By Erika D.
My boyfriend is a great cook, but not the best packer. So our car camping and road trips tend to involve lugging along a tote filled with cooking utensils, dish soap, and the salt and pepper shakers grabbed from our kitchen counter as we run out to the car. Now that we’ve discovered the GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen Kit, we’re packing very small.
This compact cooking kit is the size of a waist pack, so it’s easy stash in a backpack or bag. It also has small D-rings on each side so it can be attached to the outside of a pack. Inside the main compartment, there’s a spatula, a serving spoon (with measuring lines for tablespoons and ounces), and tongs, as well as a small cutting board. All of the utensils have pivoted handles that can be closed when not in use and extended and locked into place when I need them. My boyfriend doesn’t really care that much about gear, but he was impressed with the generous sizes and sturdiness of the GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen Kit’s utensils. The fact that he uses this kit means he finds it useful.
The GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen Kit also has a spatula head (with a soft and a hard side) tucked into a sleeve in the main compartment. It’s about the same size as the one I use at home, but packs easily since it doesn’t have a handle. The cutting board is rigid without being too thick. I like that. There are also three small containers in the main compartment of the GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen Kit that are held in place against the inside of the bag with wide elastic straps. We use the tiny bottle for dish soap (of course, biodegradable) and the medium-sized bottle for olive oil. The third bottle is really two small bottles that are screwed together that we use for salt and pepper, or, salt and basil. Once I unscrew them and remove their lids, I have the option of using the inner lids to pour or sprinkle my spices. Very nice.
The lid of the bag as a Velcr0-like sealed pouch that holds a scrubby for washing pans and a Sham-Wow-style dish towel. The lid has mesh along the edges so once we use the items and repack them, they get some air to dry.
It’s so nice to have a mini kitchen set wherever we go. Even when I insist on staying in hotels, we bring the portable camp stove and cook our dinners in hotel parking lots (we’ve even made dinner on a balcony of a fancy hotel!).
I have to say that I have been won over by this handy little kit. I’m a terrible packer, but I actually enjoy using the GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen Kit. Now, it’s my job to fill up the bottles the night before trips and make sure the kit gets packed in my purse or backpack.
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