Camp Kitchen in a Box

I'm not sure if this post should be under the DIY section or here but I figure I'm building something for camping so I'll put it here.

Over the next year I intend to build my self an awesome camp box for the tub of my ute like this one:


If you want to read an excellent write up on how this was built HefferBoy has done an excellent job over at 4WD Action Forum:
read here

but that is going to take quite some time, a fair bit of cash and the ability to work with fiberglass. So in the meantime I have decided to build a kitchen camp box (aka patrol box or chuck box). This will provide short term camping convenience, the first building block for the camper and the new fitted kitchen that the wife has been pestering me for

I started where all good projects start, with a google search of camp kitchens and camp across a number of links and idea and have settled on something along these lines:


another great notable source of ideas was this link:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/21268-Kitchen-Kit-Chuck-Box?highlight=camp+chuck+box

Like all home made stuff our box wont match any of these exactly because it will be adjusted to match the needs we have of it; and were will you ever find two DIYers with the same needs. So what we wanted from it were:

• Fit in the back of the ute width ways with space the gazebo and chairs by the site
• Fit in the future camp tub box as a slide in draw (therefore less than 1.5 long)
• Accommodate the gas cooker and dutch oven in the box with easy access
• Have slots for plates, cutlery, crockery and other paraphernalia
• everything be usable and accessible without having to unpack tonnes of junk out of the way

and so I did lots of scribbles on beer mats, measured all the stuff and came up with a design. With all the measurements worked out I found I could get all the pieces out of one sheet of 12mm ply and a half sheet of 9mm.

At this point I'd like to blow the trumpet of a great Australian invention; my Triton saw table. Produce accuracy to 1mm and enabled me to cut all the pieces in 1 hour!! Gotta love it:



so with the parts cut up I started assembly. I am using no more nails to stick and screws to hold it all together. Once I've finished and given it a few test trips to confirm it is the right configuration I'll take it all apart again and epoxy it together and fiberglass. So here is step one the main "frame" that all the shelves etc will be hung off:

Drifta kitchens in Gloucester nsw make a similar setup, have a look at there website, they make a good product, and they even use the good old triton work table, well they had a few of them in the factory when I was there 4 years ago

I have the triton saw bench and a router table, as you say top invention

Drifta certainly produce some VERY nice kitchens and are no doubt far better made than my will be but they are well beyond my budget which is much more comfortable with the $70 I've spent so far.

Also I intend to use the kitchen as a trial run on learning to fiberglass coat the ply so its more a means to an end rather than a stand alone project.

Nothing wrong with doing it yourself, I only mention drifta as a source of ideas.

indeed, but i will of course never admit to taking ideas just in case it infringes any copyright

That thread on expedition portal just took 45 minutes of my life... how did that happen???

Now I must build a camp kitchen for the nav!

I know Shan, its a good thread isn't it. Although it is a worry about half way through when they are discussing if rubber bands are enough to hold your shot gun in place......if i was rough off roading I'd want the shot gun in damned tight box so it didn't come loose and bounce around the cab.

Well I took a day off work today to go to the Newcastle Show but with the weather being so bad we decided to give it a miss leaving me with the day to progress the camp box. If the weather gets better we'll hit the show tomorrow.

And it's been quite a productive day, I've managed to get all of the box together and hinges fitted so I can see how it will all work. I will admit there were a few bits I had to retrim because my sketches and drawings didn't quite equate to reality (particularly the left hand cupboard door which I had to build twice. But here she is so far:









It's still rough and ready and needs a fair bit of tidying up but I'm pretty chuffed that it all works and fits in my tub with the hard cover closed.

Nice work mate! I'm enjoying this thread and using it as research for myself, please keep up with it!

Thought I'd give a quick update on the camp kitchen progress. With the box built in rough form we took it for a test run on our trip to South West Rocks last weekend. The idea being to check it all functions they way we want, and make any adjustments, before I go to the trouble of sanding it all down and painting it. So here it is:


The box folds out nicely to fill the back of the tray with the tail gate down acting as a work surface with everything to hand:


Two details I quite like is the cooker is installed with a hole in the side to allow the gas to be connected up without having to remove the cooker:


The other is an idea the co-pilot (wife) came up with which was to make the draws out of washing up bowls but use little cool bags (which fit two in each bowl) to store stuff in so that they can be easily lifted out when you want to use the washing up bowls. Keeps it tidy without having to empty the bowls onto the floor.

Great work mate

Nice work and write up. How do you find the tray for space now that you have the kitchen in there? I know as soon as I put a couple of things in the back, room starts to run out really fast.

The room isn't too bad because we use a roof tent at the moment however we are switching to a turbo tent next trip so I suspect I'll struggle for space. Watch this space and I'll tel you know.

Sitting in the big4 at South West Rocks this very minute. Looking at your kitchen is giving me some ideas because we used to caravan it, now we're in a tent. Will also be keen to know how the turbo tent goes as I'm using a dome tent ATM and space wise it really sucks!
Cheers Brad

Good read. Keep it going. Looks real good too.

Very nice work there, well done.

I built something similar for my old ute, called it a ute cube.



Food and cooking stuff on one side, chairs, tarps etc on the other.

Simple but effective, I like that

Thinking are starting making Mkii camp kitchen as this one is a bit heavy and I have a few new ideas. If anybody's interested in the prototype I'd be happy to sell it for the price of the Plywood and hinges (about $75).