The Camp Kitchen in a Case: Everything to Cook Anywhere, Packed so It Loads in One Trip

A stove and fuel, one pan and one pot, a way to make coffee, a knife and a board, a spatula, spoon, tongs and can opener, plates, bowls and cups, a spice kit, a wash bin with soap, a scrubber and a towel, foil, zip bags and trash bags, and a lighter and matches. Pack it all in one hard case so it loads in a single trip and nothing gets left. The cooler, the dutch oven, the grate and the table travel beside it.

Carry the camp kitchen case out to the porch or the driveway and light the stove. A two burner propane stove on a 1 lb bottle, or a 20 lb tank through the adapter hose, cooks every meal a kitchen range does, and the case already holds the pan, the pot, the coffee and the utensils. Outdoors only: camp stoves make carbon monoxide, and every winter storm kills people who bring one into the kitchen or the garage. A gas range with electronic ignition still lights with a match if the gas is on.

A hard polymer case with a seal and foam: crushproof, closed against dust and rain, and it stacks in the truck. I use a Pelican Vault; the foam is cut so the stove, pan, pot and coffee pot each have a spot and the small items sit in a bin, so a glance tells you what is missing. A soft bag crushes and hides its contents; a tote lets everything rattle.

A spatula, a big spoon, a ladle, tongs, a whisk, kitchen shears, a peeler, a can opener, a fixed blade or chef's knife with a small paring knife, a folding cutting board and a one cup measure. Metal or heat resistant silicone, nothing that melts on the edge of a pan. That list covers every camp meal I have ever cooked.

Biodegradable soap, a sponge, a stainless scrubber for the cast iron, a collapsible bucket or wash bin, a quick-dry towel, rubber gloves and heavy trash bags. Wash 200 feet from any water, even with biodegradable soap, and strain and scatter the gray water. A collapsible bucket doubles as the water hauler.

A 1 lb bottle runs a two burner stove on high for about an hour, which is two or three days of camp meals on one burner at normal settings. A 20 lb tank through the adapter hose is about twenty times that. Bring one more bottle than you think you need; the refillable 1 lb cylinders cost more once and nothing after.

Only what keeps forever in the case: instant coffee, the spice kit, salt, oil in a small bottle, and a few freeze dried pouches for the night the cooler is empty. Everything else comes from the pantry or the cooler on the day. The survival foods field guide and the freeze dried foods page cover the pantry side.