"Portable" collapsible DIY camp kitchen?

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This might give ideas for modifications to a home build. I bought one of these about 15yrs ago and used it often for several years. I had an old RV and the kitchen was toast, all the plumbing leaked/needed replaced, the counter top was trash. Leaking water had warped everything. It needed a complete rebuild. Instead of rebuilding it I decided to move the kitchen outside.

The one I bought was an older version of the one at cabela's and it was nicer. The collapsible sink came with a drain.

I was doing a lot of gold prospecting at the time and a camp kitchen that folds up was a great asset. The hanging cupboards underneath were heavy canvas and waterproof.


Cabela’s Deluxe Camper’s Kitchen | Cabela's Canada



And they make several versions of collapsible sinks in case you want to add one to the home build..

Amazon.com : collapsible kitchen sink

camp kitchen.jpg
 
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I'm happy with a table to put the stove on and a big pot for hot water for dishes. Screwed around with some designs decades ago in the BSA doing "patrol" cooking, I am much happier doing things for me and mine and not a "group"
 
Way back when I did scouting, we had a "portable" grub box and kitchen sort of. If I remember correctly, the dimensions were 4X2X2, it had 4 handles/legs that were about 6' long. The handles bolted onto the sides using 2 carriage bolts and wing nuts with large washers. Once at the camp site you would open the lid/front and the carrying handles and attach them to the ends like an A, two guys could do it, one end at a time, once assembled the thing stood up on the legs and the lid/front would open downward on hinges and was supported by 2 small chains at each end. The inside of the box had compartments for pots, pans, dishes and some grub. You still needed a table to support the camp stove. It was a lot like this one. It wasn't super great, but it was good a storing camp gear when not in use, this helped us a lot when gathering for a camping trip. Back in the day we were backpacking or camping every other weekend.....
1627239389178.png
 
UrbanHunter said:
Way back when I did scouting, we had a "portable" grub box and kitchen sort of. If I remember correctly, the dimensions were 4X2X2, it had 4 handles/legs that were about 6' long. The handles bolted onto the sides using 2 carriage bolts and wing nuts with large washers. Once at the camp site you would open the lid/front and the carrying handles and attach them to the ends like an A, two guys could do it, one end at a time, once assembled the thing stood up on the legs and the lid/front would open downward on hinges and was supported by 2 small chains at each end. The inside of the box had compartments for pots, pans, dishes and some grub. You still needed a table to support the camp stove. It was a lot like this one. It wasn't super great, but it was good a storing camp gear when not in use, this helped us a lot when gathering for a camping trip. Back in the day we were backpacking or camping every other weekend.....
Click to expand...


Back in my scouting days, my dad made a camp mess kit like that for the troop.
Stored all the pots, pans, utensils, seasonings, and cleaning supplies.
It was really heavy with the cast iron dutch oven and 12" pan inside.

We only used it on camporees and summer camps, though.

He also made a Scout Master Desk with a scouting book library, writing surface, and misc awards that were to be given out during the trip.
 
Sparky_D said:
Back in my scouting days, my dad made a camp mess kit like that for the troop.
Stored all the pots, pans, utensils, seasonings, and cleaning supplies.
It was really heavy with the cast iron dutch oven and 12" pan inside.

We only used it on camporees and summer camps, though.

He also made a Scout Master Desk with a scouting book library, writing surface, and misc awards that were to be given out during the trip.
Click to expand...

I remember the troop having about 4 large patrols and each patrol had a box with a Standard Load that included a cast iron skillet and a dutch over, they were definitely a large 2 guy carry, the handles stuck out just long enough that you could have 2 in front and 2 in back walking on the outside of the box, but it was still a load....
 
Interesting how 'portable' is in quotes.

But I kinda understand.

I'm still not sure what is perfect term for camping that is based on equipment that is all portable, but heavy and meant to be moved by machine.

Its sort of like "Mechanized Infantry" or "Airborne cavalry"

"Mechanized Camping?"

I don't know, but me and my wife have talked about it for years how you distinguish camping where you take 1,000 pounds of portable gear in a truck and set it up....from packpacking....since in each case...you need portable gear...but there is a big difference non the less.
 
Aerindel said:
Interesting how 'portable' is in quotes.

But I kinda understand.

I'm still not sure what is perfect term for camping that is based on equipment that is all portable, but heavy and meant to be moved by machine.

Its sort of like "Mechanized Infantry" or "Airborne cavalry"

"Mechanized Camping?"

I don't know, but me and my wife have talked about it for years how you distinguish camping where you take 1,000 pounds of portable gear in a truck and set it up....from packpacking....since in each case...you need portable gear...but there is a big difference non the less.
Click to expand...

My cookset gear has sort of evolved into four tiers of portability.
  1. Ultra lightweight - designed to go in a one to three day pack - titanium lightweight, mostly just to heat water and minimalist - cartridged propane/butane or twig fuels - suitable for a few days
  2. Heavy pack - designed to go in a full sized pack - mostly titanium gear but able to heat water, stews, soups, grill meat and fry stuff - cartridged propane/butane, twig or small camp fire fuels - suitable for a week
  3. Light vehicle - designed to go in a normal passenger vehicle or small boat (canoe or dinghy) - some titanium but also some steel gear - able to heat water, stews, soups, grill meat and fry stuff - larger scale meal prep - cartridged propane/butane, twig or full sized camp fire fuels - suitable for a month
  4. Heavy vehicle - designed to go in a heavy vehicle like a Unimog or camper trailer (or both) - mostly steel and cast iron gear - able to do pretty much any cooking that can be done at home (and arguably some that can't) - bottled propane, large camp fire, solar electric fuels - suitable indefinitely.
 
Somewhat related.......people don't generally think about or plan for cooking for a group.

Imagine being catapulted into cooking for 30 or 55 people. Even a neighborhood get2gether everyone brings food prepared at their home, and take their containers home to wash them.
 
Sourdough said:
Somewhat related.......people don't generally think about or plan for cooking for a group.

Imagine being catapulted into cooking for 30 or 55 people. Even a neighborhood get2gether everyone brings food prepared at their home, and take their containers home to wash them.
Click to expand...

Those 5-6 gallon stainless steel cooking pots (with lids) are great for that. Big dutch ovens are also handy.

There are also a number of guys doing blacksmithing of campfire cooking gear like this one below:

1627265841073.png


Some of them are big enough for quite large scale cooking.
 
UrbanHunter said:
Way back when I did scouting, we had a "portable" grub box and kitchen sort of. If I remember correctly, the dimensions were 4X2X2, it had 4 handles/legs that were about 6' long. The handles bolted onto the sides using 2 carriage bolts and wing nuts with large washers. Once at the camp site you would open the lid/front and the carrying handles and attach them to the ends like an A, two guys could do it, one end at a time, once assembled the thing stood up on the legs and the lid/front would open downward on hinges and was supported by 2 small chains at each end. The inside of the box had compartments for pots, pans, dishes and some grub. You still needed a table to support the camp stove. It was a lot like this one. It wasn't super great, but it was good a storing camp gear when not in use, this helped us a lot when gathering for a camping trip. Back in the day we were backpacking or camping every other weekend.....
View attachment 70003
Click to expand...
We had pretty much the same camp kitchen when I was in Scouts. Ours were a bit deeper and wider and used oak slats for legs. Each patrol in our Scout troop had one.
 
Peanut said:
This might give ideas for modifications to a home build. I bought one of these about 15yrs ago and used it often for several years. I had an old RV and the kitchen was toast, all the plumbing leaked/needed replaced, the counter top was trash. Leaking water had warped everything. It needed a complete rebuild. Instead of rebuilding it I decided to move the kitchen outside.

The one I bought was an older version of the one at cabela's and it was nicer. The collapsible sink came with a drain.

I was doing a lot of gold prospecting at the time and a camp kitchen that folds up was a great asset. The hanging cupboards underneath were heavy canvas and waterproof.


Cabela’s Deluxe Camper’s Kitchen | Cabela's Canada



And they make several versions of collapsible sinks in case you want to add one to the home build..

Amazon.com : collapsible kitchen sink

View attachment 69997
Click to expand...

I have the one in the bottom picture. Or had, we wore it out over the years. Most of it's still in good shape but the hanging bags are falling apart.
 
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