What did I mean by a 'winter burner' for the Trangia?

A couple of days ago I did a video, "What is my favorite alcohol stove?" where I explained that I had two favorite alcohol stoves, the Trangia and the Fancy Feast.

In the video I said that the Fancy Feast works great at low temperatures where the Trangia doesn't work to well with out the aid of a "winter burner below the Trangia". Since I did that video I've had a couple of people ask what I meant by a "winter burner" so I thought maybe I should explain mayself.

Maybe part of the confusion is that what I called a "winter burner" is actually called a "winter attachment". I showed the attachments I have and what I use as a substitute because it just doesn't work on many Trangia potstands.

The Trangia´s winter attachment can be found on eBay at prices ranging from $25 to $35 and includes a spirit burner, a pre-heating cup and a aluminium plate.

The video got a little rushed at the end because it started to rain, even though the weather man said it wasn't suppose to.

Below I'll leave a couple of links. One is to a video I did a couple of years ago of the winter attachment fitting on Westwind stand. The other is Trangia's video on using the winter attachment. Watch how they say only use a couple of drops of alcohol in the attachment but it looks like the guy really dumps a load in the cup.

Thank you for watching my videos,
Hiram

Links:
"Trangia burner with winter attachment on Westwind stand"

"Use the Winter attachment- By Trangia AB"

Hammock Fight by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a CC Attribution 3.0.
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[Tordan]

Hiram, I´m a former army captain that used to work in the Swedish arctic brigade. One thing we taught the soldiers was a variant of your "lid burner" at the end of the video. Take the lid of the Trangia burner, remove the rubber ring and add some fuel in the lid. Dig/scrape a small hole in the ground so that the top of the lid is about flush with the ground. Light the fuel and then place the rest of the Trangia set above it. The burner will go into "after burner mode". It will use more fuel and one need to be wary of the much larger flame. We pretty much only used it if we wanted to quickly boil water.

As you know, the main issue in the winter is the temperature of the fuel. In our kits we had one large 1l fuel bottle and one small bottle, like a nip(?) flask. That was meant to be worn inside our clothing to warm up the fuel. Worked well, but we seldom wore it that way for obvious "military" reasons. No reason to not do it for civilian use, at least when one nears dinner time. :)

Just wanted to share some anecdotes. :)

[williambazinet]

Dude, nobody could explain to me what the “winter stand” was for! This video was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

[thecuttingsark]

I’ve basically just invented this idea today! Was thinking of writing to trangia to say ‘why don’t you make one of these?’. Then I stumble on this video and feel a bit stupid!

[JoeFeser]

This is why you are the go to guy when it comes to stoves. You make and publish a video to explain another video from two days ago. The Firebox Stove Gen 2 is also coming out with modifications based on your suggestions for the trangia burners. Keep it up man, we all love your videos.

[overland]

this video sells me even more on the fancy feast stove. I am making one tonight :) Thanks for all you do Hiram

[brentrichie]

Your videos are always informative and very enjoyable.

[MITimberwookie]

Great vid. This can make a world of difference in cold temps.

[ibmoosed]

I was not aware of the grooves
Thank you
I have new ideas now

[allynshadowens]

Hiram, thanks for taking the time to make these great video's. Very informative! Love it!

[ritz]

Hi Hiram,
I saw a guy on Youtube making a wick of toilet paper (rolled it as s thin wick) and lighted it in the middle of the Trangia. It was in minus temperature and it worked flawlessly.
In this case you don't need a winterburner at all. To isolate between snow/ice and the burner is a good idea with any alcohol stove I should think.

[WanderingBeast]

nicee video.im wondering if you couldnt just add a wick wrap to the outside to heat up the stove body

[rumrunner]

Never noticed grooves on one before... I'm sure you have tried this but I use a 2" disc of carbon felt under it with a "highly modified" Westwind for large pot/skillet.  It's not a MoJo but works way better that the unmodified version. Less of a heat sink.  Thanks Hiram!BTW, found the winter attachment version on amazon for 22 bucks.

[briancox]

you can use your winter attachment with any pot stand just push it down when the stove blooms.

[bvbjb]

Last two videos are great stuff!!! Thank you for sharing. :) !!

[hairyhomerify]

I use a gas storm lighter in winter to preheat the spirit burner to allow it to vapour and burn better

[ebikecnx]

We put the burner on a slightly larger circle of carbon felt for insulation and drip some methanol on the felt and set fire to it. Works great with our military Trangia set known as a M40 stainless steel mess and cooking set. Ebikecnx7239

[bluemopar]

Can't you just add some alcohol onto the indented ring on the top of the trangia stove to prime it? It always works for me to add alcohol to the flat portion, light it, and it blooms pretty quick. that is a happy dog!

[oldtimerlee]

As always, thank you for sharing your wisdom. Appreciated.

[dirk]

"Winter Burner" sounds like a great name for a Weatherperson on a local news channel.

Let's go now to Winter Burner and find out what the weather will be like for this weekends big tractor pull!

[jayheaddaaa]

when i am out in winter for more than 2 or 3 nights in the norwegian mountains, i use an old can to preheat the trangia burner. i take some tea lights with me, 1-2 for a day. the can is the size that the trangia burner fits exactly into it like into the original stove so it can hang into the tin can. i made some holes into the can at two different levels, so the flame of a tea light has enough air to burn. and then i use to trangia burners, and while one is burning to melt snow/boil the water the other one gets preheated over the tea light can. so u never have any problems to light the alcohol. and if you have to melt a lot of snow u can work very easy with it. the other point is, u have a bit of light and warmth in the tent with the tea lights.