Trangia spirit burner
the spirit burner history
The heart of the Trangia stove is the burner. Today the stove is compatible with a gas burner, multifuel burner or a burner cup for solid or gel fuels.
But when it was first introduced in 1951 it came with a brass spirit burner for alcohol-based fuels. A spirit burner still in use today. Well, with a few changes implemented through the years.
The first burners had a conical top with no lid and no simmer ring. An attached, flip-over simmer ring was, however, soon introduced. Although the exact year is unknown, the simmer ring is first mentioned in the 1954 Trangia catalogue.
The first burners were embossed with a cross underneath. During manufacturing this created a gap so that the fuel could pass between compartments and hence soak the cotton wick inside. The cross was soon replaced with the company logo at the time, ”TAL”, enclosed in an upside-down triangle. This was replaced by the new ”TAB” logo in 1961.
In 1963 the upper, conical part of the burner was slightly changed to accommodate a yellow, plastic cap. An expandable brass cap was available as an accessory. In 1971 these two were replaced by a screw-on cap and clip-on simmer ring. And in 1976 the company adopted a new ”T” logo underneath the burner. It is still in use today.
A new accessory was introduced in 1979: The pre-heater cup. Two ”ridges” were later added to the sides of the burner so that the cup stayed in place better.
In 1983 the old clip-on simmer ring was replaced by a new, adjustable simmer ring. Very soon an extruding ”handle” was added to the adjustable lid to make opening and closing easier. This is the same model used today.
There have been two variants of the standard Trangia burner throughout the years. First, one in aluminium, used solely with the Trangia 26 between 1953-1962. Second, a larger military version used in combination with the Swedish Army m/40 mess tin between 1964-1976.
Odd embossing
Sometime in the early 1970’s, the small letters in the embossing machine fell off. So, for a while, the burners were produced with only a large “T” inside the upside-down triangle. The burner has a threaded lid and clip-on simmer ring.
A real rarity!
