Camp kitchen with a sink! Anybody use one of these?

[LittleJack]

Just came across this GSI Camp Kitchen Gourmet. It's your basic camp kitchen setup, but with a key difference - it has a foot-pump sink. Not only that, but it's setup to attach a 5-gallon gray water collection container so I can just cart my gray water off the playa with me! Last year I only generated about 2 gallons of gray water (no shower, spray bottle dishwashing) which was easy to carry back home with me.

Has anybody used one of these? They look absolutely perfect for LNT car caming (read: BM)

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.aspx? ... 6sc2%3d56&

[unjonharley]

To much camp

Less camp + More fun time..

[Boijoy]

Looks good to me. I like the wire shelf.

[C.f.M.]

To much camp

Less camp + More fun time..

And you can rig up your own system...I'm trying to remember the one my friends used...they had a river to siphon water from...simple sink hooked up to the water container. I think it worked by gravity? Not pumping?

So you'd have one container of water, then another to collect the water.

/shrugs

If you'd use it, go for it.

But if you already have a simple system that works, without all this extra stuff to lug and set up and strap down to keep from blowing away...

ETA:

That site has some neat stuff, like this

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.aspx? ... 6sc2%3d142&

But much of it, like that camp sink get-up, can be found at places like WalMart, Sportsman's Warehouse, and elsewhere for cheaper (and more easily returnable, if you get it, test it out and don't like it).

[LittleJack]

Unjon, I really like cooking for myself and friends. I find it a great time to plan what's next, and to refuel on rest, food, and hydration. Thus, this facilitates fun time for me!

C.f.M, this thing seems to be exactly that, one container of water and one to collect it. My "system" last year sucked - I barely had a place for my stove, and no place to prep food. I'd already decided to buy a kitchen type setup when I came across this one. I've got lots of neat skills, but making stuff that actually works and doesn't fall apart isn't one of them!

I agree that buying elsewhere is better, but I figured if I wanted to post a link to the product I may as well link to the site of the manufacturer.

[unjonharley]

Unjon, I really like cooking for myself and friends. I find it a great time to plan what's next, and to refuel on rest, food, and hydration. Thus, this facilitates fun time for me!

C.f.M, this thing seems to be exactly that, one container of water and one to collect it. My "system" last year sucked - I barely had a place for my stove, and no place to prep food. I'd already decided to buy a kitchen type setup when I came across this one. I've got lots of neat skills, but making stuff that actually works and doesn't fall apart isn't one of them!

I agree that buying elsewhere is better, but I figured if I wanted to post a link to the product I may as well link to the site of the manufacturer.

In that case, I owned a camp sink.. It was plastic so had to be carful about hot items.. Liked the splash board for wind.. Had a hand pump for in water from a 5 gallon bottle.. Drained into a 3 gal. cat litter jug.. Put litter in the gray water for the trip home.. dropped it in the dumpster..

[Ugly Dougly]

It's hard to find enough table space for stuff. That would be handy in a carport for a large camp.

[Edana]

We have one of these and use it for all our camping trips that last more than 1 night. We've never used it at BM, but it will be coming with us this year.

They work great. You hook up a bottle of fresh water and an empty bottle for grey water. Use a foot pump to pump the fresh water through the 'faucets'. Gravity drains the grey water.

Some notes - the sinks are very shallow - maybe 4 or 5 inches deep. Don't expect to be able to wash a big pot easily. It can take a lot of foot pumping to get the water flowing - it's not instant like a regular faucet. The water is obviously cold, so if you want to wash in warm water you'll have to boil a pot on your stove. The wire racks are great for table space etc while you're cooking.

They actually aren't that big. Look much bigger in the pic than IRL. And for the space it takes, it is very functional. It would be WAY too small for a theme camp unless you had more than 1, but for a small group of people, up to maybe 15 or so at the most, it is just fine.

It packs up small and flat, so easy to transport, and it sets up very quickly. Just unfold the legs and stake down as needed.

Make sure you wipe out your sink when done each time. The combination of food grease, Dr Bronners residue etc gets nasty fast!

We use those collapsible water bottles. They seem to work better at creating the vacuum needed to get the water flowing. The nice thing is that it collects all the grey water easily with no mess, no need to pour into the grey water bottle etc. When that one is full you can just switch it out for a new one.

Edited to add: The white back panels can double as chopping boards, although if that is your plan, you probably don't want to leave them up like that the whole time. Also the wire rack/table part detaches and can be attached on the short side of the sink part too. Gives flexibility based on game design/space limitations etc.

[EB]

Hey Little Jack,

I bought this same model several years ago and brought it to the playa. It's perfect for a small camp (2-4 people) but isn't big enough for a larger group.

The biggest problem with playa sinks, IMO, is that people regress into thinking it's okay to stack their dishes. One dish attracts three more and so on and so on...

Also: the plastic tubing on mine got really gross with the gray water, figure beer, soda and all sorts of nasty will get poured down it over the week.

And: the bellows foot-pump wasn't that great. The idea is the bellows attaches to a flexi-bag of fresh water. Pump the bellows and the pressure forces the water throught the sink, right? Not so much. Mostly it created a giant pressure-filled water sac. Had to resort to hanging a sun shower over the sink for a gravity-fed sink. Not the worst thing in the world but still it should work, right?

Again, now that I camp with a bigger group (10-15) this bad boy stays in my garage... but if your camp is small and you have a good KP ethic then it's a good buy. Plus, you can never have enough horizontal surfaces in your camp...

[dragonpilot]

In two days it will be covered with dust.

[Captain Goddammit]

the sinks are very shallow - maybe 4 or 5 inches deep. Don't expect to be able to wash a big pot easily.

That's my only huge bitch about that thing. Those sinks are ridiculous. More for looks to sell it in the store than for any real function.

Those foot pumps do suck. A camp shower works a lot better as a sink water supply. Hang it up high in your shade structure and you'll have a gravity-feed water faucet, that you can hold wherever you need. Much better than trying to actually wash anything but a spoon in the silly camp-kitchen thingy in that catalog. Camp showers are also available with pumps and heaters, so you can have as nice a kitchen water faucet as you want.
This one http://hotcampshowers.com/campfire___stovetop is really nice, but Google "camp shower" and you'll find lots.

My camp just puts up some folding tables for counter space, duct-taped or zip-tied together. More room than that kitchen thing, and way nicer to work on than wire mesh. For a sink we can actually use, we cut a hole in one of them that a big plastic tub just exactly fits into without falling through. And we bring the lid. We make a hole in the bottom of the tub, and put a five gallon bucket under it for greywater. We bring the lid for that too.

And really, I think the kitchen-thingy's cute zipper storage compartments aren't very playa-savvy either. They'll be full of dirt in short order. Again, plastic tubs with nice tight lids are your friend, easy to pack and carry, resistant to dust storms.

Itemized feature-by-feature, I can't find anything I like about that camp-kitchen thingy, speaking specifically about Burning Man use.

[Captain Goddammit]

the sinks are very shallow - maybe 4 or 5 inches deep. Don't expect to be able to wash a big pot easily.

That's my only huge bitch about that thing. Those sinks are ridiculous.

OK so that wasn't my only huge bitch about the thing!

[C.f.M.]

Anybody mentioned the mud potential, yet? If playa dust gets in the water, tubes, etc., clogging and making mud?

[Elorrum]

I can't speak to the sink issues. Gravity is a nice way to supply water, and would probably pour out quicker than a little pump. I do like mesh, or grids, for flat surfaces, (and furniture) as the dust doesn't collect as thickly. You can also use those racks for drying things. The corner shape is nice, but as my mother says, It's gonna be a one butt kitchen. Consider the dimensions of the sink, and perhaps you could find a cover for it for more work space, and to prevent dust buildup there. I enjoy the gadgetry of camping, and love to look at all the inventions and products that people bring. I don't think this is a simplify simplify kind of trip, so go ahead and get something YOU want to play with. Post your findings.

[Bling]

Haven't used this yet (bought it for the Playa), but we got one of these from Cabela's for $99. http://tiny.cc/qyeFl. The storage will come in handy--we'll use plastic bins inside the zip bins, stake it down, and I'm going to sew a dust cover.

There IS a sink with a drain, though we're more likely to scrape off big stuff, use babywipes, and then rinse with a spray bottle. We bought it more for storage and prep space than for the sink.

[Captain Goddammit]

I think if I had that unit I'd still get a camp shower for the sink water supply and go with the bucket-under-the-sink plan for the drain. Having great stuff-washing facilities is really handy at such a dirty event!

[Bling]

We have a shower, too. http://tiny.cc/GszCC. We had WAY too much fun at Cabela's!

[unjonharley]

I think if I had that unit I'd still get a camp shower for the sink water supply and go with the bucket-under-the-sink plan for the drain. Having great stuff-washing facilities is really handy at such a dirty event!

I'm going to add the shower bag idea to my kitchen.. Just swipe the bird feeder hook from the yard.. (BY Aug. the birds have eaten enough:).. I use a basen to wash kitchen stuff and a cat litter jug&funnel for slop water..
Kitchen water is not to be confused with gray water..

[Captain Goddammit]

Kitchen water is not to be confused with gray water..

But in your case, gray water can be confused with gray matter.

[Scrofulous]

I've used one of those and they just don't have enough counter space, which makes it a pain to prepare meals and wash up, especially if you're cooking for more than two people. We use two folding tables in our camp on one we cook and prepare meals and on the other we do our dish washing, we use a 3 sink system because it's a large camp, so it's wash, rinse, disinfectant rinse and onto a drying rack. The plastic folding tables are easy to clean and we store water and ice chests under them. I also built a chuck box that holds the camp kitchen pots, pans, utensils, wash tubs, spices oil etc..
all this fits nicely in a corner of our shade structure. It's simple, packs up fast and makes it so we can cook some really extraordinary meals. Which is something I also enjoy doing.

[Bling]

We're only cooking for 2-3, so the camp kitchen worked great at our regional event. So did the shower tent.