Thermette

[stephendedwards]

My thermette arrived today. I will not get to play with it until well into the long dark (birthday in December) but first inspection looks promising. I know some have complained about the finish and compared to the spun aluminium items I can see the point. Some of the folding and rolling of the copper is ordinaire and it is soldered together which detracts from the appearance. But having seen the alloy ones in use by British Army survival instructors and the state they end up in I am not too concerned. A bit of judicious abuse and who will be able to tell. I will post again in Dec when I have had a chance to play

Steve

Only real beef is that the fire ring has no floor, so use in non-open fire campsite would be out.

 

[Mikey P]

OK, I'll ask the obvious question: what actually is a 'thermette'?

 

[pothunter]

Could be a misspelling of Thermite, that traditional means of heating in the great outdoors.

Pothunter.

 

[Bernie Garland]

Its one of these

http://www.thermette.com/

Bernie

 

[tombear]

I was lucky enough to get a Thermette when they were made in NZ still and not China as I believe they now are and the quality was much better. I'm told that they used to come with a metal plate that formed a bottom to the hearth part, I was expecting one with mine when I got it anyway. I can't see any way it would have been held in place anyway.

What I did find was a old 8" MSR/Seagull Brand stainless steel plate (not big enough to actually use as a plate or deep enough to use as a bowl but I digress) makes a great stand for it to go on. I like the way you can pull the whole rig up on off when it suddenly come to the boil. With the volcano stoves I have I've noticed a tendency for the hearths to stick to the tank part when they have become a bit battered, OK a bit of bending and test fitting prevents this but with the thermette baseless design its not such a problem. I've never had the fire collapse outward when I've removed the hearth/tank either.

Something else I like to do is if theres a open fire anyway using that to heat up the thermette, I just seperate some coals etc from the main fire and plonk it on top of the pile, with the hearth firmly on the ground. With the mug type wire handles on the side the tank itself forms a heat shield while you position it and theres no wooden or cork bits to burn. Sorry if thats teaching any one to suck duck eggs ;-{D)

ATB

Tom

 

[spamel]

Why do you have to wait 'till December? Seems a shame to leave a good bit of kit in the cupboard just for the sake of it! Go on, be a devil!

 

[NatG]

isn't it basically a big jug?

 

[spamel]

It's a large copper kelly kettle to all intents and purposes, although I believe the Thermette came first.

 

[Mikey P]

Ahhhhh...I see!

It's a very nice looking copper Kelly Kettle/Volcano Boiler!

 

[Mikey P]

Which is what Spamel just said.

 

[NatG]

It's a large copper kelly kettle to all intents and purposes, although I believe the Thermette came first.

ahhh, i get it, that'll teahc me not to read the link properly

thanks

Nathan

 

[stephendedwards]

Why do you have to wait 'till December? Seems a shame to leave a good bit of kit in the cupboard just for the sake of it! Go on, be a devil!

thing is I ordered it and popped it on the card and then had it sent to my Misses as birthday present for me. "No need to worry about shopping darling - it's all sorted." So to be fair I can't very well nab the thing and go play now, can I?

Steve

nice idea though

 

[tombear]

Uw, your a better man than I! The box would be full of rocks by now and I'd be out behind the chicken shed feeding it dry twigs!

Incidentally a PLCE bergan side pocket makes a great carrier if you can find one cheep, a layer of old karrimat just gives it a perfect fit and a bit of padding.

A thermette holds a good 4 pints. I think the Thermette predates the Kelly as a brand/patent but the idea suposedly comes from Ireland in the late 19th/early 20th C when they were made by tinsmiths. I don't think anyones sure. I love mine to bits anyway.

Good choice anyway!

Tom