Base Camp Stainless Steel Basic Kit 54 oz.(1.6 LTR) Large Stainless Steel Camp Kettle, Lightweight Camping Kettle with Whistle, Camp Stove for Fishing, Hunting, Hiking, Survival Gear

This is a Water Boiler. Boils Water. Does it better and faster than anything I've ever used. Home range top ( electric or gas), camp fires, whatever. If you count all time start to finish, these just do it better & faster. A handful or two of nature's trash ( sticks & twigs, basic detritus ) - and the water is boiling. I can get this model to boil 54 ounces in 5 minutes. Can. I usually add a little less fuel and end up in the 6 or so minute range. *I* am frugal even with sticks. IF you aren't here to boil water, you're in the wrong place. Move along. You MUST run this filled with water before you light the flame. Empty to mostly empty, you WILL ruin/destroy the kettle and void the warranty in one expensive swoop. Only boil water. No soup, no stew, no other liquid or food. You will never be able to clean it out. ( Well maybe after LOTS of unnecessary labor and cussing). But you will never ever see the bottom or inside the kettle without a metal saw or cutting torch. It's welded & sealed. Don't put weird stuff in there. You boil the water here, make the drinks and food over there. Speaking of: Before you use it. Clean it! It's made in a factory overseas and shipped across the sea. Nothing wrong with that. But always clean you cookware and guns before using. One DROP of dish soap about halfway full of water. Put your hand over the hole & shake. Pour it out and rinse 3 times. Don't use the plug whistle because it's not a plug and you'll wet your whistle in a bad way. Fill the kettle up to the fill line with water. then pour some of that water into a glass and taste it. If you taste soap, you put in more than one drop. IF you taste anything weird or bad, it's probably your tap water. And do yourself a favor and read the instructions. I suggest YouTube videos. Kelly has some there and so do customer. This is a wonderfully simple gadget but there are some really important tips & tricks to safely using it. I'm a friendly fire freak and it's really easy to burn yourself if you use this wrong. Example: Your whistle is whistling, your water is boiling, and you grab the wooden handle and pick up you kettle full of boiling water. BAM! You just burned your hand, possibly badly, and you probably dropped your kettle of water. It's that easy. The "proper" way is definitely weird, but it is also definitely the "Proper" way. And after all your prep & study now you can go outside and do the water boiling thing. Be safe. That brings us to the cooking section: Kelly shows cooking on top of the kettle. If you do, that kettle still needs to be full of water. And personally, cooking with my food & grease or even soup sitting precariously on top of the kettle looks like a good way to need immediate medical help that's nowhere near. Don't go out of your way to have an accident or make an emergency. Better: If you take the kettle off and put it safely away, you can of course just make a fire in the fire base. Nice & low and steady. This model comes with a little cooking grate that fits on the fire base. That'll work. And for $30 more, they sell a "Hobo Stove" for the fire base that works even better. Make sure you buy the right size. I think $30 is way high for that little Hobo Stove, buuut I bought one anyway. Makes the set an All-in-One Kit. *Almost* makes the Ultimate Base Camp model worth it. ( It comes with everything including the hobo stove plus cups & plates). And note: I now have TWO Kelly Kettles. This, the 54 oz. Base Camp model and after I saved up my play dollars again, I got the 20 oz Trekker model. The Trekker is small enough to tote and makes enough hot water for a decent serving of pour over coffee, a few cups of tea, instant and dehydrated everything. For my frugal tail to buy not one, but TWO of these at these steep prices shows not only do they work, they work well. I'm over 60 now and I no longer do the hiking/camping thing. I wish I had these when I did. These days "fun" must include heat or air conditioning as needed and more stuff than I can tote. Like the bed & couch. So why did I buy these? Because I'm in the middle of Texas and this area gets way too many "Boil Water" notices and sometimes just plain old "The Water Plant broke and we're working on it". That's why. Kelly Kettles can boil more water faster than my stove, propane stove, pear burner, or anything. Time 54 ounces of water on your range top from when you turn the knob to get a boil and check see how long it takes. The Kelly kettles do it in about 5 minutes ( give or take. There's variables. Outside temp, what you are burning, wind speed getting the hang of it, etc. Weirdly, not that much time difference between the small one & the big one).

Great size. Will heat a lot of water easily.

I usually don't review non photography items but this one needed an "at a boy" due to great customer service I got. I do wildlife photography in Rocky Mountains region. I have been using it for a few weeks now. During fall and winter it is almost a hassle to use propane at high altitudes and low temperatures and since fire restriction are lifted during winter this is a good way to heat water without dealing with fuel. If you use a bit of good wilderness practices the setup is completely a "No Trace" exercise. The large size is the perfect size to fill a 64oz bottle for warming the sleeping bag when the temperature drops. It is a bit bulky but not heavy at all. You can pack other stuff like your coffee set up inside the Kettle's chimney to save space. It is perfect for truck camping or short hikes from trail heads. The Kettle works as expected. Excellent fit and finish. A few word of cautions. Keep your hands away from the top during the use it is hot "Very Hot". Due to its efficient burning you may not see any flames at the top but it can burn your hand severely. Mike

Truly enjoy this kettle not only to heat up water in no time, and since it boils it, it also kills pathogens and bacteria you don't need in your water. Cooking food on it is also super easy using organic material as fuel. This is a must have for emergencies besides camping/hiking. No wonder it's been around for quite a very long time, glad we found it.

Haven’t used yet. Looks like a great invention. One part of SS container holds water. The other is for building a fire. Add ons include a fire ring for cooking. I think it’s amazing! No fuel just sticks found in woods.

One of the best camping items that I own. I love it.

This kettle does a great job boiling water quickly (we got it to boil a full kettle in about 5 minutes), the fire is easy to keep going, and it's easy to use. When we tried this the first time, the chimney was very smokey, but I figure that was due to mesquite twigs we used. I haven't tried to heat anything on top of the chimney yet, but I do think we'll add the hobo stove to this kit. I got the base camp kettle so that I could boil water for coffee/hot chocolate for the whole family in one go. This kettle is HUGE, which is okay for car camping if you don't have a tight trunk. The handle thing that comes with the pot/skillet is pretty terrible. I wish it had a folding handle similar to the handles that Kelly put on their nesting cups.

Being a Boy Scout leader many of our meals are water based...oatmeal, soup, hot chocolate, coffee, freeze dried meals, so this is works perfect. It holds just short of half a gallon of water and will heat it in a just a few minutes on available dried grass, twigs, small sticks. Very easy to use for many different applications. The Kelly Kettle Base Camp is very well built and will last for generations of Scouting and preparing meals and hot drinks. All of the parts pack up into a carry bag and no need to take any fuel along. Can't believe I waited so long to find and use this item.