Your days are what you make of them. Life is too short to not take advantage of the time we have. Make the time, throw caution to the wind, buy a Kelly Kettle, and go on a 2 day backpacking trip! Nothing major, but an easy way to get out there. Cheers!
Honestly for winter base camping this thing is a winner where open fires are not allowed (lakes district national park) not only does it provide hot water and a cooking platform but its also a great mini space heater and the heat boost it provides just by being near the door of a tent is tremendous, bulky...yes, heavy....yes but worth its weight in gold in the cold. ;)
Works like a charm! We have used one for ages in various conservation volunteer groups. We are mostly out in the woods so usually nice dry wood can be found easily. One has to search a little harder after a rain shower but still it's easy to come up with the goods. All that's then needed are matches and a bit of newspaper, which is part of our equipment anyway. Beats the olden days when we had to lug a gas burner ring and gas bottle around with us to the site. Fantastic invention!
Traditionally the Kettles have been used for Base Camping where there is nothing faster or more efficient for boiling water in the outdoors. However, we appreciate that they may not be small enough for some users who would like to take them trekking/backpacking in a day bag. Therefore, we are developing a smaller, lighter kettle which will be available at the end of summer 2013 ;-)
The Thermette (Kelly Kettle) was invented in 1929 by a New Zealander, John Ashley Hart and quickly became a New Zealand icon. During the Second World War, the Thermette was issued as standard equipment for New Zealand regiments fighting in the North African deserts. The Thermette was lovingly nicknamed the `Benghasi Boiler’ and became a treasured piece of equipment in the harsh environment of the desert. Camp sites occupied by New Zealand army units always left the distinctive circle of scorched earth from where the Thermette stood. This puzzled the enemy troops for sometime, until they learnt that it was only New Zealand troop camps that left this distinctive tell-tale sign.
Great piece of kit. My father bought the small model, 0;5 L was easily enough to make 2 big mugs of roasting coffee in minutes. The guy in the video isn't kidding though when he says to lift the kettle with the handle at 90 degrees to the body - I lifted it straight up and almost barbequed my hand in 2 seconds. Would love to see a demo with the cooking set in the full kit as I felt a tripod would have been a great accessory...
Hi Patrick.....I love my Kelly Kettle in Sunny Nova Scotia. :-D Simply one of the best devices ever created....and the customer service is exceptional. I really love how the Kelly Kettle uses excess, and otherwise unused biomass efficiently to provide me with safe water for cleaning and cooking. Fantastic product!!! I hope my Kelly Kettle and I get many years of daily use.
Love my base camp model. Wish more accessories were available. Had to make a couple accessories I thought were basic to make the kettle more convenient to use. Posted 3 videos on the multi function base for my Kelly Kettle showing the use and reasons I needed to build it. I think it helps with portability, ease of use, it is sure more stable and easy to haul. Most of all, I can use my kettle on a table or tailgate now without worrying about the heat. Because I also store a day or two survival stuff inside my kettle, I dealt with the need to keep contents dry in the event of rain. Yep, I have rain tested it. I have set it in the back of my truck and on the ATV and is remained upright while traveling also. When keeping water in it on trips, it is much heavier because I also pack it with everything I can get in it. To date, it has always stayed upright while transporting it.
I bought the base camp Kelly Kettle today. I got the cook set too. I'm trying to get the cups and the hobo stove. I bought the stainless steel version.
The big lip on the fire base tends to catch water, if the kettle splashes or if it's raining, the fire goes out. Needs some kind of different base on it for the west west Scotland.
Looks like a great piece of kit for automobile camping but would occupy too much space in a pack. I really like the enginering and design. For the price it looks like that would be money well spent.
I have owned one of these for many years and, to be honest, I have never found a practical use for it. Once used it is incredibly dirty, smelly and really not suitable for anything other than chucking in the back of a vehicle (As you suggest). Give me a MSR Whisperlite any day of the week.
I manage to carry wood stoves and carbonated pots in my bag without making a mess, plus carbon doesn't really have a smell and is inert. Just trying to understand what you mean exactly, it sounds like your using esbit [hex] tablets? Or do you just not like carbon on your cookware? I may well get one to store at a regular 'wild camp' site i use [not for carrying] so it would be good to hear what you say..
Great product and review. One question: how would you clean the interior which holds the water? Even if you just put water in it only it can still get dirty or contaminated just by field use. Say it fell in the mud and it could not be cleaned right away. No way to scrub the interior clean. Otherwise perfect product.
It looks very nice. It's not intuitive to use the handle that way and people will find these things long after instructions are gone--perhaps they will inherit them. A couple of fold down handles on the sides would be a good addition.
im thinking of making a water distiller out of my kelly kettle. using a rubber stopper with a hole in the center and a copper coil leading from that. what do you kelly kettle folks think about that? i know i may create too much pressure by boiling too fast, but i think the tube diameter can be increased to alleviate that.
looking at how you take it off the fire base to avoid the chimney, does the wire handle get hot. I see wood on the middle, but nothing insulating the sides?
Hi Storm Shadow. No, the wire handle never gets hot. The handle has minimum contact with the kettle so the heat does not transfer into the wire handle. It remains cool to touch so you simply grab the wire handle on both sides and holding it at 90 degrees to the kettle, lift the boiling kettle straight up and away from the fire base. The outside walls of the kettle will be very hot so don't touch any part of the kettle body until it has been emptied and allowed to cool down. Thanks for watching and posting :-)
+Teresa Maguire Cotton wool balls with a little bit of Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly rubbed on them. They are small, take a spark easily and burn long enough to get the kindling going ;-)
Shame its made in china. Wanted to pick one up but will not due to country of origin. It would be one thing if it were cheaper but for what these go for china is a no go
Very nice, but it would be even nicer not to have a scrolling banner repeating what your saying and at times, blocking the view of what your doing. Very distracting and annoying..........
The kettle should shroud the fire base. You'd think in a rainy place like Ireland they'd have figured that out. And another thing.......Why are you "reviewing" your own product? That ain't how it works!
Hi Cole Man....good point, it should read Kelly Kettle Demo rather than review. There are plenty of reviews on RUclips and other sites. The Kettle design is very old. What do you mean by Shroud the fire-base? We are always open to suggestions and ideas on how to improve it. Of course ease (or not) of manufacture and consequently cost dictates that some changes are just not feasible. Thanks
TheKellyKettle Im guessing he means the kettle would sit over the base not into it so water cant get inside the fire chamber. Obviously water would still go down the chimney
Your days are what you make of them. Life is too short to not take advantage of the time we have. Make the time, throw caution to the wind, buy a Kelly Kettle, and go on a 2 day backpacking trip! Nothing major, but an easy way to get out there. Cheers!
Honestly for winter base camping this thing is a winner where open fires are not allowed (lakes district national park) not only does it provide hot water and a cooking platform but its also a great mini space heater and the heat boost it provides just by being near the door of a tent is tremendous, bulky...yes, heavy....yes but worth its weight in gold in the cold. ;)
Works like a charm! We have used one for ages in various conservation volunteer groups. We are mostly out in the woods so usually nice dry wood can be found easily. One has to search a little harder after a rain shower but still it's easy to come up with the goods. All that's then needed are matches and a bit of newspaper, which is part of our equipment anyway. Beats the olden days when we had to lug a gas burner ring and gas bottle around with us to the site. Fantastic invention!
Traditionally the Kettles have been used for Base Camping where there is nothing faster or more efficient for boiling water in the outdoors.
However, we appreciate that they may not be small enough for some users who would like to take them trekking/backpacking in a day bag. Therefore, we are developing a smaller, lighter kettle which will be available at the end of summer 2013 ;-)
You need to add a s hook to the plug so that it can hang on the bail rather than being dragging around in the dirt.
The Thermette (Kelly Kettle) was invented in 1929 by a New Zealander, John Ashley Hart and quickly became a New Zealand icon. During the Second World War, the Thermette was issued as standard equipment for New Zealand regiments fighting in the North African deserts.
The Thermette was lovingly nicknamed the `Benghasi Boiler’ and became a treasured piece of equipment in the harsh environment of the desert. Camp sites occupied by New Zealand army units always left the distinctive circle of scorched earth from where the Thermette stood. This puzzled the enemy troops for sometime, until they learnt that it was only New Zealand troop camps that left this distinctive tell-tale sign.
Great piece of kit. My father bought the small model, 0;5 L was easily enough to make 2 big mugs of roasting coffee in minutes. The guy in the video isn't kidding though when he says to lift the kettle with the handle at 90 degrees to the body - I lifted it straight up and almost barbequed my hand in 2 seconds. Would love to see a demo with the cooking set in the full kit as I felt a tripod would have been a great accessory...
Hi Patrick.....I love my Kelly Kettle in Sunny Nova Scotia. :-D
Simply one of the best devices ever created....and the customer service is exceptional.
I really love how the Kelly Kettle uses excess, and otherwise unused biomass efficiently to provide me with safe water for cleaning and cooking.
Fantastic product!!! I hope my Kelly Kettle and I get many years of daily use.
Worked as advertised during an extreme winter storm condition along the Oregon Coast (United States) on Jan 18-19 2012.
Love my base camp model. Wish more accessories were available. Had to make a couple accessories I thought were basic to make the kettle more convenient to use. Posted 3 videos on the multi function base for my Kelly Kettle showing the use and reasons I needed to build it. I think it helps with portability, ease of use, it is sure more stable and easy to haul. Most of all, I can use my kettle on a table or tailgate now without worrying about the heat. Because I also store a day or two survival stuff inside my kettle, I dealt with the need to keep contents dry in the event of rain. Yep, I have rain tested it. I have set it in the back of my truck and on the ATV and is remained upright while traveling also. When keeping water in it on trips, it is much heavier because I also pack it with everything I can get in it. To date, it has always stayed upright while transporting it.
I have two of these, love them both, nothing better!
I simply Love 💗 my Kelly Kettle gives me peace of mind during the winter ❄️ in case of a power outage
my dream camping must-have
Amazing invention. I gotta give it a try. Thanks from the USA
Thanks for demonstration. Now I thinking about use this pretty thing in Syberian outdoor events.
Very kewl solution.
I bought the base camp Kelly Kettle today. I got the cook set too. I'm trying to get the cups and the hobo stove. I bought the stainless steel version.
I love my Kelly Kettle.
great product for camping, hiking and emergencys! i love it
Thanks for demonstrating for me. I have one but have not used it yet.
Great product. Ingenious design.
The big lip on the fire base tends to catch water, if the kettle splashes or if it's raining, the fire goes out. Needs some kind of different base on it for the west west Scotland.
Great design idea(s) and looks very useful. Thanks for sharing!
What a smart product!
man what I wouldnt give for one of these...
Just Ordered from Emergency Essentials, 1 of my FAV companies for all my food storage needs! Thanks!!
Das war hilfreich, vielen Dank.
I've wanted one of these ever since I first heard about them. But my camping/outdoor days seemd to in declines, sigh....
Modern version of Russian "Samovar", Which is also was a modified version of old Chinese :)
Very intelligent and efficient invention
thank you , great video will be buying one in a couple of months
Looks like a great piece of kit for automobile camping but would occupy too much space in a pack. I really like the enginering and design. For the price it looks like that would be money well spent.
Agreed, great for the shed or car camping but too much heft for hiking.
I have owned one of these for many years and, to be honest, I have never found a practical use for it. Once used it is incredibly dirty, smelly and really not suitable for anything other than chucking in the back of a vehicle (As you suggest). Give me a MSR Whisperlite any day of the week.
I manage to carry wood stoves and carbonated pots in my bag without making a mess, plus carbon doesn't really have a smell and is inert. Just trying to understand what you mean exactly, it sounds like your using esbit [hex] tablets? Or do you just not like carbon on your cookware?
I may well get one to store at a regular 'wild camp' site i use [not for carrying] so it would be good to hear what you say..
No way, this is very awesome! How much is the cost for all three models? Does anybody know? I'm sure I can find it online just wondering.
I want one of these. I don't camp though. I want it for prepping supplies. I am just starting, should I get one?
Question, can you use charcoal in it?
You can use anything in it ,in the desert where there are not a lot of fuel you can use dried camel Dunn
No Nonsense equipment! I'm getting one!
Great product and review. One question: how would you clean the interior which holds the water? Even if you just put water in it only it can still get dirty or contaminated just by field use. Say it fell in the mud and it could not be cleaned right away. No way to scrub the interior clean. Otherwise perfect product.
Probably the same way most people clean a flask, swill it out with hot water.
I was thinking just that, if used to purify water, your going to get a lot of sediment dried on the bottom. maybe a baby bottle brush
Excellent! I'm getting one!
It looks very nice. It's not intuitive to use the handle that way and people will find these things long after instructions are gone--perhaps they will inherit them. A couple of fold down handles on the sides would be a good addition.
wow......want one.
great item
im thinking of making a water distiller out of my kelly kettle. using a rubber stopper with a hole in the center and a copper coil leading from that. what do you kelly kettle folks think about that? i know i may create too much pressure by boiling too fast, but i think the tube diameter can be increased to alleviate that.
If you have ever eaten in a restaurant, you have probably eaten food cooked in an aluminum kettle or on an aluminum cookie tray.
looking at how you take it off the fire base to avoid the chimney, does the wire handle get hot. I see wood on the middle, but nothing insulating the sides?
Hi Storm Shadow. No, the wire handle never gets hot. The handle has minimum contact with the kettle so the heat does not transfer into the wire handle. It remains cool to touch so you simply grab the wire handle on both sides and holding it at 90 degrees to the kettle, lift the boiling kettle straight up and away from the fire base. The outside walls of the kettle will be very hot so don't touch any part of the kettle body until it has been emptied and allowed to cool down. Thanks for watching and posting :-)
If you don't like it...I would be happy to take it. :-)
Can they be used with bbq brickettes/charcoal? (in case dry material is unavailable)
Wonderful.
what was the first stuff you put in that looked like cotton wool?
+Teresa Maguire Cotton wool balls with a little bit of Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly rubbed on them. They are small, take a spark easily and burn long enough to get the kindling going ;-)
Do you ship to Australia? I haven't seen any here yet.
Shame its made in china. Wanted to pick one up but will not due to country of origin. It would be one thing if it were cheaper but for what these go for china is a no go
Very nice, but it would be even nicer not to have a scrolling banner repeating what your saying and at times, blocking the view of what your doing. Very distracting and annoying..........
@hitachi088 Teel thee Irish that... lol :)
ITS NICE BUT I´D PREFER A KATTLE RUNNING ON AAA OR C BATTERIES . BELIEVE ME
It's not invention, it's Samovar (can see on wiki) redesign
The kettle should shroud the fire base. You'd think in a rainy place like Ireland they'd have figured that out. And another thing.......Why are you "reviewing" your own product? That ain't how it works!
Hi Cole Man....good point, it should read Kelly Kettle Demo rather than review. There are plenty of reviews on RUclips and other sites. The Kettle design is very old. What do you mean by Shroud the fire-base? We are always open to suggestions and ideas on how to improve it. Of course ease (or not) of manufacture and consequently cost dictates that some changes are just not feasible. Thanks
TheKellyKettle
Im guessing he means the kettle would sit over the base not into it so water cant get inside the fire chamber. Obviously water would still go down the chimney
Hello This is Bono from the band U2...who the hell gave you permission to use my bloody song to sell your kettles mate?!
lol