>>I saw that shipping from Eydon was only a few pounds for international.<<

I noticed that too, and acted on it. Ordered a "Popular" last night, from far, far over the horizon, somewhat north of where the sun rises. We'll see how long it takes.

I'm sure I'll play with mine with a variety of fuels outside, but I confess I'm most curious about how well it does with Esbit tablets indoors for when the power's out.

Physics being what it is, though, I expect it's MUCH more efficient once the inside gets sooted up, which would probably take a long time with Esbit alone. In fact, the effect of blackening heat-transfer surfaces is often so dramatic that it might be worth a little stove paint in there...

I'm familiar with the Zip stove, and it's an interesting concept- basically an old-fashioned hobo stove with insulation and a battery-powered fan added.

I find the idea of carrying and monitoring batteries a bit irksome, though, and wonder how necessary that is. Seems like you might make a passive draught system work on something like the principle of hot-blast lanterns, and if that's too bulky, you could certainly use a Peltier junction to power the fan without batteries, and it would weigh less.

I have friends with pellet stoves, which are very nice and low-fuss, but they use AC for the pellet hopper feed (wormscrew) and the fan- and as such, they just don't work at all when you need them most, when the power's out. I've often thought that this would be an ideal use for Peltier junctions if they weren't so expensive. Maybe a closed-cycle low vapor-pressure turbine? There's a lot of heat coming from a stove, and it seems that no one is much thinking about the problem.

Colin Fletcher and Chip Rawlins in the newest "Complete Walker IV" have done a good writeup on the Zip stove, management of the batteries and charging using and a solar power panel. I have never used one of these but it would be worth the read for anyone interested in trying this stove.

Esbit and Kelly should work. I would only encourage you to make sure you have set the firepan on something that is heat resistant. If you look closely at my stump support in a couple of my pictures you will see the scorch marks of the fire pan.

My other guess is that the turbulance of the wood fired Kellys is more efficient than the burn of an Esbit tab, but this is only speculation. I may give this idea a try on mine.

I am seriously considering ordering the Popular also, just have to clear the purchase with the comptroller of the currency.....a lengthy process at times.

Don't forget the stoves first ran burning peat. Anyone using a fire in the wilds should consider a 'Fire blanket' These look like a small Space Blanket only thicker. Aside from leaving unsightly reminders of our passing, embers can travel for miles in subsoil root systems. Most of the horsepacking catalogs carry these.

This problem is even worse in old peat formations. My Grandfather's home was built on a drained peat bog and after the fire that took out 1/2 the neighborhood his house settled 4 feet. The dried bog just smouldered for a week or so right under the foundations of the homes.

All three sizes I've seen would seem to have their uses. We'll see how the "Popular" works out... I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find that I end up with two, eventually.

Lehman's did confirm that the Large Storm actually holds 50 ounces, if filled to the spout, which they don't recommend. I found more images of these by Googling on "volcano kettle", some are impressively blackened and beaten:



(Also notice the difference in the depth of the bases between these two models)



but a picture or two of the large version gave me a feel for scale, and it is pretty big:



It seems to be an unavoidable compromise with this concept that they (obviously) need to be be pretty bulky for the fluid capacity.

>>I think a large Kelly would be an ideal piece in a home kit for both water boiling to purify after a storm and that all essential cup of tea, cocoa or coffee while the lights are out.<<

I hadn't intended to use it for purifying, though the large version, used outdoors with lots of fuel available, would probably be very efficient for this. We're pretty well set there- three different sizes of Katadyn filters, and about 275 gallons of water in storage, not counting the water heater contents. :-)

All of this was just spawned by getting up in the morning during the blackout, and being reluctant to do anything as energetic as unpacking and filling the (Alpaca) kerosene stove, waiting for the wick to saturate, and firing it up, all before coffee and tea. Not having anything else at hand, I made a quick hobo stove by church-keying holes in a smallish coffee can and burning Sterno in the bottom. This brought to mind other occasions when the power had been out in the morning, but we suspected it was coming back on soon, and it wasn't worth breaking the serious gear out.

While I anticipate mostly stashing the kettle against this sort of thing, where I'd be using it indoors, with Esbit tablets, on a range, the versatility for camping etc. appeals to me.

I don't know how large the "fire blankets" are, but for a wood-burning-stove thingie like the Kelly they might be a bit much. I note that some plumbing supply stores sell a very flexible "torch guard" to protect house framing from the heat of soldering pipes, and they typically seem to be 9 x 12 inches. Might work well for this.

Here's yet another variation on the "Kelly Kettle" theme, this one from New Zealand:

http://www.thermette.com/

There may even be some advantages to this one; this method of rigging it as a cookstove looks more promising:

http://www.thermette.com/thermette_history.htm

However, with all the copper, stainless steel and galvanized steel, I assume it's quite a bit heavier. Not a backpacking version.

At this point, I find it amusing how many of these descriptions use the word "unique".

It seems to me that I've read about some toxicity issues when cooking in untinned copper. Don't know if that would apply to a boiler since there's probably nothing for the copper to react with. OTOH if you're trying to purify water in the field that has a high mineral content then it might be a concern.

I did like the idea of those handles, though. You'd be a lot less likely to smoke your hand than with the bail over the chimney approach.

Ed

I picked up the Nov issue of Four Wheeler magazine this week and on page 24 there's a review of the Volcano, or Kelley, Kettle. This pretty well sums up their impressions:
" One product stood head and shoulders above the rest and wins, hands down, best of show: the amazing Volcano Kettle."

That's a ringing endorsment given that the review was done during the LandRover G4 Challenge and they were getting to play with all the latest, neatest, high tech, gotta have toys.

Ed