Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Kelly Kettle Brew Kit

The idea of a Brew-kit is to have a pocketable way of making Tea. People have tried hexamine tablets - tiresome in my book. Those really nifty little stoves made from a Pepsi can, or a Swedish Army Trangia - both good but slow. The best option is the power of the small gas canister stoves - much the best. I thought I'd press my Kelly Kettle into service.
I'm told the KK started out as a brew kit for Irish seaweed gatherers; its fairly windproof, it can be carried full of water, and fuel can be gathered as and when you need it. That last bit can prove a bit problematic, there's always wood, just sometimes not a lot of it is dry. So here's an option I thought I'd try out


I took an old air rifle pellet tin and filled it with rolled corrugated cardboard to make the wick


I broke up a few Nightlights, any small cheap candle will do


 Melted them in the Microwave


Poured the wax over cardboard - if I was smart I'd have used one or more of the wicks to make it easier to get the cardboard to ignite

 As you can see it was a bit of a struggle to get it up to full burn

 Still not burning strongly

 Once it was finally ablaze it produced a decent amount of heat, but from cold tap water to a rolling boil did take 12 minutes from lighting to boiling, which isn't that quick in anyone's book.
 I'm hoping that the now pre-chared cardboard will get fully alight a bit quicker next time. We'll see?

More soon
SBW

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello my name is Dennis Shamblin and I have written a new novel titled Surviving Bigfoot and the Dixie Mafia. This book is a great read and your can get it through Amazon.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

That's good to know Dennis, thanks for the heads up
SBW

Anonymous said...

Hello SBW,
If you're looking for a quick, light, small way of making a brew I think the JetBoil is hard to beat.

Dirty Eddie

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Hello Drity Eddie

The jet boil is certainly a clever bit of kit, but its a bit bulky no? I really fancy a biolite, so much kit so little cash Ho Hum
SBW

Anonymous said...

I just use pine cones and anything combustible I can find thats dry. Pine cones always light regardless of the weather.

I have a milsurp canvas bucket that I put some eyelets around the top and threaded thru with a paracord draw sting for carrying them in. It drops down the side of the old wooden R Whites lemonade bottle crate I carry the Kelly kettle in. Bucket is good for fetching the water in too.

Atb

Wilf

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Wilff

Collapsible buckets ROCK, I once bought BoB one the size of a kitchen sink, he has everything else. Ber Boom
SBW