Lighting a Trangia

Specifically for cycle touring subjects & questions
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Gattonero
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Gattonero »

Sweep wrote:A pretty basic question I know.

I use a cheapo disposable fag lighter.

But the flame on these things is typically rather short.

Which means I have to fill the trangia burner to the top/3-4 full to get it to light without burning my finger on the lighter flame.

I used to have a rather wonderful Zippo lighter in my student days of posing with Camel non filters but it has mysteriously disappeared.

Can anyone suggest anything with a long flame that is simple and reliable?

PS - I have a strange intuition that gatto, as that most English of Italians, may be able to help.


get this
Image

There may be cheap stuff around, but this works perfectly. It only need a little practice to master it, then you have a firestarter in any weather.
As opposed to a lighter that may run out of gas/petrol, fail in the wind or drizzle or low temperatures, a good fire rod can only fail due to the operator.
The secret is: keep the striker steady and move the flint, not the other way round. And especially for burners, keep the striker a bit close to the burner, and move the fire rod towards the back, use good pressure. This will light up the burner in no time, regardless the weather.

And I cannot recommend enough to keep the burner in two small ziplock bags and in bed with you, it will stay warm and in the morning will start and bloom right away. If not keen on this, just keep some alluminium foil and make a small "primer cup", put the burner ready to use in this cup and a sprinkle of fuel at the bottom, light it up so will warm the burner.
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are...
philsknees
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Joined: 14 May 2017, 2:29pm
Location: St. Ockport

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by philsknees »

Good shout, Gatto, on the benefit of using a primer in very cold weather. Several years ago I acquired one of these:-
https://www.antigravitygear.com/shop/st ... rimer-pan/

which I found invaluable & versatile for use under various meths burners. Better than messing with foil in my opinion and in practice, once lit, the primer unit would usually ignite the vapour from the warmed stove contents without the need to apply a further flame to it. The other bonus is that the shallow primer tray's contents are much easier to light in the first place than the meths lurking in the bottom of the actual burner.

I was looking for a current supplier in the UK and eventually managed to track one down on my original supplier's(Winwood Outdoor) website:
http://www.winwood-outdoor.co.uk/acatal ... y_Kit.html
Unfortunately, these days, they only seem to supply the priming pan as part of a kit, comprising a (very good) meths bottle, a windshield, a small measuring cup & the priming pan for £15, which is a bit pricey if you don't actually want the other bits. That said, it's all AntigravityGear's own stuff which has a very good reputation.
crazydave789
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Joined: 22 Jul 2017, 10:21pm

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by crazydave789 »

Gattonero wrote:
Sweep wrote:A pretty basic question I know.

I use a cheapo disposable fag lighter.

But the flame on these things is typically rather short.

Which means I have to fill the trangia burner to the top/3-4 full to get it to light without burning my finger on the lighter flame.

I used to have a rather wonderful Zippo lighter in my student days of posing with Camel non filters but it has mysteriously disappeared.

Can anyone suggest anything with a long flame that is simple and reliable?

PS - I have a strange intuition that gatto, as that most English of Italians, may be able to help.


get this
Image

There may be cheap stuff around, but this works perfectly. It only need a little practice to master it, then you have a firestarter in any weather.
As opposed to a lighter that may run out of gas/petrol, fail in the wind or drizzle or low temperatures, a good fire rod can only fail due to the operator.
The secret is: keep the striker steady and move the flint, not the other way round. And especially for burners, keep the striker a bit close to the burner, and move the fire rod towards the back, use good pressure. This will light up the burner in no time, regardless the weather.

And I cannot recommend enough to keep the burner in two small ziplock bags and in bed with you, it will stay warm and in the morning will start and bloom right away. If not keen on this, just keep some alluminium foil and make a small "primer cup", put the burner ready to use in this cup and a sprinkle of fuel at the bottom, light it up so will warm the burner.



Gat thats a magnesium block - wrong thing surely?
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Sweep
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Sweep »

I have a firesteel gatto.

Thanks for the tip about moving the flint rather than the striker. Counterintuitive maybe but it does make a real difference. :)

Haven't tried yet with the Trangia but will do and will report back on a couple of other bits.
Sweep
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Gattonero
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Gattonero »

crazydave789 wrote:...

Gat thats a magnesium block - wrong thing surely?


The biggest part of the block is magnesium, on the other side there is the flint rod
Image

I've used the magnesium a couple of times and it works, though most of times I use this to light up the Meths burner and it works better than a lighter: the sparks from the flint can go down in the burner, while the flame of a lighter only goes up
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are...
crazydave789
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Joined: 22 Jul 2017, 10:21pm

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by crazydave789 »

Gattonero wrote:
crazydave789 wrote:...

Gat thats a magnesium block - wrong thing surely?


The biggest part of the block is magnesium, on the other side there is the flint rod

I've used the magnesium a couple of times and it works, though most of times I use this to light up the Meths burner and it works better than a lighter: the sparks from the flint can go down in the burner, while the flame of a lighter only goes up


I agree that throwing a mighty spark does the trick but why not just use a light my fire steel? there are other makes but theirs are consistent unless you get some of rons from firesteels.com, I've got one 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches long.

a permanent match can be handy as long as you don't let it dry out, I've filled them with meths before instead of lighter fluid or just dip in the trangia and light from that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&key ... 6lsvn00c_e
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Gattonero
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Gattonero »

I bought a set of those 3 and they weren't expensive, I was advised that they would work well and was the right choice. Those do work well.
As you say, there are some pretty useless ones.
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are...
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Sweep
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Sweep »

Thought I had better post an update since folk were so generous with their advice.

The clipper thing I bought off ebay and linkead to up above works just fine and dandy.

I tested it by lighting the Trangia when the meths was low down in the burner - which was my original issue.

Nick, I found the koobi range in the Pound emporium you mentioned and several others. And in the retail wonderland of useful cheap bobs and bits that is Peckham. And found nothing like the clipper thing I linked to. Just a variety of short lighters and then very big things you would keep next to a kitchen gas cooker but wouldn't want to take camping. Note that there appear to be two versions of my clipper thingie - shorter and longer. Mine is the shorter.

I can pack it, three other lighting systems, two stoves and a fold-out windshield in a compact mini camera bag.

While in Peckham I couldn't resist a cheap jetflame thingie - £4.99. It does work and maybe lights the Trangia even easier, but it is a big thing. Bigger than one of my gas stoves. So it will usually get left at home unless I am on a really extended trip.

Thanks for all the other suggestions though - not wasted at all and I will doubtless call on some of them sometime. As will others.
Sweep
gloomyandy
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Joined: 16 Mar 2012, 10:46pm

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by gloomyandy »

Blimey buying and owning a Trangia seems like a hobby in itself! I'm almost tempted to get one just so I can join in all of this fun :-) Seriously having never owned or used one (though I did once watch a mate cook our evening meal on one, many years ago), I do feel like I've missed out. However my Primus ETA Packlite works so well for me I suspect I won't be giving it a try until that stops working.
crazydave789
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by crazydave789 »

you don't need the full on kit or indeed a real trangia. just get a burner and pot stand for 8 quid.
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Sweep
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by Sweep »

In case you got the wrong end of the (lighting) stick andy, lighting a trangia is no problem at all. My question was about lighting once the meths has gone down a bit. Lighting it then is also no problem, apart from the warmed fingers issue if you don't have a suitable lighter.
Trangias are great for all sorts of reasons much covered on here.
Sweep
MartinBrice
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Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 9:57am

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by MartinBrice »

gloomyandy wrote:However my Primus ETA Packlite works so well

At eighty quid it should work well. And if you're out of gas you better hope you can buy the canisters: this sort of thing is OK for France and a week-long trip, using a larger canister. But for remote places, meths is a useful fuel. Using meths as a fuel has many advantages, the main one being you can get it anywhere.
And for the impecunious there's the Swedish army meths burner:
https://armysurplusonline.co.uk/index.p ... er=product
I have one, it's ideal for cycle touring. Strong, windproof, big capacity, and for fifteen quid you can't go wrong. And yes I do squirt a bit of lighter fluid on the top to help the meths light - but only when it's cold enough to make the meths tricky to light.
crazydave789
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Joined: 22 Jul 2017, 10:21pm

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by crazydave789 »

MartinBrice wrote:
gloomyandy wrote:However my Primus ETA Packlite works so well

At eighty quid it should work well. And if you're out of gas you better hope you can buy the canisters: this sort of thing is OK for France and a week-long trip, using a larger canister. But for remote places, meths is a useful fuel. Using meths as a fuel has many advantages, the main one being you can get it anywhere.
And for the impecunious there's the Swedish army meths burner:
https://armysurplusonline.co.uk/index.p ... er=product
I have one, it's ideal for cycle touring. Strong, windproof, big capacity, and for fifteen quid you can't go wrong. And yes I do squirt a bit of lighter fluid on the top to help the meths light - but only when it's cold enough to make the meths tricky to light.


not so light but bombproof and easy to pack in panniers. also designed for wood cooking first.

the steel ones are ww2 stock apparently as all the ALU was used for the war effort even though sweden was neutral. the stoves are made by svea but the trangia simmer rings fit well enough. the pans were first then the windshields and stoves came later so all the shields are alu. they must have sold millions onto the surplus market and still they keep coming.

get a pot stand though and the burner will work on anything.
nickpaton
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Joined: 4 Mar 2013, 9:07pm
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by nickpaton »

Soto pocket blow torch which takes a disposable lighter.
https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/pocket-knives-tools-c72/fire-starters-c180/pocket-blow-torch-p807
Will light meths even in cold ambient temperatures. Been using for years.
crazydave789
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Re: Lighting a Trangia

Post by crazydave789 »

for those with trangias and mil trangias I just picked so a stainless steel pan rest thing that slots into the burner head (I've got mil version so had to file it a bit to fit better bit it works in the missus's civvy one. cost £2.45 ebay.

a good way to lighter weight what you have, the simmer ring doesn't fit is the only draw back but for a kettle set up it works really well so far. the wider base of the mil trangia burner makes it pretty stable.
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