Vargo Triad XE

[Cameron Reed]

I have built many alcohol stoves, but have never purchased one commercially. I am thinking of buying the Vargo Triad XE. Does anyone have any experience with these stoves? What are the strengths/weaknesses? I have looked for reviews at BackpackGearTest.org, but could find nothing. If someone know a good source for a review it would be greatly appreciated.

[Brett .]

Cameron, I read many reviews while researching my commercial alcohol stove purchases, and I ended up buying a Trangia and a Brasslite. I wanted to see how they compared to my pepsi and cat stoves. The Triad XE was reported to be weak and inefficient. Each stove has its proponents, and admittedly, I don't own the Triad.

A few comments on both:

The Trangia is the one I reach for first if Im cooking with alcohol. For a day hike I top it off, screw on the lid, and toss it in my pack (with the pot holder). It has a large capacity, the pot holder is wide and stable(accessory), and it can carry the fuel inside its body for single meals. For a lighter weight option, the lid and snuffer can be left at home if you carry a fuel bottle.
Additionally, it is a nice, heirloom quality brass instrument which will last longer than I do.

The Braslite has a convenient built in pot holder, but because that is a screen, it requires a separate wind screen. Also, it can not seal to carry fuel. Quality of construction is very poor; surfaces which should be flat are warped, the welds are sloppy, and the simmer ring is paper thin brass which will eventually fail due to metal fatigue. Ligher and weaker than the Trangia. Not something Id like to hand as a gift; looks really 'hobo'. Good thing is you can toss a burning esbit in there instead of alcohol. Honestly, a super cat with some gutter mesh attached with a pipe clamp would probably be just as good (just an untested theory, although my super cat boils as quickly as my Braslite).

Hope this helps.
More reviews here
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkk8ECNxFS4kA9MBXNyoA?p=vargo+triad+review&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt

[Douglas Frick]

>I am thinking of buying the Vargo Triad XE.

I don't have the Vargo Triad XE burner, but I do have the stove stand (1.0 oz). If you end up not liking the burner, the stove stand works great with Esbit or any short (3cm or less) alcohol stove such as Tinny's Mini Bull Designs SSBIT or NION (I use an older SST), a Cobra, a Penny, or a Pepsi-G. The stove base has a deep cup that helps primed stoves to start reliably, and it weighs less and takes less room than my hardware-mesh stands.

[D T]

I own a Triad XE. I purchased it for its ability to use both alcohol and solid tab fuels. The base is fantastic, the alcohol stove portion sucks. Sometimes it will burn for a long time, sometimes only a few minutes, sometimes hot, and sometimes not very well at all (may take several attempts to get stove burning). It took me awhile to figure out how to get the stove started when using alcohol, and when I got the hang of it, the burn time and temp was very inconsistant. You are also stuck with using a pot that is about 5" in diameter, so a Snow Peak 600ml mug is out of the question the flame shoots out to the side too far to heat the mug, instead you heat your wind screen. Even when using a Evernew .9 liter pot the flame, on occasion, will exceed the pot base and melt the handle insulation.

I now have a Brasslite Turbo F (no longer manufactured) and a Firelite Titanium Wing Stove. These two stoves combined weigh less than the Triad XE. The Turbo F is (IMO) the most fuel efficient alcohol stove that I've ever used. The Turbo F is a stripped down version vs. other Brasslite models. No simmer sleeve and weighs only .8 oz and has a built on pot support.

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