I Used to Suck at Packing for Outdoor Trips. Then I Found Kitworks.

My wife and I used to follow the same annoying ritual on Friday afternoons.

In the hour before our daughter got out of school, we would frantically stuff our clothing, toiletries, food, and outdoor gear into reusable grocery bags—the cloth kind you can buy at Whole Foods for a buck. There was no rhyme or reason guiding what stuff went into what bag. We’d then cram these bulging sacks into several cracked and stained Rubbermaid tubs, which I’d shove into the hatchback of my Subaru in a demented game of Tetris.

We’d then battle rush-hour traffic en route to the mountains.

The process was stressful and jumbled, and the only activity I enjoyed less than loading the car was unloading it at the family condo or campsite, exhausted from the commute, often in the dark. My packing system regularly failed: Bag handles broke and fabric tore, spilling oatmeal, Legos, cosmetics, and whatever else into the bins or onto the floor of my car.

You’d assume that we would have abandoned this unruly system long ago. But no, it went on for years.

Then, this past January, I discovered Kitworks.

OK—to be fair, Kitworks discovered me. Perhaps the biggest perk of working in outdoor journalism is the opportunity to test and then write about outdoor gear. And when a PR rep told me that there was a self-described “customizable gear-management system” that purported to bring order to even the most scattershot outdoor enthusiasts, I signed up.

So Many Storage Options

The outdoor industry is rapidly learning that many of its most passionate customers maintain a level of chaos that would make Marie Kondo shrivel up and die from anxiety. I am one of these people. My best efforts at living a systematic, controlled lifestyle are usually undermined by three familiar culprits: a lack of time, zero budget, and my fruit fly-like attention span. Cue the grocery bags.

In recent years, brands have addressed customers like me by pumping out a vast array of travel and storage products. Gregory sells its hard-sided Alpaca Gear Box; Yeti makes a massive LoadOut GoBox; and even Patagonia and The North Face now produce totes and soft-sided luggage.

Kitworks joined the fray in 2024. The brand is the brainchild of Greg Mills, a Portland, Oregon-based ecommerce veteran, skier, mountain biker, and trail runner. He describes himself as “a little obsessive about organization and gear” on the company’s website.

Mills wanted to create a gear storage system that catered to a wide range of outdoor activities, was built using sustainable materials, and didn’t suck. In 2022 he began checking out prototypes.

At first glance, some the products Mills eventually created aren’t dramatically different from those that were already on the market. Its Everyday Tote and Gear Cubes will look familiar to anyone who owns a Yeti Camino 35 carryall or REI’s branded luggage organizers.

But during his R and D journey, Mills came across a way to set his products apart. “I realized that the power in this solution had to come from being adaptable to everyone’s gear management needs,” Mills said. “A gear box isn’t the right answer for every pursuit. Sometimes a tote format is more appropriate. Or a duffel when air travel is involved.”

And sometimes those boxes and totes and duffels should be customizable for each user and his or her favorite activity. And the customer—not the manufacturer—should do the customizing.

What Is Kitworks?

Kitworks’ secret sauce is most evident in its Gear Box, a 22-by-17-by-14-inch cavernous rectangular box. The thing is made from an ultra-tough ripstop TPU shell, carries up to 250 pounds, and collapses down flat. Double Velcro rails line each of the four interior walls.

$289 at MyKitworks.com

These rails contain the brand’s proverbial magic. You insert a series of hard-sided dividers into the box, connect them to the Velcro via Velcro tabs, and voila, you have created an organizational layout to fit your stuff. Don’t like your setup? Just undo the Velcro tabs, move the dividers around, and poof, you have a better fit.

Yep, it’s so simple it’ll make you slap your forehead and wonder why didn’t I think of this?

Prior to a recent camping trip, I got out the Gear Box and built long and narrow chambers to store our plates bowls. I then built two wider sections for the Jetboil, Aeropress, and cups and water bottles. I left one third of the box as a massive open chamber to fit the Everyday Tote—the smaller cousin to Kitworks’ 55-liter Gear Tote. In this tote I placed our dry goods for the trip: oatmeal, gorp, dried fruit, and snacks.

On the inside of the Gear Box’s lid, I used the small straps and mesh bags to store cutlery, wipes, dish soap, cloth towel, a sponge, and some hand sanitizer.

For a ski trip, I built an entirely different setup: Two walls divided the box into thirds, and in each one I stored gloves, hats, parkas, and even my ski boots. For a weekend getaway in the spring, I left the dividers out entirely and filled the entire box with my daughter’s blankets, stuffed animals, and picture books.

Three trips, three different setups, zero grocery bags.

Kitworks also sells add-ons that connect to reinforced tabs that line the box’s interior and exterior: pockets, utility pouches, ID labels, organizers, and small gear cubes.

I’ve also utilized the 55-liter Gear Tote and smaller Everyday Tote, both of which are made from burly, recycled ripstop polyester and a TPU laminated shell. Both bags made my grocery sack system seem utterly pathetic.

What’s the Price of Being Organized?

The Kitworks system totally upended my previous way of packing—thank God. And in the months that I’ve used the products, I have noticed that packing the Subaru is a little less frantic than it used to be.

And yeah, building a custom setup for a trip is also kinda fun—I now give myself an extra few minutes to create the Gear Box of my dreams prior to a trip. No, Kitworks hasn’t totally converted me to KonMari. But hey, I’m making strides.

Throughout my testing of Kitworks, I’ve often wondered if an enterprising outdoor fanatic could create their own DIY system like this using store-bought plastic tubs, ad-hoc dividers, a hot glue gun, and cheap bags. Like other gear storage systems, Kitworks isn’t cheap. The Gear Box retails for $289, and the divider set is an extra $47. The Gear Tote is $149, and the Everyday Tote is $49.

$149 at MyKitworks.com

My conclusion is that yes, you could absolutely build this—and I encourage anyone with Type-A tendencies and some crafting savvy to try. But there are more than a few luxuries tied to the Kitworks that, in my opinion, make it a worthy investment.

When you’re not using the Gear Box, you can collapse it down to the size of a big cutting board and store it under a bed. Replicating that feature is a tough ask for even the most enterprising DIYer.

And the recycled material Kitworks uses in all its products is bomb-proof and water-resistant. If the peanut butter jar wasn’t quite secured, or the carton of oat milk sprang a leak, you wouldn’t be left with a sticky mess for long. Hose it down, scrub it clean, leave it outside to dry.

Sure, you can try that with a grocery bag, but take it from me, you won’t like the results.