KELLY KETTLE KEEPS YOU IN HOT WATER WORLD WIDE

There are a few things in life we can all agree on. Hot water is great ,unless your front and center in a congressional hearing. Or the guest of honor at a South Seas Island cannibal cookout. How do say "What's for dinner?" in MAORI. Although both situations would be disagreeable,  I believe it would be better to get indigestion then to give it. Which brings us to good hot water. I got my KELLY KETTLE for Christmas. And perhaps like you, I had heard of them but had never bought one or even seen one. But the idea seemed kind of cool. Hot water on demand while camping. Immediately I had some questions.

Some questions?   Actually quite a few questions.  Like: What is a Kelly Kettle and how does it work? Can I boil a partial kettle of water?  How do I clean the kettle?  How is it best used?  What is the best fuel to burn in it?  And last but not least, Is it green?

1 What is a Kelly Kettle and how does it work?

2. Can I boil a partial kettle of water.

3 How do I clean the kettle?

4 How is it best used?

5 What is the best fuel to burn in it?

6 Is it green?

1    WHAT IS A KELLY KETTLE AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

  

The kettle is a essentially a double walled chimney with water contained in the chimney wall. There is a fire base on the bottom that looks like a pan with a whole in the side. Simply start a fire in the base using sticks and twigs and in 3 to 5 minutes presto, hot water in the water chamber for all your camping needs. They are made of stainless steel or aluminum. At first glance you will be more than impressed with its extra heavy duty construction. With an emphasis on extra, it's built to last.  There is nothing worse than a piece of equipement that has to be replaced to often, no matter how useful it is. I look forward to using mine for years to come. Best of all there is no mechanical moving parts. Complexity breeds fragility.

2    CAN I BOIL A PARTIAL KETTLE OF WATER?
The short answear is no. You need to see the water boil at the spout. First time use I put in 33.8 oz of water, one liter bottle. I think it will hold a little more. When all else fails read the directions. I could easily see the water boiling. This gave me enough water for a meal of noodles and 2 cups of hot beverage. Remember never to place the chimney over a fire without water in it.   One extra welcome benefit is the leftover fire in the base on a cold day.

3    HOW DO I CLEAN THE KETTLE?

You don't have to but if you insist, one of the best ways sounds like spraying oven cleaner on the inside of the chimney. Where the fire rises not where the water goes.  Read the label on the cleaner and use as directed,  you don't want to cause corrosion on your alluminum or steel pot. I just scrubbed mine with dry leaves, to get the worst of the residue off. That being said Mark Marshall in the US points out heat is infared electro magnetic energy which is absorbed better by a black surface. At least you know now why that black truck you bought gets hot so fast and stays hot so long. So clean if you must. As for the water chamber, we all know the best sanitizer is boiling water so it is self cleaning.

4     HOW IS IT BEST USED

Boiling water was it's original use. Now with several sizes and many accessories, with a variety of pot supports and hobo stoves. In addition to complete cooksets you are ready to take on all your camp cooking needs. They even have an accessory water stopper that whistles when the water is hot.

5     WHAT IS THE BEST FUEL?

The quick answer is whatever is closest,and most abundant.  I like grass and leaves crumbled up followed by pine cones and finish up by feeding longer twigs in from the top. The first time I lit my kettle was after several days of heavy rain. Here is a tip from the KELLY KETTLE website. Use whatever you have that will start the fire. Then start feeding in longer wet sticks.(leave them sticking out the top of the chimney). The heat from the smaller fire will dry the sticks, and as the bottom of the longer pieces burn they will gravity feed down, . TRY IT IT WORKS!

6     IS IT GREEN?

The website says it's carbon neutral-no trace green camping. Definition = green or sustainable living, a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individuals or society's use of the earths natural resources and one's personal resources. I believe that to be an accurate description of the KELLY KETTLE!!!
　

I'LL TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT

Just as their website says it will boil water in 3-5 min. using sticks, dry grass, bark, pine cones and even animal dung. That's always good to know. What was surprising was how little fuel it took to boil water. Once you start the fire in the base then putting the chimney on. Cool air is sucked in from the bottom,hot air doing what hot air does flows out the top, causing it to burn much hotter than a conventional fire.

WHY NOT GAS CANNISTERS?

With the KELLY KETTLE there is no buying of or replacement of fuel.  Nor is there any storage of combustionable materials. No carrying of multiple cannisters with you when weight and space are at a premium. Consider the problems of traveling to a foreign country. Not just getting there and back, but the availability of fuel when your are there. The KELLY KETTLE is truly a world class traveler. Just right for your next expedition and yes they do ship internationally.

WHY NOT A CAMPFIRE?

Campfires are inconvient and generally inefficient for cooking. Two of the Kettles strong points are, heating water in 2-3 min. and burning a small amount of scavenged local wood. Chances are you had to transport that campfire wood,or buy it from an expensive local source. Keep in mind campfires are often prohibited because of high wind , drought or other environmental reasons.

DID'NT BURN GOOD IN THE WIND (IT BURNED GREAT)!!

Kelly Kettle doing double duty as a wind sock.

With many stoves wind is their cyptonite, not so with the KELLY. The 2nd. day of my test the wind picked up. Our hero lit the stove with just one match, the stove burned better than ever. ( As you can see in my photo KETTLE bag doing double duty as a wind sock.)

SUMMARY

KELLY KETTLE meets or exceeds all the claims of the manufacturers, and I'm sure to get many years of service from it. Anybody who ventures into the outdoors, should give serious consideration to the KELLY KETTLE. They have an informative website that can answer these questions and many more. kellykettle.com

If you have any questions or comments please put them in the comment section below. If this review has been helpful please share it with a friend.  Thanks

This is Papa Randy and I am

koolerbythelake.BlogSpot.com

$A QUADRILLION HERE A QUADRILLION THERE$

$A QUADRILLION HERE A QUADRILLION THERE$

Pretty soon your talking about real money. Times have changed. When that quote was first used, courtesy of Yogi Berra, he was probably talking millions. The world, according to Egon Von Greyerz, is TWO QUADRILLION in debt.  While being interviewed on Greg Hunters popular USA WATCHDOG.COM.  (Which for my money is the best place to stay informed on the web.)  Egon said that the world has TWO QUADRILLION in debt and liabilities.  With a global GDP of only SEVENTY TRILLION.  With debt THIRTY x global GDP.  Let's try and put that in pespective.
1000 million = Billion
1000 Billion=Trillion
1000 Trillion=Quadrillion
So pretend you owe 30 x more than you make in a year.  Say you have an income of about 30,000 dollars and you owe about 1 million dollars.  It would take all of your working life to pay it back.  No matter how good your intentions it's not going to happen! There are two possibilities and that's not one of them.

 NUCLEAR OPTION NO.1

Nuclear option no. 1 Just don,t pay the money back and keep the 30,000 grand.  Why should you care!  Here's why.  The world as we know it runs on credit & debt.  If we have enough default (non-payment) or debt destruction.  It comes at a price of it's own.  The world stops running.  Even though it may feel like the world and yourself are on a treadmill going nowhere.  It may not be a good idea to stop.  If you stop running, your not just going to slow down, you go backwards on that treadmill, fast!

PLETHORA OF PROBLEMS

As a small test try not paying your electric bill this month.  theNot only will the lights get shut off, the food won't get cooked and the laundry won't get done.  Food in the freezer goes bad, you'res late for work and you lose your job!  A plethora of problems.

 NUCLEAR OPTION NO.2

Another option if you are fortunate enough to own a printing press.  A legal money printing press that is, as most central banks around the world do, you can just print the money to pay your bills.  That also comes with a price which we'll discuss next week.

THE TIMES OF SAND ARE RUNNING OUT!!!

In a book written by Vince Beiser "THE WORLD IN A GRAIN: THE STORY OF SAND AND HOW IT TRANSFORMED CIVILIZATION".  Hows that for a catchy title.  This book will either put you to sleep or keep you awake all night, depending on your view.  According to Vince, sand is in short supply, as if we don't have enough to worry about. (We don't worry, we just like to stay informed of the facts).  At least the right kind of sand.  Meaning construction sand, you see construction sand has sharp edges.  Desert sand think sahara has round edges from being blown about since the time of sand began.  Sharp edge sand comes from river beds and beachs. Construction sand needs sharp egdes so it bonds together for strength.

40 BILLION TONS ARE CONSUMED 

By world demand each year in sand and sand based products.  Consider Dubai which is surrounded by an ocean of sand.  It imports sand from Australia for building purposes. (kind of like selling ice to an eskimo).  In the believe it or not catagory - they also use it for building beaches.

CONSUMPTION HAS INCREASED

China has used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century.  HOW is this possible.  Could it be there is a connection between our 2 QUADRILLION in debt and our increased consumption of resources.

MAKES YOU WONDER

Could it be we have other resources  similarly affected by this 2 QUADRILLION debt monster.  As always we are left with more questions than answers.  If you have any thoughts on this subject please put them in the comment section and share this article.

This is Papa Randy and I am

koolerbythelake.blogspot.com

FLY-FISHING BUY THE BOOK

Why Books?

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writing so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for."                                             Socrates

"Nothing like a book to forge a new skill or knock the rust off of an old one."                                       RLR

Here are a few good books I have known:

Fly Fishing in North America seems to have taken root in the Western United States. So we'll start there.

  Bud Lilly,s Guide to Fly-Fishing the New West

 Bud was owner operator of the Trout Shop in West Yellowstone from the 1950's to the early 1980's.His book does not only cover the pratical side of fly-fishing,
                      
but also the history,evolution, and the future as he see's it in that part of the country. With it's great colored pictures it makes a good addition to any western fisherman's coffee table.

Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide

No fly-fisherman's library would be complete without a few Orvis fishing guides. I have two this one copyright 1984 and the newer "Orvis Ultimate book of Fly-Fishing" copyright 2004. 
                      
The fly-fishing guide is said by John Randolph editor of fly-fishing Magizine to be the most complete beginner's guide to fly-fishing in print.

I would say it fills the bill with pictures though B/W detailed drawings,and clear accurate explanation on every page. A  GOOD BOOK.
　
Orvis Ultimate Book of Fly-Fishing

The newer of the two books is a collection of advice from many Orvis experts. On all things fly-fishing.All with colored pictures as opposed to the 1984 addition.
                   
Both are indespinceable to any serious fisherman. If I had to pick one, I'd have to give the nod to the Ultimate book (copyright 2004) with it's colored pictures. VERY GOOD BOOK.

Also from Orvis

1 Pocket guide to DRY-FLY FISHING

 

2 Pocket guide to FLY-FISHING FOR BASS

   
3 Pocket guide to FLY-FISHING FOR BONEFISH AND PERMIT

4 Pocket guide toFLY-FISHING FOR STEELHEAD

5 Pocket guide to FLY-FISHING FOR STILLWATER TROUT

6 Pocket guide to FLY-FISHING FOR STRIPED BASS-BLUEFISH 

7 Pocket guide to NYMPHING TECHNIQUES

8 STREAMSIDE GUIDE TO APPROACH AND PRESENTATION

 9 STREAMSIDE GUIDE TO FLY CASTING

10 STREAMSIDE GUIDE TO LEADERS,KNOTS,AND TIPPETS

11 STREAMSIDE GUIDE TO TROUT FOODS AND THEIR IMITATIONS

"As no man is born an artist, so no man is born an angler."

                                                    Izaak Walton
                      from his classic The Compleat Angler

The Complete Fisherman by the editors of Field and Stream (no introduction needed)

Described as the best advice on fishing knots, bass fishing, fly fishing, tackle care, bait, rigs and more. At 485 pages it's one stop shopping for all forms of fishing.

The Complete Book of Tackle Making By C. Boyd Pfeiffer

There are 4 good reasons for making your own tackle. It's fun, saves money, it allows for custom tackle, and makes you a better fisherman.

                   
At 548 pages, with hundreds of pictures & diagrams, it won't disappoint.

FLY FISHING Memories of Angling Days by J, R, Hartley

This little book reminds me of the Groucho Mark Quote

"Outside of a dog, a book is a mans best friend, inside of a dog it is too dark to read"                            Groucho Marx      

                                                                          
I've never been there but it could be true.

This book takes place between the two great wars. A collection of memoirs of Schoolboy Angling Days in rural England. Humorous and warm it is just a joy to read.

Complete Guide to Fishing Across North America by Joe Brooks

              

While the rest of the books detail the how to, this book details the where to. Complete with 48 state maps which show of every recommended lake and stream.

How to Fish Top to Bottom by Sid Gordon

"Classic - a book that people praise and don't read "

                                                 Mark  Twain      
This book I consider a must read classic. Copyright 1957 - it is probably out of print but definitely worth hunting down.

The author, Sid Gordon, with a lifetime of angling experience states "Water can be read like a book."He explains in detail how this can be done.

His explanation of casting with a fly rod is worth the price of the book alone.

" If I fished only to capture fish,

my fishing trips would have ended long ago."

                                                    Zane Gray

Check It Out

You should be able find these treasures at Amazon any day of the week.  And given enough time you may be able to find all of these titles and others at your local lilbrary book sale or other second hand locations for pennies on the dollar.

But as I said Check It Out. No really Check it out, of the Library, for free,and save your pennies for tackle.

　"Libraries will get you through times of no money

better than money will get you through times of no Libraries"

                                               Anne Herbert

This is Papa Randy and I am
Koolerbythelake.blogspot.com