View Full Version : Kelly Kettle
Help to anybody else with a Kelly Kettle :(
One the few occasions I have set it up properly it works really well, 1ltr of water boiled in under 2 minutes, but as this is normally preceded with 20 minutes faffing about.
I have tried thin bits of wood, thick sticks, thin sticks, short sticks but nine times out of ten it works for a few minutes and goes out.
I am going to take it camping with me in a few weeks, along with some old friends, and it would be nice if I could make it go at least half the time :)
I think the basic method is to put some thin dry twigs in, a few bits of paper or birch bark at the base and set it going, then stick thin pieces of wood down the chimney. You may need to give it a blow to get more oxygen in at the start.
Also hold up you wet finger see witch way the wind blowing. Then the fire pot got some air holes turn them into to wind
I was pondering getting one at some stage. Are they a must have piece of kit or more of an occassional thing? I guess it's not practical to take hiking because you've got to wait around whilst it cools?
Well i be dam whats the big hurry are the woods going to run away and you cant catch up.Also if you are in a big hurry just eat cold food forget the stove.
Paganwolf
07-11-2007, 08:23
Well i be dam whats the big hurry are the woods going to run away and you cant catch up.Also if you are in a big hurry just eat cold food forget the stove.
A man after my own heart oops, i like your style buddy;)
You build a fire in the base like any other fire you have to get the recipe right on a smaller scale, a nice size ball of tinder (birch bark peelings etc) and some matchstick thin say birch twigs increasing up to pencil thickness, tinder in the base with some matchstick thin twigs standinng up in the inside of the kettle and light the tinder as soon as that starts burning the thermal column starts to suck through and burn up the thin twigs inside the kettle body.
Once you have the matchstick thick ones going increase to pencil thickness and then thin splints of split wood or split sticks for example can then be added (or if you have it fat wood / resinous pine), once the fire starts to burn you can feed carefully long thin peices into the top just popped in taking care not to burn your self in the thermal column (some call them volcano kettles for good reason), and all the rest oops has said, its one of those bits of kit you sit and use in the woods once you have got it off pat its a fast method of boiling water :) Good luck, keep trying you said your self you have already done it a few times just follow the same procedure :)
[QUOTE=Mang;341872] Are they a must have piece of kit or more of an occassional thing?
I would say an occasional thing. They take up a fair bit of space but they are quick to get a brew going (once it's up and running). I would opt for a Thermette rather than a Kelly. I've got both and find the Thermette quicker and easier to use and, being made of copper, you don't have the concerns of taking on board those aluminium bitties that might or might not do you harm. They are great if you're camping in one place for a few days or have many brews to make.
Well i be dam whats the big hurry are the woods going to run away and you cant catch up.Also if you are in a big hurry just eat cold food forget the stove.
You're right...Unless you have Cub Scouts everywhere!!:)
Big Bad Stu
07-11-2007, 12:20
Zodiak,
I use a Kelly Kettle nearly every day, it is in my car brew kit (I am a surveyor). Until you have the technique off pat they can be as frustrating as hell!
I find it best if you take a small bundle of prepared wood as your fuel as you cannot be sure of finding suitable fuel when you are out. I am currently burning some pine that part of a fence I demolished at home earlier this year. I have split it to sticks about 10cm long and less than 1cm square. I also carry a bit of old car inner tube that I cut chunks off to use as a initial fire starter (It is easy to light and burns for a good while on it's own, some people use tea lights for this).
I place the pan on a flat and level surface with the holes facing the wind. I prepare three or four feather sticks from the prepared fuel wood. Then I fill the kettle. Build a teepee shaped fire in the base of the pan using the feather sticks (it is important that you can place the kettle on the pan so the fire should not be too big). Light the inner tube and place it in the centre of the feather sticks and when it is going well put the kettle on.
At this point you should feed in fuel down the chimney, this should be almost continuous to keep the temperature up and boil the water fast. You cannot light a Kelly Kettle and leave it to look after itself. If it looks like it needs a hand on your hands and knees and blow into the holes. When the fire is well established I usually add some dry twigs etc. from the adjacent hedges.
The kettle works like any other chimney by convection so it relies on the heat of the fire to draw air through the fuel perpetuating the combustion.
When you have been using one for a while you will get to know when you have done enough to boil the water. Oh, soft woods are better as they burn at a higher temperature than hardwoods (Softwoods for boiling, hardwoods for broiling).
Hope this helps.
Stewey.:D
I have never had any real difficulty keeping a Kelly going. The trick is to get a decent small fire going in the pan, point the holes towards any wind, add the chimney and then feed it small sticks.
I find 4-7" sticks work great as they lodge in the chimney and do not smother out the fire base.
http://outdoors-magazine.com/IMG/jpg/kellyboil2.jpg
Flames this high are not always the norm, but decent fuel and some attention should get you to a boil in just a few minutes.
I'm affraid if its wet I cheat and take along some firelighters, well not firelighters as such but you know those "logs" made from wax and sawdust that they sell in supermarkets for yuppies with open fires in their converted warehouse flats? One brands called "Firelog" I think, anyroad you can saw them into a vast number of little finger sized pieces, they don't smell or leave any nasty residue and I've had no trouble lighting them. You can buy them for camping already made up but they cost a silly amount that way.
I use a old PLCE bergan side pocket, padded out with karrimat to carry the stove (a Thermette) and if I have it strapped to the side of my day bag with the lid open and the stove upside down it makes a handy receptacle for dropping suitable hanging bits of dry dead wood into as I bimble along. Ok I drop some as its not exactly well placed but I'm usually with someone whos happy to fill it up with twigs so i can brew up.
ATB
Tom
Wow thanks for the encouragement, I will try again.
Looking back I probably didn't establish a decent enough fire in the pan first and it sounds as if my fuel was too small.
As for the firelighting "logs" then I am OK because my mother in law al;ways buys me some for christmas, to save me having to "mess about" when I go camping.:)
The longer sticks really does seem to make a huge difference. Dropping in too many cones or wood chunks could smother out the fire or block the air holes.
I have though of making an accelerator....a short brass tube with some plastic tubing to really blast some air into the pan, but so far I have not done so.
I really just get the fire established in the pan with some small splits, shavings and a fuzz stick or two, then add the chimney and let it start drawing. Then in with a small number of longer sticks and before I know it I have boiling water.
I generally carry a couple of fatwood splits in case I cannot find any dry material to get it going. But once I have it drawing even moderately damp sticks and cones can be used as long as you limit the amount.
Good luck these really are exceptionally fun and useful boilers.
I have never had any real difficulty keeping a Kelly going.
I find 4-7" sticks work great as they lodge in the chimney and do not smother out the fire base.
.
That shot of the kelly kettle you've used really does show it off well.
"logs" made from wax and sawdust that they sell in supermarkets
Tom
A few of those seem a good idea, I guess with what you've both posted that you could pretty much take a kettle out pre loaded (if say, it's wet) and then just empty it out and start it up from scratch.
Where are people getting their thermettes from? The only place I found was in america na d was quite pricey, so import tax is gonna sting!
I got mine from the U.S. which struck me a a little perverse since they're made in New Zealand. Now would be quite a good time to indulge in one, what with the dollar going through a steady decline. Alternatively, get a friend who's going to NZ to try and pick one up. I love mine; prefer it in almost every way to the ubiquitous Kelly.
I'm still trying to buy a Kelly. I ordered the first one from a certain website that's now gone bust. The second I ordered on "Buy It Now" from EvilBay, and the seller claims they're out of stock, but expected any day now:( :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :tapedshut
I'm affraid if its wet I cheat and take along some firelighters, well not firelighters as such but you know those "logs" made from wax and sawdust that they sell in supermarkets for yuppies with open fires in their converted warehouse flats? One brands called "Firelog" I think, anyroad you can saw them into a vast number of little finger sized pieces, they don't smell or leave any nasty residue and I've had no trouble lighting them. You can buy them for camping already made up but they cost a silly amount that way.
ITom
You can make them easily yourself:
Get an empty egg-crate and fill it tighly with sawdust, which you can get for free by the megaton from every carpenter etc.
Collect candle stumps from your family, friends etc.
melt them down and pour the wax into the egg-grate.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/Supercorsa/Bushcraft/81107.jpg
They make an excellent fire starter!
Burnt Ash
08-11-2007, 15:05
Help to anybody else with a Kelly Kettle :(
One the few occasions I have set it up properly it works really well, 1ltr of water boiled in under 2 minutes, but as this is normally preceded with 20 minutes faffing about.
I have tried thin bits of wood, thick sticks, thin sticks, short sticks but nine times out of ten it works for a few minutes and goes out.
I am going to take it camping with me in a few weeks, along with some old friends, and it would be nice if I could make it go at least half the time :)
Something that doesn't get mentioned often, but you have to be careful with volcano kettles. When they're going and drawing well, the chimney is like a blow-torch. Be very careful when feeding fuel into the top of the chimney: it's easy to get your fingers burned.
Bunt Ash
Excellent idea Oetzi! I'll have to try that although at the moment i'm fresh out of candle stubs from making one of those corrugated cardboard Hobo stoves.
Its just occured to me that a knife heated up (just left to stand in some boiling water should do it?) would cut the wax log thingies with less mess than a saw.
I much prefer the Thermette over the Kelly or the Eco Stove (Kelly clone). A mate in NZ who lives near the factory sent me mine in thanks for some info he needed from the old Pattern Room at Leeds I was able to get him. When I can find something else to trade I'm down for one of the giant thermettes that the NZ army issues.
The folding handle on the side of the Thermette is a real boon, the Kellys makes it awkward to pack and you have to take that little bit more care with it to avoid frying your hand or scorching it.
ATB
Tom
twisted firestarter
08-11-2007, 18:52
Another word of warning- never add water to the kettle while it's on the heat unless you know 100% that there's water already inside. Otherwise the lining will melt instantly and turn to aluminium blobs like mine :togo:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a273/Supercorsa/Bushcraft/81107.jpg
They make an excellent fire starter!
Now that I like :D . An egg-cellent idea oetzi.
My first impression after seeing a picture of the Thermette was that the side handle posed a knuckle burn risk.
The very first time I lifted my Kelly I melted all the hair on my knuckles....have not done that again:)
Is the Thermette side handle large enough and stable enough once you lift the kettle to prevent the copper from touching your knuckles?
I've never had a problem with the handles, and if you could burn yourself on them you can be sure I would have by now, I've this special talent ;-{D) So long as you get a half decent grip on both handles its pretty much like using a 4 pint jug kettle. If you had really huge paws then you may have trouble but then again the handles are only wire so you could easily enough replace them with bigger ones. I had thought to wrap insulating tape around them but there proved to be no need.
I've singed myself with a Kelly a couple of times, ah that burning rubber smell as the hairs crinkle!. The Eco stove I have has no handle at all and comes with one of those pot lifters to grab it by the chimney. Now that is a pain.
Sometimes I do wish the filling hole/ spout was bigger but thats no real problem.
ATB
Tom
Well that is good to know. A huge Thermette has always attracted me. I need to see about getting one.
Copper and large would be perfect for a community boilup. My large Kelly is still not quite big enough for my disaster kit.
Nice side-by-side large Kelly and Thermette in this video from Jack Mountain. Right around 6 minutes for each to boil.....but the Thermette is 2x the volume.
They feed small sticks continuously. A bit more rapidly then I usually do, but otherwise their technique is pretty similar except they light with the chimney in place.
Since I almost always use some other method (firesteel, firepiston, flint and steel) not a match, I light my firepan then place the chimney.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJuJf44jwkA
I am now even more convinced to add a Thermette to my kit.
The rest of these Jack Mountain clips may be interesting too.
That shot of the kelly kettle you've used really does show it off well.
Thanks...they are photogenic that I must say.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5374/dakellyflame5888kz4.jpg
Scots_Charles_River
09-11-2007, 19:34
Howabout using chipped tress from roadsides etc ? They are just left in piles, liberate them as kindling !
Nick
Here is a good story on the kettle
http://www.outdooridiots.com/features/200611/kellykettle/kellykettle.asp
I really do use mine a lot.
I have the 1 pint for up to two people and the 2.5 if my family is with me, I have even been known to brew up in the garden when I am bored, my neighbours think I am a bit of a loony.:rolleyes:
I know its cheating, but I keep mine packed with some dry and featherd wood, cotton wool and a couple of hexiblocks just in case I am in a hurry.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/chopper692006/1ptKKLR.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/chopper692006/1ptKK4.jpg
I know its cheating, but I keep mine packed with some dry and featherd wood, cotton wool and a couple of hexiblocks.
Is it cheating if you use it a lot? being prepared! I like the eggbox lighters and will make some in due course but equally I reckon you could make viable ones from papery birch bark, fine chippings, wax and pine sap which could be wrapped in Birch bark and 'glued' with more sap.
Romatic dinner for two tonight as the kids are away at various friends houses :)
She put out candles on the table, and up until now I didn't realise that it was bad form to scrap wax out of the candle sticks, stick them in a bag and say "Hmm I have got a job for that later".
Apparently there was still some life in them and she wanted to put them round the bath, which is something I have never understood. If she can have candles in the bathroom, why can't I use my kelly kettle in the kitchen? :confused:
You know we are not back in the 1600 do what ever it takes to fire them up even a good dose alcohol gee whay not cut one of them fire logs to get a fire make a good fire one cut off pice may last just right. O K that said wally word here i come get me one to try.
I got mine from the U.S. which struck me a a little perverse since they're made in New Zealand. Now would be quite a good time to indulge in one, what with the dollar going through a steady decline. Alternatively, get a friend who's going to NZ to try and pick one up. I love mine; prefer it in almost every way to the ubiquitous Kelly.
Tiley,
Did you buy it direct from Thermette? I was going to order one online but couldn't see the padlock sign so was a bit unsure as to how secure it was, probably being overly cautious:rolleyes:
Scots_Charles_River
11-11-2007, 21:47
Is it cheating if you use it a lot? being prepared! I like the eggbox lighters and will make some in due course but equally I reckon you could make viable ones from papery birch bark, fine chippings, wax and pine sap which could be wrapped in Birch bark and 'glued' with more sap.
I saw a similar thing somewhere on the forum,looked like brandy snaps !
Nick
I really do use mine a lot.
I know its cheating, but I keep mine packed with some dry and featherd wood, cotton wool and a couple of hexiblocks just in case I am in a hurry.
That just seems like good planning to me. I almost always carry a couple of fatwood splits in mine.
I have never understood the `candles round the bath` thingy either.
I try to avoid the appliance, that or be in and out as fast as possible.
lingering in the bath carries the risk of the water cooling down and chilling you.
(but I did give Ming his bath the other day)
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5374/dakellyflame5888kz4.jpg
What's the little kettle with the loose leaves in the strainer? Looks very regal and just right to pop on a fire at a moot!
Scots_Charles_River
13-11-2007, 19:17
Looks like the same one I got in a tenner Trangia clone at Matalan. Even if you break open a std tea bag it tastes totally diferent. I use it on a hexy stove coz all the bits and flexi-cup fit in the kettle.
Nick
What's the little kettle with the loose leaves in the strainer? Looks very regal and just right to pop on a fire at a moot!
That is a slick teakettle. GSI hard anodized aluminum. It is inexpensive, the strainer insert is very nice for loose teas and it holds right about 1L. Perfect.
http://www.summithut.com/catalog/remap/product.asp/pfid/21652/
After reading this thread, I finally bought a Kelly Kettle - Well a Ghillie Kettle at least!
Bought the 0.5L size and used it in anger this weekend with some of the kids from school.
Because we were using it in the school grounds and didn't want kids breaking up the trees i asked maintenance for some scraps of timber. I bet I am the only person to burn mahogony in the kettle.
Must say I am very impressed with the kettle but am considering modding it. I think I will drill some holes in the fire bowl rim so that I can push tent pegs through and then use the pegs to support a billy so that I can cook on it as well as brew up.
Has anybody tried this and did it work?
Simon
That is a slick teakettle. GSI hard anodized aluminum. It is inexpensive, the strainer insert is very nice for loose teas and it holds right about 1L. Perfect.
http://www.summithut.com/catalog/remap/product.asp/pfid/21652/
Hi Schwert,
A couple of questions about the kettle if I may. Is the strainer insert part of the standard kettle or something you added yourself, and did you buy yours from summithut.com? I had a brief look and P+P came out as $65 using Fedex (the only option as far as I could see). Otherwise,at $16 it looks like a good deal.
Al
The GSI teakettle came with the strainer basket and I did buy it from Summit Hut. It is not worth $65 though. It is a nice little kettle and well worth $20 with postage.