The big blue kettle that sits at the edge of camp all morning. Thirty-six cups — GSI's phrase is “enough cowboy coffee for your whole posse” — and just as useful for the hot water that washing up and cooking eat through when you are feeding a group. 10.7 x 9.2 x 13 inches, a shade under 3 lb empty.

Read this before you order: this is a boiler, not a percolator. GSI's includes list is “36 cup Coffee Boiler” and nothing else — there is no brew basket and no insert. It boils water, and you make cowboy coffee in it by putting grounds straight in. If you want a basket and a perk cycle, the 8 and 12 cup enamel percolators are the ones, or the Glacier Stainless percolators in four sizes.

Enameled steel: a heavy-gauge steel body with a glass enamel fired onto it, kiln-hardened twice at over 1000°F so it stands up to scratches and chipping, with three-ply construction to even out the heat and a bright stainless rim. It does not hold flavors and it cleans up with a sponge. The honest weakness is impact — drop it on a rock and the enamel can chip, and a chip exposes bare steel that will rust. Keep a chipped spot dry between trips and it will serve for years.

On heat sources, straight with you: GSI's own page for this piece names no heat source at all — not stovetop, not camp stove, not campfire. Their stainless percolators are the ones they put in a fire in their own marketing. We are not going to tell you enamelware is campfire gear when GSI will not say it, so treat this as a stove and camp-stove pot. If you want a definite answer on open flame, ask us and we will get it from GSI.

Care

Hand wash with warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly; avoid abrasive cleaners. GSI do not list any of their coffee gear as dishwasher safe, and several pages warn that dishwashers may age components early. Hand wash it.