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Essential Overland Gear: Kelty Car-Go-Box and Litter G’tter
Products help travelers organize equipment, manage waste and leave New Mexico campsites cleaner
The Kelty Car-Go-Box contains chaos.
Our camping set up for years has consisted of freebie logo bags, plastic boxes and various sports totes attached around our rigs using carabiners, bungee cords and any kind of hooks or magnets we could attach to walls, ceilings and doors.
This often led to an explosion of chaos — especially when it turns dark at the campsite — unsure what each carrier contained, even when employing labels.
The recently released , which the company supplied to review, solve that problem. Three color-coded canvas zip bags fit within a larger collapsible box. The reinforced box fits nicely along the rear seat or tailgate of most vehicles. We organized one bag for cooking gear, one bag for extra clothing and the third bag to contain the miscellaneous toiletries that end up scattered throughout our vehicles.
After using it for just a few days, we were already recommending it to fellow travelers at a campground who were looking for a way to manage their gear and quickly move it. The couple, who worked as emergency vet techs, and like us, were camped at the Cougar Rock campground in Mount Rainer National Park, said as soon as they returned from adventures, they had to move all valuables from vehicles to prevent theft. Liam said he was impressed with the way the Car-Go-Box takes up little closet space when unpacked and folded up — just 12 inches by 19 inches and less than an inch deep even with the bags stored inside.
Our experience with Kelty products started more than 40 years ago when our friends Paul and Kathy Schertz gifted us a pair of sleeping bags as a wedding present. These zip-together bags have kept us warm and together for decades. Forty years later and surviving three sets of dogs, this nondown hypoallergenic gear continues to provide padding during warmer months and keeps us toasty in 20-degree temps.
The zippers still work perfectly either individually or connected, and the only damage ever sustained is a small tear that occurred after a U.S. border check in 1986 when agents pulled the young Donn and Rebeca over for a full-scale search as we returned from British Columbia.
Kelty sent us its bag as well, which is waterproof and made of canvas. It can be used as a giant trash bag when you pick up those extra Bud Light cans often scattered along some of the best and most scenic forest roads in New Mexico. Remember everyone: leave no trace and leave your site better than you found it. can help you do that.
On our most recent trip, we used it to contain our dirty, stinky clothing, as well as acting as holding place for bottles for recycling.
This new Kelty gear seems to help us in our quest to manage messes. The Car-Go-Box set cost around $115. One needed improvement would be a small, clear window with a canvas flap over it that could be used to peer inside without having to rely on touch and color to figure out the contents. The Litter G’tter is about $30. It weighs in at less than a
third of a pound and is 23.5 by 19 by 7 inches.
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