Been on a few trips now and decided I need to organize better.

My large Tupperware box works okay but you can't really stack stuff on it and I'd like to organize the inside better.

Here are some budget options I have found.

Small option:
MTM Box


Many sizes:
Magellan Pro 50L

Medium size.Coho Box.

Please share what you use and a photo of how you organize it.

Yeah, I've got a pair of Plano boxes, probably in the 40-50L range, for which I've made interlocking plywood dividers to separate types of food, stove fuel, pots, cutting boards, etc.  They're great for car camping, and I can usually stuff it inside the metal bear box lockers often provided at NPS/NF campsite.

The only pause I would have with this is that it's not IGBC rated, but neither is my rig.  If this is food related, taking the time to make your own internal partitions to fit inside an IGBC rated cooler might be time well spent - because, space is space, and it is something often in short supply on road trips.  This is a niche application, but something to keep in mind if you are out in the western US.

When I get some time (11 month old boy is keeping me busy) I'm going to build a custom chuck box type carrier. My intention is to buy the largest trailer hitch cargo carrier I can and then build essentially a large plywood cabinet that fits into it perfectly. It'll have shelves and storage that fit all my routine camping gear that's generally not ruined from water. That way my wife and I can lift it on and off the cargo carrier quickly and remove the need to always get our stuff together before a trip. I decided on this because although I wanted to buy a small enclosed utility trailer, retro fit that with storage options, a 4x6 version would take up too much room in our garage. I don't want to pay to store it either.

Something like these: Google chuck box

Sitting it something like this https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-aluminum-cargo-carrier-92655.html

Weird it worked for me. I'll remove it just in case

This is my car camping food bin using a Plano bin and some 1/4" plywood that I cut.  Because the bins are designed to stack one inside another, the walls aren't straight, so that means angled cuts for the best fit, albeit a bit more work.

Since these photos were taken, I've now added a cutting / stove anchor board that fits in the space between the top of the dividers and plastic lid.  The board has cutouts where I can slot in a windscreen.  I just need to add some magnets so it attaches to and lifts with the plastic lid when I open the box.  

That looks really good. Is that a small box that sits there in the middle?

This makes my OCD smile.

I don't car camp but, I do keep my backpack gear in a Plano box. It's not as organized as the above but, I keep it separated into shelter/water/food.

Right, the small box nests inside the center division.  Beats digging through a mountain of Knorr packets to get to the one you want.

When you are camped by yourself in the same spot in a National Forest for 3 or 4 weeks at a stretch ... it's a way to feet slightly less homeless at the end of day.  Slightly.  

Ideally, I need to do this with an IGBC-rated box or cooler.

Also, two sets of sleeping pads and sleeping bags.  This way., 4 or 5 days in the backcountry of the NP on tightly regulated bivi permits, and all I have to do is hike back to my truck, drive back to my frontcountry campsite in the NF, and bam, my bed is already made and ready to crash.  Spend a couple days in the frontcountry to wash up, charge up, socialize, and repeat.

Usually some of the collapsible InstaCrates from Costco. Plus I have a homemade pull out drawer set in the back of my SUV that has two 60 quart pull out drawers.

But the newer crates keep falling apart so I bought some of the Bauer tool boxes and crates from Harbour Freight to try out.

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Double tap

Holy lag Batman!

Triple tap

I've eyed those at HF too..share a photo when you have the boxes loaded.

I'm really leaning towards the Academy ones.

Wheeled tote

I have 3 of these that stack nicely in the back of my van or truck. I also have numerous smaller versions of the same thing to hold chuck box gear etc.

On my last car camping trip out west I used a couple of these simple shopping baskets.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076XCYZCK?tag=arfcom00-20

They're versatile, they stack and I can use them when I go into a supermarket to restock minor supplies.
I use them at home as my laundry bins.

Anyone try the Husky boxes from Home Depot?

These.

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I've looked at these at HD and thought they were well made. I dislike the double latches on them though. I like having a single latch so I can store them long ways in my truck and still access the inside without moving them around.

Good point. My only drawback is they don't seem strong enough to sit in. I generally have chairs, but having more options is nice.

I have a Gander Mountain sherpa table that holds kitchen and bathroom stuff and some minor repair materials (except my e-tool and pack of wipes that live in the quick access cubby right inside the door), two Plano footlockers, and two six gallon milk crates.
The footlockers and crates sit perfectly on the bench seats of my camper or the back seats of the cab with our packs.
If I ever remember to stop at Harbor Freight I’ll be adding a small cargo net to secure my two burner stove to the top of the Sherpa table.

I bought some and hate them.  The latches are annoying, you have to undo 4 in order to open it.  Most of the time I just leave them undone, but that brings up my next issue...  The sharp edges everywhere that want to catch on everything, including scratch the shit out of you.

After hours of research, I said eff it and got the 50L from Academy. I was even considering one of those truck bed AL boxes at one point and finally got tired and picked up the Magellan Pro today.

Fyi, if you get one, make sure it has the tray and divider in it. Mine didn't so I went to the back and got them out of another case.

I checked some out at the store and wasn't impressed. The lids seemed very flimsy. I have a specific list of things I was looking for.

Stand on lid (so stackable)
Water resistant
Around 50L (12gal)

We will see if the Magellan lid can hold up.

I'm in the high peaks for a week now and I really need to work on my car camping game. Ice focused on my backpacking stuff for years. This is my first car camping trip since pre-covid and I really need more organization for anything I'm not carrying on my back

Couple years ago, I spent 3+ weeks in and around RMNP.  Snagged an unimproved site in the NF, and set up my 1 man tent, and used that site the duration of that stay, the FS personnel laughed when I said I was going to move my tent to comply with the 14 day thing, noting that it really wasn't much of a "campsite" to begin with and no need to bother.

I purchased a GSI Glacier canister stove in Estes Park, thinking the larger burner head would work better than my MSRs for frontcountry stuff, and it did.  Worked great.  Until Wyoming.  Tailgate cooking or table top cooking sucked in higher winds.  My windscreen would just fold in on itself.

So, to that end, I took an unused cutting board and ran it through the table saw to retain the windscreen, and bored some holes to sink the feet into to better stabilize the stove.



It's compact, and fits inside the top of my food bin.  I need to get a taller windscreen, though, probably 2 for better wrap-around coverage.  I'll probably be picking up a ~12"x20" bamboo cutting board and mill out version-2 of this thing; something wider so I can run two stoves at once.  With adapters, I can also run butane or propane canisters.  The larger cutting board would be trimmed down to fit in the lid volume of the Plano box.

Cool idea! I'm gonna try this!

It's not as slick as the purpose built, two burner stoves, but it takes up less space.