Kettles - I keep thinking I should get one

Three products aimed at the same audience. I am slightly leaning toward the Eydon but would like to hear from anyone with real world experience with any of these:

http://www.eydonkettle.com/stormkettle.html


http://www.thermette.com/


https://kellykettle.com/homepage


Thanks.

I have the Thermette and Kelly Kettle but haven't used them so can't attest to which one functions better. They both certainly appear well-constructed and capable of doing the job they are advertised for. I recall reading that the Eydon is higher quality. And my extensive research advised that any of the three would be a great addition to my gear.

The principal difference between the Thermette and the Kelly may be which is easier to pour with less risk of being burned. The Thermette's handle is spartan and puts your knuckles at risk. The Kelly requires two hands to pour.

The Thermette was on backorder last spring so took longer to get here but that inventory situation may be resolved. Kelly's customer service was superb as they were responsive to e-mails.

The Kelly is in my teardrop trailer (which is in storage near the mountains) because the one I got is a bit more compact than the Thermette.

I got the Thermette because its copper and it has a history that appealed to me.

I ended up with two because my teardrop is near where we camp and I didn't want to lug a kettle back and forth from the city.

They are not compact.

As survival gear, any of these kettles seems like a wise investment. Gotta love a stove that will run on twigs or dung.

If my JetBoil weren't so efficient I'd have used the kettles by now.

Need to take the time to play with them.

The Thermette would look hysterical carabinered to a backpack. It'd be like a section of copper stovepipe bobbing on your back.

Their serious utility is for long-term survival in remote places where wood and dung are all you can count on for fuel. Or worst-case urban survival scenarios in which propane and other modern fuels are scarce or unavailable.

They are a neat car camping curio. Not practical for cooking a meal for a family. My main interest with it is hot water for coffee or tea.

Every survivalist should have at least one.

;-)

Is this "volcano" design really considered faster boiling or more efficient than using a pot over an open fire? It seems like this design would be superior and make better use of a given amount of wood, but sometimes the theoretical doesn't live up to expectations in real use, so I wonder what folks really say about them.

I always look at the Kelly Kettles but never buy one. I'm skeptical of their versatility. Because the water is in the jacket on the outside of the chimney, it's not handy for cooking coffee or soup or stew.

I've seen several variations of the Sierra Stove, which uses natural fuel that's whipped up by a tiny fan. Seems more practical -- basically a campstove. I'd like to try one (or make one) someday.

My interim solution is one of those BBQ briquette starters (basically a steel chimney with a handle) that I bought for $5 on clearance from WallyWorld.

I had a Kelly Kettle.
It was very fast if all you wanted was to boil water for tea.

You can't cook in them because the spout is too small to put anything in or get anything out.
Using the bottom as a stove after boiling up a jug of water is only a mixed success.
I found out there is just not enough bottom contact with the stove top on a woodstove, the element on an electric stove or the ring of flame on a gas stove for it to work on any of them.
It only works with a little fire burning inside it.

For packing they are bulky with no way to balance that by stuffing them full of other items. That is not as much of a concern if you travel by boat or car but if you need to pack your gear on your back it matters a lot.
They are very easily dented, but that is just a secondary concern for me.
They are pretty expensive here too.

To recap:
They were designed to boil water for tea fast and efficiently with a small fire inside them. They are excellent at that, but they are a single use item. They are not even good to brew the tea in once you have the water boiled.

If all you want to do is brew tea, I would think a Zip stove, or even a Esbit stove, would work fine-and, the cup you use to boil is at least more packable...I was going to get one a couple years ago, because EVERYONE on several outdoor forums I belong to raved about them-till I came to the same conclusion, that it is, essentially, a single use item, as scafool points out. I lean more towards carrying multiuse items where I can-a stove/pot combo should be able to cook food, not just boil water...I like to mix my meals in the pot, so that pretty much killed this for me. That, and it looks impossible to pack.

I use a mainstream kettle with my white box stove. Perfect, it does 3C of water. I have never seen those kettles listed above. I have some bigger kettles for the house, that I can use on the stove or with my propane grills in a power outage.

When your off the grid, in house or backcountry, kettles are really great for hot water.

The Primus tea kettle is also a classic design for use out it the wilderness, being lightweight and tough.

http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/Primus_LiTech...amp;country=GBR

For long term use the Simplex No4 Copper Kettle is a classic and has the quick boil heat exchanger base for LPG stove use, which reduces fuel consumption and improves the boil time for domestic use.

http://www.amazon.com/Simplex-Chrome-Ket...8490&sr=1-1

I seem to remember seeing the Simplex kettle being used for Antarctic Expedition use back in the 1980s despite its weight.

The Thermette and Kelly Kettle would definitely be useful for those occasions when access to more conventional fuels is limited although there is nothing to stop any conventional kettles being used with a wood gasifier type stove.

Why I think about adding a kettle to my gear:

virtually unlimited fuel
virtually free fuel
fuel that can gathered rather than transported
efficient use of fuel
potential: not have to carry fuel bottles or cylinders, and spares, redundancy in any event

boiling purifies water directly and by generating steam for “stills”
water filtration will fail when its filters are used up or suffers mechanical breakdown
UV water sterilization system will fail when its batteries die
water treatment pills will run out
potential: not have to carry water filter system, spare filters, UV system, spare batteries, pills; redundancy in any event

much fresh, dried, and freeze-dried food and drink is “cooked” by just adding hot water
much cleaning and some wild-crafting is based on hot water
there isn't much other food that cannot be cooked on / in / around an open fire

I believe I can modify a kettle to securely carry water / tea / soup by adding a threaded cap
potential: not have to carry another water bottle

the “chimney” of a kettle can carry fire-starting gear and supplies
kettle setup inherently protects fire in harsh weather

Personal quirk: I usually carry a wide-mouth vacuum bottle or multiple layered freezer bags wrapped in some insulation used to carry slow-cooking food in liquid as I hike or journey to avoid having to sit around waiting at my next stop. Boiling water is by far the most frequent job I ask of my stoves.

I have a Kelly kettle and have used it quite a bit. It is bulky, but works fantastic.

I am not interesting in cooking with it, just boiling water, and it works fine for that.

I`m a big tea drinker, cider drinker, hot cereal eater and occasional mountain house eater... the idea seems great for long-term camping to me! Just a lil more than I'd like to spend.

Much of the typical camping fare is freeze dried or dehydrated and really doesn't require any real cooking. Most of the 'cooking' seem to amount to: pour in boiling water, cover, allow to sit for a time. French press, or <gag> instant, coffee and tea are easy. In a major breakdown of infrastructure boiling water will be a way of treating water.

Then again these specialized devices aren't doing anything you can't do with a conventional pot. The difference would seem to be a matter of efficiency and speed. And what your willing to spend to save time and fuel.

Of course, there is also the 'gee whiz' and cool factor. Which, for some people, may be, on its own, worth the cost.

Cooking, they all have optional cook sets that can go on top to support regular cooking as well. Cost more but you can still cook in a pan.

Seems awfully heavy for what it does. Still, an interesting gadget.

Smaller sizes weigh about a pound or so. What does your water filter, UV pen, stove, fuel and fuel bottle, water bottle and cooking pot weigh?

Edit: Susan, acorn delivered by oaks near you.

We've discussed the drawbacks of these kettles several times on this forum (and the ways to fix that) years ago. But manufacturers aren't listening. They are using the cheapest technology possible only to cut their costs. To recap: it's easy to make the top lid removable. It's easy to add an emergency vapor valve on the lid instead of that pesky cork. It's easy to add a folding spigot near the bottom to make pouring more convenient. Such a "new" design will simply resemble the proven by ages Russian samovar design.



Sure thing it's much easier to weld 4 plain pieces of metal and sell for hundred bucks.

Alex,

I agree it would be an improvement the replace the cork "lid" with a chain-secured, screw-on stainless steel stopper that would allow leakproof water carrying - and perhaps incorporate a pressure release / tea kettle whistle type feature.

Your suggestion to turn the kettles into samovars by adding folding spigots would seem to introduce new problems of packing and transport, as well as vulnerability to damage.

A removable top lid for the fire chamber "volcano" might make transport of items inside the chamber more handy. A second removable lid that opened the top of the water chamber would ease filling, emptying, and cleaning it - and might allow its use for cooking. A lid that incorporated both features seems possible, though might challenge the stability of the overall strength of design.

Have you sent your suggestions to any of the three kettle companies?

I was just trying to remember the name for the pot that works the same way. Sometimes they are used to make Chinese or Mongolian Hot Pot meals.
This is the pot with a fire in the middle just like a Kelly kettle.
Again it is fuel efficient, but awkward to pack.
http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/steamers/steam_hp_chinese_brass.html

scafool, IMHO, the packability is second to efficiency. If you can run to the woods with your BOB in case of a major disaster, you will be able to find plenty of wood for cooking in a simple tin can over the open fire. Forget all these high-tech stoves, concentrate on the primitive skills, and pack more usefull things in your BOB. But if you have to stay home, in a city, all the nearby sources of fuel (propane, gas, wood) will became scarce very soon - too many people around.

Have you ever saw the reversible screw on spigots on plastic water jugs? That would be a perfect solution when made in metal. Need it - unscrew and reverse. Don't need it - leave it inside.


The secret of samovar strength is in its shape. Most of those decorative ribs, extrusions, and curved shapes are in fact the product of deep knowledge of physics, hydrodynamics, and structural strength.

They wouldn't listen. Look at their prices now and imagine quadrupling their expenses on implementing the necessary features. I've calculated once how much it might cost to make an ideal one myself... ~ around $700 - minus cost of materials (80% - turning lathe work, 20%- manual threading, 0% welding).

What you think are "drawbacks" are debateable. I'm perfectly happy with my Kelly Kettle, and it didn't cost close to $700.

The lightest weight for a kelly kettle in the cited sources was 1lb, 13 oz. If I were going lightweight, the alternative I would choose is an sub liter aluminum pot (or recycled coffee can, if we are saving money, weighing , oh, say, 4 oz. Now life is simplified and there is no need for water filter, UV pen, stove, fuel,or fuel bottle. Build a fire, boil water, brew tea, and enjoy life.

When I started in the outdoors, we routinely cooked on campfires. Later I went to various stoves for convenience and use above timberline and during winter climbing trips. On most of my normal trips, either on foot or by bike, I now favor a gas canister stove, but I retain the ability to build a simple campfire using available fuel. In an emergency situation, the campfire cooks your food, purifies your water, and directly heats your body and the immediate surroundings, as well as signaling your location.

The Kelly kettle would definitely be a good tool if you are in stealth mode.

I note that Christmas is coming up. If a Kelly kettle found its way into my stocking, I would prefer that to all the gewgaws and disposable rubbish in the world. I need to put out the word.

But I always thought the reverse design would be more practical -- chimney on the outside, and a sealable vessel on the inside. I've considered scrounging up an old Alladin 2-litre stainless steel thermos, cutting up the outside for a firebox and chimney, and lighting 'er up. Then, when the tea/coffee/soup was ready, scrape out the coals and screw the top back in for transport. Voila!

1.1 lbs.

https://kellykettle.com/index.php?page=s...t&Itemid=67

I finally got around to testing the Simplex No4 Kettle (a new one just arrived today) to test its efficiency and speed using an old Coleman Gas Stove and Gasmate adapter.


Simplex No4 Copper Kettle


Simple No4 Copper Kettle Heat Exchanger

The Simplex No4 Kettle is all Copper Construction (beautifully chromed outside with Nickel plating inside) except for the kettle lid top and handle, which is apparently made from turned ebonised beech wood and is designed to be used with gas burning stoves due to the design of the heat exchanger system. The Kettle weighs 1048 grams or just under 37oz. The Capacity is stated at 1.7 Litres or 57 fl oz. Overall the kettle has the look of a very durable and quality well made and designed product with excellent ergonomics i.e. it is very easy to pour boiling water into smaller containers. The ambient temperature inside was around 18C under controlled conditions.

I tested the kettle with around 38 fl oz of water (1.125 litres) of quite cold water at around 3-5 C. I measured the weight of a new UN2037 Butane gas Cartridge at 325g then set about to boil the water in the Simplex No4 Kettle. Boil time with the old Coleman Stove was around 7-8 minutes, which is excellent considering the limited heat output of the old Coleman and the cheap butane gas cartridge. The Kettle will also indicate when the water has reached a rolling boil. A whistling sound that many younger folks may have not heard in their lifetimes.


Old Coleman Stove and Gasmate Adapter.

I measured the weight of the gas cartridge once more and subtracted it from the initial weight and found that boiling just over 1.1 litres of water consumed around 14 grams of fuel. Fuel efficiency for the Simplex Kettle was again excellent i.e a single UN2037 Butane gas Cartridge (220 gram net weight of fuel) should allow 17.6 litres of very cold water to the boil. This is getting near the same efficiency as an MSR reactor stove. Not bad for 100 year old technology.

The Simpex No4 is great durable piece of emergency kit, which should last a lifetime but has unfortunately has been relegated to my domestic backup gear list as my domestic stove is currently all electric and so is my current domestic Kettle (a more convenient faster boiling electric kettle).

Don't underestimate my generation.


Sometimes old school is just as good as new school.

Jeanette Isabelle

I heard that sound last night, shortly before the hot water was poured over some ball jar lids, which thereafter capped off some preserved fruit and went through a boiling water bath. Old School stuff, it could really pay to know how to do it.

OK, going off thread a little bit.

The local re-use-it store had 4 cases of 1 quart jars with lids and rings back in August.
$5.00 for 18 jars in a case and the lids were still in the flat boxes inside the cases. These sealers had never been used.
They had a pressure canner for $10 dollars, (stainless steel) and the tools were in a box of kitchen junk which they threw in for free.
So 72 1_quart sealers and a canner for $30.00

Now I have a shelf full of canned stuff out of the garden and some that was picked wild.

USDA canning guide is here
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html
Bernarden and Ball guides here
http://www.homecanning.com/

It was kind of fun to do.