Sigg tourist sets: are they really that cool?

Are these really that wonderful? I see very high prices on eBay, but there seems to be a lot of inconsistency. Thoughts? Thank you!

 

What do you mean by inconsistency?

I can't really comment on price, because I haven't looked at online prices for these in a long time.

I bought mine, including the stove, for $50 over 12 years ago, and was glad to get it then.

They are "that wonderful" and I use mine 9 out of 10 trips. The big key is the interlocking pans/windshield, which gives a very stable system. This is big in the backcountry, because little bumps against your cooking vessel don't send your dinner into the dirt. It's very wind-resistant as well.

Light and nicely self-contained to carry. The Trangia is the only real comparator (at least among readily-available setups).

 

Welcome to ccs.
Yes, what do you mean by inconsistency?
Price? Yes. But deals can be had. New in the box or not. Aluminum or stainless steel.

The only inconsistency I can think of would be the stove and having it run every time. But the user can ensure that easily.

As Ed said, the only comparison to me is the Trangia.

 

The only inconsistency I see on the bay is that occasionally a set isn't complete, and some sets do and some don't include a stove. The prices are all over the place there.

I recently found another set at a yard sale for $5 that looks like it was used once. If you want to find one, consider checking estate sales and yard sales. I subscribe to www.estatesales.net, a free listing of all upcoming local estate sales. Looking through the pictures, I look to see of there are any GPA's and if so, that one is on my target list. The Tourist set above was found at an unadvertised yard sale down the street from the one I was going to.

I found three of these sets in the past few months. Two at a single estate sale (one went to my buddy, and one brand new in box with the stove that I won't use) and the third one at a yard sale previously noted. Now that I have a user one for myself, I can't wait to try it out!

 

Thanks for your input! All the best, Mike

 

The Sigg set takes a somewhat unstable stove that is prone to wind difficulties, and turns it into a rock star. Although I have many stoves at my disposal, if I am traveling to the NC coast where it is always breezy, the only two stoves I will consider are the 123/Sigg or the Trangia. The alcohol Trangia actually burns better in a breeze due to its design. Brad

 

Do you have the trangia cookery to go with it? Just curious.

 

At the end of the day they are just pots and pans.. If they were really that wonderful someone would be still producing them. BUT that is just my own personal view.

 

Yes, the beauty of the Trangia is the whole system of windscreen, pots, and kettle. It is designed to function as a unit. I have the larger size 25 and the smaller 27. I have carried both in a backpack, depending on how many I am cooking for. In a backpack, I usually don't carry the whole set, but choose one pot and the frying pan lid. For one or two people the 27 and one pot makes a nice, light compact unit that is easy, reliable, and impervious to the wind. In a canoe I carry the whole set.

 

To get the most out of either the Sigg set or a Tangia set, yes, you need two pots etc that come with it. I enjoy my Sigg stuff and my Trangia, (stable stable stable) everybody needs one of each

At least one.....

 

I have Trangia 27, but haven't used it since I got my first pressure stove. I also have a Sigg Tourist with Svea 123, but I allways choose a pot that pack more compact with the 123. I do not like the no-flat bottom of the Sigg pots.

 

For me, this has always been the issue.

They are from yesteryear, a time gone by, a time looked back upon with reverence and a longing for simpler times and how it used to be.

But they answered a question that I never asked. Rather large to pack, they seemed more suitable for a picnic than a backpack yet, at a picnic, I would choose a different stove and need a coffee pot as well. No, I suppose not. All I would need is a coffee pot and stove, so there's that...

I'm glad I feel this way, as it frees me from the desire to pay too much to acquire a set. Of course, had I not always felt this way I'd probably have a well-used set from when they first came out.

 

Well, I'd never heard of the set until I was about 53 years of age, and bought one probably at 55. To me "yesteryear" with regard to backpacking was campfires, which is what we cooked on in the backcountry in the 1960s-- together with my one-of-a-kind (for my crowd) Optimus 45.

The set is not just "pots and pans", it's interlocking pots and pans and windscreen with a stove. It is easy to pack; I've done it countless times, and it is light.

A backcountry cook kit (for real cooking, anyway) is a stove and pots and pans, of one kind or another, after all.

Mais ou sont les neiges dantan?

 

That identifies one difference, my backpacking was always keeping a cold camp. Another is that it seldom involved real cooking. When it did, it was frying a fish on something that passed for a frying pan and doubled as a plate.

The snows of yesteryear flush my toilet today...

 

Right on, Ed. The Sigg set answers two of the most important questions for me when out in the woods. Stability and wind are nearly always an issue and the Sigg set does it better than most. Coupled with a very reliable little stove it is a great combination. Of course combination systems are all the rage in the modern stove world as well, as in the Jetboil types. But the modern systems are mostly just water boilers, which don't set well with those of us who like to actually cook and then not carry around empty canisters.

 

My latter-day return to backpacking started about 12 years ago, and was inspired by CCS. I had backpacked as a kid and yout' (as Nordicthug would have put it) in the 1960s. I raised my kids with tons of car camping, but no backpacking in my 20s, 30s, and 40s.

So stove use and cooking was and is a big part of it, along with the short overnight trips, which are conducive to carrying fresh food and wine. Thus a set like the Sigg is ideal. We also often bring a one-pint brassie along with the Sigg. This is because we are Classic Camp Stovies.

 

I am a destination backpacker. I usually go 5-10 miles back into that special trout stream or nice lake and then stay there a few days. I eat fresh food as long as I possibly can so my cooking gear reflects that choice. Once in a while I will do a loop of up to 25 miles where gram counting comes into play, but I much prefer my destination hikes.

 

The Sigg set with integrated 123 is absolutely brilliant.

Recently deceased 'fyldefox' cooking with my Sigg/123.

 

Michael,

Another thought if you plan to get one is ensuring you get one for the right stove. Not all of the Tourist sets included a stove when new. I've only seen ones for the Svea stoves, but there was also a Tourist set for a specific Coleman stove. The stove holder would obviously be very different.