Trangia History

Many thanks to Malin Bergman and all the good people at Trangia SE for providing the data on Trangia history and allowing me to publish it on my website.

Below is the article about Trangia history, it provides an insight to the companies progression over nealy 90 years of producing cookware and (in my opinion) the worlds best self contained camping stove that money can buy.

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Trangia History

Trangia was founded in 1925 by John E. Jonsson, who was a technically gifted and enterprising designer from an early age. Together with his father-in-law, he started the company and  have since then been passed down to new generations of the family.  Trangia started with  producing cookware for the household in 1925 and around 1935 they started to produce various camping sets, kettles, mess tins,fry pans, mugs and plates.

 

In the late 1940s there were only camping stoves run with meta-tablets. (The gas and kerosene stoves that existed was the larger model and not designed to carry around). The spirit burner on the market was made in regular steel and a stand, designed for use indoors as a complement to the wood stove. During a visit to a Sporting goods store in Östersund asked Mr.Jonsson if the  meta-stove was good. "Yes sure, he received as answer, but it would be better off with a stove that was run with methylated spirits." It was a mission  we took on at Trangia, and so began the storm cookers history....

It had to be a stove for the average person, easy to use, easy to clean and it would contain everything you need to cook one meal during the camping trip, and the coffee pot was important. Everything would be packed in a compact unit that took up little space and was easy to carry. Instead of making the windshields of ledges to put the vessels on (as in the meta-stove) we produced upper windshield with hooks for pots and frying pan to be stable on. The folding hooks also made that the stove easy to be packed into a compact unit . The pots and pans where made plain to be easy to clean.

The burner, the stoves  "heart", was still the most important and in the beginning it was made in aluminum but soon found that brass was the material that worked best and the burner has since been manufactured in brass. In the bottom of the burner the Trangia logo was imprinted, in this way created the unevenness of the ground necessary for fuel to reach out to the wick. The Trangia stove has looked the same from the beginning, but all the time, there have been changes and improvements. There have been hints from users over the years of the stove on some details that could be better. 1951 was the first prototype to the Trangia stove finished.

 Trangia history continued

Trangia took its name from Trångsviken in Sweden, which is a small village in northern Sweden, more specific the village Trång. Then ai was added which is for aluminum. The village houses 350 people and boasts one shop and a restaurant. There is 18 employees and most of them lives in the village. Although tiny, the village is well connected to the outside world. It is located only 20 minutes from the airport at Östersund and close to the ski resort Åre.

 

 

Technical

The longevity and reliability of the Storm Cooker is ensured through an insistence in the use of the best materials and complete control of their own manufacturing. From 2006, Trangia is using a new alloy of aluminum called 5005 H24, which is 50% stronger than the former aluminum. Because of the strength of the material, the stoves can be made thinner. This has meant a weight reduction of up to 22% of the stoves. The new material has given rise to a new series of Storm Cookers called Ultralight. Furthermore, another series of Storm Cookers called Ultralight Hardanodized has been introduced. Hardanodizing makes the stoves extremely resistant to wear and tear.

 

In the late 1980’s the range was expanded with new options in materials and burners.  Non-Stick Teflon finish and Stainless Steel give alternatives for cookware.  Stainless Steel was replaced by Duossal in 1993, which was replaced by Ultralight Hardanodized aluminum in 2007. In 1998 the product development continued with Titanium, which brought lighter, tougher stoves and pans. But the Titanium is from 2007 replaced with the new material Ultralight Hardanodized aluminum.

 

Collaborations have been established with other stove manufacturers. Trangia is selling a gas burner and a multi-fuel burner from Primus, both modified to fit the Trangia Storm Cookers. The windshield was changed in 1988 to incorporate holes for the gas burners and a twist lock mechanism to secure the two halves together. A safety fuel bottle was developed to overcome the problems of carrying fuel and spilling it accidentally.

 Award Winning Throughout Trangia History...

Several of these innovations have been given recognition in COLA awards.  ‘Product of the Year Awards’ have been given to Duossal Pans, Gas Burners and the Fuel Bottle. The new Ultralight Storm Cooker was rewarded with the ‘Outdoor Industry Award’ 2006 in Friedrichshafen.

Thanks again to Malin Bergman and the people at Trangia SE for this excellent information about Trangia history. I am sure all the Trangia enthusiasts will appreciate this article.

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