Stoves: cheap comparison

[b1galus]

not just me then that has far too many stoves

[Barrenfluffit]

I use a basic (valve type) Camping gaz stove with an extra windshield around the flames (half a tuna can). The windshield has a huge impact so it can run on much lower settings, lasts much longer and simmers. The main advantage is that it was cheap and unscrews into a handful of small parts. That said the height is a liability and cartridge availability can be awkward outside W Europe.

Different stoves for different circumstances really; flying changes everything.

[Tangled Metal]

Anyone bought a trangia over say the last 5-10 years? A proper trangia that is. My partner has one from about 5 years ago and like the new ones in shops now the pots are a bit rough and poorly finished. The rolled edges are not always rolled fully over leaving a very sharp edge which when you pick the pot up can and does easily cut. Just a point because my experience of 30+ year old trangias (borrowed) is the quality was a lot better.

On a similar note I bought a mini trangia clone for £10. First trip out a mate was using the proper trangia version. We compared the two and the clone was not just cheaper but 30g lighter, better made and looked a better material somehow (I think the deep drawing process was better done but we just couldn't out our finger on why it looked better).

I've got too many stoves but my go to is an older model of Primus Micron with a PZ ignition and a gauze centre that helps spread the heat so it is not creating a centre hot spot like pocket rocket does with a wider pan. It is not like the modern micron stoves and works better IMHO. Despite being well in excess of 10 years old the PZ still works first time, every time and it has never failed once. It is a can top though stability is never a problem, I either use those plastic feet, pegs and zip ties or just place the can into a circular depression in the ground created by my heel. That last one works perfectly in all but winter for me since I create a canister sized circular hole that holds the can nicely.

BTW if anyone is starting a stove self help group I will only admit to owning the following stoves. micron, Vango remote can, Whitebox stove, Vargo triad, caldera cone for an AGG 3 cup pot, mini trangia clone, AGG can type stove, home made can stove (not very good and possibly lost now), 2 ring camping stove (car camping from a big blue camping gaz can), a 7g esbit stove from a Scandinavian company, honey stove from BPL-UK and probably more I just can't remember. I went through a stage of buying them and I don't even know if I have unpacked all my stoves I have bought. Reckon I have thrown away a few without even using.

IMHO each has it's place and the is always a trade off between your requirements and what the stove can do. I prefer for my uses (backpacking and lunchtimebrew stops) it is my primus micron gas stove. I do want a MSR windboiler (like the MSR reactor only smaller) and would consider a jetboil or more likely the primus version (they actually were involved in the design of the jetboil at the beginning and originally made them for Jetboil I heard but a falling out led primus to make their own which is kind of better quality IMHO),

As far as ease of use goes I find gas but then I always struggled with meths. Trangia burners were the bane of my life as I tried to get the best out of them. MY first trangia experience was at below -7C one cold winter evening. Despite warming the meths up I failed to get a rolling boil to last long before the full meths burner ran out of meths. Not sure what I was doing wrong but i gave up after 1.5 hours and went to the pub (too late for last food orders at 9pm so I ate several packs of crisps for my dinner and a pack of supermarket nuts in my tent later - oif it wasn;t for the beer I would have been hungry!!). I have managed with trangia since but there is so much better options out there i have written them off.

Meths can soot up a bit but water is supposed to help. Personally i never bother since what is a bit of soot on pan bottoms really, it wipes off doesn't it???

Wood burners I am not too keen. My first and only one is the honey stove. I tried to cook sausages on it for my first proper cook and just burnt the outside and the rest was raw. A stray dog loved me for those half cooked sausages because I would never trust my cooking on that stove. I just find them a bad idea due to fuel sources near where I usually camp (up in the fells).

[beardy]

BTW if anyone is starting a stove self help group I will only admit to owning the following stoves. micron, Vango remote can, Whitebox stove, Vargo triad, caldera cone for an AGG 3 cup pot, mini trangia clone, AGG can type stove, home made can stove (not very good and possibly lost now), 2 ring camping stove (car camping from a big blue camping gaz can), a 7g esbit stove from a Scandinavian company, honey stove from BPL-UK and probably more I just can't remember. I went through a stage of buying them and I don't even know if I have unpacked all my stoves I have bought. Reckon I have thrown away a few without even using.

What no Primus No.96

http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/show ... cd9d8/#NEW

[bretonbikes]

Anyone bought a trangia over say the last 5-10 years? A proper trangia that is. My partner has one from about 5 years ago and like the new ones in shops now the pots are a bit rough and poorly finished. The rolled edges are not always rolled fully over leaving a very sharp edge which when you pick the pot up can and does easily cut. Just a point because my experience of 30+ year old trangias (borrowed) is the quality was a lot better.

On a similar note I bought a mini trangia clone for £10. First trip out a mate was using the proper trangia version. We compared the two and the clone was not just cheaper but 30g lighter, better made and looked a better material somehow (I think the deep drawing process was better done but we just couldn't out our finger on why it looked better).

I've got too many stoves but my go to is an older model of Primus Micron with a PZ ignition and a gauze centre that helps spread the heat so it is not creating a centre hot spot like pocket rocket does with a wider pan. It is not like the modern micron stoves and works better IMHO. Despite being well in excess of 10 years old the PZ still works first time, every time and it has never failed once. It is a can top though stability is never a problem, I either use those plastic feet, pegs and zip ties or just place the can into a circular depression in the ground created by my heel. That last one works perfectly in all but winter for me since I create a canister sized circular hole that holds the can nicely.

BTW if anyone is starting a stove self help group I will only admit to owning the following stoves. micron, Vango remote can, Whitebox stove, Vargo triad, caldera cone for an AGG 3 cup pot, mini trangia clone, AGG can type stove, home made can stove (not very good and possibly lost now), 2 ring camping stove (car camping from a big blue camping gaz can), a 7g esbit stove from a Scandinavian company, honey stove from BPL-UK and probably more I just can't remember. I went through a stage of buying them and I don't even know if I have unpacked all my stoves I have bought. Reckon I have thrown away a few without even using.

IMHO each has it's place and the is always a trade off between your requirements and what the stove can do. I prefer for my uses (backpacking and lunchtimebrew stops) it is my primus micron gas stove. I do want a MSR windboiler (like the MSR reactor only smaller) and would consider a jetboil or more likely the primus version (they actually were involved in the design of the jetboil at the beginning and originally made them for Jetboil I heard but a falling out led primus to make their own which is kind of better quality IMHO),

As far as ease of use goes I find gas but then I always struggled with meths. Trangia burners were the bane of my life as I tried to get the best out of them. MY first trangia experience was at below -7C one cold winter evening. Despite warming the meths up I failed to get a rolling boil to last long before the full meths burner ran out of meths. Not sure what I was doing wrong but i gave up after 1.5 hours and went to the pub (too late for last food orders at 9pm so I ate several packs of crisps for my dinner and a pack of supermarket nuts in my tent later - oif it wasn;t for the beer I would have been hungry!!). I have managed with trangia since but there is so much better options out there i have written them off.

Meths can soot up a bit but water is supposed to help. Personally i never bother since what is a bit of soot on pan bottoms really, it wipes off doesn't it???

Wood burners I am not too keen. My first and only one is the honey stove. I tried to cook sausages on it for my first proper cook and just burnt the outside and the rest was raw. A stray dog loved me for those half cooked sausages because I would never trust my cooking on that stove. I just find them a bad idea due to fuel sources near where I usually camp (up in the fells).

The rot on trangia quality began when they decided to stop using a riveted piece for the strap and just punch a hole through (which is difficult to use) - all trangias after that point are of lower quality all round I'm afraid. However they are still the best of their type - it's just a shame that some bean counter screwed it up...

[Heltor Chasca]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.' [emoji107]

[bretonbikes]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.' [emoji107]

The very best is to go to your chemist and buy pure alcohol;-)

[Tangled Metal]

BTW if anyone is starting a stove self help group I will only admit to owning the following stoves. micron, Vango remote can, Whitebox stove, Vargo triad, caldera cone for an AGG 3 cup pot, mini trangia clone, AGG can type stove, home made can stove (not very good and possibly lost now), 2 ring camping stove (car camping from a big blue camping gaz can), a 7g esbit stove from a Scandinavian company, honey stove from BPL-UK and probably more I just can't remember. I went through a stage of buying them and I don't even know if I have unpacked all my stoves I have bought. Reckon I have thrown away a few without even using.

What no Primus No.96

http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/show ... cd9d8/#NEW

Oooohhh! Not yet...

I know very well I am at the less severe end of this stove addiction, I've seen enough stovie threads to know that. I think I got treatment before it got bad (I met my partner, who moved in and cleared my stock out a bit...well a lot), Part of that treatment included other camping/walking/backpacking gear too. Also a lot of torch failures over that time without replacements now means that she has three or four times as many torches as I do (I only have the original version of the e-lite now).

BTW if you think stovies are bad then torch afficionados have the real opportunity to geek out on their hobby.

[Sweep]

Anyone bought a trangia over say the last 5-10 years? A proper trangia that is. My partner has one from about 5 years ago and like the new ones in shops now the pots are a bit rough and poorly finished. ).

My Trangia is pretty recent and I find the quality pretty much perfect. It's the hard anodised one though. I do remember looking at the standard aluminium ones and although I am a novice and have nothing to compare them to they maybe did look a bit ropey. I wondered what cleaning the insides of the pots might be like.

[leftpoole]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.' [emoji107]

The very best is to go to your chemist and buy pure alcohol;-)

I loaded up last year. I have 7 5 lt bottles of Meths. I guess should the stove adiction be total I could drink the stuff?
I guess I may have too much meths but it is in an outdoors brick built shelter and will last the rest of my 'assumed' life!
John ...who has too many tents too..

[Heltor Chasca]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.' [emoji107]

The very best is to go to your chemist and buy pure alcohol;-)

I loaded up last year. I have 7 5 lt bottles of Meths. I guess should the stove adiction be total I could drink the stuff?
I guess I may have too much meths but it is in an outdoors brick built shelter and will last the rest of my 'assumed' life!
John ...who has too many tents too..

Good work. Meths isn't cheap so you've done well I guess.

I think stove and tent addiction and meths must be linked. I use a loaf of bread to take the purple colour out [emoji48]

I've just ordered a 1 man tent to compliment my 2 man tent and my Bell tent. Can I count each of my kid's tents as well?...hc

[RickH]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.'

Strictly it is true that they have stopped doing methylated spirits but they do Bio-ethanol which is effectively the same thing. I think the sales assistant was slightly confused as the Fuel4 bioethanol they do comes in liquid (linked above) and gel forms - I don't think the gel versions would be good in a Trangia (although I'm happy to be proved wrong by anyone's personal experience).

Rick.

[andrew_s]

"Meths" is being standardised by the EU:

instead Mineralised Methylated Spirits:- 90% ethanol, 9.5% methanol, 0.5% pyridine and a drop of mineral oil, dyed with methyl violet
there will be
Completely Denatured Alcohol:- 94% ethanol, 3% isopropyl alcohol, 3% methyl ethyl ketone and a dash of denatonium benzoate (bitrex), with the purple dye being optional.

Presumably the rationale is that methanol is fairly poisonous (when breathed in or absorbed through the skin as well as when drunk by alcoholics).

[leftpoole]

[emoji54]Just been to Go Outdoors. They have stopped selling Meths. Then again Brislington in Bristol is remote to Bristolians.

Sales Assistant: 'But don't worry, green gel does the same job.'

Strictly it is true that they have stopped doing methylated spirits but they do Bio-ethanol which is effectively the same thing. I think the sales assistant was slightly confused as the Fuel4 bioethanol they do comes in liquid (linked above) and gel forms - I don't think the gel versions would be good in a Trangia (although I'm happy to be proved wrong by anyone's personal experience).

Rick.

Hello,
I have used the Gell in a Trangia. It works but leaves a filthy clogged up burner!
Regards,
John

[rannochraider]

The liquid (non gel) Bio Ethanol is excellent. Ignites very easily, no smell, clean burning with very little soot , in fact almost no soot at all.