Why Kelly Kettle Rocket Stoves are Great Emergency Tools

In this blog, we’ll take a look at the Kelly Kettle Rocket Stove.  We recently did a blog on our website regarding rocket stoves.  This particular setup is different and has some unique features we’ll go over in this blog. 

We’ll break this blog up into 3 parts:

• Part 1: We’ll discuss the 4 main advantages rocket stoves offer during an emergency.
• Part 2: We’ll show you how Kelly Kettles work by boiling water and allowing you to cook on the top of it.
• Part 3: Final thoughts

So let’s jump in!

Part 1: The 4 Advantages of Rocket Stoves

• #4 – They produce very little smoke

• • • Rocket stoves are known for their ability to efficiently burn both small amounts of fuel and produce little smoke once they get heated up.  This is great for OPSEC which is short for Operational Security.  After an emergency that may cause people to lose their electricity or propane going into their house, most people will be cooking over an open fire which will signal others in their vicinity that they have a fire which will draw unwanted attention.  With a rocket stove, you sharply reduce the amount of smoke you produce.

• #3 – It uses an assortment of biomass

• • • Most people either can’t store large amounts of cut wood due to space limitations and if the power grid goes down, being able to find usable fuel sources that could actually be used to cook would not be easy.  With a rocket stove, it actually works best with very small sticks and other combustible material you can find laying around.

• #2 – It’s easy to transport

• • • This particular unit weighs a little over 2 pounds.  It’s light enough to actually strap onto a bug out bag and can easily be tossed into your vehicle if an emergency requires you to bug out during an emergency.

• #1 – They’re efficient

• • Just a handful of fuel can cook an entire meal.  It uses a lot less fuel than an open fire, actually it uses less than 1/10th the wood required by an open cooking fire or wood burning stove.  There’s no need to store large supplies of wood, scavenge, harvest or process a lot of wood to cook your food if cooking with propane or electricity is not an option.

Part 2: Kelly Kettle features

In this part of the blog, we’ll take a look at the features that make Kelly Kettles so unique.  

• The first feature is the ability to quickly boil water.

• • • A Kelly Kettle has a double-walled water chamber with a stove in the middle.  You start the fire at the base and allow the smoke to escape out of the chimney.
    • Simply fill with water to about half an inch below the water spout.  Then lightly press the green whistle gently into the water spout of the kettle making sure the arrow is pointing down.
    • Boil your water as normal.  Once done, using your two hands to grip the wire handle and hold it an angle of 90 degrees to the main body of the kettle.  Then lift the kettle clear of the base.
    • Use the handle and chain for pouring.

• Other unique features are the ability to use it to cook.

• • This can be done in 2 ways.  The first method is by adding the grate on top and cook over the heat that comes out of the chimney.  Also, you can add a small pot on the top and cook in it as well.
  • The second way is by turning the Kelly Kettle base into a wood fired camp stove with a seperate Hobo Stove.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Some of the items in our emergency preparedness inventory are very specific for emergencies, but items like these are great for camping as well, so they kind of serve 2 functions.  We just like the idea of having something that is portable, efficient, and requires very preparation to use, in this case just grab some twigs and dry leaves off the ground and you quickly have the ability to heat up water and cook food.  When we go camping, we typically take freeze dried meals because we don’t like to deal with the preparation and clean up so having the ability to quickly and easily boil water comes in handy.  

As always, stay safe out there.