Kelly Kettle

[RobertRogers]

I stumbled upon the Kelly Kettle website the other day. Anybody try one of these? Looks like it might be some kind of double boiler?

They claim you can boil water quickly only using leaves, small twigs, even newspaper

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

The Kelly is great for boiling water - but that's about all IMHO. Perhaps a bit too 1D for real bushcraft use?

I shall await being shot down in flames by Kelly fans

Phil.

 

[leon-1]

Hi mate, Kelly kettles are very good and you can burn pretty much any natural material in them that you want from twigs and leaves to larger dried prepared sticks.

I know some people have used them with burners inside them as well as hexamine tablets.

 

[Marts]

Here you go Robert

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/content/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=11

http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/kellystove.html

 

[bent-stick]

I've got the big one and the small one. Great stuff. They are a bit bulky to carry but they are just the thing for a quick brew.

Here's the best review...

http://www.outdooridiots.com/features/200611/kellykettle/kellykettle.asp

None of my buttons are working now...cut and paste it into a browser.

Time to restart the laptop perhaps....

 

[ScottC]

They will boil your water very quickly but can't do much more - they were originally used by irish fishermen to brew up quietly using natural fuels. They are also a bomb waiting to go off if you forget to take the cork out, which is extremely dangerous (imagine a tidal wave of boiling water hitting you in the face).

 

[bent-stick]

Yeah but boiling water gives me:

tea
hot chocolate
boullion
cupasoup
couscous
noodles
rat pack hot rations etc

all without worrying about fuel.

That's multipurpose enough for me

 

[Silverback]

Purely and simply I spent three years 'umming' and 'arring' over getting one of these until my dad got so fed up he bought me one for my birthday. All I can say is I wasted three years of fun by not having one. I regularly nip outside the back door with my two little lads and we brew up on the drive just for the hell of it They are bulky but work so well in my opinion it is worth it and you would be suprised how many mates you can suddenly have when the kelly is on the boil

 

[Shambling Shaman]

I like them and I belive theres a grill/pot set now?

did a quick google
http://www.sportfish.co.uk/product/31803/Kelly_Kettle_Cooking_Set.html

 

[Silverback]

I heard about the grill set but initial feedback is not favourable i.e. not worth the money. I have a bulldog billy that is almost the same diameter as the top of the kelly if you stick a couple of steel rods across the top of the bottom pot for a bit of airflow it works well

 

[fred gordon]

I got one of the larger kettles a few years ago as a present and I was a bit sceptical. Not any more though. I now have one of each size and never leave home without it. I even saw a TV chef cook a small trout down the middle wrapped in tin foil. Have yet to try that.

 

[bambodoggy]

Yeah but boiling water gives me:

tea
hot chocolate
boullion
cupasoup
couscous
noodles
rat pack hot rations etc

all without worrying about fuel.

That's multipurpose enough for me

I have to say I agree with Phil and Scott, a very good item for boiling water but I can do everything you mention above with a small billy but I can also dig with it, bake in it, fry in it, collect fungi/berries/nuts/water in it, wash in it, shave in it, drink out of it, feed and water my dogs with it, up turn it and sit on it, paddle with it, eat out of it, pretend to play the drums with it and many other things....plus it takes up far less bulk in my kit and most likely weights a little less.

I really don't think a kelly kettle is multipurpose enough for me (although obviously I've got one anyway...well, you can't judge till you try it lol ).

I have the 1 pint version and am told the 2 pint one is better... I bought the accessory kit for mine not having been told that it only fits the 2 pinter lol ....still, it found a new home fairly soon lol

They are good at what they are meant to do and do have their uses but they just aren't for me, if you enjoy them and I'm up for a free coffee from yours then I hope you continue to use them failing that....no thanks.

Cheers,

Bam.

 

[cyclist]

it can do far more than just boil water.
A look at www.thermette.com (a Volcano from the southern hemisphere) and a little tinkering gives a way of boiling water and frying food at the same time.
A little thinking helped me to design a couple of parts to use a Trangia burner inside (without modification it´s not working) - just in case ....
And yes, you can carry stuff inside the chimney.

No, I´d never dig with my cooking gear.

A pot cozy also is an essential part of my outdoor kitchen: homemade fry pan, ti pot, bowls & spork, stainless stell mugs,Trangia and homemade burners, homemade pasta machine, Kelly, homemade pot cozy, homemade kitchen knife etc.. Guess why ....

I use the Kelly because it´s the only Volcano Kettle offered in a small size.

 

[scanker]

I'm with Bam. My mate has a 2pint KK and whilst there's nothing better for a quick brew, that IMO is all it can do. The cooking kit is way too small for anything practical - if you're carrying a 2 pint kettle, you're going to want to cook more than half a dozen chipolatas. Ration packs and noodles all need simmering, and unless I'm missing a trick, I can't see how you can do that on a KK.

Except I wouldn't dig with my billy can.

 

[Mikey P]

I really don't think a kelly kettle is multipurpose enough for me (although obviously I've got one anyway...well, you can't judge till you try it lol ).

They are good at what they are meant to do and do have their uses but they just aren't for me, if you enjoy them and I'm up for a free coffee from yours then I hope you continue to use them failing that....no thanks.

Cheers,

Bam.

Agree - I think they are great bits of kit as long as you understand the limitations. I reckon they're perfect for picnics, days out working in the woods or someone else's land, brews on the beach, etc. Certainly not for lightweight, compact travel. Depending on what I'm doing will depend on the stove used: alpine climbing/bivvying - Jetboil; no-fires campsite - calor gas double burner; fire-friendly campsite - small fire & kettle/billy; etc.

As a device, Kelly Kettles are pretty efficient and, frankly, they make the simple act of brewing up more of a 'bushcraft' thing than just boiling a kettle.

Perhaps that's it? It's all about the psychological aspects - satisfying a need to boil some water but in the most aesthetically pleasing manner - not neccessarily in the simplest way. Someone mentioned that they go out into the driveway with their kids everynow and again with their kelly kettle just to make a cup of tea. I think that's fantastic! It's more about the act of making the tea than actually drinking it!

Getting pretty deep here...better go and have a cuppa and sort my head out.

 

[cyclist]

I'm with Bam. My mate has a 2pint KK and whilst there's nothing better for a quick brew, that IMO is all it can do. The cooking kit is way too small for anything practical - if you're carrying a 2 pint kettle, you're going to want to cook more than half a dozen chipolatas. Ration packs and noodles all need simmering, and unless I'm missing a trick, I can't see how you can do that on a KK.

Except I wouldn't dig with my billy can.

don´t put the ration packs, MRE´s and EPA´s in the Kelly. Just fill it with water and bring it to a rolling boil.
No tricks, just a bit of imagination. Using low BTU fuels is a pretty good education since you can´t avoid to waste the smallest amount of energy*. Simmering on Trangia & Co. is pure energy wasting compared to a pot cozy. Cozy cooking can be done with a KK as well, that doesn´t take much imagination after you got the idea

A pot cozy is just an insulation device that fully covers your pot. Lots of instructions on how to make one or to purchase via a quick google search. PU insulation mat or aluminum coated bubble wrap is the material you want. The minimal weight of a cozy pays in two ways: you save energy and (fuel) weight.
I made mine as a dual function unit: it doubles as a storage bag for the kitchen set.

To fabricate a Thermette-style pan holder you´ll need sheet metall (pref. stainless steel), tin snips and take half an hour on a lazy saturday afternoon.

*Red man is making small fire ....... "

 

[gunnix]

I got the kellykettle 2 pint. It's great to boil water with, and I really enjoy it. I also got a big isolating bottle which has a broad opening because it's for food as well which I can use to do the "cozy cooking" like cyclist mentioned. I didn't have much success cooking potatoes this way though.. Just boiling some vegetable soup. Which kind of foods do you cook this way cyclist?

I did get the accesoires for the kk as well but they were worthless and to costly for what it was. I wouldn't know for what they are made, put them on the firebase after you cooked water? But the fire base looses warmth quickly, and you can't keep a fire going this way...

Although the kk is big I always have space for it in my pack I don't think it takes that much place, and the weight isn't very much either. I can make fire with it in the forests without leaving any trace, without any effort .

By the way, I have some question about putting a pot on top of the kk. Do you keep water in the kk all the time while you are cooking on top?

I also saw someone who just had a big tin container which fitted on top of the firebase which he used to put a cooking pot on. It fitted just over the kk when packed, so it didn't take much more space.

 

[cyclist]

about every food that can be simmered: potatoes, rice, with some care even pasta, all sorts of dehydrated etc.

I don´t have the set that goes on the firepan and is use instead of the kettle.
I use the frypan on top of the kettle and boil water and fry in the pan at the same time. That saves a lot odf firewood since it´s double used. Its shown here:
www.thermette.com/thermette_disaster_prep.htm
and (with an other type of pan holder) here:
http://spiritburner.com/collectors_galleries/kevin_mccarty/collectors_k_mccarty_malley.htm

Those are no Kelly Kettles ... I´m sure you get the idea

 

[scanker]

I guess you mean this sort of thing:

Do you do this on a KK though, because from what I remember the top of a KK has a smaller chimney and steeply sloped sides?

 

[lavrentyuk]

There are quite a few different versions out there. I got a South African Volcano kettle made from spun aluminium which is a bit stronger and came with a small cookset. I have fried up a breakfast for one after making the tea, cooked a burger on it and so forth. It isn't much more than a one person job though. The kettle on the other hand is great, especially when stuck somewhere that gets all funny about camp fires.