Blue View - Tada... The Camping Box

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The completed camping box

The completed camping box

It took a month or two to get it done, but the camping box for our Kia is finally finished. We’ve been using it on our camping trip to South Dakota, and so far we’ve been pretty pleased. Here’s some details...

Overall Criteria

We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted in the box. It should:

  • hold a removable galley box containing all the things we typically need when cooking and eating a meal at a campsite

  • hold a reasonable sized cooler and/or fridge

  • have a storage area for water jugs 

  • fit between the wheel wells of our Kia Sorento, and between the second row seats and the rear door.

  • be no higher than the height of the rear seats so that rear visibility isn’t blocked

  • be easily removable by the two of us 

  • cost no more than $300


Galley Box

The removable Galley box

The removable Galley box

The galley box is meant to organize and stow all our galley gear; pots and pans, cooking utensils, bowls, plates, silverware, glasses and cups, stove and propane, spices, etc. It sits on a drawer, and once it is pulled out, it can be lifted off the drawer and carried to the table.

Starting at the top, it has a spice rack and place to stow the stove.

The spice rack

The spice rack

Directly under the stove is a drawer that is used to store the silverware, cooking utensils, lighter and a few other smaller odds and ends.

Utensil drawer

Utensil drawer

The bottom area is devoted to the larger items; pots and pans, bowls, plates, a colander, propane for the stove, and glasses.

Bigger stuff gets stored here

Bigger stuff gets stored here

On the end is a fold-up table. The arms that support the table work quite well, but rattled when we were driving. Marcie had some magnets she bought for a project on our old van, Blue, which I attached to the box using 3M VHB double sided tape. These totally eliminated the rattle.

The fold-up table

The fold-up table

These magnets Prevent the table from rattling

These magnets Prevent the table from rattling

To prevent the drawer from sliding in and out while driving, I added these homemade latches.

The latch that Keeps the drawers closed

The latch that Keeps the drawers closed

Cooler 

The coOler drawer

The coOler drawer

Our 52-quart capacity Coleman cooler sits in this drawer. We freeze bottles of water to keep it cold, which last 3-4 days in the summer heat. If we stay in a hotel every 3-4 days, we can use the hotel freezer to re-freeze the bottles; otherwise, we buy ice once the bottles thaw out. The drawer is designed to fit a 34-quart Whynter dual 12vdc/120vac fridge. We had a larger version of this fridge on our boat Nine of Cups, then moved it to our van, Blue, and it worked flawlessly for years. Changing to a fridge would involve a large investment in house batteries and a charging system, however, and so far we’ve been happy with the cooler.

The same latch as on the galley box is used to keep the cooler drawer from sliding in and out while driving.


Center

The upper cubby in the center section is used to stow a few miscellaneous things that don’t fit well elsewhere... our trekking poles, for example. The lower cubby holds 4 gallons of water with enough room left over to stuff a few gazetteers.

The center cubbies

The center cubbies

Thoughts on Improvements

As is always the case with any of my projects, it’s never totally right on the first iteration. Here are some things I’d like to change:

  • Opening the utensil drawer; it’s a little difficult opening the utensil drawer. Since there isn’t room to put a pull on the drawer face. I plan to cut an opening on the drawer face to solve the problem.

The utensil drawer is hard to open without a handle

The utensil drawer is hard to open without a handle

  • Cooking on top of the galley box; when we’re camping at a campground, there is usually a picnic table, and Marcie sets the stove on the table when she cooks. When we’re boondocking, there is no table to set the stove on, and we can’t use it where it normally sits because the propane tank can’t be connected. The original plan was to have a hinged table mounted above the stove, but this didn’t work out. Plan B is to have a fixed top above the stove storage area. When we’re traveling, the stove fits in the cubby; when cooking, it sets on top.

I plan to add a fixed tabletop as a cooking surface

I plan to add a fixed tabletop as a cooking surface

  • The original plan had a small drawer above the cooler for storing flat items like cutting boards or grill toppers, but I ran out of time and didn’t build it. Now I think a shelf would serve the purpose and be easier to build and install.

  • The latches holding the drawers in place swing down into the locked position automatically. I did this so that we wouldn’t forget to lock the drawers before driving the car. It seemed like a good idea, but a resultant problem is that the drawers can’t be opened with one hand; one hand to hold the latch in the open position and one hand to pull the drawer open. I will change this so the latch stays in either the open or closed position.

I haven’t done the final cost tally, but I think it came pretty close to the $300 goal we set. If it runs over budget, I plan to blame the overrun on the increased price of lumber and supplies due to the pandemic.

I videoed the entire project, and over the the next few weeks I plan to edit it down to a how-to YouTube on building it. Also included will be will a list of materials.

See you next week...and in the meantime, check out the continuing saga of our Cowboy Trail ride.