I am back from my annual winter camping trip, I hope to post photos later. However at the moment stoves on are on my mind. We generally use MSR Whisperlites and Simmerlites for cooking. We don't need to melt snow as we bring an ice auger and drill holes into lakes for water. The MSR stoves work fine, but I really want to use a Trangia with a white gas burner. We cook in large groups and therefore have large pans of food and water heating. I want the stable Trangia windscreen and the large Trangia pan. I am in part overreacting to a recent large food spill, but that's for another time. I have an Optimus Nova and Optimus used to sell a part allowing the burner to mount into a Trangia windscreen as referenced by this recent post linked below. However, on this side of the pond Optimus parts are hard to come by and I can't find the adapter for sale. Parts in general for the Nova seem to be in short supply. The Katadyn website doesn't seem to offer any means to buy from them. The lack of parts is frustrating. Should I just bit the bullet and buy a Trangia Multifuel X2? Maybe the easy solution is also the best solution. Advice on kerosene for a Trangia cook set
I love my Nova in my Trangias. I would not recommend the Optimus adapter for a Nova. The Trangia adapter cups are available on Amazon (I don't shop there) if you search "Trangia Cup". Looks like they are about $30. You can also buy them directly from Trangia https://shop.trangia.se/en/spare-parts/burner-cup-primus-system.html , but unless you were buying something else at the same time, the shipping might be cost prohibitive on just this one item. Which part(s) are you having difficulty finding for the Nova? I have yet to find a Nova part that is 'unobtanium'. I've been using a Nova in my Trangia for several years now, and really haven't had any insurmountable service issues. If you decide to go non-Nova, regarding the X2: I would not recommend that. It's expensive for what it is, and if you do some searching through the forums here, and elsewhere online, you'll find many disappointed users of that arrangement, myself included. I sold my X2 after about the second time I used it. You'd be better off buying a Primus Omnifuel, or maybe an Optimus Polaris off ebay, and using the Trangia adapter cup with it. It would be less expensive, plus you get a better stove too.
This Optimus Nova+Polaris and Primus Varifuel+Multifuel+Omnifuel+Omnilite adapter is more common to find: It is Optimus part and Katadyn https://www.optimusstoves.com/en/de/111-8016303-optimus-trangia-adapter sells it. It is also very easy to make from a strip of steel or SS and some small jar can lid for priming meths.
Alan, get those photos up-- would love to see them. We just got back from our big tent Winter camp, too. Just a couple of photos this time I'll put up soon. But we get our water from a faucet...
Check out this Nova/Trangia adapter that is easy to make and doesn't require the Nova to be dismantled... Adapter Optimus Nova / Trangia 01
In terms of parts, the only source in the USA I've found is Amazon. I ordered a parts kit as I need some seals. The kit is not available until mid March. Beyond Amazon I could not find much for parts. The Katadyn website is worthless. The adapter which is shown by Afterburner is not to be found in the USA from what I can tell. That said, if the Trangia adapter works with a Nova, problem solved. That was easier than I thought it would be. Perhaps this will also work with an MSR whisperlite? It would be a great combination. The homemade adapter Ian linked is quite clever. Stay tuned. Hopefully by next February I have this sorted. I hope I don't lose my momentum on getting this going. I think the Trangia with a white gas burner and their 4.5 liter pot would be the ticket.
I have used the Nova in the Primus cup along with the original set up allowing me to use it as a second stove. I use a piece of aluminum around the closed burner to avoid any heat damage to the lower windscreen. Primus cup set up.
Haven’t had any overheat issues. I added the aluminum collar to prevent/monitor any issue. The aluminum may not be necessary but added it just in case. The 4.5 billy is a great choice for groups and nests the 25 set well
We winter camp in larger groups, this year was six and that was a smaller than usual group. We usually run two MSR Whisperlites or Simmerlites and they work fine. We generally have two large pans with water and food heating for every meal. I think a Trangia setup would work better. The large, stable base and windscreen of the Trangia is an improvement over the foil windscreens of the MSR. We spilled a large pan of spaghetti sauce this year as it slid off the snow cooking table. I don't think this would have happened with the Trangia windscreen base. I want to get my Nova setup up and running smoothly before I forget about it and thus wind up with the same setup next year. One of my goals is to take notes each year from the winter trip and try and improve my kit year by year. I record the notes in a kit spreadsheet I keep. OCD, but effective.
The dogs were happy. They scored some wonderful Italian sausage and seemed quite delighted with their good fortune.
I used Primus Omnifuel together with Optimus bracket in bigger Trangia for winter camping before I got 111T. I used it inside of the tent. Food making, water melting from snow/ice and use for tent heating normally took 2-3 hours. Upper windscreen got VERY hot after hour or so use. Also bottom part got quite hot. Then after I had made the food and melted the water I started to remove upper windscreen when stove was in "heating mode". That resolved windscreen 'over heating' problem.
Had some time on Sunday to test this out. The good news is the stove didn't leak. I don't know what happened last time but I was in a hurry so who knows. I will test again and see what happens. Also good news, the Nova mounted into my Trangia nicely, not perfectly level, but close enough. The bad news. I have a 4.5 liter Trangia pot and could barely manage a boil after an hour. This seems like the Nova is not kicking out enough heat. Has anyone tried this with any of the gas stove options? Could you get it to boil? I realize this is a big pan, but this is what we use on my winter trip and can get a boil with a MSR. The burner is too far from the pan and some heat is lost, or my stove isn't running right. It boiled smaller amounts just fine.
I don't have the 4.5L pot but have often thought of getting one. I have read elsewhere that getting the pot up to boiling temp was an issue hence why I haven't purchased one as of yet. If you lived closer I would volunteer to come over and look at it thermally in order to try to locate the issue but alas I'm too far away.
