Kelly Kettle Hobo light weight stove Review

Kelly Kettle Hobo light weight stove Review

Editor: Cameron

Just the Facts:
Facts about the Kelly Hobo Light Weight Stove
This size Hobo Stove fits onto the fire-base of the ‘Base Camp’ & ‘Scout’ Kettles.

Safe, easy and fun to use: Creates stable cooking surface for a pot or fry pan and the fire is safely contained within the unit.

Fuel efficient: Heat is directed toward the pot or fry pan on the top.

Works in all weather conditions.

Uses any solid fuel.

Compact: Packs away inside the Kelly Kettle fire-base

Durable: Made from stainless steel

Use anytime with or without the Fire Base when you need a surface for cooking. Simply place the Hobo Stove on the ground and build the fire inside

While the Hobo can be used on an aluminum fire base, you run the risk of overheating the aluminum and ruining that base. We recommend the Hobo Stove accessory be used with the Stainless Steel fire base only.

Details:

15.7cm / 6.2 in. across at widest part (base)

13cm / 5.1 in. wide for pan or pot

weight – 6 oz.

My Story:
Light weight, simple and affordable. All of these describe the Kelly Kettle Hobo stove. The Hobo stove is a basic fire pot and stand that allows support for a large pot full of water or a small 16 ounce titanium backpack pot. It allows for plenty of ventilation so your fire does not go out. You feed the fire through a small hole in the bottom of the fire pot. It works well for small twigs, pine cones and other organic material. You need to stoke the fire every minute or so as the fire pot is rather small. I found that if I consistently stoked the fire and occasional blew on it to keep it going I could get 16 ounces of water to boil in 3-4 minutes. Which, considering I am just using the occasional twigs, pine cones and bark I am finding on the ground this works fairly well.

The fire pot is extremely durable. I am using the same fire pot I have had with my original Kelly Kettle I have had for years and I have had that thing HOT! It show no signs of wear, just the discoloring from the metal getting so hot. I also put a heavy 12 inch cast iron pot full of water on the hobo stove and it held fine. Now, I don’t think I could ever get that big thing to boil with such a little stove, but it was stable and the hobo stove held the 20+ lb pot just fine. Again, I would not recommend cooking with such a large pot as that is not what the stove is meant for.

Who would benefit the most from a stove like this you might ask? I think someone who is into lightweight backpacking would love this stove. It won’t break the bank and it won’t take up a lot of room in your pack. The stove and base nest into one another and you can store other items in the base as well. I think anyone who is camping or doing any outdoor cooking would love this thing. I use it on my back porch all the time with my kids, they love it and it is something for them to do and helps get them involved in the outdoors. It would also be a good emergency/survival stove to either keep in your car or a little kit bag. You will never run out of things for fuel and it will last forever.

All in all I would give this stove two big thumbs up! For the price and durability you really can’t beat it if you want a bio mass stove and don’t want to use gas anymore.

What they could do better:
It is spot on! Nice work Kelty