Equipment Review: Trangia Mess Tin With Handle

Equipment Review: Trangia Mess Tin With Handle

I have been using the Trangia aluminum Mess Tin for a little over two year as the container for my fire kit and also for backwoods baking/cooking and my general plate. While I generally prefer stainless steel for my containers I have always preferred aluminum for baking (seems to cook better) and this tin has been surprisingly durable. My wife purchased this tin for me from survival resources a few years ago and it has performed flawlessly well exceeding it $8.00 price tag (at that time). 

This medium sized tin weighs only 5.6 oz prior to loading, so it will add virtually no weight to your kit for a great deal of benefit.  The dimensions of this kit are 6.5" x 3.5" x 2.6" which leaves ample room for a fire kit and tinder or for baking a loaf of bread!

A few things I have used this container for: baking, cooking, boiling, water retardant container,  shovel, plate, flat dry surface, ferro rod scraper, hammer and rake. While I'm sure you will think of additional uses these are the only ones I have tries so far.

Now to explore where this container excels:

1) Baking: It's like this thing was meant to bake bread in the woods! I have yet to come across another container equally suited for this task. Betty Cocker muffin mix, corn bread, bannock, and traditional breads all turn out amazingly well when baking in a pantry container (I.e. size smaller than a #10 can or the largest canned vegetables/soup container in the Grocery store). That same can also serves as the outermost portion of my bottle cook set keeping other items in place. The trangia container slides perfectly into the pantry container leaving a little air space on each side of the trangia turing it into the perfect convection oven. Just remember when you select your container to use a pampered chef can opener which will allow the lid to be placed back onto the container instead of wasted.

Cooking: If you are cooking for a group and stew in the bushpot isn't quite enough you always need additional container and this is the closest thing I carry to a frying pan. I have fried fish, cooked just add water meals and prepared wild edibles in this container. While the container is not large enough for a massive fish it will work for most pan fish.

Plate: The lid of this container has served as my exclusive edc plate since purchasing the trangia and hasn't let me down yet.  While it doesn't provide for a huge spread it will easily accommodate anything I cook that doesn't go in my pathfinder or GSI cups.

Container: The Trangia stays on the exterior of my EDC bag and contains my fire kit. To date my tinder has remained dry and I have yet to have a leak in the container.  It is also the perfect size for even my large fire kit.

Shovel/digging device- Using the handle as a small hoe (or a digging stick) to loosen the dirt and the actual container as a shovel you can move a surprising amount of dirt in a fast manner. This is by no means a substitute for an actual shovel but has worked in a pinch when needed.

Ferro rod scrapper- I have used this just to try it for fun in the past and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of material it removed and the fact I was able to get a marginal birds nest to catch fire on the first attempt. 

Conclusion: The Trangia Mess Kit with handle is an amazing piece of equipment and is easily capable of being a multifunctional member of your kit. For a price of less than $10.00 purchasing this item was a steal for the amount I have used it thus far. Don't give it a second thought because it isn't stainless steel, this tin is as close to bombproof as you can get from an aluminum container and I'm sure it will serve you well for many years.

 

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