There’s nothing better than a campfire but our Kelly Kettle offers the next best thing. We use it to boil water for a cuppa or to rehydrate food, usually noodles, and with a couple of handy attachments can, from time to time make the greatest camp supper ever. Instant Mash Potatoes (Smash), Hot dog sausages and baked beans. There’s a pot stand which sits in the chimney of the kettle which takes a little pot, and if you’re not using the kettle there’s a bit they call a hobo stove which can take the pot directly or pop a little grill on if you’re desperate for some real sausages. It burns just about anything so you can gather fuel from aroundabouts and soon get a nice fire going to cook on. Once we’ve finished cooking we keep it going for toasting marshmallows, it becomes a mini fire bucket really.
Boys Night Out – A trip to the beach for tea, in the dark, in the winter
We always take it when we’re out for a day hike in the winter and make up some soup and it’s our primary stove when car camping. Unfortunately some campsites don’t like it but I usually find a few bricks to protect damaging the turf. If they still don’t like it, we do have a little hiking gas stove as back up. It is, however, far too cumbersome for longer trips without the car, and the need for dry twigs etc can be a bother in a typical British summer, but we usually keep a bag of fuel with us for day hikes or a bigger bag of twigs in the car when we have it. I have, on occasion, boiled enough water for 2 coffee’s and 3 Hot Choc’s using just 2 firelighters, although this does create more soot inside the kettle.
Overall, it’s our favourite stove, it’s versatility (with the accessories) overcomes the size and occasional issues and in the end it’s just so much fun.
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