The original windshielded alcohol (methylated spirits) burner stove has gone virtually unchanged for 60 years, aside from small refinements. Options have
been added like the ability to use the windshield assembly with gas or liquid fuel stoves, and lightweight stands for the burner, without the rigid and
heavy (by ultralight standards) windshield. (Ultralight aficionados have even been inspired the Trangia burner design to make their own burners form soft
drink cans.)
Not the most lightweight, compact or fastest stove available, but certainly one of the most reliable and foolproof. Part of the reason why it is often
selected as the stove of choice for outdoor education centres and youth programs. The metho fuel evaporates quickly if spilt, and is not as volatile under
pressure like white spirt/shelllite and butane/propane gas fuels. The broad-based windshield is very stable and less prone to being knocked over as more
lightweight stoves. Not the speediest stove (eight minutes to boil 1 litre), nor the most fuel efficient, but with very few parts there is little to lose and
break. It just keeps on going.
I have an original Trangia that has given sterling service ever since I acquired it in 1982. 30 plus years and still going strong. Because methylated spirits
is widely available across Europe it was my stove on 14 days along the UK's Pennine Way, 6 weeks through the French and Swiss Alps, and almost 2
months across the French Spanish Pyrenees.
Vent holes on the base of windshield allow the stove to be rotated to make best use of prevailing air currents. One of the few stoves that can actually
perform better in a stiff breeze. A sturdy rock can even be sat on top to the billy pot lid to make the assemble unit still more stable.
The main variance in design has been in the design of billy pots. Much of this was driven by the USA market, where a unsubstantiated, but long
persistent, fear that aluminium cookwear contributed to Alzheimer's meant the original aluminium pots very not readily accepted by the US market. Non-
stick versions appeared. As did the Duossal variety which was a dual layer of a heat dispersing outer layer around a stainless steel inner pot.
For some reason the larger model 25 ( two pots - 1.75 and 1.5 litres) has a smaller number than the model 27, with its 2 1 litre pots?
Often copied, but rarely bettered, the Trangia comes from a Sweden family owned company that celebrates 90 years of trading in 2015, and is now
distributed in over 30 countries.
The history info below is taken from Trangia's 90 year celebration brochure.
Trangia was founded in 1925 by John E. Jonsson. His passion for technology and his zeal as a designer were demonstrated at an early age. Rejecting life
as a farmer, John and his father-in-law decided to start the company that for generations has been leading the Swedish windproof stove industry. They
started out manufacturing household pots in aluminium. However, as the number of holidays increased for Swedish workers in the 1930s, the demand for
camping equipment grew. Trangia decided to focus on the development of cooking products specifically for camping.
In 1938 John’s two sons, Olle and Erik, started working with their father and 1951 the first prototype of the Trangia stove system was developed and
launched. The idea was to build a compact and complete cooking system burning liquid fuel, as this was the most efficient form of fuel and also the
easiest to use. In the 1970s, Erik’s sons, Bengt and Lennart, joined their father at Trangia. Today Bengt is the CEO and Lennart is responsible for technical
development. The company and its inventiveness have been passed down from generation to generation and in more recent years the 4th generation has
started taking an active role in the company.
The name Trangia is derived from the village of Trång. John decided to remove the circle above the “a” and then add “ia” for “in aluminium”. For
decades, the name has been one of the outdoor market’s strongest brands both in Sweden and internationally.
NB: Some images and info used for these Trangia pages was borrowed from the excellent Classic Camp Stoves (aka Spiritburner) website.