The army Trangia, a great piece of kit. But there is a bit of debate over which is better, steel or aluminium? So I thought i'd do a little review on both types
Weight.
Steel) 1300 Grams
Aluminium) 1200 Grams
When these cooksets were weighed I keep it pretty minimal what was in them. There was the pans and windshield, a empty burner, a full bottle of meths and a steel striker. I used the same bottle burner and striker to give fair weight comparisons. I was expecting a bigger difference between the two.
Boiling times
I used the same army burner in these tests to give an accurate boiling time. In each test I filled the burner, lit it and waited for it to warm up before putting the pot on. The tests were carried out in ideal conditions - in my fireplace.
The pot)
I filled each pot with 700ml of cold tap water (half full) and then timed how long it took to reach a rolling boil.
The steel pot boiled in 10 mins 35 seconds
The aluminium pot boiled in 10 mins 20 seconds
This surprised me as I was expecting the aluminium pot to be faster. I then noticed that the steel pot is about half the thickness of the aluiminium pot, which explains the times.
The lid or frying pan)
I find the lid great for boiling water for a brew up so I measured out 450ml of water (the average amount I use for a drink) in each lid and did the same test as above.
The steel lid boiled in 6 mins 31 seconds
The aluminium lid boiled in 7 mins 42 seconds
Again quite a surprise as the steel beat the ali lid by over a minute to a rolling boil.
Hexamine boiling Sometimes if I want a hot drink and I can't be bothered to wait for the Trangia stove to warm up i'll use a hexamine tablet instead. The great thing about the army trangia is you can use more than one cooking system in the windshield. Although not at the same time!In this case I used the lids again with the same amount of cold tap water in them (450mls). I lit the tablet on a bit of folded tin foil in the windshield and let it get to a full burn before I put the lid on.
The steel lid boiled in 5 minutes 24 seconds
The aluminium lid boiled in 6 minutes 9 seconds.
A pretty good time for the steel.
The steel
Pros) They are easier to clean the the aluminium sets. Also in the long term they are less likely to warp when it comes to regular use on fires.
Cons) They are heavyier and are more expensive
The Aluminium
Pros) They are lighter, cheaper, and tend to be newer than the steel ones.
Cons) They are hard to clean.
Summary
Well in summary you can't go too wrong. I have to say though my preferance is for the steel. The army trangia is a great set as many bushcrafters will know. I would also advise in buying a pot lifter or carrying round an old glove to pick the pots up with as the handles can get very hot. Also read Jakobs review of the set here (post #11) http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/fo...t=army+trangia
Anyway I'll let you decide which you prefer. Happy cooking!
Jack
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Originally Posted by rossbird
