Thruhike
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Hello - first post, but longtime reader here. Hoping this might be of use/spark further ideas among other outdoor enthusiasts here.
(Setup preview)
My family does a lot of camping here in Colorado each year, and I’m always thinking about ways to “optimize” our camping setup. We still tent camp with our little kiddos, so we don’t have a camper/trailer with attached kitchens. I’ve previously made a DIY Chuckbox that contained a lot of our camp kitchen gear, and also doubled as a work surface, but ever since getting the Rivian R1S, I’ve been thinking of ways to upgrade the setup more custom geared towards the Rivian and its available space.
Some of the things I was looking for included:
Diving deeper into the Snow Peak catalog then led me to their Iron Grill Table (IGT) system. It’s basically a modular camp kitchen table, where various “inserts/units” can be added for a customized kitchen setup. For the longest time I held off purchasing, as I wasn’t sure how this would all fit in with our Rivian, but after taking countless measurements and planning about how things might fit, I finally took the plunge.
My main idea was to put as much of my kitchen setup under the rear cargo floor panel. We often have a dog crate in the trunk anyways, so I leave my cargo floor at the elevated level for floor flatness, and I had already purchased the Cargo Floor Riser from Open Source EV Parts to keep things flat and level. This created several inches of flat space underneath (I do keep the inflatable R1S spare below all this). On my measurement, this was adequate to sneak in a 3 Unit IGT frame below.
I purchased the components from both Snow Peak, as well as a third party brand called “Stanluck” - it is a Korean brand that makes their own IGT compatible products. As far as I am aware, Snow Peak actually manufacturers most of their goods in Korea as well, so quality - best I can tell - are equivalent. Stanluck has some unique parts I wanted, including height adjustable legs, and most of the identical parts were cheaper, so I went with them when I could.
The setup works like this:
All of this kitchen workspace fits under the cargo floor, without any compromise of space above the cargo floor!
Happy to answer any questions - happy camping!
(Setup preview)
My family does a lot of camping here in Colorado each year, and I’m always thinking about ways to “optimize” our camping setup. We still tent camp with our little kiddos, so we don’t have a camper/trailer with attached kitchens. I’ve previously made a DIY Chuckbox that contained a lot of our camp kitchen gear, and also doubled as a work surface, but ever since getting the Rivian R1S, I’ve been thinking of ways to upgrade the setup more custom geared towards the Rivian and its available space.
Some of the things I was looking for included:
- Stores away unobtrusively, preserving normal cargo space, and can always remain in car without tradeoffs
- Relatively easy to deploy (e.g. for quick roadside tailgating)
- Provides ample workspace
Diving deeper into the Snow Peak catalog then led me to their Iron Grill Table (IGT) system. It’s basically a modular camp kitchen table, where various “inserts/units” can be added for a customized kitchen setup. For the longest time I held off purchasing, as I wasn’t sure how this would all fit in with our Rivian, but after taking countless measurements and planning about how things might fit, I finally took the plunge.
My main idea was to put as much of my kitchen setup under the rear cargo floor panel. We often have a dog crate in the trunk anyways, so I leave my cargo floor at the elevated level for floor flatness, and I had already purchased the Cargo Floor Riser from Open Source EV Parts to keep things flat and level. This created several inches of flat space underneath (I do keep the inflatable R1S spare below all this). On my measurement, this was adequate to sneak in a 3 Unit IGT frame below.
I purchased the components from both Snow Peak, as well as a third party brand called “Stanluck” - it is a Korean brand that makes their own IGT compatible products. As far as I am aware, Snow Peak actually manufacturers most of their goods in Korea as well, so quality - best I can tell - are equivalent. Stanluck has some unique parts I wanted, including height adjustable legs, and most of the identical parts were cheaper, so I went with them when I could.
The setup works like this:
- I deploy Cargo Floor Riser on both sides, except I keep them in “closed” position, to allow the IGT table to fit between. When I store the table, I don’t use the middle Cargo Floor Riser support, as I need this space.
- I then store the 3U IGT frame, which fits perfectly front/back where the cargo floor would rest in the lower position. It’s an absolutely perfect fit with no wiggle. As a bonus, the empty center of the IGT frame means I can easily access deeper storage areas. This is where I keep some of the IGT components, such as the stainless box, tray covers, legs, and I could probably fit my stove insert as well if I get creative.
- I also purchased an extension bamboo table, which doubles my kitchen surface area, and can be used as dining area. This neatly fits over the 3U IGT table, still under the cargo floor. Because this abuts the protruding ledge where the cargo floor rests in the upper position, it does protrude a bit further back towards the lower tailgate, but it still fits perfectly with the trunk closed.
All of this kitchen workspace fits under the cargo floor, without any compromise of space above the cargo floor!
Happy to answer any questions - happy camping!
Sponsored
Last edited:
