Sturdy box for car camping kitchen stuff

Looking for something a bit longer lasting than the cheapish, clear, plastic stacky boxes we’re using at the moment.   Looked at a few tool boxes, but not found anything too promising.  Not found anything fishing related, thought there’d be plenty to go at there, given how much stuff they cart about.

ideally it’d have dividers or trays, as well as space for big stuff, pans and stoves etc.  And have a flat top so it’s a usable table.  And not have too much wasted space – this is at odds with being sturdy though, particularly with plastic.

Wife found thins, which is promising, but too small.  https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/uk/front-runner-wolf-pack.html

Does anyone have other ideas for brands/websites/activites/niches that might have what we’re after?

Cheers!

Maybe have a google for ‘gorilla box’ or ‘mobile military footlocker’. I have a USMC one that has lasted 15+ years an multiple deployments/travels.

No dividers, but I’m sure you could fashion something?

Have a rummage here

https://www.solentplastics.co.uk/

I’ve had a few boxes from them for Landrover overlanding storage stuff

Have a rummage here

https://www.solentplastics.co.uk/

I’ve had a few boxes from them for Landrover overlanding storage stuff

Same company makes gorilla boxes. Looks like some top quality gear there.

old army reclaim ammo boxes are strong as owt. heavy though.

halfords mobile tool chest when its on the cheap?

Dewalt TSTAK – lots of options to build what you want, including drawers and sold in enough places that you can find discounts. I have a deep drawer under a full height box and they come with various boxes and trays. Swallows the pots and pans, plates, bowls, mugs, cutlery, jet boil, cooking utensils and other odds and sods easily.

No good as a table, but it’s a great bbq throne.

I own a couple of these, if Ivepicked the right one, taking tools and bits on site. I stand on it to reach normal ceilings too and it doesn’t creak too much, but don’t think it’s really meant for that. Big though, you won’t put it in the boot of a Mini.

https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/stanley-promobile-toolbox-plastic-1-97-503-2110771?model_id=2110771&awc=17964_1692651541_ab084ece0d77de0b8d148bc6f5889d4a&referer_id=687217&utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliation&utm_campaign=Awin_Affiliation_UK_Blender+Networks+Inc_485095

Oh! I forgot about these as well. I’ve got a few from work (Siemens PLC training kits come in them) – Systainer/Festool boxes. Click together and sturdy.

https://vantainer.com/systainer-boxes-1

These are proper sturdy. Plenty of internal space. Make a good seat, or foot stool.

https://www.powertoolsuk.co.uk/milwaukee-4932478162-packout-xl-tool-box.html

Slot one of these on top for your kitchen roll too 🙂

https://www.powertoolmate.co.uk/kit-builder/milwaukee-packout/packout-wall-accessories/milwaukee-4932480707-packout-paper-towel-holder.htm

Systainer systems are great,  super sturdy and boxes clip together so a stack of several can be lifted and trusted to stay together,  yet a twist of the clips and you can access a box mid stack.

The dewalt tstak system with drawers seems even better.   These options are all a bit spendy though.  They make sense for trades constantly moving and accessing their tools but possibly overkill for camping gear?

Cheap yet strong boxes like euro boxes don’t clip together but do stack and are sized like a1/2/3/4 paper in that they double and 2 of one size fit upon one of the next. If you are OK with lifting individual boxes about,  or strapping around a few this is not a bad option.

A really cheap, strong and stackable option is Bale arm crates , the crates supermarkets use too deliver your online shopping.   Look on ebay and depending on how many and if you need delivery,  these cost 3 to 5 quid.

The trouble with systainer power tool-type boxes is, they look like they’ll have power tools in them.

Not ideal for leaving around in your car on holiday or around a campsite.

18mm ply and build one yourself. To the exact dimensions, internal and external that you need to perfectly fit your car and stuff you need to carry.  Paint it black and stick some aluminium chequer plate on it if you want it to look a bit more Gucci.

I bought a sturdy box to fit the camping utensils in. Felt like a good idea. Turns out you can fit WAY more stuff in a sports direct bag, that takes up 1/3 of the space. They don’t need protecting and the fact is most of the utensil/crockery are roundish and the boxes are not, most of the internal space is just space once you’ve tessellated the contents.

I bought recycled black plastic tough boxes from the range, decent boxes but now repurposed.

The ‘Really Useful’ range of boxes are pretty tough – we’ve got dozens in different sizes – some of which are probably 12+ years old. You can also buy dividers to go into some of the box sizes.

Wife found thins, which is promising, but too small.  https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/uk/front-runner-wolf-pack.html

I’ve got some of those – they were the thing to have when i has a Landrover. They’re pretty tough but the little catches are flimsy and break easily – there are better options out there for less money.

I’d say the DeWalt T-Stak and Stanley Pro-Stack are a pretty good option for the money – the two ranges are inter-changeable and the Stanley ones have slightly better catches on them. However, as others have pointed out, a pile of powertool boxes on a campsite is going to invite the wrong sort of attention.

+1 on the Really Useful Boxes. Not comparable to other plastic clear boxes – far more durable. Got several of them packed with our camping stuff to grab n go when we’re heading off somewhere. Not the most space efficient way to pack (as mentioned above, bags are more efficient from that perspective) but if you’ve got the space they’re great.

Best value and out and out toughest is ex-rental crates – I’ve got ones that still have ’01’ London telephone numbers embossed on them which means they were in circulation for at least 25 years before I bought them and are still functional

I recently bought some handy slimmer- line ones from this ebay seller – broad enough that plenty of different stuff will fit in them but not too tall so you can sort stuff into sets in different boxes and treat them like drawers almost. Write whats in them in chalk pen on the sides and you can easily find stuff

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203029480202?hash=item2f4580030a:g:YrsAAOSwKbNe8fCB

These are ex-rental but they pretty much look brand new

They nest inside each other when not in use and stack securely when travelling. If you cut a bit of ply to sit inside the rim on the lid they are strong enough to sit on and stand on or use as a table

Cheaper than TANOS / Systainer / Vantainer are a very similar range of boxes from AUER in Germany. Their ‘System’ boxes pretty much replicate what Systainer do in terms of range of sizes (not compatible though in terms of joining)  but they are incredible value for money for the quality. They stack and snap together so they stay put when travelling and you can pick them all up together (Take a little while to arrive though). Theres insulated boxes in the range too – I find these and insulated Systainers better than conventional cool boxes becuase they are flat-topped and other things sit on top of them well. Again these and systainers are strong enough to sit on and give you useful flat surfaces

https://www.auer-packaging.com/kn/en/Tool-boxes.html

Their Pelicase-style cases are VFM too https://www.auer-packaging.com/kn/en/Protective-cases.html

Sorry nothing to add, just bookmarking.

Hmm. typed a reply last night, but it’s gone!  Hey ho.  user error, almost certainly.

Thanks all for the suggestions and links.   Seen some before, but plenty new to go at.  Really useful boxes look promising, as well as the Euro boxes from solent plastics.  I like the modular stacking idea – weekend essentials in one, 2/3 week top ups in additional boxes.

As per my lost message last night, I did what what often happens with posts on here.  I draw a blank with my own searches, ask on here, then have another go while I wait for replies. somehow the act of asking a question helps me imagine other people answering it, or me answering it for someone else, rather than myself, so it opens my mind and unlocks other lines of enquiry I’d shut down.  Like starting again at the beginning a of a hallway full of doors, and being able to see the one’s you’d walked past before.

TLDR: Chuck Boxes.  They’re are a thing. They’re the thing we want.  Then we can ditch (sell) the folding kitchen as well as the cheap plastic crates, as well as save some time packing and unpacking.  Loads of options from super cheap, basic DIY to cheapish bought to super expensive bought and custom.  We’re probably in the last year of needing the kiddie trailer, so that opens up the possibility of building something custom that will last a good few years of more consistent packing for trips.  Might go euroboxes in the meantime, they’ll always be handy around the house/garage.

Storing the stuff and just grabbing the crates you need is so much better than packing and packing away if you have the space.  One thing I love about Bale arm crates is they fit great between the joists of my garage flat roof,  so by screwing 4 plastic blocks into place in the sides of joists I can lift and slide a crate up and store in the roof.   You may not be so lucky but worth thinking about where you’ll store the crates at home when you pick the sizes.

Slight deviation – I bought a bunch of Really Useful Boxes to store stuff in the garage because mice were nibbling on everything that looked like nest material. I had a cardboard box of pans that were wrapped in paper from our last move. When I opened it to remind myself what was inside mice scarpered and left a horrible stink and a load of chewed up paper. Much washing later, I put the pans in a RUB. Fast forward a bit and I found that the box had been nibbled through! Weirdly a similar box with bird food was untouched.

Sorry – that was completely irrelevant 🙁

For me its zarges cases. I have a few, actually my wife says I have a problem but a man cannot have too many aluminium boxes in my eyes.

Really useful boxes do the same job for a lot less.

For me its zarges cases. I have a few, actually my wife says I have a problem but a man cannot have too many aluminium boxes in my eyes.

@db

Oh yeah!!!! I forgot about those as well!!!!
I found these Enders cases whilst searching for a cheaper version of a Zarges case (it needs cutting/chopping for a project so wanted it cheap incase it didn’t work)
They are available from Amazon – I haven’t ordered one yet but they were far cheaper than other alu cases.

(edited to say can’t get the Amazon link to work)

https://www.enders-germany.com/en/Camping/Aluminium-Boxes/

+1 on the Really Useful Boxes

Yup. built our Van camping around them.
One for the Cooking
One for the Van (Inflator, straps, high vis,)
One for gigantto tent, pegs, mallet, etc.
Considering lining one with Cellotex as a “coolbox” for fresher but not quite fresh, foodstuffs.

Waterproof so can leave them out in the rain.
Stackable, and flat to use as a table. Just wouldnt attempt to stand on one.

Bigdug is an awesome supplier of such kit. 

I’d suggest a few smaller boxes over one massive one, easier to carry when full and gives options to split stuff up if you don’t want to carry it all every time.

Euro containers are nice, bigdug do them with lids. Square sides so they don’t nest but do stack nicely. You’d need to either build up with smaller ones or make some internal trays/dividers though.

Dewalt tstak is a decent system too, they do boxes with drawers which would be ideal for the smaller bits.

I’ve been a fan of “the camping box” – a box with pretty much everything we need for car camping that’s ready to go straight in the car – for years. Recently I upgraded the old battered plastic crate to a Really Useful Box with a lid, but it’s not quite the right size.

The problem is my plywood “boot jump” type system is sized for the 2/1 split rear seats, and ideally I’d like it to go on the narrow side, which is only 350mm. Standard Euro size is 600×400, so too big. Ideally I want something 650x350x290, which is quite narrow and shallow for the depth. 650 dimension is negotiable, but would like to make use of the space – the others are hard limits. Hive mind: go!

I keep thinking I should just make something out of ply, but apart from being a fair amount of work, I think plastic (or metal) is a much better material for the job.

These are probably closest: https://www.plasticboxshop.co.uk/home-storage-c1/pack-of-5-30-litre-stack-and-store-plastic-storage-boxes-p301

(plasticboxshop lets you filter on external dimensions)

I think that’s similar to what I had before. Thanks for trying though!

ads678

Sorry nothing to add, just bookmarking.

@ads678 – not relevant to this thread, but it might be better/easier to click on the subscribe button at the top of the thread? This then is added to a list in your profile & easier to find later on.

Not completely bulletproof, as when the system was recently updated I lost all of the pages I had ‘favourited’ over quite a few years. But, perhaps useful to know.

We use a Wham recycled heavy duty box for our camp cook stuff. 36l box holds the stoves, pans, crockery, utensils and associated guff. Small bits are all inside a lego storage box that fits in the box. This size also means it is still easy to lift. Have more for bike parts and camping spares in the garage.

It’s robust enough to sling in and out of the van, lid clips firmly but maybe wouldn’t sit on it.

Sturdier than the really useful boxes we use for storing camp stuff in the loft, uses space better than packing crates as they aren’t tapered to fit inside each other. Got packing crates of car parts and building stuff and used to abuse them in a previous job with very few losses.

Dewalt tstak could be worth a shout, if only to go with their cool box. I got one as it’s tall enough for 2 and 4 pint milk bottles and way cheaper than Yeti/Dometic/Husky/Igloo and all those. With couple of ice top ups we’ve kept it cool all week in summer.

For camping with the big tent, we have 2 80L teacrates. One with kitchen stuff and the other with ‘living room’ stuff. Both get shoved in the car for these kind of trips.

One is then used for storage and the other used as a makeshift table. But as per a good suggestion above, I’m going to cut a piece of ply for the top to make a better table.

I also like the suggestion of the holdall above. As although the boxes are big, the awkward shape of kitchen stuff makes filling them a bit tricky.

EBay
Tote Box.

Our camping kitchen stuff lives in a “really useful box”.

Just to add if going the holdall route then I bought a couple of these recently and am impressed and just bought 2 more

Portwest Portwest Waterproof Hold All 70L

They probably aren’t the same quality as the (huge) mountain equipment exped holdall I also have but then they are far far far cheaper and they do seem pretty sturdy so far.   Possibly a ‘small’ 70L, but still pretty big, so may suit many of you.

Really Useful Boxes here. Clear ones help with finding and organising kit. Not as efficient as bags but being able to see things and more importantly stack them is a huge bonus. They’re rainproof so can be left outside your under the van (if it’s a shallow one), have lids that easily detach and stack with and without a lid

I really wish they did one to fit in the ikea Kallax units perfectly. I use Kallax units to organise my kit at home. my RUB boxes  fit in them but they waste a little space. Boxes from other brands that do fit aren’t strong enough. I use the 9l and 19l ones a lot, they both fit in the kallax unit. I try to size things to fit in them easily. I’m on holiday at the mo and I have 4 of the 9l ones with me.

+1 for RUB.

I use Euro Boxes, come in loads of sizes, can have lids, stack together.

https://www.bigdug.co.uk/storage-boxes-containers-c363/euro-containers-c418/bigdug-euro-stacking-boxes-p16602/s31547

Holy Batman thread!

I went for Clear EuroBoxes from Solent Plastics, cheers for the link, RNP.

sturdy, stackable, decent prices, because of the lid profile you can fill to the brim and they still close. 2 little ones for brew ups and other easy access stuff, shallow one for kids’ toys and books.  Got 2 other deeper ones for kitchen and food — deep enough for bottles and cereal boxes.

Also cut some 5.5mm ply, cut to size and oiled to give the tops a bit more protection, because they will definitely get used as tables! they still stack, but with less overlap. I might have gone for 3mm in retrospect, but I’m happy – the tableness is more important, it’s not as if I’m stacking them 6 deep in the back of truck and needing them to stay together.

Yep, really useful boxes for me, loads of different size options and often on offer at most outlets.

Cheap yet strong boxes like euro boxes don’t clip together but do stack and are sized like a1/2/3/4 paper in that they double and 2 of one size fit upon one of the next.

Ah, good to see the Fibonacci sequence popping up again!