I Made Two Pot Stands for the Trangia Backpacking Alcohol Stove

Sitting inside watching the rain, backpacking plans foiled, all geared-up and no place to go, I can still make the best of a rainy situation.

Some of my best gear improvement ideas have come to me on restless rainy days.    

     

The Trangia alcohol stove is hard to beat as a favorite backpacking stove. The Trangia is one of my favorites too, with one minor drawback, no pot stand. There are many nice pot stands made for the Trangia. I've never seen a pot stand I really liked, and made do without one, until now. Restless times call for rainy desperate do-it-yourself gear improvements.  Here are my two DIY pot stands for the Trangia.

Using a left-over section from a tent pole project, (see the Wawhiker YouTube video "REI Tent Poles for the Warbonnet SuperFly Tarp"), I made three 5 1/2 inch aluminum ground stakes. The stakes are stuck into the ground equally around the Trangia stove.  

Three cross members 3 1/2 inches long were cut from a stainless steel rod.  Each end of the rods were bent at 90 degrees.  These cross members form a triangle when placed into top of the ground stakes. The triangle should be 1 1/4 inches high from the jets of the Trangia alcohol stove. 

   

The flower pot imitated dry ground on this rainy day.

A wind screen is needed for this setup.  I found ground stake stability was an issue.

The second pot stand for the Trangia alcohol stove is the one I really like. But all of the credit for the construction of it has to go to Four Dog Stoves. It's based on their titanium wind screen for a Snow Peak 700 cook pot. I've had the wind screen for almost a year, (see the Wawhiker YouTube video "Zpacks Blast Slim Cuben Hybrid Backpack Gear Carry for a Hammock Overnight" for the wind screen first use), and thought of modding it for a pot stand for quite a while.

Using the Four Dog Stoves titanium wood screen as a pot stand meant I would have to drill holes through the titanium wall.  I was always hesitant because I had heard titanium was very difficult to cut.  After some research online, I discovered using a high speed drill and a good quality bit would make drilling holes through this titanium wind screen an easy task - and it was.

Once this rain lets up we will show you both pot stands on Wawhiker's YouTube Channel during our next backpacking adventure. 

Low Weight Low Volume Backpacking Overnight

This post introduces a new look and a different direction for this site.

We will continue to post our backpacking adventures in Washington State here. But this site will now become an extension of my YouTube channel videos. 

Think of these posts as detailed description of my videos - with an additional bonus - the best photos from my adventures will also appear here. 

This backpack overnight started with a hike to Lake Ann on the Esmeralda Basin and County Line trail in the Wenatchee National Forest, northeast of town of Cle Elum, off Interstate 90.  The weather was gorgeous with temperatures in the mid-80s.

This hike was to be a test of the weight I shed by carrying lighter, lower volume backpacking gear. The Esmeralda Basin / County Line trail offered enough elevation and switchbacks for the load test.

As for the gear I packed, and the weight I carried, here is a partial list - a list of the "Big 3"

• REI Flash 22 pack (16 oz)
• Thermarest NeoAir pad (19 oz)
• Thermarest blanket (28 oz)
• Equinox 8 x 10 Siltarp (14 oz)
• Bug net (9 oz)

*Big 3 weight - 86 ounces / 5.3 pounds.  *(For shelter, sleeping gear and backpack).  Additional gear - cook kit, Cooper's gear and food, Sawyer Squeeze, LED light, food, water and Leatherman Juice S2 weighed an additional 11 lbs.  *Total weight 16 lbs.

Even at this weight - I can tell you I've never packed this light for any backpacking overnight before.

Same can be said for volume. All this gear fit into a 22 l / 1343 ci backpack.

This load-out test opened my eyes in many ways.

1. Why have I resisted carrying a lighter gear load for so long?
2. No pains during and after this hike - knees, hips and back.
3. Felt completely protected and prepared by the gear carried.
4. Cooper was warm and comfortable.
5. I could have packed less and carried lighter gear.

Stayed tuned as I address these issues and this subject in more detail in the coming weeks here and on my YouTube channel.

Cooking with our Camp Chef Dutch Oven and Cooking Iron

We cooked some great meals with our Camp Chef Dutch Oven and Cooking Iron last weekend while camping with our Tent Trailer.  See our delicious meals on Wawhiker's YouTube Channel.