So anyway...where was I?

Back when I was camping the first time (late 1970s), my wife, of that time, did all the packing.  It was a chaotic hodgepodge of grocery bags, laundry baskets, and styrofoam coolers, randomly piled in the car.  I never knew were a particular thing was, as there was no organization whatsoever.

Drove me nuts.

Here we are, way in the future (no Jetsons cars, as yet) and I'm camping again; and this time, I'M doing the packing.

I embarked upon a mission of making a sturdy wooden box for my Coleman gas-bottle lantern.

I planned out the interior and started sawing, sanding, glueing and clamping.

As I was working I started thinking of this box as the prototype for a larger project - a series of "camping boxes" in uniform sizes and stackable.  

I routed a pocket on the bottom of each to accommodate the handle of the one stacked below it.

I love making the chips fly...and man, do I love retirement!

Here's the finished lantern box.  All of the corners are reinforced with steel corners, there is a heavy duty handle on the lid, and a hasp to keep it closed.  I darkened all of the steel fittings with gun blue.  There was no room on the inside of the box for the lantern bail, so I mounted four small screws on the front into which the bail fits snugly.

The inside is lined with sponge-foam and the lantern fits very securely with plenty of anti-shock cushioning.

After field-testing the lantern box, production started on the rest.

Four of the boxes were all uniform in dimension, the others were custom-made to accommodate specific items.

Now I have a very compact, orderly, and organized load.

Now I needed a place to store the various boxes and other equipment between camping trips and during the off-season.

I started work on a large rolling cabinet with sliding doors.  My goal was to use as much salvaged material as possible.  In the end, the only material that I purchased were the sliding-door tracks.

The Old Ranger says: "safety first."

I carried a government credit card for sixteen years, this was the first time that I used it.

The heavy rolling base is from a dumpster behind a Barnes and Noble that had undergone a renovation.  It is very heavy, can support an enormous amount of weight and glides on it's casters with the effort of two fingers.  The MDF was left over from a friend's project and I've had it laying around for nearly ten years.

The completed cabinet doubles as a rock-solid tool-stand for my chop-saw.

A tight squeeze, but everything fits.

Here's the finished project ready for set-up at Greenbrier State Park.

I'll see you next time with more outdoor fun.  Please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

Mannie

(the Old Ranger)