The Helinox Field Office: From Camera Bag to Mobile Kitchen Throne.

Let’s get something straight: the Helinox Field Office is not just a bag, suspended in a box on legs. It is a lifestyle choice. A statement piece. A desk, a kitchen, a command centre, and sometimes, a bit of a flex.

I’ve had mine for about three years now. Originally, I picked it up thinking I’d use it to lug my camera kit and electronics when out on car camps or shorter hauls. And for a while, that’s exactly what I did, camera bodies, lenses, batteries, lights, cables, SD cards, little pouches that make you feel organised… all tucked neatly inside.

But as these things go, life changed. Priorities shifted. I started cooking more outside. And just like that, the Field Office pivoted—from content creator’s toolbox to outdoor kitchen on stilts.

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What I Use It For Now

Now it carries:

• A Trangia (often the OG one I got when I was 10, cheers Dad, and of course, sometimes, one of the coop ones)

• The Hajka oven (yes, the lasagne one)

• A big gas bottle that says, “I’m not here to simmer, I’m here to roast”

Essentially, it’s the rolling stockroom of my “Leave No Crumbs” adventures. Forget rehydrated mush in a pouch, I’m out here making actual meals, and the Field Office is my prep station.

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Specs

For those who like their numbers before their noodles:

The Helinox Field Office weighs around 2.1kg, and comes with a frame that is made of Helinox’s DAC aluminium poles, strong, lightweight, and weirdly satisfying to click together… although, you’ll do no clicking with the field office as the frame is fully assembled with the ‘bag’, main compartment, suspended from it at multiple points.

The main compartment is one big open space, lined with the loop side of the hook and loop Velcro stuff, so you can stick patches or Velcro backed pouches to it. Helinox make some internal dividers and mesh pockets, perfect for organising anything from camera lenses to spice tins and olive oil decanters but that is an extra that isn’t included. Helinox also sell a shoulder strap, which I have recently purchased, but yet to really have a play with. On the outside of the bag, there is a narrow pouch, running diagonally across the bag with a small flap, secured with Velcro, if you flip that open, you are greeted by four of the signature blue Helinox poles. These poles are legs for the table. You can use two legs on one side of the table and leave the other side connected to the bag frame… leaving you two spare legs. The detachable side table clips on easily, giving you a bit of prep space or somewhere to pretend you’re answering emails and doing your business business business. But honestly, you won’t understand this thing until you’ve slapped a chopping board on it and made eggs in purgatory 50 miles from your home.

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The Desk Gets An Upgrade

Now, Helinox call this thing an office, and it technically is: it’s a box that clips onto a folding frame, with a little side table for your laptop or burrito. But that default table? Bit small.

So I hacked the setup.

I got myself a small half-table that bridges the gap over the middle bit (so I’m not cooking on the stowed lid like a goblin), and then I added a second full-sized table on the side. Now what I’ve got is less “folding desk” and more outdoor banquet table meets CEO desk at 3,000 feet.

If Gordon Ramsay had a mobile workstation that doubled as a field kitchen for screaming at clouds, this would be it.

Now, Helinox sell the tables as accessories so you can make your setup bigger, I think, off the top of my head, the full size table is £/€/$ 50ish… now, you know that we don’t condone clones… but, I went onto the cheap Chinese app based sales platform website thingy, known as aliexpress and did a bit of a search, I found the table top for less than £20… I bought it on a whim and… well, it’s perfect. They look exactly the same, the moulding patterns on the underside are the same… Importantly, the two spare legs that have, if I’ve not removed the table from the bag fully to use separately from the bag, they click in and out perfectly. The only difference is that I cannot see any Helinox branding on the fake/cooy one. So… it is an option if it is something you want to explore. I also picked the cheap one up as I want to possibly modify it, drilling holes in it to add a bit of a tripod mount… that’s all for another day though…

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How I Actually Use It

I set it up beside the tent, usually somewhere that makes me look slightly more professional than I actually am.

From there, it becomes the base of operations for everything from fish & chips to wild lasagne. It holds pans, utensils, seasoning tins, maybe a cheeky bottle of something if the night calls for it.

Sometimes I even pretend I’m working, just to justify the “office” in the name. Open the lid of the laptop, look pensive, write down something fake like “Q3: increase sausage output” and close it again. Feels good. I have actually sat there with the iPad sat atop of it, editing a YouTube video whilst out camping on one occasion… so… that all counts, right?

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Is It Worth It?

Yes, if you know what you’re using it for.

If you’re hiking 20 miles a day, probably… definitely not.

If you’re car camping, glamping, or setting up an alfresco kitchen empire? 100%.

It’s absurdly well made, like most Helinox gear, and it transforms a scruffy tarp kitchen into something you could feasibly run a pop-up bistro from. Bonus points if you’re wearing an apron… or… maybe the EDCCoopeeative chefs hat as a minimum 😎

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Final Thoughts

 

The Helinox Field Office has been:

• A camera bag

• A tech organiser

• A chopping board

• A windbreak

• A table

• A flex

And above all, a reminder that camping doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good food or a bit of structure. Sometimes you need a lid to cut your bread on and a shelf to keep your onions from rolling away.

It might be called an office, but trust me: in the wild, it’s all business at the front and party in the back.

10/10. Would boss again.