I finally got a chance to give the "Storm" "Popular" version of the Kelly Kettle an honest try.

I carefully masked the thing off and painted the inside of the chimney area with black stove paint- which I think was a total waste. After boiling 3 quarts, the inside is just as black in the areas that were masked as the areas that were painted- can't tell the difference.

I boiled 3 quarts in rapid succession, pouring out the first two and making green tea from the third. All three were very fast, and I can see how people get very fond of these things- it didn't take more than a handful of pencil-thin twigs and five minutes to boil a quart. This has the refined feel of a design that evolved over time, it all just works very well. I especially like the ability to feed the fire just by dropping stuff into the chimney- this let me use acorns, small pine cones etc. that would be difficult to feed though a hole in the side without getting burned.

It does tend to douse itself when it boils over, but that's not all bad. Looks like you could travel a long way with this, using practically anything as fuel, and with a few Esbit tabs as backup, be covered for all eventualities except possibly for long periods in desert, or above timberline. For a fair weight comparison, you should be comparing it to pot/kettle, stove, plus any special fuel you'd be carrying otherwise.

I'm more convinced than before that the optional cook kit for the larger version of the Kelly Kettle is dubious, though- it's clear that a LOT of the efficiency of this device is because of the draft from the chimney effect.

The "Thermette" is supposed to arrive Monday.

It's very tempting to come up with a design combining the best features of each- but I don't know how you'd get one made.