A review of the Trangia stove and cookset from Adventure Kayak magazine.
When the wind is blowing and the rain is pelting down, few items in a kayak camper’s kit seem as valuable as a trusty stove (and a gourmet hot cocoa mix). That’s why the venerable Trangia gets our pick for solo and small group adventures. Made in Sweden for nearly 60 years, the original Trangia stormproof stove hasn’t changed much in its half-century of production—it hasn’t needed to.
Perfect for lazy chefs and those who would rather be cleaning waves than fuel jets, the Trangia is simple and versatile. Just fill the brass burner cup with ethyl or isopropyl alcohol from the hardware store or pharmacy, light it and go. A watertight lid allows you to store unused fuel, and keeps seawater out. Not that it matters—the Trangia has no moving parts, hoses or valves, so it’s basically indestructible.
With a bit of practice, paddling gourmets can modulate the size of the flame—and the heat output—by partially opening or closing a “simmer ring” on the burner cup lid, achieving a subtle simmer or rolling boil.
If you need boiled water in three minutes flat, the Trangia is not your stove (perhaps you’d also prefer, say, racing Nascar rather than paddling kayaks). This tough little stove takes about eight to 10 minutes to boil a liter of water, but it isn’t the least fazed by strong wind, high altitudes (Lake Titicaca is at 12,506 feet, after all) or subzero temperatures.
Our full Trangia 27-2 HA cookset is a compact, nesting collection of two pots, a frying pan, kettle, stove and bombproof windscreen, all made of durable, ultralight hard anodized aluminum. Perfect for two paddlers—just add a liter of fuel and you and friend will be eating well for a week, no matter the weather.
$90 and up | www.trangia.se/english
To read this review as originally published in the Early Summer issue of Adventure Kayak, click here.
