Cooking Kit n Sleeping Bag Advice

[Brains]

Re Trangias and the frying issue:

There are 6 solutions

1 - Use the standard issue meths burner and the standard issue frying pan, it works but it's very slow

2 - Swap the standard issue meths burner for a 'Greenheat' tin (Google greenheat, available in all good camping shops) The advantage is that to a degree you can alter the height of the greenheat burner - Cost is a couple of quid

3 - By blocking up the hole the burner rests in in the lower section of the Trangia, you can raise the height of the flame, but this can mean an uneven spread of heat and is dangerous if the stove gets knocked (hense we never teach this method to Scouts)

4 - Use the optional Gas fitting. Well worth getting anyway, cost from £21 via web mail order

5 - For those with money to burn get the optional Trangia multi fuel burner by Primus, you can then run the stove on gas or any inflammable liquid such as petrol, diesel, avgas etc. Cost wrong side of £100

6th option: Don't eat fried food on camp, it's bad for you and difficult to wash up afterwards even with a non-stick pan

Bottom line is it is not really realistic to cook a good old English fry up breakfast on a Trangia using the standard meths burner. However a chili con carne can be done better on a Trangia than it can on a standard stove.

In my opinion they are one of the best camping stoves ever designed, and arguably the lightest stove on the market (as long as you compare like for like, so including pots and pans and fuel to boil one liter of water)

 

[psmiffy]

I dont know any thing about trangias except they are very slow if you want to do proper cooking - gas is wicked - not light but very efficient and you can cook proper meals - the screw threaded primus style cartridges can be tricky to get in france - so take little markhill adaptor for blue gaz cv cartridges

pays your money and takes your choice weight versus convienience

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I dont think the trangia is 'that' slow to fry things...the trick is to use a lid.

 

[psmiffy]

sort of steam it then

 

[tredder]

Wow, you have just opened up one of the greatest debates in camping, 'to Trangia or not to Trangia'. I have one and prefer the gentle (but slow) flame to the rather urgent and fierce gas flame. With Trangia, you are buying into a lifestyle! ;-) Got the Alpkit pipedream s/bag too, worked for me 1000m up on the mountain in Norway this feb. Was v.warm in the peaks last weekend...

 

[Night Train]

I used to have, as part of the survival kit in my car, a camping stove in a tin. It was a tin can, about 4" diameter by 3" high, with a pop off lid and filled with a fuel gel so it was non spill and non leak. The gel could be lit with a lighter or a good spark and the lid popped back on would put it out. The tin had a sprung steel cylinder around it that was detached and used as a pan stand above the flame.

Are these still available?

 

[Alves]

There are quite a few of these gel fuels around some in self-contained tins and some in sachets like this http://www.survival-school.org/Default.aspx?tabid=246&ProductID=111 they are very safe and good for schools but an expensive and heavy alternative to anything else.
OK for emergencies too but not really the done thing for a "real camper"! I imagine they'd be good for indoor use too.

 

[Odyssey]

I used to have, as part of the survival kit in my car, a camping stove in a tin. It was a tin can, about 4" diameter by 3" high, with a pop off lid and filled with a fuel gel so it was non spill and non leak. The gel could be lit with a lighter or a good spark and the lid popped back on would put it out. The tin had a sprung steel cylinder around it that was detached and used as a pan stand above the flame.

Are these still available?

I believe they're the US Army's equivalent to the British Hexi stove. You should get them in most 'survival' stores.

Here's an interesting site for people who like to get their hands dirty and wish to save money on their back-up stove...

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

 

[Brains]

I used to have, as part of the survival kit in my car, a camping stove in a tin. It was a tin can, about 4" diameter by 3" high, with a pop off lid and filled with a fuel gel so it was non spill and non leak. The gel could be lit with a lighter or a good spark and the lid popped back on would put it out. The tin had a sprung steel cylinder around it that was detached and used as a pan stand above the flame.

Are these still available?

See the issue of Greenheat gel above - these are designed to run inside a Trangia and have a wire holder on the side so the flame can be moved up and down, and they can be used 'stand alone'

http://www.greenheat.co.uk/camping.htm

http://www.hitchnhike.co.uk/acatalog/greenheat_trangia_fuel_cell_2.html

 

[Night Train]

That's the sort of thing I remember. Yes, not the best for proper camping use but great in the boot of the car as part of a survival kit in the wilds of Scotland.
Thanks.

 

[Stick on a Giant]

Warning on the Greenheat fuel - if you think meths is slow...
There's been other threads on this one, and another forum member did a test of the 2, and, as I recall, the Greenheat took 50%+ more time to boil the same amount of water.
On the threaded canisters in France issue, I've heard that the canisters for DIY flameguns (soldering etc) have the same fitting, so you could use a Trangia with gas burner with this (and I may have to for the next 2 weeks). Unfortunately not sure what I'll do about the MSR Pocket Rocket, I think that would be a touch unstable!

 

[Brains]

I think that was the wrong way aroud, I'd guess Greenheat is 50% faster than meths, certainly when it is full, as you can control the height of the flame below the pan.

The only problems we found with greeheat is the cost per hour when compared to 10 liters of bulk bought meths, and when the greenheat can gets low the flame can be quite along way from the pan (but no further than meths)

 

[andrew_s]

Are gas cannisters like this easy to buy in France?

gb

www.letourgb.com

They aren't all that common. You need to look in outdoor gear shops (incl. Decathlon/Intersport). You can also use blowtorch cartridges from hardware stores, but they make for a very tall and unstable cooker unless your stove is one that connects via a hose.

The blue camping gaz valved cartridges (CV270) can be found in many supermarkets, and the puncture type in most, but you would need adapters
http://actionoutdoors.co.uk/shop/markill-valve-cartridge-adapter-p-880.html
http://actionoutdoors.co.uk/shop/markill-puncturestyle-cartridge-adaptor-p-881.html

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Not sure if anyone's mentioned these yet, but the Coleman petrol stoves are very good (if a little heavy). No disposable gas cannisters and they're very efficient, and easy to get fuel for nearly anywhere too.

 

[Beanie]

Thanks for all the advice - hopefully the Northumbrian weather will be as kind & helpful to me on my little trip as you lot have been!

I'd already got an Alpkit mat sorted and will do the rest of my shopping at the weekend - gonna go with the Trangia after all.