2024 Chuck Box Contents Refresh (on a budget)
August 25, 2024

2024 Chuck Box Contents Refresh (on a budget)

Budget friendly Chuck Box contents:

Coleman Cascade Classic Camp Stove: Our initial thought was that there are certainly more durable and higher quality camp stoves out there. However, if you’re a recreational camper only camping a few times a year, this stove felt like it would work just fine.

Coleman Cascade Classic Camp Stove

Bugaboo Base Camper Ceramic Cookset – Large: This felt extremely practical as it includes 3-liter pot with lid, 5-liter pot with lid, 9-inch frying pan, cutting board, and a folding handle that clips onto each item easily. Some of the initial features we liked include: all items are: (i) ceramic non-stick surfaces are BPA free, (ii) the lids also doubled as strainers, and (iii) they all stack compactly to maximize space usage in the Chuck Box. We also noted it was cheaper to purchase this set as opposed to buying individual pieces.

Bugaboo Base Camper Ceramic Cookset - Large

Stansport Deluxe 24-Piece Enamel Tableware Set: Many outdoor stores sell these items individually if you wanted only certain items, but it is certainly more cost effective to purchase the set which include four plates, bowls, mugs, knives, spoons, and forks. Additionally, they’re green, so they match our Chuck Box! Our initial thought is that the silverware is fairly thin such that they may bend depending on their use, but the plates, bowls, and cups appear to be durable enough.

Stansport Deluxe 24-piece Enamel Tableware Set

Lodge Cast Iron 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Skillet: This item certainly isn’t necessary and perhaps redundant if you purchase the Bugaboo Base Camp Ceramic Cookset or another pot and pan set. However, we feel having a cast iron skillet in our Chuck Box is extremely important as we love cooking fish and you can’t beat a fresh fish fry on a good cast iron skillet. We will also cook directly on hot coals on occasions which we love as it feels primitive, and we’d only do this with a cast iron.

Lodge Cast Iron 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Skillet

Wesqunie Camping Cookware utensil set: We initially started picking out individual utensils to stock our Chuck Box and were doing the math and figured it was getting too expensive, there must be inexpensive sets available. Therefore, we found this set on Amazon that included everything we have ever used while camping (i.e., spatula, tongs, soup ladle, knives, whisk, scissors, can / wine opener, pokers for cooking over a campfire, and cutting board). It comes with a nice case if you’re inclined to keep it all within the case, but we elected to remove the utensils as they all fit into the Chuck Box silverware drawer. These don’t feel like the most robust utensils but if you’re only using them a few times a year, it appears they’ll work just fine.

Wesqunie Camping Cookware Utensil Set

Stanley ADVENTURE ALL-IN-ONE BOIL + BREW FRENCH PRESS | 32 OZ: Who goes camping without a way to make coffee, not us! We were chatting with some friends who use this and they highly recommended it so we decided to give it a try. The features we like most are the handles that can be locked while in use but also folded against the sides for when not in use to save space. This is a simple feature but very important when considering other camping coffee makers / French presses are awkwardly shaped or their handles are permanently protruding. This one is slim and maximizes space nicely.

Stanley Adventure All-in-one Boil + Brew French Press