Thread: Cooking systems - Light vs cost

In my youth I spent 6 weeks hitch hiking and free camping in England. I carried a Trangia, meths burner as well as a Vango 4.5 kg tent. yup my pack was a fair weight, but I loved that Trangia at the end of the day. I have kept it and still use it regularly and although I like the convenience of gas, I still prefer the Trangia because: it is fool proof, it doesn't run out of fuel halfway through cooking your porridge or rice, you can buy meths anywhere. and it is great to use in bad weather or on windy exposed places, and with practice you always know how much you can cook with the fuel you have left. With the readily available titanium pots now, a Trangia burner would be perfect for me as the only real disadvantage is the weight of the aluminum pots that come with the Trangia kit. I have even seen Trangia copies made from titanium now on Trademe. Gas is convenient until you run out halfway through your cook, but meths is foolproof as with practice you always know how long a fill will last...just don't knock your bottle over!

Originally Posted by gadgetman

Where is a link to this filler hose? I might have to invest in one.

gadgets
KH

I have a Kovea Ti cooker. Pretty fast at boiling water, or so I thought until I bought a MSR windboiler. It's so much faster than both my Kovea and my MSR Dragonfly white spirits stove. As an added bonus, I also got a coffee press with it, was luxury drinking plunger coffee in Shelter Hollow last week!

It's really only suitable for boiling water though (which is generally all I need if on the hill) but it would be great if MSR made a fry pan with a heat exchanger for it...

Originally Posted by gimp

yep but I'm willing to give it a try because of the lightweight of the cooker, fuel container, and the less-waste factor (no half empty canisters to worry about). I know the last one can potentially be mitigated by the refill adapter but I will consider that if the alcohol stove doesn't work out.

The waste factor is why I don't like using gas, I prefer my MSR, but I do find the gas simpler. I had a meths cooker and found the fact that you can't simmer/fry fry with it a bit of a downer; burning bacon and eggs sucks!

But that little Ti cooker does look cool, damm Aliexpress...

Originally Posted by The Claw

I have a Kovea Ti cooker. Pretty fast at boiling water, or so I thought until I bought a MSR windboiler. It's so much faster than both my Kovea and my MSR Dragonfly white spirits stove. As an added bonus, I also got a coffee press with it, was luxury drinking plunger coffee in Shelter Hollow last week!

It's really only suitable for boiling water though (which is generally all I need if on the hill) but it would be great if MSR made a fry pan with a heat exchanger for it...

How does the windboiler compare to the dragonfly at altitude and low temps?

Originally Posted by puku

How does the windboiler compare to the dragonfly at altitude and low temps?

Can't answer this currently... All boiling etc was done at around 750m asl in temps ranging from +10 to -3 or -4. At this altitude and temp's the Windboiler was well and truly quicker. I would think it would need to be at least twice the height and/or below -10 before the white spirits have an advantage

Filler just arrived in the mail. Have a few old regulators I can scavenge the correct threaded bit from.

Anyone rate the trianga 27 ? Looking at replaceing my trusty coleman peak one at some point as ive had a few issues lately with it kinda like the fact you can run it on meths or wack a burner in it nice wide base ect

I got one of these which, being shallower and wider than my other Ti pot, boils faster with the meths cooker + will be more useful for possibly frying a little

Amp Ti Solo Pot | Macpac New Zealand

What about solid fuel burners, ( I used one from an army surplus shop back when I was a teenager & it was pretty useless ) but just wondering if they have improved , anyone know what these ones are like ?

Esbit Titanium Solid Fuel Stove - Bivouac Online Store

Keen to have a crack at making a tin can gasifier

Originally Posted by gimp

I got one of these which, being shallower and wider than my other Ti pot, boils faster with the meths cooker + will be more useful for possibly frying a little

Amp Ti Solo Pot | Macpac New Zealand

Looks just like mine but mine has a frypan lid.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Looks just like mine but mine has a frypan lid.

I have the same snow peak titanium pot. Used it for years and it's the perfect size. Not a tight fit on the gas can though so there are rattles.

Gas can fits pretty snug in the small one.

So the new setup is under 1/2 the weight of a jetboil, much smaller, cost significantly less and i would be very surprised if there is a noticeable difference in efficiency....