Can the 4Patriots Sun Kettle Pass the Field Test?

I can sit here all day and tell you that the 4Patriots Sun Kettle is a great product.

That it’s an easy, convenient and effective way to boil water in the outdoors. So you can heat water for cooking and coffee, and get rid of pathogens and other harmful microorganisms.

I could also steer you to a bunch of testimonials from our customers who’ve had great experiences with the Sun Kettle.

But today I’m going to offer a show and tell instead. I’ll let Dan W., who has tested a number of our products, give you his thoughts.

Watch Dan as he tests out the Sun Kettle. He wanted to make sure it does everything we say it does. It's less than three minutes. I’d recommend checking it out:

In the video, Dan is doing some primitive camping with his dog in a northern Arizona forest.

Ordinarily, Dan might build a fire and boil water over that fire. But in places like this, there are often burn restrictions. You can’t even use propane.

Simple yet effective

So, you need to come up with another way to boil water. We gave him a Sun Kettle and asked him to test it out.

“If you’re in a survival situation, or you just want to have coffee out in the wilderness, you need a way to heat water,” he said.

“With the Sun Kettle, you open it up, you put water inside, and it cooks the water inside the chamber.

“You angle it so it’s facing the sun. Make sure the sun is hitting it as directly as possible.”

Passing the test

Dan let the Sun Kettle sit in the sun for a while, taking care of a few things in the meantime.

“OK, it’s been about 45 minutes,” he said before checking the temperature of the water.

“That is hot! This would actually brew coffee. It definitely works. And there’s some water left over. It’s also a perfect tea-making temperature.”

Dan brewed some tea to make sure. “This is exactly how you’d expect raspberry tea to look,” he said. “The perfect temperature. It steeped perfectly. Overall, I’m going to say the Sun Kettle works really, really well. This would be great for hiking too.”

Multi-purpose device

Dan focused on boiling water with the Sun Kettle for coffee and tea. But you can also cook small food items with this personal water heater. Like hot dogs.

It’s also very useful for making hygiene comfortable when you’re outdoors. You can prep a warm washcloth bath.

If you find yourself without any water in the winter, you could even use it to melt snow to drink.

Hot water could also come in handy for first-aid. It would allow you to wash off a wound before bandaging it.

Lightweight champion

Solar cookers such as the Sun Kettle operate by trapping the rays of the sun with parabolic mirrors.

This focuses the sun’s energy on a tempered glass tube. The ultraviolet light rays are converted into infrared light rays inside. This can heat water to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Sun Kettle is compact and lightweight (2.6 pounds). But it’s built tough to withstand bumps and tumbles. You can even carry it in a backpack.

No batteries, electricity or fire are needed. The square base and kickstand have four points of contact to prevent tips and spills.

Cold weather? No problem!

The Sun Kettle may look like a thermos. But no ordinary thermos harnesses the power of the sun to safely boil water like this.

It’s reliant on sunshine not heat. So, the Sun Kettle will work just as well on a sunny winter day as it does in the summer.

The Sun Kettle has many great features that will make it your go-to solar cooker when you want to boil water for food, a beverage or to make it safe to drink.

Plus, it’s designed for portability, giving you the freedom to take it anywhere.

How to use the Sun Kettle

Dan shows us how to use the Sun Kettle in the video. But I also want to add a few usage instructions for this silent, safe and fast device.

• Fill it with water as required. Ensure a space of approximately two inches below the rim.

• Open the panels outward and place the handle into the notches on the panels.

• Place in a sunny space with a shadow directly behind. If the sun is low, you may find that the SK will perform better standing up. As a guide, the less visible the shadow, the better it will perform.

• Leaving the Sun Kettle in the sun without water inside can crack and damage the glass tube.

• Do not leave open in the sun for longer than necessary. The Sun Kettle can get very hot and water can evaporate.

• If you would like to store hot water, close the panels and ensure the lid is securely on.

Caution: The lid of the Sun Kettle can get hot when in use. Be careful removing it. The contents may be hot when opening. Be cautious of escaping steam when opening.

Folks are usually pretty baffled by this revolutionary solar water heater when they first see it. They just can't imagine how this "weird" thing works. But, like Dan, once they test it, they never want to be without it. 

Simple, economical, compact and ready when you are, it's no wonder why this device has quickly become one of our most sought-after items.

Learn more about the Sun Kettle here