I bought a new Kelly Kettle last week. It will be nice to be able to boil water and cook without having to buy propane and butane so often.

Today I lit up my Kelly Kettle for the first time. Here are some photos showing you what happened. It was a VERY windy day. The wind was really whipping around and I didn't choose the best place to do this. It took about 7 minutes for the water to boil.

At any rate, this worked GREAT and what a simple way to boil water or cook with nothing but a few sticks I picked up off the ground. It did make a lot of black smoke but that's probably because I used junky bark and leaves. This will be a great addition to my van. Also, if I were going to camp on a Camino route, I'd think about buying the smallest, most lightweight version and carrying it along so I could cook and make hot water safely.

My shiny new kettle

Be sure the whistle is pointing DOWN so you don't get a steam burn.

I just built a small fire in the pan using leaves, sticks, and paper I found on the ground. It really was a dirty fire and burned some nasty black smoke. I'll be more cautious what I use next time, but I'm learning.

I had some fat wood so I splintered a small piece to get the fire started.

It was incredibly windy, but the fire took off easily as it was contained in the pan.

I found a piece of 1x4 and splintered it.

This may be what was so smoky.

Fatwood. You can buy this and all you need 

is a tiny piece to get the fire started.

You can also forage it if you're in the forest.

A piece of fatwood being split

I lit the fire. 

It lit very easily.

Once it had just started to burn, I set the kettle on top.

It immediately took off and was roaring.

This is, after all, nothing more than a miniature rocket stove!

I took video but for some reason, it won't upload.

Once the kettle whistled, the water was boiling.

It took about 7 minutes from start to finish.

I think with practice I can get this down to 3-4 minutes.

All in all, I feel this was a purchase that was worth the cash.

I'm looking forward to using it in the wild

or in emergency situations where I need to boil water for safety

or for convenience when the power is out.

Now to get Joe to build the kitchen in the back . . .