Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink Review

What’s in the box

Just the sink: a round, folding basin in Burnt Olive with a black inside, a stiff black rim and two webbing handles. It folds flat into a small zip pouch with a drain hole, so a damp sink doesn’t wet the rest of your gear. The fabric is a waterproof, recycled 70D nylon with taped seams, so it doesn’t leak and it dries quickly after use. Unfolded, the 10 L is about 38 cm across and 20 cm deep, and it packs down to 13.5 × 14 × 3.5 cm.

Quick Specs

Design and build

The broad base and the stiff rim are what make it work. Fill it up and the water pushes the base out flat, the rim holds the top open, and the sink stands on its own without slumping over like a bag. Empty, it’s a soft fabric bowl, but that’s the trade-off for something that folds this flat.

The inside is black to soak up the sun’s heat, so water left standing in the sun warms up faster. The Leave No Trace logo is printed on the bottom, a reminder of where the dirty water should go.

Handles and carrying

The two black webbing handles are stitched onto the rim with heavy, reinforced stitching, and one of them has the capacity woven in: 10 LITRES.

That’s how you get rid of the washing-up water properly: carry it well away from camp and from any creek or lake, then tip it out. Ten litres of water weighs 10 kg, so the strong stitching on those handles matters.

How we use it

The sink lives in the car, so it comes on every trip. We use it for the larger dishes: pots, pans and the plates after a proper cooked meal. At camp it goes on the slide-out table at the back of the Prado, with the brush, soap and washcloth from the kit next to it. If you want the whole washing-up set in one go, the Sea to Summit Camp Kitchen Clean-Up Kit adds a scrubber, biodegradable soap, a washcloth and a dish towel, all packed in one case with this sink.

For a mug or a single plate we often don’t fill the sink at all and use a wet wipe instead; ours are the Sea to Summit Wilderness Wipes. For two people, 10 litres is plenty for a round of plates, cups and a pot, and our two Sea to Summit Detour stainless steel bowls fit in together. For a family or a group cooking for six, it fills up with dishes quickly and you’ll be changing the water a few times.

Which size?

We use the 10 L, but the same sink comes in two other sizes. The 5 L is the one to pack for hiking or a solo trip, and the 20 L suits a family or a group base camp. All three fold flat and weigh under 200 g.

Standard vs Ultra-Sil

Sea to Summit also makes an Ultra-Sil Kitchen Sink, only in 10 L. It’s the hiker’s version: a thin 30D siliconised Cordura nylon instead of the standard sink’s 70D recycled nylon, and Hypalon handles instead of webbing. That makes it 38 g lighter and a bit smaller packed, but the thinner fabric won’t take as much rough handling. For car camping and 4WD trips, where a few grams don’t matter, we’d stick with the standard sink.

Sink or bucket?

We’ve also tested two folding buckets. The Seymour’s 10 L has a plastic rim and base that stand up even when it’s empty, but it’s heavier and bulkier folded. The Baiao holds twice as much, for bigger loads of washing or carrying water.

	This reviewKitchen Sink	BiggerBaiao→	SturdierSeymour’s→
Rigid rim and base	No	No	Yes
Material	Fabric	Tarpaulin	Plastic
Capacity	10 L	20 L	10 L
Price paid	$35	$29	$12
Our score	9.3	8.7	8.8

Conclusion: Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink

The Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink is a light folding basin with a broad base and a stiff rim, so it stands up on its own when it’s full and folds flat when you’re done. The webbing handles are strongly stitched and make it easy to carry the water away from camp, and the black inside soaks up a bit of the sun’s warmth. The 10 L is small for a group and it slumps when it’s empty, but at about $35 it’s the part of our Clean-Up Kit we use most, and for couples and small groups it’s the right size for the washing-up.