Kelly Kettle

[AWCHIEF]

20% off until the 29th using discount code. Heck of a deal for anyone on the fence.

http://www.campsaver.com/brand/kelly-kettle

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Wow; sounds like you may want to check out satellite internet service where your staying! ...

Oh, I did one better than that. I hired Technomadia to work out connectivity solutions for me, based on all available information. Solutions, plural. I work from the road and so this was essential for me. I haven't been there yet to test my new kitty of gadgets. That will come later this summer.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

We have a single-burner marine stove, purchased years ago for use on our boat. (we purchased it because it uses alcohol, which is much safer in a marine environment), but it's stainless steel and very sturdy

I hope they've improved them since I had my first and only alcohol stove in a boat in the 70's.
You had to prime the burner by squirting alcohol into the burner cup and lighting it. The flame flared up to the overhead and almost set the wood boat on fire. Then, as you know, alcohol doesn't have many BTU's. You may never boil water on my old alcohol stove. (that's why E-85 gas has 30% less MPG!)
I'll never have another alcohol stove. YMMV.
Later, I had a couple Butane stoves. Great! Butane is lighter than air so it doesn't puddle up in confined areas like propane. Storing the canisters was a pain, but at least you could cook.

[PharmGeek]

I have several alcohol stoves - and some do not require priming...some also use wicking material or other designs to make them spill proof.

If you spill an alky stove you are in for some fire

Also - all alky stoves are slow at boiling - takes like maybe 8-10 minutes for 2 cups -

On the flip side they are silent and cheap...and you don't have to fuss with finding wood and such but for RV use? Nah, not me

[Hittenstiehl]

I will say you all do cost us money on ocassion 😋 One Kelly Kettle headed our way.

[STREMN]

Watching a couple of youtube video reviews of the Kelly Kettle lead to a link at Cutlery Shoppe. Large SS Kit was a few dollars over 100 with free shipping.

http://www.cutleryshoppe.com/nutnfan...esandgear.aspx

I've got nothing to do with the review or links. Just sharing what appears to be a better price for those that might be interested.

[Len n Jeanne]

PharmGeek, I looked up open burn restrictions in BC, and it wasn't much help for something like the Kelly Kettle. (Is it a stove? Is it a campfire?)

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/pub...scampfires.pdf

I don't suppose good judgement comes into it.....

[OTRA15]

A reminder that the Iwatani 15,000 BTU butane burner linked in Post #6 is a very efficient option where the burning of wood is prohibited. The butane canisters are available in both RV and camping supply stores and campground stores. Small, portable, stowable and comes with a case.

Happy Trails!

Peter

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

PharmGeek, I looked up open burn restrictions in BC, and it wasn't much help for something like the Kelly Kettle. (Is it a stove? Is it a campfire?)

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/pub...scampfires.pdf

I don't suppose good judgement comes into it.....

Yeah - I bet if you ask they will say it still qualifies as "open burn".... :/

It is a "stove" and a "campfire" I suppose....?

[PharmGeek]

On a related note about burn bans - I've heard that "they" don't want alky stoves either - in case they spill ......

The isobutane, butane, propane options are all "ok" as far as I understand when a burn ban is in place.

[OTRA15]

If I understand the Kelly Kettle correctly, there will be hot smokey air and embers coming up and out of the central flue inside the kettle. Maybe very small burning embers, but embers nonetheless, and just as capable of starting a forest fire as a larger open fire.

With forest fires becoming such a risk, seems like extreme caution and moderation are called for.

Peter

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

PharmGeek, I looked up open burn restrictions in BC, and it wasn't much help for something like the Kelly Kettle. (Is it a stove? Is it a campfire?)

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/pub...scampfires.pdf

I don't suppose good judgement comes into it.....

The publication doesn't appear to define "CSA or ULC approved portable campfire apparatus" nor does it even define the acronyms themselves. When I Google the reference, I just get more unspecified regurgitations plus marketing aimed at promoting devices that reportedly comply - but no links back to what the approval process consists of.

I sent an email to Kelly Kettle to see if they can clarify.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

If I understand the Kelly Kettle correctly, there will be hot smokey air and embers coming up and out of the central flue inside the kettle. Maybe very small burning embers, but embers nonetheless, and just as capable of starting a forest fire as a larger open fire.

With forest fires becoming such a risk, seems like extreme caution and moderation are called for.

Peter

FWIW, the fire bowl is only 5.5 inches wide in the largest model (Base Camp), smaller in the others. The fire is so tiny in that space that it's difficult to throw off any embers of any size, which are generated when moisture trapped in larger pieces of wood boils and explodes, essentially.

I used a Jetboil extensively for 10 years before I bought this thing. If a Jetboil is sitting on the forest floor and accidentally tips over (I've had it happen), it can easily ignite detritus. So could a Kelly Kettle, but a Kelly Kettle happens to hold 40 additional ounces of water that would douse the resulting footprint, vs. what a Jetboil holds. Butane stoves may be exempted legally but I wouldn't assume that they are somehow "safer".

There's another question buried in all of this - if forest fire potential is so elevated that using a tiny stove represents an unacceptable risk, is it a good idea to be camping at all? What about cigarettes, lightning, electrical wires, car crashes igniting ditch fires, vandalism, etc.? The Gatlinburg fire killed 14 people and injured 175; here in Texas, the Bastrop fire killed several people as well. There are many other examples.

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

FWIW, the fire bowl is only 5.5 inches wide in the largest model (Base Camp), smaller in the others. The fire is so tiny in that space that it's difficult to throw off any embers of any size, which are generated when moisture trapped in larger pieces of wood boils and explodes, essentially.

I used a Jetboil extensively for 10 years before I bought this thing. If a Jetboil is sitting on the forest floor and accidentally tips over (I've had it happen), it can easily ignite detritus. So could a Kelly Kettle, but a Kelly Kettle happens to hold 40 additional ounces of water that would douse the resulting footprint, vs. what a Jetboil holds. Butane stoves may be exempted legally but I wouldn't assume that they are somehow "safer".

There's another question buried in all of this - if forest fire potential is so elevated that using a tiny stove represents an unacceptable risk, is it a good idea to be camping at all? What about cigarettes, lightning, electrical wires, car crashes igniting ditch fires, vandalism, etc.? The Gatlinburg fire killed 14 people and injured 175; here in Texas, the Bastrop fire killed several people as well. There are many other examples.

The isobutene type stove tipped over can ignite a fire...but a notable difference is that it would predictably ignite something right next to it...in theory that could spread and start a forest fire, if you tipped it over and ignited some leaves, there is a decent chance it could be controlled. As I understand the dynamic with embers, they can kinda float around unpredictably and that could in extreme dry conditions, ignite a fire off at a bit of a distance... The Kelly kettle will give off embers...and while the small stove pot area is small, people will often fill the tube of the kettle up some too (but not always)...what sort of embers it would generate would depend on what you load into it (pine cones, fat wood, oak twigs, etc etc)...hard to imagine it would generate "much"...but easy to imagine it would generate some embers with some types of tinder. The generation of any embers seems a pretty significant concern to willfully do...but that is just my intuition really informing that thought process. As to why cigarettes are or vehicles or other activities are not banned, is a separate but related topic that I will not comment on...

[Len n Jeanne]

Living in BC, we're pretty careful about fires. Our house sits on a wooded west-facing slope, and two years ago we were treated to a view of one of the "smaller" forest fires on the ridge on the other side of the valley-- that scarcely made the regional news-- even though it burned for a few months. The foresters just let it burn, as there were no homes in the way. We thought, "Hmmm... this could have been on our side of the valley," so now instead of Airstreaming as much as we'd like, we're doing silviculture.

Although a lot of fire safety boils down to common sense (no pun intended,) we have had a BC campground host tell us to put out our charcoal BBQ, simply because a ban can extend to anything combustible.

But the Kelly kettle looks like a great piece of gear.

[Hittenstiehl]

Got ours🔥

[InterBlog]

On the issue of burn ban eligibility, here is the response I received from a Kelly Kettle rep:

Our Kelly Kettles are widely used in Forests and National Parks throughout all of North America since the fires are enclosed in the firebase and chimney of the kettle. I have had several people email me with their encounters with forest rangers who said the Kelly Kettle is perfectly fine to use in a fire ban situation. However, I would recommend all of your readers to call ahead to the park they will be visiting to make sure. Keep in mind that they will need to educate many of the forest service centers on the Kelly Kettle and how it works, possibly even sending them a picture, because many people unfortunately have not yet heard of the Kelly Kettle and its many benefits.

In other words, it may be acceptable but at this time, it apparently has no formal certification or approval reflecting as much.

In my case, the greater risk is wet wood rather than fire bans due to abnormal dryness. I created this fuel storage sack for use on longer boondocking trips. It's not intended to be 100% waterproof but rather to protect fuel from downpours. After arriving at the destination and stuffing it full of (hopefully) dry fuel, I can just toss it under the van and retrieve when needed to run the kettle.

[Len n Jeanne]

Interblog, this looks great.

I keep some easy lighting natural tinder in a small water-tight bag in our life jacket pockets and day packs: a wad of clothes drier lint and cattail fluff are old standbys. We just took a short wilderness survival workshop. While I found much of it disappointing, I did pick up a few good tips on fire starting other than either high tech or low tech methods, such as traveling with a short length of jute twine, which can be unraveled into thin filaments, or bringing a magnesium stick and shaving off bits of it. We enjoy desert camping, and find that finely shredded juniper bark works well, or even just dried grass and weeds. Here in BC, dead (no longer) evergreen needles work well. Sometimes frighteningly so, given our propensity for huge forest fires.

[AWCHIEF]

After 4 or 5 uses I cleaned the fire chamber today for the first time. Sprayed it down with Flume Free Easy off. Let sit for 10 minutes and wiped it clean with water and an old kitchen scrubbing pad. Looks good as new with a bit of heat generated patina.