Camp Kitchen Box vs. Mountain Summit Gear Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen: Aluminum Cook Table or All-in-One Box?

The Mountain Summit Gear Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen is one of the most popular open cook stations sold at REI. It's light, it sets up fast, and CleverHiker named it its "Best Cook Station with Storage." It's also a different kind of product from an all-in-one camp kitchen box, and that difference matters most when it rains, when you're doing dishes, and when you're loading the car.

What the Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen Actually Is

Mountain Summit Gear (MSG) makes a whole family of aluminum roll-top tables. The Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen (model MSG-RTKDX) is their full cook-station version. Here's what the retailer listings show as of November 2026:

• Layout: two aluminum roll-top table stations, two foldaway side tables, and a detachable storage compartment with two shelves
• Open size: 56.2 x 18.9 x 31.5 inches, so the work surface sits at about 31.5 inches
• Packed size: 19.7 x 4.3 x 31.5 inches, in a carry bag
• Weight: 13 lbs 8 oz
• Frame: aluminum with adjustable legs for uneven ground, and the makers say it sets up in under a minute
• Price: Sportsman's Warehouse listed it at $149.95 and CleverHiker quotes $170. Sportsman's now marks it out of stock and "not likely to be available again," so availability is spotty.

CleverHiker gave it 4.4 out of 5. They liked the removable canvas storage compartment, the standing height, and the big surface. Their two complaints were the price and that the aluminum "can bend easily." They list its weight limit as under 50 lbs.

That's a well-designed piece of camp furniture, and the important word is furniture. The listings don't include a stove, cookware, water tank, faucet, sink, or windscreen. Everything you cook with comes from somewhere else.

Open Table vs. Closed Box: The Core Difference

An open cook table and a kitchen box both give you a place to cook, but they're built on opposite ideas.

The MSG approach: a big, light, open counter that packs flat. You bring the kitchen to it: a stove, fuel, pots, utensils, a water jug, a wash basin, and some bins to carry all of it. If you already own a good stove and like a long counter, this is a cheap way to get organized. It's the same tradeoff we covered in camp kitchen vs. folding table and bins, just with a nicer table.

The box approach: one sealed case that holds the whole kitchen and stays packed between trips. It's the modern version of the classic chuck box, and our camp kitchen vs. chuck box guide explains how today's cases differ from the old plywood ones.

The VOZ Camp Kitchen is our version of the box. It's a food-grade LLDPE case, 47.6 x 19.3 x 11.4 inches closed, and it comes with:

• a gas stove (butane canisters sold separately) and a frying pan
• a USB-rechargeable water dispenser with a built-in battery, feeding the sink
• a removable, refillable 2-gallon water tank
• a removable countertop, cutting board, knife, spatulas, tongs, ladles, a utensil organizer, a towel, and a USB-rechargeable LED lamp

In total that's more than 30 items. It weighs about 57 lbs, it's ready to cook in under 30 seconds, and it currently sells for $1,169 (regularly $1,649).

Shop the VOZ Camp Kitchen →

Side by Side

The MSG wins clearly on counter length, packed thickness, and price. A 4.3-inch-thick bag slides behind a seat in a way no box ever will. The box wins on everything that isn't the table.

The weight gap is also smaller than the table makes it look. The MSG's 13.5 lbs is the empty table. Add a two-burner stove, cookware, and water and you're well past that. Water alone weighs about 8.3 lbs per gallon, so 2 gallons adds roughly 17 lbs with either setup.

Where an Open Table Falls Short: Water, Weather, and Transit

Comparisons between these two usually focus on counter space. We'd rather look at the three places where the open design costs you the most.

1. Sink and running water

The MSG has no sink, so dishes mean a jug and a basin on the counter or the ground. You tip the jug, hold it while you rinse, set it down, and repeat for every pot. It works, but it's the slowest, messiest part of the trip. With a built-in tank and a rechargeable faucet, you press a button and the water runs while both hands stay on the pan. The National Park Service's Leave No Trace guidance says to wash dishes at least 200 feet from streams or lakes, use a small amount of biodegradable soap, and strain and scatter the dishwater. A self-contained sink you can set up anywhere makes that much easier to follow than hauling a basin to the lake.

2. Weather sealing

An open table is open. When a storm rolls in, the counter, the stove, and whatever is on the shelves all get wet, and so does the canvas compartment, which CleverHiker calls water-resistant, not waterproof. With a box, you close the lid and the kitchen is sealed. Our guide to whether camp kitchen boxes are waterproof covers what a sealed case does and doesn't protect against.

3. Protected storage in transit

This is the part people forget. The MSG packs flat, but your stove, pans, spices, and dish kit still need bins, and those bins shift, crack, and collect dust on a washboard road. A kitchen box carries everything in fixed spots inside one hard case. You don't repack it after every trip, you don't run a checklist the night before, and nothing gets left at home because it was in a different bin.

Who Should Buy Which

Pick the MSG Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen if:

• you already own a good stove, cookware, and a water jug you like
• you want the longest counter for the least weight and money
• you're tight on cargo space and need something that packs 4.3 inches thick
• you mostly camp in dry weather and don't mind repacking bins

Pick an all-in-one camp kitchen box if:

• dishwashing and water hauling are the parts of camp cooking you hate
• you want to grab one case and leave, with nothing to repack
• you camp in rain, dust, or on rough roads where open gear and loose bins take a beating
• you're starting from scratch, so the stove, pan, and utensils in the box would otherwise be separate purchases

Plenty of campers end up using both. They run the box as the kitchen and add a light roll-up aluminum table for prep space. If that sounds like you, our camp tables include roll-up aluminum designs in the same style as the MSG.

Shop camp tables →

And if you stick with an open table, you'll need a stove to put on it. Our camp stoves range from single-burner butane cassette stoves to high-output two-burner propane models.

Shop camping stoves →

FAQ

Does the Mountain Summit Gear Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen come with a stove or sink?

No. The retailer listings show two roll-top table stations, two foldaway side tables, and a detachable two-shelf storage compartment. A stove, cookware, water container, and sink are all separate purchases.

How much weight can the MSG Deluxe Roll Top Kitchen hold?

CleverHiker lists its weight limit as under 50 lbs. Its reviewer also noted that the aluminum can bend easily, so it's best for a stove and prep work, not heavy water containers or a loaded cooler.

Is a camp kitchen box worth it over a $150 table?

It depends on what you already own. If you have a stove and cookware you like, the table is the cheaper way to get organized. If you'd be buying everything new and you want running water and sealed storage, the box replaces several purchases and the bins that go with them. We compare the two approaches in more depth in are camp kitchen boxes worth it.

How does the MSG compare to other cook stations?

It sits in the same category as other open stations with storage. If you're shopping that category, our comparisons with the KingCamp bamboo kitchen table and the GCI Outdoor Master Cook Station look at the same open-table-vs-box question with different hardware.