Trangia Triangle part two

Trangia Triangle part two

          As I mentioned in my last blog I`d sent the supporting ring away to be measured for an idea that I had in mind and the result is shown in the pictures below along with some other pictures to show how the supporting ring should be used used with the rest of the triangle, the project I had in mind was to turn the Trangia Triangle from a meths burning stove to a multi fuel stove capable of burning wood and hexi blocks, another idea I had in mind with this system is how it could be used with a penny stove. The disc is a direct replacement for the supporting ring and fits in the same slots designed for the supporting ring, the steel that the disc is manufactured from is heavy and weighs more than the rest of the triangle but it needs to be like this to withstand the potential heat generated, so why not just have a small fire on the ground contained within the triangle? with the fire off the ground air can be drawn in to the fire better helping wood burn hotter and more completely.

original Trangia Triangle burner ring

burner in place

fire plate in place

                                                               

                                                         

The only issue that I`ve discovered with using the triangle in this way is that you have to take the pot off to feed in wood but this is really only a minor inconvenience.

www.lwbcfs.com

                                                    

Trangia Triangle

Trangia Triangle (part one)

          This is going to be a two part blog that will hopefully be completed next week, the reason for this is because the Trangia Triangle comes in 4 parts not 3, I have sent the burner frame away to be measured as I have something in mind for this stove.

       
          The second blog I wrote was entitled "is there still a place for Trangia stoves in the outdoors" and whilst I said yes I also said that Trangia would have to respond to the growing lightweight community and they have done just that with the Trangia Triangle, weighing just 115g (without the burner) this is potentially one of the lightest systems on the market. As usual with Trangia simplicity is the keyword and the Triangle is about as simple as it gets, three pieces of flexible steel are interlocked using slots and tabs around a frame which in turn holds the burner.

          There are slots in the side of the pot support/ wind shield where the frame goes and although the instructions say to build the shields around the frame I found it easier to build the shields first and then wedge the frame in place.

 as you can see from the pictures its quite a tight fit for the burner but this does mean that no space is wasted and the bulk is cut down on, 

          The great thing about this set up, like all Trangias, is little to no maintenance is required, (aside from cleaning dirty pots, which is a breeze if you know the trick). This being a Trangia obviously means a slow boiling time, around 15 minutes for a litre of water, other disadvantages to the system are the fact that the weight does not include the weight of the burner itself or any pots, the product does not come with a burner meaning you need to source one yourself (easy enough on the Internet or the bigger outdoor stores) usually around £10 - 15 fortunately the case that comes with the system is big enough to hold the burner as well as everything else,  nor does it come with any pots again meaning you have to source them yourself, not a bad thing as you can choose which pots you want to use, a couple of people have mentioned the thickness of the steel and how it might deteriorate after heating and cooling, as this is a new product to me I can`t tell yet but should be able to report about this in the future. 

          As with the mini Trangia I wouldn`t recommend this for group use as although it is smaller and lighter there is the potential for accidents, the main reason though is that part of the reason for using Trangia stoves in a group environment is to encourage communal cooking and this stove system is obviously for the lightweight or solo backpacker.

          Given the fact that there are already many lightweight stoves on market based around Trangia burners is this too little too late from Trangia? I don`t think so but they are going to have to work hard if they want to catch up to other products such as the Honey Stove and only time will tell.

        

As I mentioned at the start the supporting frame for the burner is missing, although the stove functions perfectly well without it, this is because I have spotted a potential and hopefully useful modification that can be made to this set up and will blog about this when I get it through. 

This blog has now been published as the Trangia Triangle part two 

Orthosole insoles

OrthoSole insoles

          A few months ago I wrote a short blog about superfeet insoles, this week I am going to write about their main rivals, OrthoSole. I was actually given a pair by the OrthoSole rep for free at the place I work and whilst I stick by my superfeet I thought I would at least give these a try and see if there was any real difference, there is one major difference between these and the superfeet but I will come onto this later, the first difference to note is the heel cup, on the superfeet they are rigid plastic, on the OrthoSole this heel cup is much softer, this makes it easier to bed down and makes it feel more comfortable underfoot straight away.

there is also a sizeable pad pad directly under the heel to cushion heel strike which the superfeet do not have as they use the body`s natural fat pad to cushion heel strike.

 moving to the front of the insole under the ball of the foot and the toes the insole itself is nearly twice as thick as the superfeet which did cause a few problems when I put them in my shoes as it forced my foot up into the very top and made my foot very uncomfortable, luckily this didn`t happen in my boots and so they remained in these for the duration, having twice as much padding does provide a more comfortable feel underfoot but may push your foot up the same as it did mine.

A couple of other things that OrthoSoles have an advantage over superfeet is that they can be bought straight from the shelf and do not have to fitted to your heel or have any part ground down to fit the shoe.

           The unique selling point of the OrthoSoles is the fact that the arch support and mid foot support can be customised to how you want and when you buy them all of the pieces to do this are (usually) included, these range from light through to firm support (not all of these pieces came with my insoles but I can`t complain as they were free).

The soles themselves have a recess to allow the pieces to fit and have velcro to prevent the pieces from falling off, to compare them to the superfeet I used the firmest of the pieces.

          So how do they actually compare? well being softer than the superfeet they were comfortable straight away and they had no breaking in period so "pebble under the foot" sensation and they certainly provided the same support as the superfeet insoles, however about an hour or so of using them the edge of the left insole started pinching the sole of my foot against the side of my boot which became more irritating as time went on this of course could lead to all sorts of issues in the future, the other thing I found with the OrthoSoles is although they don`t need it, my pair could probably do with some trimming to fit properly in my boots.

          Overall I am not entirely convinced by OrthoSoles and will be sticking to Superfeet for the time being, this doesn`t mean that they don`t work or aren`t any good, they may indeed work for you the only way to find out is to try them.  

            

          One more piece of information is OrthoSoles can be used by people who have a range of foot problems, although it is best to consult a podiatrist before using them as they may not be suitable.

follow the link below to go to the Lone Wolf Mobile Bushcraft website:
www.lwbcfs.com