Homemade Chuck Box

A "must have" item for any camper, especially when you are tenting, is a "Chuck Box".

We had an old homemade tool chest, that wasn't being used, that I thought would be perfect for the job.
I gave it a couple of coats of exterior paint & some vinyl décor. (thanks to my Cricut, the "Old West" Cricut cartridge, & some white vinyl)
Then we just loaded it up!

Under the top lid fits the Coleman stove, a small propane bottle, a BBQ lighter & the "welding gloves" .
(we use for oven mitts)
This box has a flip down front - perfect for a counter top - & 3 drawers.

The bottom drawer has the toaster, a cutting board, 2 cast iron pans & BBQ tools.

The middle drawer was perfect for the plastic dishes & all of the cutlery & misc. cooking utensils
in the divided sections.

The top drawer also had divided sections, to fit the wraps, spices, dish cloths, grater, & cook books.

On a rating out of 10, we give this a BIG 9!!
Loosing 1 point for how SUPER heavy it is.  :(
It worked for us because we kept it on the tailgate all weekend.  Perfect!

Camping Review: Tripod Grill from TSC

Last week we bought a tripod grill for camping.  The cost was $46.99 + tax.

This is what it looks like:

I have been looking for one of these for years, but here locally they are hard to find.

When I saw this at the Tractor Supply Company I grabbed it.

Just in time too, because we were going camping that weekend.

When I took it out of the box, my first impression was the chain & grill were pretty heavy.

The clips on the chains to hold the grill seemed a bit small, & the legs seemed light & worried me a bit.

It comes in pieces & the legs are put together like tent pegs.  

There is a little button that is supposed to "pop" into holes in the legs to stabilize it.

They would not pop into the holes, and therefore the legs kept falling off.

What should have easily been a 1 person job turned into a 2 person job...but I was alone at the time.

This led to frustration #1.

Here we are the first & last time we used it:

All we had on it was a half a pot of water.

As it heated up, the grill started to warp, the legs bent & the paint burnt off. 

(The paint would almost be expected to burn off)

For $46.99, assuming you get what you pay for, I would expect a much better quality.

I think it wasn't worth $10.

Out of 10 stars, I give this only 1 star!

The 1 star for only the overall design - could have worked with quality parts.