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1980s Vintage Trangia
1980s Trangia Logo
1980s Vintage Trangias, A Decade of Change.
1980s vintage Trangias seem to have more clues to date them than any other decade in Trangias history, during this period the Trangia stove went through several subtle design changes,... ok some weren't so subtle,... nothing subtle about bright red non-stick pans, "yes I agree, those bright red pans were real screamers" and as appealing as they are, its hardly a subtle design change, the changes I am referring to are as follows,
- Several different strap designs
- Lower windshield had holes to fit the gas burner
- The inclusion of text on the lower windshield
- Different design changes to the simmer ring
- Couplings added to the windshields
- Outward facing rolled edge at the bottom of the 27 series lower windshield
- Various design changes to the Trangia box
- Trangia label stuck on the upper windshield
Lets start by taking at look at an early 1980s vintage Trangia, the photo below shows a model 25 stove, set up with all its various components.
Model 25 1980s Vintage Trangia
The upper windshield has the Trangia badge, which is also included on some late 1970s models.
As with all vintage Trangias, the aluminium used in manufacture is a heavier gauge than later versions, this early 1980s vintage Trangia stove is no exception.
Early 1980s Trangia Straps
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First, you'll notice the different style strap, the Trangia logo is in blue capitals, with a red border and white background. This style of strap is a sure sign that this is an early 1980s vintage Trangia. |
1980s Trangia 25 windshield
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Taking a look at the lower windshield, you'll notice the riveted strap retainers are embossed with the 1980s style Trangia logo. The top of the lower windshield still lacks the couplings that connect both windshields together, also notice, no openings for the gas burner, these features were later introduced in 1988 |
Early 1980s Trangia Spirit Burner
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This early 1980s Trangia burner is the first generation burner to have an "adjustable" simmer ring, notice how the dark brown adjustable piece at the top of the simmer ring doesn't have the small handle at the edge for easer opening and closing. Furthermore, this design wasn't around for long, it was soon upgraded to include the handle, as this was more user friendly, hence the first generation simmer rings are quite rare. For comparison, the second photo shows a later style burner and simmer ring with the small handle on the edge. Other than the handle, both simmer rings are identical and completely interchangeable with each other. |
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More clues to dating a Trangia can be found on the side of the small saucepan, notice the litre graduations, and how different styles were used during different periods. The photo on the left shows the small saucepan from the model 25 pictured at the top of the page. Trangia boxes can provide useful information to help establish the age of your stove. The photo on the left is the original box for the model 25 stove pictured above, although its for an early 1980s vintage Trangia stove, the same box was used for late 1970s Trangias, so should not be used as definitive reference, but as a general indication only. |
Mid 1980s Vintage Trangias
The photo above shows a model 27-2 stove from the mid 1980s, it may not look much different from the earlier model 25 stove, the only noticeable changes that occurred during this period were,
- Strap colour changed
- Saucepan markings changed
- Simmer ring redesigned to incorporate the handle
Lets take a closer look at a mid 1980s vintage Trangia
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You can see from the photo that the strap now has a black background, blue borders, and Trangia written in red capital letters. An easy mistake to make is to confuse this stap design with the later and current versions due to having the same colour scheme. Later versions were not written in all capitals, additionally they now include a "T" logo before the word "trangia". I have included the second photo to reference this. (mid 80s style on top, later style below.) |
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Here again we have different markings on the small saucepan, notice this time the circular style of the litre graduations, as apposed to the earlier 1980s models linier style graduations. Circular style markings have been used since the mid 80s to the present day. During the mid 80s the graphics on the box changed, also notice in the bottom left corner of the box, there's a small picture of a Trangia stove, notice how the non-stick frying pans outer surface is plain aluminium, not red, like the later 1988 non-stick pans, a good indication that this box is for a mid 1980s vintage Trangia stove. |
1985, The Mini Trangia Was Produced
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1985 gave birth to the mini Trangia, a popular light weight stove designed for one person. The first photo shows a first generation mini Trangia, differing slightly from later versions, it had a flat frying pan base and smooth finish aluminium burner stand. The second photo shows a second generation mini Trangia, notice this time it has a slightly raised frying pan base and the burner stand has a hammered finish the same as current models. In 1988 the mini Trangia frying pan was given the red non-stick treatment, then later (during the 1990s) had the grey and black speckled finish. |
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Late 1980s Vintage Trangias
Pictured above is an early 1988 model 27-6, without windshield couplings, notice how this stove still has the Trangia badge on the upper windshield and no openings for a gas burner, although 1988 was the year gas burner openings, red non-stick pans and windshield coupling were introduced its evident that red non-stick pans were produced first, that dates this particular stove to early 1988.
During the late 80s many noticeable changes happened, the lower windshields were cut out to facilitate gas burners, text also appeared on the lower windshields, windshields were given couplings, and of course, red non-stick pans.
First lets look at the changes that took place on the lower windshield. Below are 4 different lower windshields dating from early 1988 to 1990, each one has different characteristics that provide excellent information for establishing the age of your Trangia stoves.
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First, an early 1988 windshield from a model 27-3 (red non-stick pan)
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Second, a 1988 windshield from a model 27-6 (red non-stick pans)
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Third, a 1989-90 windshield from a model 27-2
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Fourth, a 1990 (or at least early 90s) windshield from a 25-3 (red non-stick pan)
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Regarding outward facing rolled edges;
All model 25 stoves have an outward facing rolled edge, its only since 1989-90 that this feature appeared on model 27 stoves, before that, models 27 stoves had a rolled edge on the inside of the lower wind shield.
1988 model 27-6, Vintage Trangia
This time the above photo is of a later 1988, 27-6 stove, notice the lower windshield has gas burner openings, and the upper windshield lacks the Trangia badge, so if we compare this stove to the previous 27-6 stove mentioned above, it appears that upper windshield badges were discontinued during 1988, the same applies to the strap, it now has the "T" logo.
Conclusion; 1988 was a year of significant changes, there were probably more changes in 1988 alone, than the entire 1980s decade,
- Early 1988, the first red non-stick pans appeared
- Mid 1988, strap now has "T" logo
- Mid 1988, text appeared on lower windshield
- Mid 1988, Trangia badge on upper windshield discontinude
- Mid 1988, lower windshield now has openings for gas burner
- Late 1988, windshield received couplings
- Late 1989-90, base of lower windshield now manufactured with rolled edge.
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One final note, in 1988 the OS Ostersund 1994, Olympic sponsor was printed on some 1988 Trangia boxes, it also appeared on the upper windshields Trangia badge during this period. Do you have a 1980s vintage Trangia that you would like to comment about or would you like to send in a photo or two, if so share your story and photos below, its really easy to do. |
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