Petromax FK2 Kettle Review

Petromax FK2 Kettle Review

This is a 1.2 litre aluminium kettle, which is plenty to serve a family of 4 with a good hot brew, although they do offer a 0.5 litre version for solo hikers who value space and weight a little more. Like other kettles of this design, it doesn't take much to get your water boiling. Really a couple of handfuls of wood will see it boiling in under 5 minutes (not including the time it take you to gather wood and start the fire), but it doesn't take much wood anyway and they get up to temperature quite quickly.

 

It comes in a very nice bag which has one really great feature that I didn't notice until the second time I took it out for a day. I will mention that I had this next to my computer for a few weeks between uses and until I opened it for the second time I had no idea that it smelled. Obviously burning wood in it will impart a smokey odour and pretty much makes it smell like an old fire place but, I just didn't realise while it was inside its bag. I don't know if Petromax intentionally made this bag with odour prevention in mind, but I'm glad it does just that as I know when I keep my clothing in my pack with it, it will stop them from receiving a similar scent. It's not a thin piece of cloth like you might expect, but a padded fabric. I mean its not going to protect your kettle from a heavy fall, but it's nice knowing that they put some extra attention into the little things as you know it means this entire kit doesn't lack on quality. The handles have a leather wrapping on them as well which makes it comfortable to carry if you aren't going to pack it in your bag, and overall it feels quite tough and durable.

So the kettle itself offers a few features that are very nice. The most obvious one in my opinion is the handle. The pieces are coated in some sort of thermoplastic and offer a pretty stable way of pouring your hot water. I think they  need to be a bit larger as people with meat fists might struggle to get all four fingers around them, but never-the-less they offer a nice comfortable grip and I think it's probably the best handle on this sort of kettle that I've come across. There's also a whistle to go on the spout which is loud enough for the times when you don't need to be keeping an eye on it (although obviously if you are anywhere that the fire could spread you should not leave it unattended). You always know when it's ready even without the whistle though as it starts to shake quite noticeably when the water is boiling.

There is an set of stands to go on the bottom of the fire base which can be removed if desired. These are more useful than just minimising your footprint on the ground by preventing charring of any grass you sit it on. As I mentioned previously, we have used this style of kettle many times before and on more than one occasion we have spread some fire through the feed hole at the bottom onto surrounding grass. It happens because the heat of the base dries out the grass until it can easily combust, so the height gained by using the stands stops this altogether. There is also a basic pot stand for cooking meals on top while boiling your water, although in my experience the water boils so fast you don't get much time to cook any food and you cant use the kettle without water or you could compromise its integrity.

Finally there is something that is worth mentioning with this kettle that I haven't found with the other kettles of this design. The fire base wedges into the kettle. This prevents it from knocking around while you are walking which, if you are familiar with the sound of metal banging against metal in your pack, means it's not going to annoy you when you are plodding along on your excursions.

 

This isn't the first time we've seen this design for boiling water, and I'm sure it wont be the last, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's benefits over its competitors. The bag is great for its odour prevention, and the whistle is a nice touch for the times when you can be less vigilant about fire safety. I'd say this is a pretty good fire kettle and it's a very good price.

 

If you want to get your hands on one of these great pieces of kit click here.

And if you want to check out the other products in the Petromax range (of which there are many) click here.

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Petromax FK2 Kettle Review

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