Hi all,
Ok I was sent this Mkettle to take with me on a TA weekend to see what the guys there think of it. But the Mkettle didn’t arrive till I was on the weekend so I have decided to do review about it on here as I had not actually seen the Mkettle before.
When I first took it out of the box I was surprised by the size of the Mkettle compared to the other kettle that I have (Ghillie adventure). The size of the Mkettle is 17cm(7”
tall by 10cm (3.75” diameter, it weights: 370g(13 oz) and is made of Hard Anodized Aluminium.
As I was supposed to be showing this kettle to a bunch of squaddies the Rip Stop Nylon Carry Bag it came with was a camouflage one with a zip around the top instead of the normal black bag with a pull cord. It comes fitted with two D-Rings as standard. So it can be fitted to a pack or bike or whatever you may wish to connect the kettle to.
As with the other types of kettle the fire base fits inside the top part of the kettle when not in use. The kettle holds just less than a pint and has a rubber bung that fits well to keep the water from running out of the kettle. I have read that some folk have an issue with the size of the hole as it is small and not funnelled like other kettles. But in my opinion it goes with the style of kettle and with the bung it can be used to hold water whilst travelling (as long as you are careful not to knock out the bung)
The kettle is surrounded by a Neoprene Sleeve which makes it possible to pick up the Mkettle when it is hot without burning your hands. Which surprises most folk including me as it is basically, well, rubber? But it is designed to resists burning and is used over a wide variety of applications.
When testing the Mkettle I used hexi blocks as my heat source I was reviewing the product to see how good it would perform if I should use it in my other hobby of being apart time squaddie. Which did work very well just forgot to time the kettle boil ....D’OH. But you can burn just about anything that you would use in a Ghillie or a Kelly kettle.
To start I used the Mkettle to boil up some water for a brew but as I was busy taking pictures of it in action. As I have already said, I forgot to time how long it took to heat up the kettle.
And when it had boiled I just picked the kettle from the base and poured the water into a mug without burning my hands at all but you can feel a bit of warmth from the kettle. Nothing to worry about but I did think that it could make a nice hand warmer on a cold morning.
I then added some of the water into my crusader mug which had a snack in it of curry flavoured noodles and placed it on the fire base, which it fitted on/into very well. A few minutes later they were bubbling away nicely and I was having lunch with a brew within 15 to 20 minutes from starting the fire in the base to munching on the noodles.
Should I wish to cook food with any other sort of cookware on the fire base I would have to use a couple of tent pegs resting on the base to sit the cookware on, so that I could leave a gap at the top for the smoke to escape. On the Mkettle website there is a stand that fits on top of the kettle but to use that you would have to leave water in the kettle so not to do any damage to it.
As for cleaning it, it’s the same as any other Ghillie or Kelly kettle you just have to get on with it and wash it clean. With a bit of scrubbing it was as good as new in a couple of minutes.
I’d like to say that I like the Mkettle. It’s a good size for carrying around over a long distance either full of water or empty. It fits easily in one of my old green webbing utility pouches so it could be put in a back pack with no difficulty at all. But I must say I would worry if I carried it around in my army webbing on exercise as I would be concerned that I might crush it. Like I have done with army mess tins in the past. But I would happily carry it in my Bergen withthe rest of my kit.
It's size makes it very useful if you are just out for the day and not wanting to carry too much. As for me it will be taking the place of my Ghillie kettle when I go to beaches this summer when on holiday with the family. Even the wife is happy that I’ll be lugging something smaller than my 1.5 LTR Ghillie kettle around with me to make the cups of tea and coffee with.
If your using the base to cook for the 5000. I think you might need to look for a bigger Kettle. But the base is plenty big enough for one or even two at a push as long as you don’t want to cook a Sunday dinner on it. The base even fits Trangia burner inside it should you have one of them, which I don’t (Sounds like another GB in the future to me)
I’d Like to add a few comments from widu13 That He put On the Group buy that I am doing (or was depending when you read this) As he remember to set his watch when testing his Mkettle :-
I got my MKettle today. Yes it's small and yes it holds 500ml!
Just tested it with my Whitebox Stove and from bloom to boil with cold water at 10c outside with no wind, I had a rolling boil in 4 mins flat. Not tried solid fuel yet though. My home-made pop can stove, Budweiser Stove and mini bullstove also works.
My concern at the moment is the longevity of the neoprene sleeve which is in direct contact with the metal containing the water. I can see the heat degrading that fairly quickly?
It's a double edged sword really as you have to weigh off the compact size (which is a lot smaller than the Maverick) against having to source a new sleeve whenever it expires.
Also....
Just used some windblown (slightly damp) Ash twigs from my garden and got a rolling boil in 8 mins. Once going the chimney really draws the flames. With dry wood I think the time would be around 6 mins. As is the norm with wood there was some tar left in the chimney and fire bowl.
The only issue I discovered was that once it was boiling and I attempted to remove the kettle the tar had stuck the kettle to the fire bowl, but I didn't notice until the fire bowl and burning contents dropped onto my shoes!
Thanks for that widu13 (hope your shoes are ok)
In conclusion
The Mkettle is a small light weight kettle that does not take up much space in you kit. You can use it for cooking on as long as you’re not cooking for the 5000. If necessary it could be used as a water bottle in an emergency. It’s just a nice bit of kit to have around when you fancy a brew.
And thanks for reading this folks
Sandbag47
Ok I was sent this Mkettle to take with me on a TA weekend to see what the guys there think of it. But the Mkettle didn’t arrive till I was on the weekend so I have decided to do review about it on here as I had not actually seen the Mkettle before.
When I first took it out of the box I was surprised by the size of the Mkettle compared to the other kettle that I have (Ghillie adventure). The size of the Mkettle is 17cm(7”
tall by 10cm (3.75” diameter, it weights: 370g(13 oz) and is made of Hard Anodized Aluminium. As I was supposed to be showing this kettle to a bunch of squaddies the Rip Stop Nylon Carry Bag it came with was a camouflage one with a zip around the top instead of the normal black bag with a pull cord. It comes fitted with two D-Rings as standard. So it can be fitted to a pack or bike or whatever you may wish to connect the kettle to.
As with the other types of kettle the fire base fits inside the top part of the kettle when not in use. The kettle holds just less than a pint and has a rubber bung that fits well to keep the water from running out of the kettle. I have read that some folk have an issue with the size of the hole as it is small and not funnelled like other kettles. But in my opinion it goes with the style of kettle and with the bung it can be used to hold water whilst travelling (as long as you are careful not to knock out the bung)
The kettle is surrounded by a Neoprene Sleeve which makes it possible to pick up the Mkettle when it is hot without burning your hands. Which surprises most folk including me as it is basically, well, rubber? But it is designed to resists burning and is used over a wide variety of applications.
When testing the Mkettle I used hexi blocks as my heat source I was reviewing the product to see how good it would perform if I should use it in my other hobby of being apart time squaddie. Which did work very well just forgot to time the kettle boil ....D’OH. But you can burn just about anything that you would use in a Ghillie or a Kelly kettle.
To start I used the Mkettle to boil up some water for a brew but as I was busy taking pictures of it in action. As I have already said, I forgot to time how long it took to heat up the kettle.
And when it had boiled I just picked the kettle from the base and poured the water into a mug without burning my hands at all but you can feel a bit of warmth from the kettle. Nothing to worry about but I did think that it could make a nice hand warmer on a cold morning.
I then added some of the water into my crusader mug which had a snack in it of curry flavoured noodles and placed it on the fire base, which it fitted on/into very well. A few minutes later they were bubbling away nicely and I was having lunch with a brew within 15 to 20 minutes from starting the fire in the base to munching on the noodles.
Should I wish to cook food with any other sort of cookware on the fire base I would have to use a couple of tent pegs resting on the base to sit the cookware on, so that I could leave a gap at the top for the smoke to escape. On the Mkettle website there is a stand that fits on top of the kettle but to use that you would have to leave water in the kettle so not to do any damage to it.
As for cleaning it, it’s the same as any other Ghillie or Kelly kettle you just have to get on with it and wash it clean. With a bit of scrubbing it was as good as new in a couple of minutes.
I’d like to say that I like the Mkettle. It’s a good size for carrying around over a long distance either full of water or empty. It fits easily in one of my old green webbing utility pouches so it could be put in a back pack with no difficulty at all. But I must say I would worry if I carried it around in my army webbing on exercise as I would be concerned that I might crush it. Like I have done with army mess tins in the past. But I would happily carry it in my Bergen withthe rest of my kit.
It's size makes it very useful if you are just out for the day and not wanting to carry too much. As for me it will be taking the place of my Ghillie kettle when I go to beaches this summer when on holiday with the family. Even the wife is happy that I’ll be lugging something smaller than my 1.5 LTR Ghillie kettle around with me to make the cups of tea and coffee with.
If your using the base to cook for the 5000. I think you might need to look for a bigger Kettle. But the base is plenty big enough for one or even two at a push as long as you don’t want to cook a Sunday dinner on it. The base even fits Trangia burner inside it should you have one of them, which I don’t (Sounds like another GB in the future to me)
I’d Like to add a few comments from widu13 That He put On the Group buy that I am doing (or was depending when you read this) As he remember to set his watch when testing his Mkettle :-
I got my MKettle today. Yes it's small and yes it holds 500ml!
Just tested it with my Whitebox Stove and from bloom to boil with cold water at 10c outside with no wind, I had a rolling boil in 4 mins flat. Not tried solid fuel yet though. My home-made pop can stove, Budweiser Stove and mini bullstove also works.
My concern at the moment is the longevity of the neoprene sleeve which is in direct contact with the metal containing the water. I can see the heat degrading that fairly quickly?
It's a double edged sword really as you have to weigh off the compact size (which is a lot smaller than the Maverick) against having to source a new sleeve whenever it expires.
Also....
Just used some windblown (slightly damp) Ash twigs from my garden and got a rolling boil in 8 mins. Once going the chimney really draws the flames. With dry wood I think the time would be around 6 mins. As is the norm with wood there was some tar left in the chimney and fire bowl.
The only issue I discovered was that once it was boiling and I attempted to remove the kettle the tar had stuck the kettle to the fire bowl, but I didn't notice until the fire bowl and burning contents dropped onto my shoes!
Thanks for that widu13 (hope your shoes are ok)
In conclusion
The Mkettle is a small light weight kettle that does not take up much space in you kit. You can use it for cooking on as long as you’re not cooking for the 5000. If necessary it could be used as a water bottle in an emergency. It’s just a nice bit of kit to have around when you fancy a brew.
And thanks for reading this folks
Sandbag47
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