If you’ve grown up in Sweden with any sort of outdoor experience it’s highly likely that you’ve come across a Trangia stove. The company started in 1925 with regular cooking utensils, and in 1951 the first prototype of the Trangia stove system was launched.It’s far from a lightweigh stove system, but it is very windproof, fuel efficient and relatively safe to use around children. The stove consists of a frying pan, two pots, a gripper, an upper and lower windshield and the burner. The standard burner is an alcoholburner, but you can also get the set with a canister gas burner. The gas burner is also sold separately. You can also use the Trangia with the Multfuel X2 burner, witch uses kerosene, gasoline or canister gas amongst others.

Sizes

The series are the 25-, the 27-series and the Minitrangia. There are three different sizes, and a lot of different options to choose from, with regular aluminum, Hard anodized aluminum, duosal (outside aluminum, inside steel), non-stick or with a kettle.

Burners

The spirit burner weighs 110g. The gas burner weighs 180g and the Multifuel burner with everything included weighs 525g. All burner can be used in the 25- and 27-series, but the Trangia Mini can only use the spirit burner. With a Trangia Triangle (stove stand 112g) other burners can be used with the Trangia Mini too.

25-series

The 25-series is the largest one, suitable for 3-4 persons. It has a 1,5l and a 1,75l pot. The windshields of the 25 series weighs 200+120g, the pots weigh 110+115g, the frying pan weighs 110g (165g for the non-stick) and 48g for the gripper. The strap that holds it together weighs 20g.

27-series

The 27-series is the medium sized system, suitable for 1-2 persons. It has the same basic components as the 25-series, but everything is smaller, and it has two 1l-pots. The windshields of the 27-series weighs 170+90g, the pots weigh 80g each, the frying pan weighs 85g (120g for the non-stick). The gripper and the strap weighs the same as with the 27-series.

Mini Trangia

The Mini Trangia consists of a spirit burner, a pot stand, a 0,8l pot, a non-stick frying pan and a gripper.

The pot stand/windshield weighs 50g, the pot weighs 92g, the frying pan 76g and the gripper weighs 18g.

Setup

You set up the stove with the vent on the lower windshield facing the wind. This drives the wind up through the windshield providing oxygen to the burner. If you face it in the opposite direction the air will be drawn out of the windshield and pull the flame and the heat down, with a risk of melting the windshield.

Put the burner in the hole in the lower wind shield, and fasten the upper windshield on the lower. If you use a gas burner or a Multifuel burner, pull the tube through the big hole on the side of the lower windshield.

The upper windshield has three pot holders. When they’re flicked down, they hold the pots inside the windshield. You flick them up to use with the frying pan.

Using the Multifuel X2

The Trangia Multifuel X2 can be used with gasoline, diesel, kerosene, canister gas, well basically any fuel. You put the burner in the hole in the bottom windshield, and put the hose through the larger hole on the side of the windshield. Connect the stove to pumpbottle and pump it 20-25 times if the bottle is full. More times if there’s less fuel in it. The bottle is marked with an on and an off sign on each side. If you use liquid fuel you first need to prime the stove. Make sure the on-sign on the bottle faces up and turn on the valve for a couple of seconds and then close it again. Then light the stove. When the flames have almost died out, slowly turn on the valve to let more fuel out. If the stove is hot enough you should get a nice blue flame. To put the stove out, turn the bottle around, so the off-sigh is facing up. The fuel in the tube will burn up, and it will depressurize the fuel bottle. Close the valve after this, and unscrew the bottle.

My usage

There is something almost sentimental about the Trangias. It’s the first stove I’ve used, as a boy scout lending my parents stove. For a long time I basically though it was the only stove out there.

I bought the 25-series on my first hike in Norway. I really had no idea that there where different options at the time, and thought everything Trangia was the same. So I went on a hike, using a stove-set for 3-4 persons for just boiling water for freeze dried food. I do still use it however, when I’m out with the family on day hikes or car camping tips.

The Trangia Mini was the second stove I bought, and my first lightweight stove.

I wanted to use a gas canister stove instead and didn’t come to use the Mini that much. It is however compact and fairly lightweight. I do recommend a separate windshield, since the pot stand is only a windshield by name.

I bought the 27-series and the Multifuel X2 burner when I planned to go to Greenland, where it can be hard to find gas canisters. I wanted the hard anodized aluminum since they doesn’t scratch as easy, and you could use sand and other stuff like that to clean it out. I haven’t used it that much, but it has come to use when I’ve been out in the colder seasons. I should have brought it when I was in Tresticklan in January, since it was too cold for my gas, and I barely could get a flame.

I like the stoves. They’re really stable, and the windshields makes for a very fuel efficient burn, even in very windy conditions. The stability makes them good when you got small kids around. They’re suitable for real cooking. The negative thing with them is the bulk and the weight. If you don’t do any real cooking, but just boil water, there are a lot lighter options. I mostly use my FireMaple 116T (48g) with a Toaks 750ml pot (113g).

The gram geek in me has a hard time recommend them, but there is something with Trangias that just makes me want to use them. They are really good quality, and if weight isn’t a priority, or you like to expand your outdoor cooking to more than just boiling water, I’d recommend them. I do prefer the hard anodized aluminum version though.