upright triangle that holds the stove and serves as a potholder. I like this arrangement so much I made my own for holding homemade alcohol stoves.
I've had my model 25 for about 10 years and the bloke that gave it to me had it about the same time, I dont use it that much now as I have an MSR Whisperlite 600, which boils a pint in about 3 mins. The Trangia is very good though, mine came with a small kettle as well which is very handy, the whole set up is good if I'm out with a couple of other people, it's a bit big if I'm alone, but very sturdy and practical.
Brian
Roving Rich
21-11-2003, 13:49
Not a great stove fan myself, I've got a Primus thing that fold out of a square box/case, a peakone multifuel, a whisperlight but am back to using the trusty old camping gaz that i had as a kid. The others are all too much hassle, and flare up alarmingly! The camping gaz gets used for weekends and has saved our bacon on cold winter hikes, when we've been frozen,weak and fumbling its delivered hot drinks in minutes.
My overall preferance has to be the kelly kettle, hot drink then cook on the embers in the base. I see Jack has got a grill n stuff to go with them so they'll be on my xmas list. Along with the Volcano flask that works on the same principle but has a trangia style meths burner. If it works aswell as the kelly and can fit in my pack i'll be well chuffed. Could also be a lifesaver!
Trangias on the whole are a great design, pack up well and i love that little kettle, its just they take so damned long to boil a cuppa, let alone cook supper (if they don't run out of meths).
So if you're a very patient person with a strong back,
the vertually indestructable Swedish army kit is the simplest most reliable and reasonably priced cooker on the market.
Enjoy your coffee..... eventually
Rich :lol:
I've taken to cooking over a fire with army mess tins. i sometimes use cotton woll soaked in meths. but as for stoves i have a coleman sports stove, not light but is fast at cooking
hoodoo can you use the lid of that snowpeak cup as a very very small frying pan ?
ditchfield
04-01-2004, 23:47
The handle folds the wrong way so I think that if you did, it would just hang down. You would have to improvise a handle.
I bought mine at a motorcycle rally for Ģ4 last year. Absolute bargain. came with all the bits, although someone said these were all originally in a leather case...Now it would be good to get hold of one of those, as I keep my kit together with a bungee at the moment :-) b The only Mod I've made is to bin the large hook off the billy handle as it was a bit of a pain, I can carve a hook out of a twig if I need one 8-)
One thing to bear in mind here is that these kits are Aluminium and as such aluminium cookware has been like with Altziemers disease - curiously enough the mess kit does seem to be flooding the market at the moment and Im wondering why the Swedish are binning them and what is the replacement kit like?
Any one?
They were issue to several NATO militaries, including Ger. and Swed. Still showing up in numbers on eBay for 5 GBP/8.50 USD + shipping.
Lighter versions can be made of pet food alum. cans and soda cans. Search "backpacking stove" + "alcohol" on Google or the like for directions. Good project for club or Scouts.
One thing to bear in mind here is that these kits are Aluminium and as such aluminium cookware has been like with Altziemers disease - curiously enough the mess kit does seem to be flooding the market at the moment and Im wondering why the Swedish are binning them and what is the replacement kit like?
Any one?
I read somewhere that all the Sweedish stuff hitting the surplus stores at the mo, is to do with the collapse of the soviet union. Apparently, the Swedes had been hoarding army gear and now the threat has vanished, are offloading it into the surplus market.
Found something really interesting regarding trangia gear. The stoves you mentioned....
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangiaeng/kokstor275.jpg
Well they certainly get a lot of praise. I think this is the kit that has either inspired, or was inspired by the swedish army mess kit. The only downside is they're alu and take an age (14 minutes) to boil a cup of water. Well, I discovered, not only can you get stainless steel pans, you can also get none-stick pans (pictured) and titanium pans. You can also get a gas burner for them....
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangiaeng/gasolbrannare.jpg
...to replace the trangia meths burner, turning them into a really good gas cooker.
But what really, really interested me was this....
I have an absolutely brill multifuel stove, the optimus nova...
http://kata.atnifty.com/stove/optnov09.jpg
...this thing is brill, very few flare ups, very reliable, very stable and can bring a litre of water to the boil in 3.5 minues (MSR eat your heart out). Admittedly I dont use it much, but it is a brill stove if you have to use a stove instead of a fire. I was curious to see a version of the trangia stove called the "trangia nova", which is basically a standard trangia 25 or 27 set, but with a multifuel burner designed around none other than my beloved optimus nova...
http://www.basecamp.com.tr/bigimages/trangia_nova.jpg
http://www.fj-service.dk/Trangia/Trangia%20NOVA%202.jpg
Wow, I thought - trangia meths burner = 1 cup of tea in about 1/4 of an hour, trangia nova = 1 cup of tea in about 45 seconds - but these things are Ģ100 just for the burner - and I already have the damned burner - but wait, what's this - a conversion kit for Ģ7.00 :-D
http://www.outdoorsportz.com/media/largeimg/OGSTOOAC1024.jpg
Basically, you remove the housing, legs and pot stands (which are all one unit) from the optimus and attach the primer tray and trangia bracket in thier place. The just pop the converted nova into the pre-formed holes (that's what they're for if you have a trangia kit and were wondering) and bingo - one seriously powerfull cooking system.
It's a bit OTT for my needs, but if you already have an optimus nova and are thinking of getting a trangia - or vice versa, the converter will allow one to be used with the other - it's also an easily reversible conversion.
Here's the interesting thing, by stripping off the steel body, legs and pot support from the optimus, the weight of the bare bones burner isn't that much more than the weight of the trangia meths burner. I figure that the fuel must weigh about the same for both stoves, except the nova is a billion times more efficient (so you need less of it, or can cook more for the same amount). The pans can be replaced with trangia's own titanuim pans (which are very cheap BTW - well, they are for Ti) and can double as billy cans if you want to use a fire to cook.
the naughty boy
20-03-2004, 11:05
i.ve been told that you can use diesel, petrol,cooking oil? almost anything that burns as long as it will vapourise. anyone got any info on the most bizarre fuel it will use? 100 quid is a bit steep dont you think?
Excellent write-up Martyn!
The Optimus Nova is a very good stove ... I had a hard time choosing beetween that ot the MSR and went wsith MSR in the end after some concerns raised about the Optimus pump from several users I talked to. Personally I have no idea whether there was a problem or not and I have an MSR that boils real fast but I have to live with flare-ups and it's not very stable onthe ground. Reliability isn't a problem.
My MSR is a multi-fuel stove that works well ... you do have to remember to change jets for heavy fuels like diesel, and change back again afterwards. It's also easy to field strip with the Ta spoon/tool I have.
i.ve been told that you can use diesel, petrol,cooking oil? almost anything that burns as long as it will vapourise. anyone got any info on the most bizarre fuel it will use? 100 quid is a bit steep dont you think?
I think Ģ100 is par for the course for these burners, I think in the bracket it's a choice between the optimus Nova, Himalayan Omnifuel and MSR. I've only used coleman fuel in mine, but apparently they'll burn anything - petrol, diesel, alcohol - whatever.
Coleman fuel is the best fuel to use ... it's clean and lights easily.
It does, however, make petrol seem cheap (which isn't an easy feat nowadays!). I used to use coleman fuel but now live with a little more soot and burn unleaded (Shell Optimax is cleaner than other unleaded petrols).
Excellent write-up Martyn!
The Optimus Nova is a very good stove ... I had a hard time choosing beetween that ot the MSR and went wsith MSR in the end after some concerns raised about the Optimus pump from several users I talked to. Personally I have no idea whether there was a problem or not and I have an MSR that boils real fast but I have to live with flare-ups and it's not very stable onthe ground. Reliability isn't a problem.
My MSR is a multi-fuel stove that works well ... you do have to remember to change jets for heavy fuels like diesel, and change back again afterwards. It's also easy to field strip with the Ta spoon/tool I have.
Well I havent used it much - it was a bit of an impulse buy. I'd read some good write ups and saw one in the flesh and bought it. But it's very good. I havent tested it to the extreme, or anywhere close, but it has nice features. I've never had a flare up at all, but then I havent used it a lot.
It is very stable though, minimal wobble (none), but the steel shell is a little heavier than that of the competition - so swings and roundabouts. You dont have to change jets between fuels either, it only comes with one jet and that does the lot - I've read you can even burn fuel "cocktails".
You can actually simmer with it as well, it'll go from a roar, down to a really small flame without popping or spitting - very controlable. I havent much experience, but i think it's a great stove.
Cant comment about the pump, except to say it seems to work well and it's an all metal thing, which struck me as a little better built than the MSR plastic pumps.
"Simmer" isn't in the MSR dictionary ... it's full blast Saturn rocket stuff, or off!
Hi all
This is the best thing since swedish slice bread,
it lights with a flick from a swedish fire steel or an old lighter,
and is so compact and light.
it makes the british and yank kit look prehistoric.
OK it's not as fast as others but why would you want to carry gas????you cant be in that much of a rush.
swedish mess tin and swedish fire steel hale to the swiss.....
Don't forget Swiss Army Knives! :-D All you need! :chill:
swedish mess tin and swedish fire steel hale to the swiss.....
SEE !
stick with the swiss and you wont go far wrong !!
cheers Adi007
Dont you mean Swedes? The Swiss are from somewhere else. :wink: :-D
the naughty boy
21-03-2004, 01:35
i use a trangia . why? because i like to take it easy when im in the woods or roughing it.im never really in a hurry so i dont need a blasting flame ,nor am i usually in snowy conditions where i have to melt snow in a hurry. i knew a guy who burned pure alcohol in his in an attempt to keep his pots clean as he thought they always needed to be spotless [ when he brought them home he would bring them to a high shine with duraglit] the thing that made me laugh is that i always keep them blackened as there is better heat transference.i know its personal choice as to which burner to use but i find the trangia easy going and i quite enjoy slow cooking at the end of the day ,very relaxing i find. one of the joys of being outdoors.
1/2 pound of mince,a carrot an onion and three spuds in water , let it all reduce in the pot and hey presto a beautifull bowl of stew.
Dont you mean Swedes? The Swiss are from somewhere else. :wink: :-D
You know, I never even noticed he got it wrong! It's all foreign anyway! :-)
:?: :boot: me neither ... :sulk:
Dont you mean Swedes? The Swiss are from somewhere else. :wink: :-D
You know, I never even noticed he got it wrong! It's all foreign anyway! :-)
I have to agree with that naughty boy...Trangias may be slow but the upside easily compensates: Cooking silently without the roar of a pressurised fuel stove, the fuel is far less harmful to the environment if spilled, no flare ups etc etc. The stoves themselves are bombproof - I've heard of them being squashed and just pulled back to shape. For me it's the Trangia or the open fire and a billy can! The Titanium pans are excellent - pricey but the weight drops big time.
Great Pebble
21-03-2004, 14:01
The principle reason I use a Trangia is that I feel a lot happier carrying meths as fuel than I would carrying anything else.
Yeah, carrying litres of petrol and then pressurizing it and setting light to it does take a period of mental adjustment and a lowering of the perceived dangers of the stuff ... :bu:
The principle reason I use a Trangia is that I feel a lot happier carrying meths as fuel than I would carrying anything else.
:banghead: i better check my map next time or my spelling !!
Swiss Swed's i dont no ?
Dont you mean Swedes? The Swiss are from somewhere else. :wink: :-D
You know, I never even noticed he got it wrong! It's all foreign anyway! :-)
The most recent forum I added at BritishBlades was a "Scandinavian Blades" forum. I have to confess to being completely ignorant of thier geography - but I had to do a quick crash course, The Swedes, Lapps, Fins, Danes and Norwegians can be a bit fussy about nationality - I guess we all can. :lol:
Roving Rich
23-03-2004, 16:52
That trangia combo is a damn good find Martin. I had sussed it ages ago using an MSR whisperlite, but dismissed it thinking that it must melt the alley or something. WHY has it taken so long to become available!!!! It was the next logical step for a Trangia 15 years ago!
Trangias are great very efficient, but take too damn long. If I have time and resouces I cook on an open fire. But when frozen, its dark my companion is on the verge of hypothermia a hot drink fast is what is needed. (He bought a gas stove before our next outing) This is where the Trangia fails miserable - when your life depends on it. With these new conversions = top kit IMHO :biggthump
Rich :-D
Trangia 25 and 27 can be used with both multifuel and gas burner.
http://home.smelinkweb.com/trangia/trangiaeng/28-3.htm
http://www.optimus.se/products/nova/
Guys,
A coulpe of you have expressed concerns with using aluminium for cooking (AKA Swedish military tangria type stove) so I have been looking for the stainless steel version to no avail.
I'm not looking for an ordinary tangria stove, but the stainless steel military version (if there is such a thing) please let me know where I can source them
Thanks
I'm well past caring about aluminium .... oooops! :roll: :shock: :-?
That trangia combo is a damn good find Martin. I had sussed it ages ago using an MSR whisperlite, but dismissed it thinking that it must melt the alley or something. WHY has it taken so long to become available!!!! It was the next logical step for a Trangia 15 years ago!
Trangias are great very efficient, but take too damn long. If I have time and resouces I cook on an open fire. But when frozen, its dark my companion is on the verge of hypothermia a hot drink fast is what is needed. (He bought a gas stove before our next outing) This is where the Trangia fails miserable - when your life depends on it. With these new conversions = top kit IMHO :biggthump
Rich :-D
Absolutely. I was looking for a set of small pans and was looking at the trangia titanium pans when I cam accross the conversion. The cool thing, if you get the gas burner accessory too, and fit it out with Ti pots, you have a compact, lightweight, stable system, that will burn either gas, multifuel or meths depending on your needs. With the gas or multifuel options fitted, this otherwise "sedate" cookset must be amazing.
Even if you do the majority of cooking on your campfire, how nice to be able to brew up without leaving your sleeping bag, or maybe cook up some cous-cous to go with the fish you're ponassing? Or maybe this weekend you'll be tootling around in your landrover, and it'll be a lot more convenient and cheaper to syphon off a litre of diesel from your jerry can, than carry extra meths/gas.
Gourmet or what? One stove for every occasion.
That's the thing, I like me food. :-D
1/2 pound of mince,a carrot an onion and three spuds in water , let it all reduce in the pot and hey presto a beautifull bowl of stew.
You managed all that on a meths burner? Good grief, you must have the patients of a saint. At 14 minutes to boil a cup of water, your stew must've made a nice breakfast. :-D
Guys,
A coulpe of you have expressed concerns with using aluminium for cooking (AKA Swedish military tangria type stove) so I have been looking for the stainless steel version to no avail.
I'm not looking for an ordinary tangria stove, but the stainless steel military version (if there is such a thing) please let me know where I can source them
Thanks
There is a stainless version. There is a small diffrence between them I can see if I can find a pic that shows the diffrence.
There is a stainless version. There is a small diffrence between them I can see if I can find a pic that shows the diffrence.
I would really appreciate it if you could.
Cheers, :-D
The diffrence is in the big pot, on the stainless itīs only one line on the aliminium itīs two lines
Stainless version model 40
http://www.armemuseum.org/startsida/Bild/snuskburk300.jpg
Aliminium model 44
http://www.billingedalen.com/bilder/faltk.jpg
2 weekends ago I was demonstrating my Trangia (bought by my dad in the early '70s and passed on to me in the 90s) to my Scout Troop whilst on camp. I set it up in moments, lit it, put a full kettle on and told them why I liked it so much & took questions. At the end of these I took the boiling kettle off the stove and made myself a drink.
Time taken for talk and questions: roughly 5 minutes.
I'm really interested to know how it can take 14 mins to boil a cup of water on a Trangia!
The diffrence is in the big pot, on the stainless itīs only one line on the aliminium itīs two lines
Thanks very much
Where can I get one any ideas they have got to be better than the aluminium :!:
Donīt know where to get them over there.
2 weekends ago I was demonstrating my Trangia (bought by my dad in the early '70s and passed on to me in the 90s) to my Scout Troop whilst on camp. I set it up in moments, lit it, put a full kettle on and told them why I liked it so much & took questions. At the end of these I took the boiling kettle off the stove and made myself a drink.
Time taken for talk and questions: roughly 5 minutes.
I'm really interested to know how it can take 14 mins to boil a cup of water on a Trangia!
Sorry, cant remeber exactly where I read it, but I'm sure one review said this. A quick google search did turn this uip though...
http://www.ultralight-hiking.com/stoves-trangia.html#anchor448340
/EDIT - aha, I think this was it....
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=1&cid=37
Donīt know where to get them over there.
I'm not surprised :lol: what about over there on line link then i can import it over
:wink:
Donīt know where to get them over there.
I'm not surprised :lol: what about over there on line link then i can import it over
:wink:
Over here itīs pretty to get them. You can buy them in every surplus store.
It is still issued in the army =)
This company has a site in english http://www.activelifeequipment.com/
Ahhh, but thay say the pots are aluminium. Where can we get the steel ones from?
One thing to bear in mind here is that these kits are Aluminium and as such aluminium cookware has been like with Altziemers disease - curiously enough the mess kit does seem to be flooding the market at the moment and Im wondering why the Swedish are binning them and what is the replacement kit like?
Any one?
1. Aluminum and disease. False alarm cleared up some years ago.
2. Replacement. Read on another forum (No, &$#^@# can't recall which.) that self-warming rations ("MRE" = Meals, Ready to Eat) supplemented by solid fuel units are replacing these as simpler to use.
Justin Time
27-03-2004, 09:34
Gary
I've done a bit of looking around about this link with aluminium and Alzheimer's disease: Here's the opinion of the Alzheimer's society in the UK:
"There is circumstantial evidence linking this metal with Alzheimer's disease but no causal relationship has yet been proved. As evidence for other causes continues to grow, a possible link with aluminium seems increasingly unlikely."
Read more about the science behind this here:
Aluminium and Alzheimer's (http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Risk_factors/info_aluminium.htm)
So it looks like concerns about using aluminium may be unneccesary, but may still linger in our consciousness, perhaps like the recent worries about the MMR vaccine and autism which proved just to be bad science.
HTH
Thanks Justin that's good news will make sure I pass that info on during courses.
Equally good news to me especially as I also use the swedish army mess kit myself - I dont think you can beat it for bushcraft it has every application covered - billy can, frying pan, boiling pot, mug, plate, etc etc and can be used over the open fire or the stove. Just dont let it boil dry!
Stainless sets would be good - however you would need to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of each. Now we know their safe the lightness of the Ali cookset would still get my vote.
And womble your right. I have experimented with the stoves boiling water etc in different climates and altitudes and while some proved slower than others they never failed me (unlike a petrol stove I once chucking into the Atlantic after carrying half way across the falklands only to have it die on its first use! :twisted: )
Used the set in Canada recently and at -20 c it worked a dream.
Trick with triangia's is to light it and get the water on then set up camp while it boils - once your Basha's up and your ready for a brew the water will be boiled! :-D And you can smuggly sit back and enjoy while your mates pump up their stoves and mess around.
Aluminium (or aluminum for our friends across the pond) forms a hard oxide layer on any surface exposed to air very quickly and this layer is not soluble in water. As long as you ease off on the metal tools and don't wire wool the pots each time the levels on Al in the water are likley to be very, very low indeed.
Also, remember that aluminium chloride is added to mains water in some areas to give it that crystal clear look! Acidic soda drinks are also sold in Al cans.
There are far worse things that I worry about!
Woohoo, my trangia just arrived!!
I'm gonna risk firing it up in the office :yikes: :bu:
But I'll open the window first :o): :rolleyes:
Works a treat - no fire alarms either, and it lit from sparks from a firesteel!
The smell of meths takes me back to my youth and the fun I used to have with my Mamod Steam Roller!
TheViking
08-07-2004, 20:47
Hi...
I use a swedish army mess kit! :wink: It's very good and cheap! (bought mine from army surplus for 90 dk crowns, which is about 8-9 Ģ...) Goes very fast with boiling... :icon_idea The top part has many uses! It can be placed in the burner if you only have to boil few dl. of water and is very useful as a lid when boiling in the big one. :wink: If you're 2, one can eat from the lid and the other from the pot itself.
:bye:
I saw and fiddled around with swedish army mess kits at my "local" surplus, and found them awfull. They were just the mess kits, no stove with them, but I just didn't like the design of the actual mess kit. It was a pain to open, had a strange coating, the edges weren't "rolled up" (they were sharp), the hook was a pain, the handle didn't lock, the handle of the "frying pan" (the lid) was really strange...too many useless details on it. I prefer the Swiss and German army mess kits (they're both just about the same, but the German one has a third little bowl) or the SIGG version (same as the Swiss one, just in black and for scouts). But then they don't come with a stove. The German one is normally used with an Esbit stove though.
I was intending getting the Swedish Army Trangia, but now I've seen the mess kits I'll just buy a trangia stove and do a home made stand/windshield for my German mess kit.
I saw and fiddled around with swedish army mess kits at my "local" surplus, and found them awfull. They were just the mess kits, no stove with them, but I just didn't like the design of the actual mess kit. It was a pain to open, had a strange coating, the edges weren't "rolled up" (they were sharp), the hook was a pain, the handle didn't lock, the handle of the "frying pan" (the lid) was really strange...too many useless details on it. I prefer the Swiss and German army mess kits (they're both just about the same, but the German one has a third little bowl) or the SIGG version (same as the Swiss one, just in black and for scouts). But then they don't come with a stove. The German one is normally used with an Esbit stove though.
I was intending getting the Swedish Army Trangia, but now I've seen the mess kits I'll just buy a trangia stove and do a home made stand/windshield for my German mess kit.
There is nothing wrong with the mess kit, you have to learn to handle it correctly. Once you have learned to use them you can have use year around for the rest of your life.
Viking - Master instructor in handling the swedish army mess kit :wink:
rapidboy
08-07-2004, 22:16
Make sure you are talking about the same thing ,i saw some "Swedish " mess tins at the Northern Ireland game fair that look similar to the army trangia but on closer inspection they are not the same.
The army stove is really great and for the money can't be bettered.
Cheers
RB
Trick with triangia's is to light it and get the water on then set up camp while it boils - once your Basha's up and your ready for a brew the water will be boiled! :-D And you can smuggly sit back and enjoy while your mates pump up their stoves and mess around.
I have to eat my words a little here. I was always put off the alcohol stoves mainly from a percieved poor perfvormance. I just recently bought a trangia 27 for the sole purpose of rtetro-fitting it with my optimus nova burner. But having played with the meths burner, I have to confess I'm seriously impressed.
So you should be Martyn - I can honestly say they are fantastic pieces of kit.
Of course not to every ones taste as douglas has proved - but then hey I dont like the trade marked name knife - I much prefer a cheaper more practical blade like the Mora.
But to my mind, and in my experience, like the Mora knife the mess kit is perfect for 'the craft'.
rapidboy
08-07-2004, 23:01
Try using a firesteel to light them,works much better than a match or a lighter especially in bad weather.
Trangia stove makes life bearable when rock fishing at night in winter.
http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/fishing_dec03_044crop_1.jpg
Work well in a boat on fresh and salt water!
http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/364_6496_1.jpg
http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/364_6467_1.jpg
And just as good in the forest.
http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/376_7682crop_1.jpg
Posted these over on BB but can't help myself ,they bring back great memories.
Would like to show some pic's of my army trangia but a low life thief stole mine (what a naughtyboy).
After Martyn's amazing trick of turning a mess set into a something NASA would be proud of I decided to take a step in the opposite direction. :super:
No blown torches or screw drivers needed - nor even the Trangia stove or fuel. :uu:
Nope, K.I.S.S being the mumble of the day I stuck a greenheat sachet under the Windshield (in the hole at the bottom) lighted it and five minutes later had a nice cup of tea. Yep, revolutionary! :rolmao:
One greenheat sachet will heat up (to just under boiling point) a cup (mess kit lid) of water while two will bring it to a rolling boil and more.
Most impressive of all you can carry dozens of sachets in the pot, they dont pong like meth's, they are eco friendly and they can also be used as tinder for fire lighting.
Tried hexi too and these work just as well although with Hexi you do get that 'orrible chemical guooo on the bottom of your pots.
Dont throw away your Trangia's yet though as I think they will still be superior when Jack frost comes calling - but thats a test for another day! :chill:
TheViking
12-07-2004, 11:03
Hi...
I tend to pack a box of matches in the pot too.... :wink: 8-)
Me too the Viking. In fact now I dont need the stove of fuel bottle I carry,
1 x cotton rag/bandana as a tea towel.
Minimum of 10 sachets of fuel.
Brew kit for two days.
Soup
Beef jerky
Spoon and GI can open
salt, pepper, chilli powder, curry powder and tabasco sauce
1 x Swedish army folding cup
Matches and a few spare brinks of wet fire tinder for good measure.
Not a bad little set up.
rapidboy
12-07-2004, 15:14
http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/396_9647_1.jpg
Is this the "greenheat" that people are talking about on here?
They had it in little 35ml sachets as well but a lot more expensive. (Ģ1.oo for 10 sachets or Ģ1.00 for a 1 litre bottle)
I was thinking about just filling an airgun pellet tin ,does this stuff evaporate quickly or would i need something more airtight?
How long does a sachet burn for and how does it compare to meths for heat.
I remember using a disposable army issue stove years ago that used gel.
Cheers
RB
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v342/bearclaw/greenheat.bmp
These are the sachets - each burns around 20 mins and they now come in boxes of 12. Each sachet will boil up a mug of water - I have used them now on both the swedish mess set and my trusty old US army cup and stand and they worked well on both.
Well I like em anyway!!
The air pellet tin is a good one, althought if you have that bottle you could just as easily squirt a laod onto a slab or birch bark or even a shallow hole in the grounds and stick the wind shiyld over that.
I just find the sachets more convenient as they burn away to nothing, no mess and no leaks.
ok these are the Aussie version!
was just in a camping shop and have a bit of a wierd question. Is it pronounced tran-Gee-a or tran-Jee-a?
They were also selling a trangia pot grabber, but I picked it up and noticed immediately, that it was made of steel. I asked the guy why and he started to try and blag me something about duoSSAL. I said, regardless of what your pot is made from, why make the grabber out of much heavier steel - it makes no sense?
TheViking
12-07-2004, 17:33
It's a Tran-GI-a... ;)
Duossal pots are made of stainless steel inside and aliminium on the outside.
For more info check http://www.trangia.se/
Thanks guys, I actually have the duoSSAL 27 set. The guy said the reason the handle was steel was that it was meant to match the duoSSAL's - which is BS 'cos mine came with an aluminium handle. Anyway, I can think of no reason whatsoever why they would make a steel handle. That and the guy in the shop referred to them as tran-Jee-a's. Dont you just hate "gear" salesmen who live to impress you with thier "insider" knowledge? The whole experience was a little irritating.
rapidboy
12-07-2004, 20:45
Was the handle genuine Trangia ?
Perhaps it was for the Trangia Billy can? ,are they made from alu or steel?
Anyone use them (the ones that the complete cooker fits inside).
Just tried the greenheat stuff.
A little slower than meths but no fumes.
Pretty good fuel.
Point of interest - I've just found that I'll need to replace the pans on my 24 year old aluminium Trangia 25. It worked fine for twenty years until several months ago I folded one of those thin sponge washing up cloths into the bottom of the pan to stop the burner rattling about.
Unpacking the kit this weekend over on Anglesea I was surprised to find that something in the sponge had reacted with the inside pan and corroded it right through :yikes:
I guess I'll be shopping for a new duoSSAL pan / set, but hopefully this trangia should still live to see its fiftieth anniversary :o):
Cheers, Alick
PS having recently bought a primus himalaya gas stove, I'm about 99% sure that Trangia's own gas conversion (which is definately sourced from primus) is the same himalaya burner / hose / valve bolted onto an adaptor plate. In this case, anyone interested can buy with confidence because the himalaya has ferocious performance and is the best gas stove I've ever used.
Hjaltlander
26-07-2004, 00:23
Hi all,
I've never tried a Trangia, Used hexy blocks in the past, but for years i've used a Coleman micro gas stove with a metal waterbottle mug i bought at John Bull in Catterick.
Until about a month or so ago...
I was Reading Trail Magazine and they had an article on a new stove from across the pond called a Jetboil (http://www.jetboil.com). Basicaly it's a metal mug, with a burner which attaches to it and is stored inside with the gas can when not in use.
Basically a modern version of the old metal cup and gas burner setup i was using.
I bought mine from REI (http://www.rei.com) in the colonies, and recieved it with no problems at all.
For quick brew ups, or a day or two on the hills, i think it's going to be the dog's dangly bits!
Hjaltlander
neo_wales2000
06-12-2004, 03:28
Great bit of kit and its pronounced
TRAN YAR
not Trang E A
I also have a few other stoves including a paraffin primus model 210 dated 1912,,,,, still works great :-)
Great bit of kit and its pronounced
TRAN YAR
not Trang E A
Interesting. How'd ya know?
simonsays
06-12-2004, 09:13
Interesting. How'd ya know?
Hmm. I seem to recall this trangia pronunciation debate running on several different forums including the uk.rec.walking newsgroup. Someone actually emailed the company and according to the manufacturer its pronounced
tron-jee-a
(Although to be honest I still cook on my tran-jee-a :biggthump )
cheers,
simon
(Although to be honest I still cook on my tran-jee-a :biggthump )
cheers,
simon
Iv got a friend who calls it a tran-jee-a. But i call it a tran-ja. I think that is the most common?
Great bit of kit and its pronounced
TRAN YAR
not Trang E A
I also have a few other stoves including a paraffin primus model 210 dated 1912,,,,, still works great :-)
I would say that Trangea is closer to how it sounds.
Im with Viking - tranj-ear - for those with an essex accent!! :wink:
um who cares what you call it :?: as long as you can intimate to another what you are trying to describe
mojofilter
06-12-2004, 16:22
I call mine a stove :nana:
neo_wales2000
07-12-2004, 23:57
Trangia pronounced "Tran ya" like Primus is " Pre mus" and Svea is "svaar"
I'm a classic (and modern) stove collector, and the pronounsiation (can't spell) came up in a thread of a stove site I'm on, so one of the members from the frozen wastes recorded a sound file and posted it to the site some time last year to stop the arguement.
I don't much like modern stoves although I have a couple, I love my Svea 123 and Optimus 8R great little burners and of course my Trangia kit, military, original and even a Gelert clone I have.
Take a look at www.spiritburner.com the people there from all over the world have a wealth of knowledge they are only to happy to share :-)
neo_wales2000
09-12-2004, 18:56
Under a tenner is the rate in the UK via ebay, and you can also get the stainless steel version but they go for about Ģ20+ If you rig up a makeshift simmer ring for the military kit you really can cook a strew on it.
the swedish ones [SS.], run about 10$ over here and the aluminium german ones about half that.
i have the stainless version of the swedish army stove i just use the pots with a primus omni fuel stove works great stove fits into the pots and along with the fuel bottle all fits into the primus super bag which in turn all fits into the pocket on my swiss rucksack
Wow this is an old thread! but anyway, I have a Swedish Army Trangia, but have never really been able to use it - the meths always runs out before the large pan of water boils! However, I can get several boils of the kettle with my Trangia 27 on one fill of meths!