Swedish Army Trangia Car Stove

I've talked about the car stove kit I put together for friends and family over the holidays and wanted to talk a bit about it here.

What I've got is a Swedish Army Trangia in stainless steel. The standard windscreen, fuel bottle, and military burner are included. To that I've added a Victorinox Farmer, a Light My Fire Army Firesteel (available here from JRE Industries,) a Bic lighter, and a handkerchief.

This gives the user three methods of starting a fire/lighting the burner, a knife and a saw, a strainer/pot grabber, and the pot/skillet which can be used to gather snow, as a shovel (that stainless is TOUGH,) or as a container.

Once these kits were handed out we all headed for the driveway where I grabbed a random sample stove and showed everyone how to assemble and stow it, how to use the firesteel, how to use the alcohol and burner, and then we put some water in the larger pot, lit the stove, and brought it up to a boil. Hot chocolate would have been a great finish to the lesson and I wish, looking back, that I'd thought of it then.

The stainless kit is heavier than the Aluminum counterpart but it also seems to be a bit more sturdy and able to take the abuse a novice user may dish out. Stowing the kit in the trunk of the car negates the weight concerns and everything inside should last an entire winter easily.

I tried to keep it simple so there was little to forget and I tried to keep the gear robust so it wouldn't fail if it were ever needed.

Getting stuck in your car during an ice storm or blizzard is no fun. Getting stuck for days can be a real possibility on some stretches of highway. This kit could certainly make your forced stay a bit more pleasant and possibly make the difference between life and death if you need water and warmth and all you've got is snow and ice.

Thanks for reading,


B