My grandaddy was a fellow who loved to tinker. When possible, especially when camping, he would tinker together some little item that made a camp more convenient, more comfortable. He liked being in the woods, and he liked roughing it. I knew him in his later years and the type camping he liked to do was the type I call truck camping. He had a little pop-up camper, nothing more than two beds off the ground. His cooking was done outside under a fly that hooked to the little camper. He made two boxes that carried his cooking gear.
Through the weird conjunction of place, time, interest and inheritance, I am currently in possession of those two camping boxes. One, the smaller, is designed to fit around a Coleman stove. In that box, you have just enough room for the stove and a griddle. A small drawer in that box carried cooking implements; an egg turner, some tablespoons, matches, and dishrags. The stove box is the little one on the left.
The other box was for pots, pans, and two washing basins so we could clean up after the meal. There was generally room for some paper plates and bowls. Let's not forget the coffee pot, which you can see peeking out of the larger box on the right. These two boxes both fold out to make tables. The legs fit inside. As much as I've tried to improve on them, these two boxes seem to be the best compromise of durability and portability. Like everything else my grandfather made, they were built to last forever. Each year, I think I am going to have to begin a total rebuild, and each year I am mistaken.
Here they are, folded and ready to load into the pickup truck. The old man wanted these boxes to be one-man portable. They're cleaned up and ready for another the next trip. I do need to hit some garage sales and find a couple of pots and pans to replace the ones that were lost over the years.
That big skillet? It's a whole nuther story. I can cook one pound of bacon and a dozen eggs, all at the same time. It needs a little rehab work right now, but by the time hunting season rolls around, it'll be ready to sit atop a fire.
3 comments:
my father has one we used when i was younger. i called it the "magic box" b/c it seemed like you could put 10 times more in there than it looked like could fit.
I absolutely love this type of "old-world" craftsmanship.
Utilitarian elegance.
Thank you Brother, It's good to see his boxes are in good hands.
This makes me remember just how much he taught us, and even though he isn't here to continue the lessons, through these items he continues to teach us how to make stuff that will last, and how to do the right thing even when it's the harder thing to do.
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