After Ian B's write up of the mKettle I was quite interested in getting one. But after a bit of research I found the original american version. More expensive especially when you factor in postage/likely custom charges - but half the weight (nearly). Can cook on the top of it too - looks like it would be great for a long trip along with a meths burner just in case.




The interesting aside below.

This excerpt is from the blog of the guy who developed this kettle over several years, posting on backpackinglight forums about his progress:


"My phone rings again, and now it’s the guy who had called my parents about the kettle. He’s super-keen to get one ASAP and wants to know everything about it – what material is it made of, what’s the weight, does it have a bail or a handle, what’s the seam like at the bottom, what are the dimensions, will it have a stopper, what’s my shipping schedule like? He seems to know a lot about it, but is almost playing dumb. I point him to the material I’ve posted online, and share some details: aluminum for weight, a neoprene sleeve to help protect it and to lift it by, a food-grade silicone stopper, basic dimensions.

The whole conversation just tastes funny, but I say that I’ll do what I can to get him one early. As an afterthought, I ask him if he has more than just a personal interest in the kettle – like a commercial interest – but he dodges. I’m exhausted so I don’t worry about it too much. All strange, but I had already shared a good deal about the kettle online. Heck, it’s really been a labor of love, and I’ve enjoyed taking those interested in it along for the ride. We hang up. I pop an ibuprofen.

*****Flash forward to this week*****

So I started looking into the Case of the Cloned Kettle, and found out that, sure enough, it’s being shopped around by the dude who called me on the bus. When I found that out, I went to a dark place. I wanted to deck him. But then I remembered that I’ll soon be a lawyer. Lawyer’s don’t deck people – that’s battery – lawyers SUE PEOPLE. Serving notice is true revenge.

For a number of reasons, I hadn’t filed any patents, but I wondered about a trade dress claim. Quasi-contractual? Unjust enrichment? But then I thought, wait, this is stupid. I didn’t start this project just so I could spend all my time trying to get a court to take personal jurisdiction over some dude. And heck, not only did he clone my kettle – imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery – but as someone pointed out, he even named it the “mKettle.” The Montgomery Kettle! Wittingly or not, he is paying me homage with each of the facsimiles he sells. Somehow, his does still weigh twice as much. That’s weird."

I think this has come up before and I've read it myself.

If you follow all the threads through that discussed it around the time I think the upshot was; rip-off maybe but the gillie / volcano / Kelly kettle are a pretty "old" idea anyway. The guy behind backcountry wasn't necessarily doing anything that unique or new. A refinement yes, but then, as the mkettle didn't replicate the weight saving but did look similar and had a neoprene cuff, was it really that much of a rip-off?

I really fancied a backcountry boiler but if you followed the original offer / commentary on the kick starter site it seemed to all become a bit of a saga.

Mleh would like to try one but ain't about to pay full whack from the States.