Camp Kitchen Gear for Car Camping and Overlanding

A good camp kitchen does three jobs: keeps food cold, gives you a place to prep and cook, and supplies clean water for drinking and dishes. The gear on this page covers all three, from a 1.7 oz titanium stove for the trail to a 12V fridge that runs off your vehicle.

Keep food cold: fridge or cooler

Dometic CFX5 fridges run on 12/24V DC or 100 to 240V AC and hold temperatures from 68°F down to about -8°F, so no ice is needed. They use vacuum-insulated panels and a variable-speed compressor, with Bluetooth app control. Pick the CFX5 25 for tight cargo areas, the CFX5 35 for weekend groups, or the taller CFX5 45 for longer trips.

• CFX Slide SLD3545: full-extension slide for the CFX5 35 and 45, rated to 220 lb. Slides are also available for the CFX5 55 (SLD55), 75DZ (SLD75), and 95DZ and 100 (SLD95100).
• HWK-DC Hardwire Kit: a hardwired 12/24V DC outlet with a fused supply cable and a threaded 2-pin socket that locks the fridge cable in place.
• Tie-Down Kit: four 1.5 m straps and four fold-down anchor points to keep the fridge put on washboard roads.
• CFX5 Protective Covers: EVA foam and 1200D nylon, sized PC25 through PC95 to match your fridge.

Canyon Coolers are rotomolded with pressure-injected foam and a divider that doubles as a food-grade cutting table. The Pro45 holds up to 29 cans at max ice retention and weighs 38 lb empty. The Pro65 holds 66 quarts for groups of about four on a weekend.

Organize and prep

• Chuck Box Camp Kitchen: a rotomolded box (19 in high, 24.5 in wide, 18 in deep, 19 lb empty) with five compartments, a utility drawer, a four-compartment utensil drawer, and a fold-down prep surface. The quick-release top lifts off to serve as a wash sink, and the top platform fits many two-burner stoves up to 22 x 13 x 5.5 in. Stove and dishes are not included.
• UCO ECO 5-piece Mess Kit and ECO 6-piece Mess Kit: place settings with a leakproof lid that doubles as a plate and a Switch Spork. The 5-piece is recycled polypropylene and weighs 14 oz. The 6-piece adds a collapsible Camp Cup.

Cook: trail stoves, fire, and tent stoves

• Lightweight trail stoves. The TOAKS Titanium Backpacking Stove weighs 1.7 oz and boils 500 ml in about 2 minutes 20 seconds in calm conditions (canister sold separately). The TOAKS Alcohol Stove System packs a 650 ml pot, stove, windscreen, and spork into 5.2 oz.
• Solid fuel. The Industrial Revolution Solid Fuel Stove & Cookset pairs an 1100 ml pot with a stove at 180 g including fuel, and the 585 ml Solid Fuel Stove & Cookset is the smaller version. The TOAKS Ultralight Titanium Solid Fuel Cook System packs a 550 ml titanium pot, folding stove, spork, and windscreen at 3.9 oz.
• Group cooking over fire. The Portable Grill & Firepit gives you 320 square inches of grill for 6 to 8 people, takes firewood up to 18 in long, and folds to less than 2 in thick.
• Canvas tent camps. Winnerwell Nomad and Woodlander stoves are 304 stainless steel with a cooktop and a glass door, in medium and large sizes, for dry seasoned wood only. Add the Fastfold Oven (6.5 lb, packs 3 in flat) to bake on any Winnerwell wood stove.

Clean water at camp

The LifeSaver Cube holds up to 5 liters of untreated water and filters it as you need clean water, with a published filter life of up to 5,000 liters. When the FailSafe indicator says the filter is spent, swap in a Cube replacement cartridge. For running water at the wash station, the Dometic GO Hydration Water Faucet turns a water container into a tap, with automatic shutoff and up to 150 liters per charge.

Quick comparison

To finish the kit, the camp kitchen checklist covers what to pack, and Fire & Water has more camp water gear.