K.A.M.P. Drawers - Kitchen And Mattress Platform

I love sleeping in the great outdoors, but I actually don't enjoy camping. I primarily hate the hassle of constantly packing and unpacking, setting up camp, taking down camp, and all the inefficiencies associated with it. Even more so, I dislike the bulk, weight, complexity, and price of RVs.

And so, I turned to the world of Overlanding to come up with an efficient and minimalistic compromise between camping, glamping, and RVing.

I've fantasized about a truck bed camper shell drawer buildout for many many years. Scouring Tacomaworld and the internet for inspiration, I spent countless hours over the years brainstorming, designing, and engineering my own custom solution. I spent more time thinking about this build than my whole home renovation.

A massive amount of inspiration for this build was from @cjptacoma 's setup in his Build Thread: Ultimate Bed Drawer System for Camping/Cooking/Tailgating. Definitely check that out if you're interested in my build. For my needs, and ease of install, I went with a simpler setup than having built-in stove/sink/power.

So here is the product approximately 130 hours of labor over the course of 6 weeks of all my free time. It. Took. FOREVER. The irony is not lost on me that I spent 130 hours of time to save myself 15 minutes of setting up/taking down camp.

It's not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of it, and I am damn ready to make SO MANY TACOS, and spend so many nights out in the snow sleeping in my own refuge on wheels!

Kitchen
And
Mattress
Platform
K.A.M.P. Drawers

I'm entertaining the idea of mass manufacturing these in some capacity, to sell. Only, of course, if I can somehow massively increase production efficiency. Let me know what you think! Want K.A.M.P. Drawers for your truck? What would you pay for a setup like this?

Full detailed video walkthrough:



Build thread to follow! But of course, I need to start with finished product first, out in the wild:






Features include:

• Camp Chef Everest 40,000 BTU Propane Stove. Secured but not mounted permanently, for easy removal and cleaning.
• Silverware "drawer" with dividers for organization
• Lift Top "coffee table hinge" for access drawer contents while keeping countertop items accessible
• 4.5 feet of countertop space
• Formica Jet Sequoia laminate countertop
• Griddle storage underneath countertop
• XL Bamboo cutting board, pull-out and free floating for greater prep space.
• Adjustable dividers every 3" in the storage drawer
• Heavy duty 3/4" .120 square tubing and skateboard bearing drawer slides
• Fully Polyurethane sealed Birch Plywood
• Duplicolor Truck bed liner
• Easy turnbuckle mounting
• Lifting straps for garage ceiling hoist removal and installation
  

For the maiden voyage, I spent new years weekend camping out in the snow and backcountry skiing, and it worked great! There were a few minor things I would change, and 1 major thing, but overall, I'm loving it. I can unpack and get a burner roaring within 2 minutes of pulling into camp.







Full photo album can be found here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmTK4t8h
And follow me on Instagram for more adventures: @kampdrawers

Thanks for checking out my creation!

-Sam

 

It all starts with an idea, and then it finds its way onto paper:



I'll have to learn CAD at some point. This was a pretty complicated project to only complete with partial plans drawn on paper, and the rest mostly in my head. I may have forgotten to account for a piece during final assembly.



The base plate. Skeletonized to save weight.



Routed reliefs to make room for the D-Ring mod:



I plan to eventually hoist the drawer system along with the topper into my garage ceiling for when I want an open truck bed again.

For this, I routed a channel into the base plate to account for 1" webbing that I will use as lifting straps.





Corner brackets added for added strength on the open end of the box:



All joinery was made using Kreg pocket screws. Nothing fancy, but sturdy enough.



All the bits:



Somewhat organized.



Finished using semi-gloss oil based Polyurethane:



This part took outrageously long. 31 hours for the bulk of the finishing. But of course I was being OCD, and I sealed all 6 sides of every piece of wood with 2 coats, and also the pocket holes. I intend to subject it to moisture, and I want it to last.



Mocking up the stove drawer:



Latches were standard tool box latches. Heavy duty, rust resistant, super cheap at like $8 each:







There is quite possibly no better feeling than dreaming up a puzzle, building it, and having it all fit together perfectly:



Base plate for the stove, cutouts for the bottom vents, and feet:



This photo shows the ridiculously tight tolerances I gave myself. For my next build, I would definitely give myself a lot more breathing room for all my pieces. I had to re-cut, and/or attack quite a lot of pieces with a belt sander to get them to fit without rubbing:



Before I cut the dividers, I mocked up the gear I planned on carrying in the drawers to see how they fit:



I built a crosscut sled for this project to cut in the rabbets for the drawer dividers:



I settled on 3" spacing between slots, as most all the gear had a side that was divisible by 3.



The cutting board came from my favorite Swedish furniture retailer. It's nice bamboo, and the biggest cutting board I've seen. In true meta fashion, I cut the cutting board:



Mocked up the kitchen cabinet contents:



Angle aluminum to be used as slides for the cutting board:







When I mocked this up and measured everything, I was so excited that the angle aluminum sandwiched the 1/2" plywood and IKEA cutting board so perfectly that I didn't have to trim any part of the aluminum at all. But as with all other aspects of this build, I built it way too tight, and had to sand off quite a bit of the cutting board after it was all put together for it to slide smoothly. If I did it again, I would definitely shove some pieces of paper in between pieces to make some slide space.



The rails are .120 wall 3/4" steel square tubing. I'd say they're actually a bit overkill, and I would probably go down a size or 2 to save some weight. Price was $45 from my local steel yard. Total weight was 23lbs.



Scrap plywood jig for consistent holes:



Bearing hardware: M8 bolt, washers, skateboard bearing, tee nut. Left side is the center wall bearing assembly, and right one is for the outer walls:



I thought this was a pretty solid method for consistent holes, but I still had to do a lot of re-drilling and wallowing of the holes to get the bearings relatively straight. This is the most crucial part of the process that I intend to refine:



The end of the slide gets extra bearings, because those will be the only bearings that the rail will sit on at full extension. The last 10" of rail will still sit on these bearings:



This is one of the biggest downsides to DIY heavy duty skateboard bearing drawer slides - the commercially manufactured slides are full extension slides, so the entire drawer will slide out to easily access the contents in the far back.



Tee nuts mean the assembly sits flush. Red threadlocker ensures I don't ever need to retighten:



I entirely forgot to take pictures of the drawer stop assembly. Basically, I screwed on blocks of wood to the sides of the drawers, and drilled in tee nuts to the box, where I screwed in bolts to act as removable stops.

Paint it black!



I went with truck bed liner for the outer portions, because I didn't like the idea of carpet, as I still wanted to use this as a truck if I remove the mattress, and I don't think carpet belongs in the bed of a truck:



I chose Duplicolor because it seemed like a good texture that wasn't gritty or abrasive, just rubberized. I realized after application that the texture was entirely dependent on the roller used, not the product itself. I used a regular semi nappy paint roller.



Now, for the aesthetic design of the kitchen, I went to my home kitchen for inspiration, which I finished totally renovating last year. The polyurethane treated birch matches up pretty well:



I had a bunch of leftover Formica laminate from that project, so I put it to good use in the K.A.M.P. Drawers:



I forgot to get pictures of this hidden feature: under counter griddle storage. I recessed tee nuts into the countertop, and covered it with the laminate to hold the griddle in place:



Edge grain stained with Ebony stain, and sealed with poly:



Onto the silverware drawer. I had leftover hinges from that same renovation, so I integrated those into the silverware lid/countertop:



This is the only major change I would make. For my next build, I'd probably substitute this with drawer slides, so I can still use the counter while accessing the contents.

Dove into my silverware drawers and mocked up the contents:



Dividers cut and glued together, 5mm Luan underlayment:



I forgot to take pictures of the lift top coffee table hinges. I'll add those later.

All divided. Organization makes me happy:





I'm super pleased with how the drawer faces turned out. I scuffed up the angle aluminum and galvanized steel latches with Scotchbrite pads to give them a brushed look:



A good amount of effort was spent to make this fit cleanly:



Standard door strike plate for the latch:



If you notice the quick release latches on the sides, that was a last minute addition for a possible future modification to make the platform removable and transform into a dinner table. Maybe.



The aforementioned belt sander action necessary to clear the unnecessarily tight tolerances. Measure twice, cut twice, attack with belt sander. I could improve some things:



Aw yeah.



Obligatory pile of sawdust that I worked so hard on:



Thanks for checking out my passion project! Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for your own build. Or if this seems like too much work (it is), but you still want one, let me know, and maybe I'll find a way to build one quicker for you!

 

Yo @sachou nice build. How do you like the slide action of those drawers? I wonder how it compares to other style drawer slides. Do you have any sort of estimate of the price of that style drawer slide? Guessing much cheaper than some of the “heavy duty” 60” slides I’ve seen. Especially if you have the metal and skateboard wheels.

Side note: love seeing the backcountry ski pics. One of the main reasons for my platform build!

Would love to see some process shots if you have them. Keep it up!

 

How is the whole thing attached to the truck bed? How easy is it to take out anew back in?

 

It’d be cool if you did a little video walk through. I’ve been thinking of building one but honestly this looks amazing. I’d be interested depending how expensive it is

 

Another great drawer thread. Well done.

Bookmarking this for when I need to fab under bed drawers for my tiny camper.

 

I like the drawer fronts, looks like a road case.

 

I definitely have some refining to do in my slide building process. I made a crude jig to try and align all of the holes, but I still had to wallow out a lot of them to line up. It's pretty decent, but not perfect. I might go with the heavy duty manufactured slides in future.

...but you really can't beat the price. It was around $110 for the 4 slides. Which is a far cry from the ~$600 it would cost for the manufactured slides!

Stay tuned for process shots! I have about 60 photos, and a full detailed video breakdown to follow.

A lot of people have made this comment, but it's decently sturdy. I can stand on the drawers about halfway out (I do only weigh 130lb, but still). Video to follow.

It's attached using 4 turnbuckles on the corners, anchored to the factory mounts in the bed. I can install and remove it by myself if I remove the drawers individually first. If it's unloaded already, I can get it in or out by myself in 8 minutes using a socket wrench and wrench.

 

Here is a little video walkaround teaser. I just filmed a full detailed breakdown today, but it'll probably be a couple weeks before I release that.

 

Subd

 

Well done, looks like a great setup that will last you many years and the walkthrough will help tons of people in the future. Looks similar to my previous build but way better finishing touches. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!@sachou !

 

So, it has been a LARGE topic of contention as to the stability of the drawers as a free-floating cantilever. I didn't really expect so many skeptics to come about, but I feel I need to prove it:



The drawer is set in 10", so the rail itself is supported by the 10" lever arm of 6 bearings on each side. To increase that support arm, I simply shove a piece of wood on top of the tailgate, onto which the drawer rests, to increase the support length to about 30".

Bonus pics I forgot to take for the build post:


The rear mounting point - turnbuckle anchored to D-Ring


Front mounting point - turnbuckle mounted to factory D-ring


The stops are hard to see, but it's a block of wood screwed to the drawer side, and a bolt screwed through the center threaded into a tee nut keeps it in place


The center bolt can be accessed and removed via an access hole drilled into the side of the right drawer.


Gas struts for the coffee table hinge


Hidden Griddle storage


Threaded knobs on integrated studs and beveled block keep the griddle in place

 

Impressive and elegant. Huge props.

 

unrelated to the drawers, how do you keep your water from not freezing while winter camping?

 

Fantastic job and thanks for sharing!

of course haters will come out but you stood on top of all them... lol. Nice job showing the strength.

sub’d!!!! I’m still deciding what I’ll do in the back.

 

Wow, fantastic workmanship. Beautiful job

 

If it's sunny and 40F or above during the day, it can hit a low of 20F at nite and my 5 gallon jug doesn't freeze. It takes a long time to freeze 5 gallons of water as long as it's not 35F before the temperature drops.

 

How do you like lifting the coffee table hinged compartment without a grab handle? I'm currently building mine but debating if I want to add a handle vs lifting from the edges like you did.

 

It works great! I'm not even sure how one would go about adding a grab handle to it that would aid in operation. It does take 2 hands to open due to the unbalance that the hidden griddle adds, but otherwise it's really easy to get open and close. I have a 1/2" lip to grab, and that's just enough.

 

Great build, props to you. Feels rewarding to come up with an idea, plan and build then put it into use.