Save on Gas - Free Brew Ups!
The first season I used the Kelly Kettle at Grenville I reached November having only using one small gas canister. I had done all of my brewing on the Kelly as well as a fair bit of cooking on it as well and that was over umpteen 48 hour sessions. I may be a silly old sod but I do find it rather satisfying building a mini self contained fire and have always loved the smell of burning twigs. A major advantage of burning fallen twigs and small branches apart from tidying the place up is something that hadn’t occurred to me until I started to use the Kelly and that is the fact that it keeps the mozzies and midges away – they dislike smoke. So, these days during the blood sucking days of summer I tend to drop a BBQ coal into the fire pit and keep it ticking over. I must say it really is rather nice sat by the glowing embers as darkness envelopes the surroundings.
I still use a gas stove at times but find them very clinical and soulless after using a Kelly Kettle for so long and the thing that seems to put most off using a Kelly Kettle is the possibility of not being able to find dry twigs to burn. Now that really hasn’t been a problem for me. If you have trees in your swim, you will find dry dead branches, if not on the ground you will still find dead ones attached to the tree. I used to carry an emergency bag of sticks with me but never found myself digging into it as even small damp dead branches are usually dry in the middle. So, a couple of seconds removing the outer with a small knife once again gives you dry wood to burn.
Anyway, this wasn’t supposed to be about the Kelly Kettle. I am always looking at ways of cutting down on the gear I carry. I had been looking at wood burning camping stoves for a while but didn’t know anyone who had used one. So, I ordered one to try for myself.
Now I haven’t had it long but can see it becoming a regular addition to my kit. It is so much smaller to carry around than both the Primus gas stove and the Kelly Kettle. So long as I have water and coffee or tea bags I can brew anywhere. The Kelly Kettle lives in my car when I’m not angling and has served up a welcome fresh brew umpteen times in the past on none fishing days, so I’m used to always having and emergency brew kit with me. This new wood burning stove makes the emergency kit tiny and brewing is totally free, just like using the Kelly.
You will see from the pictures that it packs down to practically nothing with each part stacking neatly inside the next part. If you are a Kelly user and fancy cutting the bulk down a little or simply like the idea on saving money on gas cartridges, then these are definitely worth a look.
Master the art of mini fire building and you will find them incredibly quick too. On several occasions now I have accepted a challenge and beaten gas stoves with my Kelly Kettle in speed of boiling water. The wood burning stove isn’t as fast as the Kelly but how fast does it have to be? I’m not in a race for a cup of tea.
Happy brewing
Shaun Harrison.
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