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Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Cooking Accessories > GSI Tea Kettle > Owner Review by Nicholas Martin

GSI OUTDOORS TEA KETTLE HAE
BY NICHOLAS MARTIN
OWNER REVIEW
March 08, 2012

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Nicholas Martin
EMAIL: ces_n.martinATyahooDOTcom
AGE: 29
LOCATION: Oak Hills,California,United States
GENDER: M
HEIGHT: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
WEIGHT: 154 lb (70.00 kg)

I have been hiking and camping for as long as I can remember, but began backpacking about 4 years ago and now hike as often as I can. I hike primarily in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests but try to take at least one trip a year to the Sierra Nevada. I am an overnight to weekend backpacker and try to stay as lightweight as possible. I enjoy hiking solo but never pass up the opportunity to hike with friends, most commonly my wife Yasmine and our Husky pup Loki.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: GSI Outdoors
Website: http://www.gsioutdoors.com
Product: Tea Kettle HAE 1 Quart with lid
Year Manufactured: 2009
MSRP: $22.95 US dollars
Listed Weight: 5.8 ounces (164 grams)
Actual Weight: 5.9 ounces (168 grams)
Dimensions: 6.3" x 6" x 3.2" (16 cm x 15.2 cm x 8.1 cm)
Volume: 32 fl oz (0.95 liters)
Material: Proprietary, Hard Anodized Aluminum Alloy
Color: Black

IMAGE 1
Courtesy of GSI Outdoors


The GSI Halulite Tea Kettle is exactly what the name describes - a tea kettle. The Kettle is made from anodized aluminum and comes with a fitted lid. It is round in shape and has orange coated "handle", I believe that the coating is silicone, for holding the kettle as well as an orange coated "loop" on the lid. Both remain quite cool even after boiling water and provide good control when removing the kettle from the heat source and opening the lid to check on my boil. Both handles fold flat against the kettle minimizing the space taken up in my pack. The kettle has an open spout which makes it very easy to pour hot water into any drinking vessel or other desired location.

The primary function I use the kettle for is to boil water for tea, coffee, or to rehydrate meals. Inside the kettle there is enough room to fit a variety of small canister stoves or, my preference for use with this kettle, an alcohol stove. Unlike typical stove-top kettles there is no whistle when the water has reached a boil. Rather, there is a small hole in the lid, along with the spout, which allows steam to escape signaling that the water is in fact boiling.

FIELD USE

IMAGE 2
Trail Camp, Mt. Whitney


A few of the trips I have used this kettle include various sections of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Angeles National Forest, elevations ranging from 5,000 ft to 8,000 ft (1500 m to 2400 m) and temp's ranging from 38 F (3 C) to 80 F (26 C) during the summer months of 2011 totaling approximately 50 mi (80 km).

Another trip this kettle was used was to San Bernardino Peak in the San Gorgonio Wilderness in August 2011.

The above picture was taken during a trip to Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada in mid-August where the elevation of our camp was 12,000 ft ( 3,660 m ) and temps ranging from 31 F (-1 C) to 55 F (12 C).

I have used the GSI Tea Kettle for a total of 7 nights backpacking and 9 nights while car camping.

Observations

Two things that caught my attention about the kettle was its small size and understanding the specific task it would perform in my cook-set. Since I primarily rehydrate meals and use alcohol stoves, I wanted something light weight and compact while still giving me room to store my fuel bottle, stove, windscreen, and heat reflector. This kettle seemed to meet all those requirements.
IMAGE 3
Packed for the trail

It is very simple to use with very little set up time to get my water boiling. Just pour in the desired amount of water, light up the stove, and wait! Using my alcohol stove I would have hot water in about 6 minutes, but using my canister stove (a MSR Pocket Rocket) I would have hot water in less than 2 minutes. It does have a round stable base; however, I would not recommend using it with that stove in particular. It felt a little hard to center on the Pocket Rocket. I found the kettle much easier to center on my alcohol stove.
IMAGE 4
Waiting to boil

When my water was ready to use, I just grabbed the handle, picked up the kettle, and poured the water into my cup for coffee. The handle was not hot at all and is placed at a comfortable distance away from the hot kettle keeping me safe from an accidental burn. Overall this kettle is super easy to use and a safe way to boil water. My wife and I even used it with our two-burner Coleman stove while car camping!

After using all the water I had boiled I wondered how quickly the kettle would cool down for storage. Not long at all! In fact by the time I even thought to try and touch it, it had cooled. I would estimate that 5-10 min would be a good time period to allow the kettle to cool before packing it back up in my pack. I just had to make sure to dry it out in the sun or wipe it down with a bandanna before storing it because it did tend to retain a small amount of moisture inside after use.

Another comforting thing about this kettle is that at no time did I worry about crushing it or anything stored inside of it. This thing is solid! Tossing my pack on the ground or bumping into a rock would not even phase this little boil machine. It is a tank!

Re-Cap

My overall experience using the GSI Kettle has been terrific. It is small, boils water efficiently, easy to use, and super durable. My only complaints would be that it does retain water in the pot and under the lid, but nothing a little rag or sunlight couldn't cure, and secondly the lid was at times difficult to remove with the main handle completely upright. In my opinion the pros out-weigh the cons any day of the week.

SIGNATURE

Nicholas Martin

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

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