Kitchen Kit/Chuck Box

JKJenn

Adventurer
Built some of mine today. Still need to add storage behind the drawers where I will house my 1lb propane bottles, as well as my flip up paper towel holder. Sink will be installed to the left of the drawers. Need a fold out holding point for the extended table. Stove will change and a possible drawer will be built under the new Coleman propane stove. Will slide out of my Dinoot trailer lengthwise.

Closed up with the piece of ply down, which will be hinged to cover up the stove and hinged down to create a little table.

Out, sorry for the lighting, brought it in the garage for fear of rain.
Nice work. Having something custom to your trailer and kitchen set-up is optimial.
 

aggiejon

New member
Finally got around to making my kitchen box. A buddy of mine gave me a sheet of 3/8" mahogany marine plywood and a mahogany board, so I went online to McMaster-Carr for some stainless hardware and it was time to get busy. Put it to work this weekend with a camping trip down to Mohican State park in Ohio. It rained hard most of the time we were there but we still had a great time. :chef:

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Lovely box. Nicely done. I particularly appreciate the separate cook stove storage.
 

jeepin_idaho

Adventurer
That's an amazing looking box! The marine plywood was a great idea. Did you seal it or use some polyurethane top protect it?

Are those dog choke chains to keep the for level? Brilliant idea!



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

Mudrunner

Adventurer
When I was in the Boy Scouts we had a really compact Chuck Boxes, we called them Patrol Boxes in the Troop. There are plans you can find online for a standard BSA style camp box. I am trying to get the plans for the ones we had. Simply because when you can fit 8 of them in a 4x8 trailer and still have a ton of room they are compact and hold what ever you need for any camp out.

I am really impressed by home made boxes, also if you are looking for boxes find a Scout troop and see if they are updating gear or willing to sell one.
 

Bennettbf

Observer
When I was in the Boy Scouts we had a really compact Chuck Boxes, we called them Patrol Boxes in the Troop. There are plans you can find online for a standard BSA style camp box.

Once my son got into Scouts, I quickly became enamored with these boxes and built three - one for camping gear, one for pantry and one for kitchen. The best part of the plans that I found were the leg sockets. I love not having to sort out legs with boxes.

All three boxes plus our portable table deployed at once:
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Beautiful weather forced us to leave the dining fly in the camp box:
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The boxes in the Black Hills, the downhill legs up on scraps to level things out:
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These were all designed around the back of our Mazda truck, which we sold this year - a 2001 Suburban was purchased specifically because it was the only truck that would accommodate the boxes and a boy who's heading towards 6' by the time he's in high school.
 

jeepin_idaho

Adventurer
That table looks pretty awesome too! Did you build that yourself too? How much space does it take up when not deployed?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

kraqus

Norcalwood
@Bennettbf,

Can you post some close up pictures of your Chuckboxes?
I see a large draw at the bottom.....looks good!





Benny
 

Honu

lost on the mainland
Pretty slick looking :)
Anymore close up details etc...

Once my son got into Scouts, I quickly became enamored with these boxes and built three - one for camping gear, one for pantry and one for kitchen. The best part of the plans that I found were the leg sockets. I love not having to sort out legs with boxes.

All three boxes plus our portable table deployed at once:
View attachment 159252

Beautiful weather forced us to leave the dining fly in the camp box:
View attachment 159253

The boxes in the Black Hills, the downhill legs up on scraps to level things out:
View attachment 159254

These were all designed around the back of our Mazda truck, which we sold this year - a 2001 Suburban was purchased specifically because it was the only truck that would accommodate the boxes and a boy who's heading towards 6' by the time he's in high school.
 

Bennettbf

Observer
That table looks pretty awesome too! Did you build that yourself too? How much space does it take up when not deployed?

I built it, too. It is cut from a single sheet of 4x8 plywood and the biggest pieces are the legs/table top support at 4' x 27" I think I made mine from 5/8ths green stripe plywood. When stored, it takes up about as much room as a card table.

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Bennettbf

Observer
Can you post some close up pictures of your Chuckboxes?
I see a large draw at the bottom.....looks good!

The kitchen box was built around two items - the stove and the washbasin. The drawer holds the utensils and the space above the drawer is big enough for a couple of full rolls of paper towels. The space above the stove holds a small dutch oven, a large mess kit, plates and a griddle.

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After a couple of trips worrying over cutting our fingers off every time we went into the utensil drawer, our big cooking knives and our steak knives have a butcher's block to keep them out of harm's way.

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The pantry box is built around two milk crates, a square one and a rectangle one. There's enough clearance in them to fit a full bottle of wine standing up, and they can be carried into the house to stock up before trips. The drawers were just lagniappe, and then I added dividers to keep things from rolling around too much. The one on the right generally holds condiments and other cooking stuff, the one on the left holds first aid items and distractions.

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It may seem like a lot, but one night between rain storms in the U.P., we got the entire setup deployed, including the tent and the dining fly and were serving Sausage Jambalaya inside of an hour. We were well motivated. Generally set up and tear down takes about an hour - so we don't set it all up unless we're going to be somewhere for at least two nights.

There are stools, also. Gotta have stools when camping.

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jeepin_idaho

Adventurer
I built it, too. It is cut from a single sheet of 4x8 plywood and the biggest pieces are the legs/table top support at 4' x 27" I think I made mine from 5/8ths green stripe plywood. When stored, it takes up about as much room as a card table.

View attachment 159299

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Right on! Any chance you have the plans to share?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

Bennettbf

Observer
Right on! Any chance you have the plans to share?

I found these plans on what is possibly the last Tripod website on the internet.

A Google search for Picnic Table Plans Plywood turns up some good ideas, also.

Don't attempt this project unless you have a router to carve all the dadoes you'll need.

Surprisingly, it will seat 4 adult Americans comfortably for a meal. We bring ours along whenever we're going someplace where there won't be a picnic table - like when we go to the Airshow in Oshkosh each year and camp in a muddy field. Makes a pretty good shooting bench, too.
 

speedpin

Observer
My chuck box

Just got around to converting my old footlocker into a chuck-box. Started out as a military wood footlocker, I rotated the box to use the lid as a table supported by chains. Had to rotate carry handles as well. Next I dismantled half of a military medical storage kit for the drawers. Fits what I need, I don't carry my stove in it. Check out the pvc paper towel holder. Enjoy.
 

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