Vargo Triad Alcohol Stove Discussions | Drop

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Oct 18, 2018

I've been using this stove on solo and two person trips for a couple of years. There are faster options and simpler options but I had one specific requirement. I wanted something I could put out mid burn. I didn't want to have to estimate how much fuel I need or be unable to put out the flame if I have to leave the campsite. Cat can stoves require an extra cup or pot to snuff the flame, Trangia makes a great stove but it's relatively heavy and doesn't have a pot support built in. Jet stoves boil water well but don't simmer so well and they're loud, so I really wanted an alcohol stove. I ultimately settled on the Vargo Triad because I can blow it out when I'm done cooking, it has pot supports and weighs just under an ounce. I purchased some Toaks Ti windscreens and cut them to fit my two main pots (a Toaks 750mL and an Evernew 1.3L). With the excess I cut a circle to go under the stove which protects the ground or table, reflects the heat back to the stove and pot, and also allows me to put a few drops of alcohol to preheat the stove if I don't want to fill the stove completely. The solo set-up with the Toaks 750 weighs 162.1g (~5.72 oz) and includes the pot, lid, pot sack, stove, windscreen with paperclips and sack and the syringe I use to fill the stove. With this set-up, I have boiled water, cooked pasta and legume meals which require simmering, fried eggs and hashbrowns and roasted marshmallows in temps as low as 25 F with snow. The power output seems a nice balance. It boils water fairly quickly but I can hold a pan over it and fry eggs without feeling like I'm wasting a lot of heat. I keep the windscreen around it and use a light weight aluminum or Ti pan lifting the pan to control the heat. I've even pan fried fish over it. I leave the 1.3L pot on the stove while cooking a pasta meal and it doesn't burn or boil over so I don't feel like I'm missing a lot without a simmer ring. I don't time my water boiling because I just start the stove and do other prep. Honestly, the difference between boiling in 2 min or boiling in 8 or 10 min isn't important to me when I have meal prep or camp set-up to do. When I'm done cooking, I blow out the stove and dump the unused fuel back in the bottle after waiting a few minutes for the stove to cool. The pot supports are finicky with the narrow 750 mL pot. The 1.3L is wider and is easy to set on the stove legs. There is potential for a spill if it is not used carefully. Like almost all of my ultralight gear, it requires a conscientious user. It's not the stove you bring to the cub scout camp out but I am comfortable leaving a pot of water on this stove while doing other stuff around camp. I don't leave it completely unattended but I don't feel the need to sit by it and watch water boil. My biggest complaint has been fueling through that little hole. I use a curved irrigation syringe which I can insert into the hole to speed fueling. It works well but, if I loose or forget the syringe, I'm out of luck. The syringes are available at most pharmacies but it means I can't simply buy a bottle of alcohol at a gas station or liquor store and fill my stove. I looked into bottles with spouts but all seem to leak either initially or after a while. My solution has been to use the original alcohol containers. Heavier but much less likely to leak. I use Everclear for the lower toxicity (compared to methanol or denatured alcohol) and buy it in plastic 400 or 250ml bottles for a weekend trip. For longer trips, I just bring a second or third 400 ml bottle. The little fill hole has been my biggest complaint and has sent me to purchasing or building a variety of other stoves. However, I've kept coming back to the Triad because it is so light for all the features it has (put supports mostly). So in conclusion, I'm going to purchase the newer version with the bigger hole in the center and see if I can eliminate the syringe completely. It's $28 on Amazon.

MickeyBliss

Oct 18, 2018

humhoefer"So in conclusion, I'm going to purchase the newer version with the bigger hole in the center and see if I can eliminate the syringe completely. It's $28 on Amazon."
So the one offered here still has the design issue of the small hole ?

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humhoefer

Oct 18, 2018

MickeyBlissI don't know for certain but, based on the pictures and the comment from OldSparky, I'm making the assumption that it is. Doesn't necessarily mean you should discount it. Either way it's a viable stove. For me, the savings of a few dollars isn't enough to gamble on getting another of the same version.

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