UKC

Now I thought I knew a bit about outdoorsy sorts of things and had seen most gadgets and stuff in my nearly 40 years of existance. About a month ago I had the pleasure of seeing my first Storm Kettle in action. Wow, I was just blown away with it. I'm a natural pyromaniac at heart, so I love playing with fire, but this also makes cups of tea.

For those who haven't come across the idea before, what you have is a pot a bit smaller than a tranjia pan, where you light your fire. Ideally, you light it with a striker onto cotton wool, not a match for the best magical effect. It has a hole in the side to let the air in (the windier, the better). You then put the kettle on top. It is basically a flask with the centre hollowed out to a hole in the top, like a volcano. Once the fire gets going, the flames will come out of the top, like a volcano. The heat generated will boil the 1.5 litres of water in the flask in about three minutes.

It really is the dogs bollocks. It would appear to be the hot water making implement of choice for Forest Schools.

I'm going to be using it from this Friday with some of our Year Ones as they start their fire topic. They're going to love it.

If you want to know more take a look at the people who made it's website:

http://www.eydonkettle.com/

I don't work for them honest, its just that I'm so wowed by it that I feel the need to tell the world.

In reply to Bingers:

Got a mate who's a mad canoeist doing trips round the west coast, been raving about this bit of kit for a while now & its advantages over the conventional stove.

Certainly looks the business.

In reply to Bingers: They are good, I used to use one a lot when I was working in the woods, or more precisely a kelly kettle. (and that was getting on for 20 years ago!)

http://www.kellykettle.com/buy-the-kelly-kettle

In reply to Bingers:
Have a look on outdoorsmagic.com and seacth their forums for kellykettles and cokecan meths burners, then prepare to loose yourself for 2 weeks playing about with the many brilliant designs on there!

In reply to Bingers:

this the one I know

http://www.kellykettle.co.uk/

Excellent bit of kit and popular with a lot of kayakers where bulk isn't much of an issue - close to instant hot water from a handful of heather stalks.

Too much of a faff to carry in a rucksac though.

S

In reply to Bingers:

This explains why someone referred to them as Kelly Kettles. By the looks of the two sites, Kelly seems to be the originals, while my supplier has taken on the idea (and seems to be a little bit cheaper).

Whichever version, I thoroughly recommend them.

In reply to Bingers: Yeah, kelly kettles are loved by many in the 4x4 community as well for overlanding etc. Great when you have a ready supply of fuel (dry timber etc) and heating water for large groups, or a mule to carry it to basecamp perhaps.

Disadvantages though:

Bulky and weighty.
Only heats water (unlike a stove that cooks food also)
Dirty when finished (soot) so care required when storing
As said, not really suitable for backpacking.

Wouldn't use one for backpacking though.

In reply to Bingers: Always keep a kelly in the back of the car. If I can't be bothered to sort out a small fire, I just light a meths can stove in the base and use that. Probably a quicker boil than the normal method.

A little battery powered fan (from a pc graphics card) pointed at the vents gets it roaring.

You can get a pot stand for the top. Ideal for a fried egg or bit of bacon.

In reply to blanchie14c:


There are some pictures on my attempts to makes a vaned kelly kettle from drink cans, for use with a meths burner, intended to be a lightweight brew-kit.

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gallery/image.asp?uin=21990&uabn=440&s...

Two weeks? Two years more like...

In reply to Martin1978: We use one when seakayaking-theyre great. You can get a wee grill thing that sits on the top so that you can use it like a normal stove.