Show us you Camping Chuck Boxes

[Max Stone]

This seems to be a US-inspired product? But while looking for a way to keep all my kitchen stuff in one place, I stumbled across this link https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/how-to-build-your-own-camp-kitchen-chuck-box and it looked perfect for my camping needs. Everything stored in one place, just chuck it in the back of the truck when you go camping.

Problem was that inches don't translate too well on cut sheets in my country, so I reworked the design a little to be metric, but still off a 4x8 sheet of ply, which we do get where I live.

Finished it today, and promise to post some picture on this thread when next camping with the box.

So who else has a chuck box? 

[comis]

Wow, Max, that's some serious glamping equipment!

[Max Stone]

 

[Max Stone]

First chance to use the chuck box. Went camping this weekend in Pilanesberg National Park. Worked really well as a field kitchen. 

[Max Stone]

Cheeseburgers 🍔 🍔 🍔

[Max Stone]

Yum. 

[eamo]

Yum. 

and now i'm hungry

[Aloha]

  I'd be very proud of that chuck box. 

[Mechanickal]

My dad made one like it one day.
Completely handbuild stainless construction.


It should be on their attic at the moment...

[eamo]

I'd be very proud of that chuck box.

Definitely a lovely piece of work 

[Sea Monster]

Huh, wow that is cool.
I'm surprised I didn't think of it...

My food storage setup in the zombie truck is heavy steel drawers (the sort that are designed to be fitted to the vehicle, not removed)
and my utensil setup at home is a 6 drawer toolbox (I was never a fan of just having all the random cooking tools in the second drawer under the cutlery...)

but somehow the idea of an all in one solution like that has never occurred to me.

This project has serious potential....


I'd never heard of this before, but apparently (once you know the term) they're quite common (at least common enough to get multiple mentions online)

[Max Stone]

Thanks everyone! 
It was a fun project and really practical. I was initially worried that it was going to be too small, but it worked out just right. Any larger and it would be too heavy for one person to pick up. At least I now have one place for everything, and it all stays in the box when at home so less chance of forgetting things. 

[Sea Monster]

I was thinking about something else when I remembered this - and lo and behold, an opportunity has come up where I may be able to do it.

Before I put saw to wood (or pencil to wood...'cause I'm not the sort of person to just start sawing..... )

are there any lessons you might pass on?

Is it plenty rigid with the 1/2" ply and simple butt joints?

Would you do anything differently? (different shelving, a divider for the bottom area to minimise sliding?)

does your cut list include kerf?

[Max Stone]

Hi Sea Monster,
No kerf in the diagram but there is waste to the sides of the plan to allow for this. The shop cut for me...
Simple butt joints were fine. All I’d do differently is rather a paint on sealant. After 4 tins of spraying the paint cost almost as much as the ply...
Let us know how you get along! 

[Syncop8r]

That's cool. 

How's the weight?

[Syncop8r]

My dad made one like it one day.
Completely handbuild stainless construction.


It should be on their attic at the moment...

Set it free! 

[Max Stone]

That's cool. 

How's the weight?

Most of a 4 by 8, so ‘sturdy’ is a good descriptor. 

[Sea Monster]

Putting this together today, just got done sawing and have the thing balanced "together"...


It's friggen' 'uge!

It's bigger than what I currently use (although probably about a 1/4 of the mass)

Still....I do not know that I will use it now 

There's a good chance it will end up as tool storage or something.

Anyway, kettle is boiling, so time for a cuppa then back on with things.


Oooh, extended modify time.

Together now. For whatever mysterious reason I glued and nailed it together, then decided I didn't trust nails and filled it with screws, but now still have to wait for the glue to dry 

Sand and a coat of something tomorrow, then it'll probably sit to the side for a few months while I get around to getting some hinges for the lid/front 


Probably not anytime soon, but I might have a play and try to come up with something about 2/3 the size. It's just a bit too generous for my needs.

[Max Stone]

Still sounds like you had fun with the build, Can we see a pic or two of the cargo ship?

[Sea Monster]

Sure, for what it's worth -

(Random colouring is because I had a sample pot of some random paint, then decided to go over the whole thing with white, got as far as areas I could fit a roller, then got bored)

I am diddling about with the lid/front because I don't really want the front "bench" of the original design.

I was thinking cupboard style doors, but then I've got to find some 270* hinges.

At the rate I get around to things, It'll either never happen, or it'll just sit around as shelves for a year or two first.

If I had a pro-tip from this build (which would probably have been obvious from the start) use good plywood. I used D grade 5 ply (basically missing two layers that better grades have as veneers) which make it less nice to handle and use, and looks trashy. (Usually used for things you'll never see or touch)

Invest in a circular saw - I did this one with a jigsaw, which is a lot less forgiving when all you want is straight cuts 

[Max Stone]

Sometimes a mid-build repurpose is not a bad thing. Could mount on a wall as-is, and make a good workshop storage shelf?

[Sea Monster]

So I pulled the old one apart (with a bit of damage from all the glue...), chopped it up, and remade the box using these significantly smaller plans -
https://www.filson.com/blog/how-to/diy-camp-chuck-box/

It's much more a size I can see myself using.

the wood was never flash to begin with, and now it's full of screw holes, torn veneer, split ends, and chunks of glue...so the new one has a very homer-simpson-spice rack vibe to it.

I'll try it for a camp trip or two, and if it works, I'll possibly get some decent wood (either a better grade ply, or maybe even dressed pine) and try to make a nice one.

(

[Sea Monster]

I'm really quite thrilled with this, this size fits into the small car, so could be handy for picnics and BBQs, or overnighters at campsites that don't need the zombietruck, and I am also glad I made a half-arsed one first (let's call it prototyping)

I made the top shelf 150mm from the lid, as I have quite a "tall" stove, but if I'm honest I'm probably not going to cook on it, so that space could have been shallower, leading to my next point - the bottom space is 200mm.

I didn't really think about it at the time, but there are a number of things that are around 180mm tall - a roll of paper, a jetboil, and a tin of coffee come to mind

However, because of the lip in the design, you have to put things in at an angle, and 200mm is not enough space to then have them sitting up, as the diagonal length of these items is around 220mm

Buh-bum.

Something I'll be keeping an eye out for MK II (or is it MK III? Or 2.1? IIb? )


Anyway, it's all packed up now with my cooking gear, hopefully it'll get a test run next weekend.

[Syncop8r]

*ahem!*

Show content

[Sea Monster]

So the first small box had a trip, and worked a treat, was able to load it with all the odds and sods required for a bit of outdoors cuisine, easy enough to carry, and kept the creepy crawlies (and a bit of rain) out of my stuff.

So went again with with some slight changes to internal dimensions, knocked it together, bit of paint, and we're away

Coming into winter now...so might not get out as much. Hopefully I remember I've got it in six months when the weather turns fine for sleeping under the stars again

[Alan K.]

Excellent builds and thanks for the useful afterthoughts.  I used to camp with all of my cooking items in stackable plastic organizers with drawers on my prep table next to my Coleman 2 burner stove which would sit on a cast iron aquarium stand that I found in a trash heap.  If I built one of these I could do away with the plastic bins and the aquarium stand.  I may try this when the price of plywood and lumber goes back down to less than a new truck.

[Sea Monster]

I didn't want to create a new thread, and this was the closest subject I could find

A local place has a US Army Field Kitchen and Cutlery setup for sale
It's not something I'm terribly familiar with, so I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge/experience with the utility and quality of these things?
the cutlery roll is:
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b39f4e_4c762ca40f694dec8b74de71a89a5b70~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_735,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/b39f4e_4c762ca40f694dec8b74de71a89a5b70~mv2.webp

and the stove is a (after much internet guesswork) I think a Chrysler Airtemp?

https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-u-s-wwii-1945-army-chrysler-airtemp-squad-stove?variant=30672955441221


I don't really know what I'm looking at, so I have no idea how "complete" the one in the store is. The Cutlery roll looked complete (and unused?)

I'm curious if this would be a good buy / viable option for modern camping, or am I better off with my slightly more modern knives and tongs and butane

[Max Stone]

I like the tool roll and the stove! 

I would probably not use it to hike in the Himalayas, but would be fun to try out the stove, nice retro-camping option maybe out the back of the truck. 

[Alan K.]

That price seems really high but I can't say I'm too familiar with WW-2 military camp stoves so maybe that is really what they go for.  I am not a collector so as far as I'm concerned I'd stick with the Coleman stove the goes for under $100.00 U.S. dollars.