Kirtley Kettle
Named after, and carrying the endorsement of, Paul Kirtley, the 'Kirtley Kettle' is a range of camp kettles to suit every situation, from one person on foot, through to larger parties such as Scout Groups, or base camp situations.
First a little about Mr Paul Kirtley. Paul is owner and Chief Instructor at Frontier Bushcraft, previously Course Director at Ray Mears 'Woodlore. Paul spent 10 years studying with Ray, first as a student, then as an employee of Woodlore, and is one of only a few people worldwide to be recognised by Ray as a Bushcraft Instructure, being awarded the antler-handled Woodlore Instructors knife. You can read more about Mr Kirtley and Frontier Bushcraft at the following URL: http://frontierbushcraft.com/
Moving on, this review is about the Kirtley Kettle! From here on I will refer to the Kirtley Kettle as the KK!
The Range:
The KCK range available in the Uk consists of 4 sizes as follows:
Kirtley Companion Kettle - 2.5 litres (approx. 0.6kg)
Kirtley Camp Kettle - 5 litres (approx. 1kg)
The Frontier Camp Kettle - 7 litres (approx. 1.3kg)
The Large Frontier Camp Kettle - 10 litres (approx. 1.6kg)
This review will concentrate on the smallest in the range, purely because this is the variant that I own, and is more than enough to service myself and a couple of additional people in my group with brews!
The main body of the kettle is made from a medium guage aluminium construction, with a steel lid and powder coated, ergonomic handle. The spout is a non-drip design and the whole unit feels pretty robust in the hand! Fixings are rivetted and welded with absolutely no signs of 'play' anywhere at all. First impressions are very favourable indeed. Traditionally styled, the KK evokes memories of days when kit and equipment was made to last, not like nowadays when predictive analytics and statistical modelling is used to determine exactly when components will fail on products to enable forecasting of warranty and guarantee commitments. Its not just me being cynical, it happens! However this KK feels like it is built to last!
So, why go for a KK when a billy can will boil water just as well? Thats a fair question I guess, but then do you need heated seats, rain sensitive windscreen wipers and a CD player to travel from A to B in a car? No, you dont in my opinion. Some people just like to travel in style! For me this is travelling in style. Most of my woodland activity, or indeed any outdoors activity for that matter, is usually based around a fixed point, or base camp. From here I will spend anything from an hour, to a few hours at a time, wandering off in any given direction, tracking, spotting and photographing wildlife, or just observing the seasons as they come and go. Sometimes I will take a small brew kit with me that consists of a bottle, a stainless steel mug, a small stove and some tea or coffee. (You can see a review on my brew kit here - <insert link to review>, but when I return to base camp I quite like the idea of having one of these kettles ready to fill and put over the fire to boil the water for the rest of the day or the evening. I may want a few more brews, I may want to re-hydrate some food, I may need some hot water for washing up, maybe another brew, and an hour or so before bedtime I may want to fill my stainless steel bottle with hot water to place inside my sleeping bag and prime it up all nice and warm, ready for me to climb inside it. Do I want to keep filling a smaller one litre bottle? do I want to keep filling a zebra billy? No. Dont get me wrong these items have their place and their use for sure, but the KK allows me to accomodate all these things in one go, freeing time for other things like carving, or simply enjoying my pipe and a bowl of Windsor Breeze without interruption.
A KK like this goes a long way to creating a sense of togetherness and bonding round the fire. Instead of everyone having their own cup in the embers, or individual small camp kettles on individual stoves, you all wait for the kettle to boil together, you all brew up together, and you all enjoy a warm drink together!
Ultimately the KK will not be for everyone. If you are a die hard Ultra Light camper, where every ounce is counted, weighed and measured, something like this will probably not be for you. But if you enjoy car camping, caravaning, kayaking, motorcycling, Bushcraft, or are in a larger group of Scouts for example, it is likely to be one of those items that is first on the kit list, and rightly so! Take Bushcrafters for example. We use wool blankets, use axes and full tang 4mm thick knives, we carry hammocks and tarps with 4 season army surplus sleeping bags and Thermarests, amongst many other items of kit that we consider to be bombproof for what we enjoy doing. Where is the KK any different to those other items of gear?
Time will tell how well the KK stands up to regular use, I for one am going to enjoy many hours watching it do its thing, waiting to fill my cup to the brim, and I hope many other people will join me in doing that too, around a camp fire, together, me...my friends...and the Kirtley Kettle. This is how she looks now...
First a little about Mr Paul Kirtley. Paul is owner and Chief Instructor at Frontier Bushcraft, previously Course Director at Ray Mears 'Woodlore. Paul spent 10 years studying with Ray, first as a student, then as an employee of Woodlore, and is one of only a few people worldwide to be recognised by Ray as a Bushcraft Instructure, being awarded the antler-handled Woodlore Instructors knife. You can read more about Mr Kirtley and Frontier Bushcraft at the following URL: http://frontierbushcraft.com/
Moving on, this review is about the Kirtley Kettle! From here on I will refer to the Kirtley Kettle as the KK!
The Range:
The KCK range available in the Uk consists of 4 sizes as follows:
Kirtley Companion Kettle - 2.5 litres (approx. 0.6kg)
Kirtley Camp Kettle - 5 litres (approx. 1kg)
The Frontier Camp Kettle - 7 litres (approx. 1.3kg)
The Large Frontier Camp Kettle - 10 litres (approx. 1.6kg)
This review will concentrate on the smallest in the range, purely because this is the variant that I own, and is more than enough to service myself and a couple of additional people in my group with brews!
The main body of the kettle is made from a medium guage aluminium construction, with a steel lid and powder coated, ergonomic handle. The spout is a non-drip design and the whole unit feels pretty robust in the hand! Fixings are rivetted and welded with absolutely no signs of 'play' anywhere at all. First impressions are very favourable indeed. Traditionally styled, the KK evokes memories of days when kit and equipment was made to last, not like nowadays when predictive analytics and statistical modelling is used to determine exactly when components will fail on products to enable forecasting of warranty and guarantee commitments. Its not just me being cynical, it happens! However this KK feels like it is built to last!
So, why go for a KK when a billy can will boil water just as well? Thats a fair question I guess, but then do you need heated seats, rain sensitive windscreen wipers and a CD player to travel from A to B in a car? No, you dont in my opinion. Some people just like to travel in style! For me this is travelling in style. Most of my woodland activity, or indeed any outdoors activity for that matter, is usually based around a fixed point, or base camp. From here I will spend anything from an hour, to a few hours at a time, wandering off in any given direction, tracking, spotting and photographing wildlife, or just observing the seasons as they come and go. Sometimes I will take a small brew kit with me that consists of a bottle, a stainless steel mug, a small stove and some tea or coffee. (You can see a review on my brew kit here - <insert link to review>, but when I return to base camp I quite like the idea of having one of these kettles ready to fill and put over the fire to boil the water for the rest of the day or the evening. I may want a few more brews, I may want to re-hydrate some food, I may need some hot water for washing up, maybe another brew, and an hour or so before bedtime I may want to fill my stainless steel bottle with hot water to place inside my sleeping bag and prime it up all nice and warm, ready for me to climb inside it. Do I want to keep filling a smaller one litre bottle? do I want to keep filling a zebra billy? No. Dont get me wrong these items have their place and their use for sure, but the KK allows me to accomodate all these things in one go, freeing time for other things like carving, or simply enjoying my pipe and a bowl of Windsor Breeze without interruption.
A KK like this goes a long way to creating a sense of togetherness and bonding round the fire. Instead of everyone having their own cup in the embers, or individual small camp kettles on individual stoves, you all wait for the kettle to boil together, you all brew up together, and you all enjoy a warm drink together!
Ultimately the KK will not be for everyone. If you are a die hard Ultra Light camper, where every ounce is counted, weighed and measured, something like this will probably not be for you. But if you enjoy car camping, caravaning, kayaking, motorcycling, Bushcraft, or are in a larger group of Scouts for example, it is likely to be one of those items that is first on the kit list, and rightly so! Take Bushcrafters for example. We use wool blankets, use axes and full tang 4mm thick knives, we carry hammocks and tarps with 4 season army surplus sleeping bags and Thermarests, amongst many other items of kit that we consider to be bombproof for what we enjoy doing. Where is the KK any different to those other items of gear?
Time will tell how well the KK stands up to regular use, I for one am going to enjoy many hours watching it do its thing, waiting to fill my cup to the brim, and I hope many other people will join me in doing that too, around a camp fire, together, me...my friends...and the Kirtley Kettle. This is how she looks now...