Food. Thoughts. Nature

My experience using the Ghillie’s lightweight, British-made, Adventurer Kettle Cook Kit

* Note: Review based on my personal experience with the Ghillie 1L Adventurer Kettle & Cook Kit. I’ve not been sponsored or paid by the manufacturer to write this post, and have had no communication with them. I purchased the product myself. I just like to shout about products that I am genuinely happy to have bought.

There’s something truly satisfying, even soothing, about  being able to brew a mug of tea in the open. Recently I set up camp in my newly planted woodland to spend some time with digger and dumper, creating a wetland. Well, it’s now more of a pool-and-rewinding project, but more on that in a future post. Given the recent drought and abundance of dry grass, I needed a safer portable camp cooking kit option, rather than an open fire for heating food and water. 

Enter from stage left, the Ghillie 1L Adventurer Kettle and Cook Kit. An exhaustive search online, actually about two minutes, and I found something that ticked several boxes: easy to use, convenient, light, preferably made in Britain (or failing that as close as possible). 

Based on the old volcano kettles, Ghillie kettles are made just up the road in Birmingham, by hand, using time-honoured techniques. Lightweight body made from aluminium and spun on a lathe – simple and sturdy. 

I opted for the adventurer cook kit: Ghillie Kettle, saucepan and frying pan, grill rack, pot handle and pot stand. There should also have had a triangular base support, but that didn’t arrive with my kit – not a problem though. 

The Ghillie website states that this kettle will boil water for a couple of brews in minutes. I assumed this was usual manufacturer hyperbole and a gross exaggeration. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Lighting a fire in the base was easy. Once a little bonfire was roaring away, I placed the kettle on top and within two minutes the whistle sounded loudly and there was enough boiling water for my morning brew and my thermos mug. 

Later, I tried warming some food in the saucepan on top, whilst boiling more water. Worked a treat. I haven’t tried the grill yet, but given the way everything else works, I don’t think it will disappoint. 

This really is a cracking bit of kit and well worth the money; currently £89.99 for this 1 litre kit from the Ghillie Kettle website. Other options are available. Whilst this is, perhaps, too bulky for a hiking camping trip, it’s certainly a great option when there is a vehicle to carry your equipment. This lightweight camping kettle is strong and, refreshingly, British-made.

It couldn’t be easier to use, it really does do what the manufacturer claims, and it’s easy to clean. It stows neatly away in the Ghillie carry bag, and it also feels quite safe to use – of great importance in our current dry spell. 

Have you used something like this? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments below!