Gadget: KELLY KETTLE
Rating: GREAT
Price: $60.00us and up depending on accessories
Find it: http://www.kellykettleusa.com/
OK the Kelly Kettle... personally I love this gadget. It's so simple yet ingenious. Boil water quickly and efficiently using almost any fire source. I have used mine on top of the propane camp stove, with a small fire in the base, with a home made "buddy burner" as well as with my small pack able alcohol stove. All heat sources work, yet some take longer than others. The kettle comes in all sorts of sizes from tiny 2 cup capacity back pack size to great big 1.5 L capacity. I have the Large size as I do mostly car camping with my Cub Scouts. But I am sure they would all work equally well.
The ingeniousness of the kettle is that it uses a double walled design. The water you wish to boil is held between the outside wall and inside chimney where the flame travels. The water completely surrounds the heat source making for lots of surface area to transfer heat to the water. More heat transfer = faster boil time :D
(Pic from http://www.horizonsunlimited.com thank you)
The Kelly Kettle is intended to only boil water, don't put anything else in there. The kettle is not designed for it. You just wont get it clean. And trust me, when the instructions warn you not to put the cork in while heating, they mean it. Mine was left in by accident during one late night use. I am thankful that no one was hurt when the pressure built up and the cork, followed by hot water came bursting out like a scalding volcano! So yea, just don't do that :)
If you find that you get a scummy, mineral build up in the water chamber, boil a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar in it for 5 min. then boil and discard a full pot of clear water to rinse it out, and it will be good as new.
There are a few accessories for the Kelly Kettle that I would suggest. You can buy them separately but Kelly Kettle does sell them in accessory kits. I purchased both the top pot rack and the grill for over the fire pit.
(top pot rack)
The pot rack on top allows you to heat some food along with your water using the same amount of fuel doubling its efficiency.
(2 section grill)
I like the small grill rack as it allows you to use the bottom portion as a small fire pit. this is great for no trace camping. The rack also lets you put a pot on the fire to cook without using the kettle. The company also sells their own pot sets and pot grippers designed to work with the kettle. I use my GSI pots as they seem to fit just fine on the pot holder.
The only downside that I have found with my Kelly is that it isn't overly pack able. However, when I take into account the fact that I purchased the largest model available at the time, that is understandable. I have a friend with the small back pack size and he travels with it in his pack regularly.
By the way, in case you were wondering... The bottom (where the fire goes) can be turned upside down ad stored in the base of the kettle. As well, the Kelly Kettles all come with storage bags. Both my buddy burner and my alcohol stove will fit up inside when packed for storage (not at the same time, there isn't that much room) but the space available would be less with a smaller model.
Well that's it, that is my quick and dirty review of the Kelly Kettle. Again, I love this thing. all you need is something to burn and water to boil and your good to go. The Kelly Kettle may not be the cheapest Gadget but it's worth the $.
By the way, in case you were wondering... The bottom (where the fire goes) can be turned upside down ad stored in the base of the kettle. As well, the Kelly Kettles all come with storage bags. Both my buddy burner and my alcohol stove will fit up inside when packed for storage (not at the same time, there isn't that much room) but the space available would be less with a smaller model.
Well that's it, that is my quick and dirty review of the Kelly Kettle. Again, I love this thing. all you need is something to burn and water to boil and your good to go. The Kelly Kettle may not be the cheapest Gadget but it's worth the $.
Happy Gadgeting,
Love Gadget Girl :)
