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Camp Kitchen dilemma

Kenshaka

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First of all…I think the camp kitchen in its current form is awesome. The dilemma I have is the price for utility. I’ve asked myself what would make the kitchen a no-brainer. The conclusion I’ve come to, is that if the Snow Peak drawers were replaced with two refrigerator/freezer drawers, I would have no problem dropping 5k on it.

My concern is with buyers remorse. I’m certain that Rivian or some after market company will come up with upgraded kitchens. But how long will it take? Or am I dreaming?

I feel that the space Snow Peak is taking up in the kitchen set would be better served utilizing electronic components to further enhance the utilization of the trucks huge battery. Your thoughts?
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crashmtb

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Buy camp kitchen as it is. Put commercially available 12v fridge/freezer(dometic, national Luna, etc) in the front trunk. Job done.

the form factor of the gear tunnel and especially the drawers on the camp kitchen is not suited to a fridge/freezer arrangement. you’d end up with something oddly shaped and small. Not to mention it would be even more expensive.
 

HokieBird7980

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Camp kitchen at the end of the day will add value at resale if for some reason down the road you want to sell your R1T. Aside from the fun and convenience of having this as part of your R1T, I'm pretty sure someone down the road would really enjoy it and pay more for a fully loaded R1T with the Camp Kitchen and also the roof top tent and off road package. I've ordered it all, not knowing how much I'd actually use the tent and kitchen, but it sure is nice knowing you Can use it if you want to. Tailgating would be great with this feature for when you want to socialize, and it would be the key to a day in the wild knowing you won't have to trek off to some unknown place for your next meal. I'm planning on saving on hotels, restaurants and even campsites fees in some areas. Would take alot to pay back the $5,000, but I have expensive food tastes, and my wife has expensive hotel tastes, so maybe not so long after all! :giggle:
 
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Kenshaka

Kenshaka

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Buy camp kitchen as it is. Put commercially available 12v fridge/freezer(dometic, national Luna, etc) in the front trunk. Job done.

the form factor of the gear tunnel and especially the drawers on the camp kitchen is not suited to a fridge/freezer arrangement. you’d end up with something oddly shaped and small. Not to mention it would be even more expensive.
I was thinking that for its length, it should be almost adequate(but not huge). The drawers are not odd shaped as it is. I was thinking frig/freezer compartments could be the same dimensions. I have a 12v 65qt Whynter Dual zone frig/freezer. But I don’t think it will work in the frunk because of heat and lack of ventilation. I really didn’t want to put it in the truck bed, but I think that’s my only option. Thanks for your reply
 

PastyPilgrim

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IMO if you're on the fence I'd go for it. The gear shuttle + kitchen + snowpeak set already feels like a decent deal. Plus it potentially improves resale value as noted by HokieBird. If you choose not to get it and decide later that you regret not getting it, then you're probably going to pay a huge premium to get it shipped to you and may lose out on the snowpeak set.

And if you never use it, I'm sure you'd be able to find someone to sell it to. If Rivian stops including the Snowpeak set, you may even be able to find someone that will buy it near list price since you'd be including the Snowpeak set.

I think I'd be surprised if we saw a kitchen-compatible fridge module for a few reasons:
  • The drawers are fairly small (they look like maybe 3"x1"x0.5" for the right side and maybe 1" tall for the left side). That doesn't seem like sufficient fridge storage and would mean having to store cookware elsewhere.
  • Alternatively, they could replace the whole sink module with a cube fridge module which might be sufficient space but a kitchen seems incomplete without a sink.
  • Something I think we might see is a standalone chest fridge for the gear tunnel (either from Rivian or a third party) that uses the shuttle and outlet, but it wouldn't be compatible with the kitchen.
  • Ventilation may be problematic in the tunnel (i.e. fridge would just be heating that space without that space cooling quickly enough).
  • IMO for a gear tunnel kitchen, the space should be reserved just for things you'd need/want at cook-time. What I mean is that if you're on some adventure or roadtrip, you're likely to want access to drinks/etc. throughout the drive/trip/etc. It'd be inconvenient to need to pull out your whole kitchen just to grab a soda (especially if you're e.g. at a rest stop and need to find sufficient space to actually pull out the kitchen).
  • Rivian has stated that they plan to have a fridge that fits perfectly in the frunk so I would think that that would be their fridge offering so that it's compatible with the kitchen and easily accessible.
 

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crashmtb

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I was thinking that for its length, it should be almost adequate(but not huge). The drawers are not odd shaped as it is. I was thinking frig/freezer compartments could be the same dimensions. I have a 12v 65qt Whynter Dual zone frig/freezer. But I don’t think it will work in the frunk because of heat and lack of ventilation. I really didn’t want to put it in the truck bed, but I think that’s my only option. Thanks for your reply
It will absolutely work in the front trunk. Rivian themselves had a fridge in the front trunk at overland expo 2019. Furthermore people utilize those in relatively enclosed spaces already. Look at any “overlanding” setup with a fridge on a slideout in the back of an suv. Not much ventilation there.
 

Zac

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It seems to me that you'd have to put it in the frunk. Most of the decently-sized, commercially available electric coolers I've looked at (Dometic, Arb, etc.) are too tall to fit in the bed with the tonneau closed (only 17" of height per Rivian). I don't think you'd want an expensive cooler in the bed without it being secure. If you have the camp kitchen taking up the gear tunnel, where else would/could you put the cooler?

Here is what Rivian says, "Our front trunk is a clean, lockable space large enough to fit a half-dozen full grocery bags or two full-sized coolers."
 

TessP100D

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Camp kitchen at the end of the day will add value at resale if for some reason down the road you want to sell your R1T. Aside from the fun and convenience of having this as part of your R1T, I'm pretty sure someone down the road would really enjoy it and pay more for a fully loaded R1T with the Camp Kitchen and also the roof top tent and off road package. I've ordered it all, not knowing how much I'd actually use the tent and kitchen, but it sure is nice knowing you Can use it if you want to. Tailgating would be great with this feature for when you want to socialize, and it would be the key to a day in the wild knowing you won't have to trek off to some unknown place for your next meal. I'm planning on saving on hotels, restaurants and even campsites fees in some areas. Would take alot to pay back the $5,000, but I have expensive food tastes, and my wife has expensive hotel tastes, so maybe not so long after all! :giggle:
I can’t agree on this point. A possible future buyer will. It pay anything extra for the CK. Of its there, fine, but you won’t see your 5,000 back in that one. It’s juts a very expensive option that 99.9% won’t use or need.
 

HokieBird7980

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I can’t agree on this point. A possible future buyer will. It pay anything extra for the CK. Of its there, fine, but you won’t see your 5,000 back in that one. It’s juts a very expensive option that 99.9% won’t use or need.
Don't disagree with you that i'll never get back the $5,000, but it also won't be zero. Keep in mind that the gear tunnel pull out is also optional if you don't get the camp kitchen, and i can't recall the price, but it was not inexpensive. At the end of the day, any price paid by someone else is only worth what it's worth to them in their own eyes. For me, it's worth it. At the end of the day, I'll have a Launch Edition R1T with a Rivian Accessory that separates it from every other electric truck that's coming and it will add value. Maybe not $5000 in return, but it won't be zero either. Just got to find the right buyer!
 

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It's definitely a great package and value is pretty good for what's in it. That said if it's only something you'd use occasionally, and just want the convenience of being able to grill some food while at a camp site, out at a park, etc, you can get portable induction cooktops for less than $100 (or nicer ones for a couple hundred bucks). You'd need your own utensils/etc, plus not have the sink, or nice organization, but for your use cases maybe that's not a big deal.

I feel like it'd be rad to be down at the river and whip out the camp kitchen for lunch/dinner. I'm not sure if it's 5000 rad and just having access to some outlets in the truck bed for a portable cooktop/etc might be enough.
 

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TessP100D

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Don't disagree with you that i'll never get back the $5,000, but it also won't be zero. Keep in mind that the gear tunnel pull out is also optional if you don't get the camp kitchen, and i can't recall the price, but it was not inexpensive. At the end of the day, any price paid by someone else is only worth what it's worth to them in their own eyes. For me, it's worth it. At the end of the day, I'll have a Launch Edition R1T with a Rivian Accessory that separates it from every other electric truck that's coming and it will add value. Maybe not $5000 in return, but it won't be zero either. Just got to find the right buyer!
Ok.

kind of reminds me of a salesman who said … the colot your buying is in the cover of our brochure so it will have a better trade in value for resale. Lol. That’s big No.
 

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Don't disagree with you that i'll never get back the $5,000, but it also won't be zero. Keep in mind that the gear tunnel pull out is also optional if you don't get the camp kitchen, and i can't recall the price, but it was not inexpensive. At the end of the day, any price paid by someone else is only worth what it's worth to them in their own eyes. For me, it's worth it. At the end of the day, I'll have a Launch Edition R1T with a Rivian Accessory that separates it from every other electric truck that's coming and it will add value. Maybe not $5000 in return, but it won't be zero either. Just got to find the right buyer!
I wonder how much would it be to build something like that on your own. Im sure the value of the camp kitchen is pretty equal
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