Have you heard of the Kelly Kettle before? In a nutshell, it is a system to boil water very fast while outdoors. That is the short version. The long version will be explained below and having owned one for a couple years now, you will soon see why we LOVE our Kelly Kettle.
Many people are familiar with the Bio-Lite Stove or MSR’s Pocket Rocket Stove. Both have their pros and cons. The MSR is nice and tiny but you have to carry around fuel for it. The Bio-Lite stove burns wood which is nice plus and will charge your USB devices but we don’t really need that feature as where we hike to and camp has no signal anyway. I feel it wouldn’t stand up to hard use in the rainforests of Southeast Alaska. We wanted something stouter that could do more. Sure, it is nice to charge devices but I would rather be able to heat/purify water, cook up some stew, and get warm – at the same time! – than worry about a smartphone. Personal preference applies.
The kettles come in stainless steel or aluminum in three different sizes. There is the Scout, Trekker, and Base camp. All will serve you well but it is best to get the one that will suit your needs the best.
The 5 Reasons We LOVE Our Kelly Kettle
- Lightweight and easy to carry. Whenever you head out to play in the woods, weight is always something to consider. You don’t want to be so weighed down that you focus more on what you’re carrying on your back than on your surroundings! The Kelly Kettle comes with a nice bag where everything fits (and even a little extra room).
- Easy to use. OK honestly, this contraption is so incredibly easy to use, it makes you wonder why it isn’t more common among outdoor enthusiasts/preppers/survivalists. Put water in the container, build a small fire in the base with sticks and twigs close to feed the fire with. It gets hot FAST!
- Not JUST for heating water! Honestly, this is what sold us on the Kelly Kettle! While it is heating the water, you can use any pot to cook on top of the system. They have a cooking set that fits directly inside of the Kettle: it takes no extra space! (Make sure you get the right size for the Kettle you choose). So, after you have heated water and made a hot drink, cooked some food and are settling in to eat, you can take the coals from the base of the system and use them to start a larger fire. Of course, the amount of warmth that comes off is plenty enough to keep your hands toasty. We LOVE IT for that here in our rain-riddled locale.
- No fuel to buy (or carry!). Gone are the days of carrying around fuel canisters, wood, or other burnables when out hiking. In fact, the only thing we bring with us to start a good fire are these awesome homemade fire starters. They burn hot enough and long enough to dry out any sticks and twigs that may be damp. Due to the design of the kettle base, all heat is kept inside and intensified which makes it just plain hotter in there! Once the fire gets going and your twigs are dry enough to burn, putting the kettle on the base creates a rocket stove effect – which makes things hotter still!
- Good for ANY outdoor activity. No matter if you are camping, glamping, hiking, or making a survival kit, any Kelly Kettle will serve you well. We opted to get the largest one in stainless steel. After 2+ years of multiple, hard use, it is still every bit as stout and sturdy as it was when we first opened it. The only difference is you can tell it has been used – not quite as shiny. 😉
I would not recommend a product unless I have personal experience with it and this is one item that serves multiple purposes in a compact and easy to use system. Hot and pure water, cooking, and warmth: that takes care of 3 things needed to survive!
Get your own directly from the Kelly Kettle Site or check out the options on Amazon!
Need more convincing? Here is the video from our friends at TinHatRanch.com that was the thing that pushed us over to get our first Kelly Kettle.