Stumptacos Home-made Camp Kitchen

[RHINO]

when i was looking at building these for the USA market with DRIFTA as a full time buisiness we came away thinking there may not be a strong enough market. keep in mind the similar unit that stumptaco built sells for over 1k USD. i dont think there are too many folks in north america that would be at that level.

i have thought about building kitchen boxes in my spare time, but to make it worthwhile i have to be in the $500 range. how many of you would actually buy a $500 kitchen box? i wouldnt and thats why i build much of my own stuff.


gillz, i have a vision of a shallow box with storage both in the box and in the door, like a fridge kinda?

 

[ZR2nit]

when i was looking at building these for the USA market with DRIFTA as a full time buisiness we came away thinking there may not be a strong enough market. keep in mind the similar unit that stumptaco built sells for over 1k USD. i dont think there are too many folks in north america that would be at that level.

i have thought about building kitchen boxes in my spare time, but to make it worthwhile i have to be in the $500 range. how many of you would actually buy a $500 kitchen box? i wouldnt and thats why i build much of my own stuff.


gillz, i have a vision of a shallow box with storage both in the box and in the door, like a fridge kinda?

Very true statement...thats why building one of my own is on my big "to-do-list" of mods.

 

[olympiccop2002]

Yup! If you build it yourself you will save a ton of money. There are some people who can and some who can't. I don't think too many people would be dropping $500-1000 on a camp kitchen though. Maybe when they became unhappy with their cheap Coleman, Sportsman's Warehouse, Cabelas camp kitchens but that is a bunch of money to pony up. I would have to say people here on Expo are an exception and not the rule when it comes to travel/camping.

James,

That is an awesome camp kitchen you have built. Very well done. Congrats! :wings:

Bjorn

 

[aslostasyou]

Regardless if anyone is interested I plan on building one.

It'll be a fun exercise. We're planning on fitting a nice small sink to connect to a hose, integrated dish drying/rack and a prop up back board to hang stuff on for long periods of time eg: spices, pots and pans, coffe cups, etc. Something like a peg board.

 

[RHINO]

Regardless if anyone is interested I plan on building one.

i hope your not misunderstanding,, most of us are interested in kitchen boxes but most of us arent interested in the price they sell for.

i as well as others i bet will be very interested in following your kitchen build if you choose to share it with us.

 

[PhulesAU]

i hope your not misunderstanding,, most of us are interested in kitchen boxes but most of us arent interested in the price they sell for.

i as well as others i bet will be very interested in following your kitchen build if you choose to share it with us.

Double Ditto!! Especially what material you used, that holds up under the "Stress" of travel.

 

[aslostasyou]

Hi everyone,

Up here at the folks and have been talking around the fire with pops about the camp kitchen. We've come up with some good ideas have begun to transfer things to paper...

The idea would be to make one or two models. A simpler model and a more complex model that might contain things like a 12v fridge/cooler or some other robust gadgetry.

One thing the old man brought up was paying close attention to the type of gear people use so we could keep it kind of universal. eg: placement for the width or a normal two burner stove with a hard-line and mount for a medium size propane tan or, area that would fit an average medium sized ice-chest.

Would anyone like to make suggestions here? We're thinking about basic drawers, pot and pan storage, cooking surface, slotted drain rack for dished, paper towel storage, secure waste spot, cuttlery stowage, small boating stainelss steel sink (hookup to hose or water storage w/ pump?), 110 plugin and outlet to plug in accessories right on the top, etc....

Speak now if you'd like to see something come to fruition...

, J

 

[ZR2nit]

What your saying sounds great but also very expensive. If you could take a camp kitchen like StumpTaco's and make it and sell it at a decent price I would be willing to buy one. But to add a sink and outlets sounds great but if you were to sell these those options sound expensive to me.

 

[NothingClever]

Actually, I don't think adding a sink and an outlet for 12v applications would be difficult or particularly expensive but I think it would start adding weight. Once dry goods and other kitchen supplies are loaded in the kitchen box, it will start to become a two-man lift.

 

[aslostasyou]

We'll have to see on the costs. I'm adding up parts now and it doesn't look all that bad. Another idea we came up with to keep the cost down was selling the kits CKD (complete knock down) meaning full assembly on delivery.

This would cut down our labor tremendously (CNC the parts) and would allow for much easier shipping flat packed. You would basically get a pallete with the parts on it and a Step 1, Step 2.....etc.

What do you guys think?

As for weight I would say your right, it's a two man for most. Unless you want to throw your back out... I have lower back issues due to Moto-X so you wouldn't catch me lifting ST's myself even as small as it is. But it wouldn't be so heavy that you and a smaller significant other couldn't lift it. I built a kick-******** storage box for the back of the CRD this weekend they weighs almost nothing. I used blond wood and was very pleased.

Thanks for the input guys, hopefully this can turn into something that we can build and share with the community!

, J

 

[Photog]

If you are just cutting pieces, and and selling the kits, the price should be quite low. Most folks have the skills to assemble a kit; but many don't have the skills or equipment to design & cut the necessary materials. Your labor should be cut in 1/2, just selling the kits.

Cut the pieces in batches (more than one piece per cut), and the labor decreases even more.

Great idea.:victory:

 

[gearbox]

Freakin' Sweet!

 

[StumpXJ]

I am temporarily taking over this thread again to show my last few pictures...

Hi-Jack on! (Just kidding J, please feel free to continue the discussion, you have been giving me great ideas... I mean... a dish drying rack is genious!)

My box grew legs yesterday!

I got the folding leg set in the mail and threw them on yesterday. I got very lucky with how great they fit, I didnt exactly do a lot of measuring before ordering them with the mindset that I could "make" them work. The bolted right on with zero modification, so I was pretty stoked. They great thing about using the full length legs is not having to bend over while cooking. This things sits nice and high now, and will be a breeze to use in camp! The one thing I didnt like about the folding coleman style camp kitchens is they must be designed for midgets. I mean, who sits down to cook??

Anyway, on with [crappy] the pictures.

I think the idea of pre CNC cutting the wood and selling as a kit would be the best bet. That would cut down on your labor costs TREMENDOUSLY. It would be like putting together furniture, and what "dude card carrying" man hasnt put together furniture before?? You could be the IKEA of camp kitchens!

Hi-jack off. (Ha! I said jack.... off.)

~James

 

[Photog]

James,
The fold-out legs fit really well. Great score.

Have you though about the process of getting it out of the rig, and setting it up on the legs?

If I'm not mistaken, the Drifta slides out, and the vehicle holds up one end, while you extend both sets of legs. To do this, you need one set of the legs to be a few inches back from the end of the box.

Will your's work this way?

 

[StumpXJ]

Brian, I am banking on my set-up doing the exact same thing as the drifta. I would basically slide out the kitchen while the other end rests on the rear of the jeep, and fold down the legs on the extended side of the kitchen. Once the first end is down, there are 2-3 inches on the end (as seen in the second photo from the top.) of the kitchen that can still rest on the jeep while I fold down the other set of legs. Of course, I dont know how well this will work as I am currently installing the lift kit on my jeep, but I am hoping the kitchen will end up to be the same or close to the same height so the folding/set-up process will be easier.

Either way, once the one end is supported with its own legs, I can easily grab the other end of the kitchen and pivot it around to fold the legs down and clear the end of the jeep. Once the legs are down, the kitchen can be moved fairly easily by myself, and really easily with a person on each end. My wife is camping with me 90% of the time, so I dont suspect it will be too much a of a problem. It looks much heavier than it actually is.

I honestly wont know for sure until I actually use it out in the field with my Jeep set-up the way it will be permanently. I figure there will have to be a few changes.

~James