Best Portable Camp Sinks

I’m a big advocate of getting dirty when camping. But, while a bit of dirt is good for you, there comes a time when you’ll need to wash your hands, wash dishes, or do other cleanup. For these moments, you’ll want a portable camping sink.

There are five options for camp sinks:

Basins
Collapsible Basins
Field Sinks
Kitchen Stations
Gravity Sinks
Sinks with Pumped Water

1. Basins

The more people and dishes you have, the larger basins need to be.

Best For: Doing dishes
You’ll need: Three separate basins, optional drain tube
Nice Features: Handles, drain spout, round shape

Basins make a great camp sink for washing dishes. You’ll need three separate basins. Any cheap basin or bucket large enough to hold your dishes will do. It’s easier to do dishes in a round basin though. Good handles also help prevent splashing when filling and dumping.

Choose a basin with a drain spout. Connect a drain tube and you won’t have to worry about lugging dirty water to dump and splashing yourself. Also Read: How to Wash Dishes Camping

2. Collapsible Basins

Best For: Doing dishes
You’ll need: Three separate basins
Nice Features: Pour handle at bottom, round shape

You can also use collapsible basins for 3-bin washing dishes method. Collapsible bins take up less storage space. Because of the flexible nature of the material, collapsible sinks with drains will leak.

Choose a collapsible sink without a drain plug. This does mean you will have to lift the sink to dump the dirty water. To prevent splashing, look for ones with good grab handles. Some even have a special pour handle near the bottom of the sink.

1
UST Collapsible Sink
The UST sink comes in 4.23 and 2.25 gallon sizes. It's lightweight, compact, has sturdy carry handles and a nice shape.
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2
Friendly Swede Collapsible Bucket with Lid
This basin comes in sizes from 2.64 to 7.92 gallons. It has a mesh pocket for storing supplies and a bottom grab handle for easier dumping. Hang upsidedown for faster drying.
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3
Sea to Summit Collapsible Sink
It holds 2.64 gallons but weighs just 4.7oz. The round shape and sturdy material means the sink stands on its own. It’s easy to carry without spilling.
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3. Field Sinks/Fish Cleaning Table

Best For: Food prep for large groups
You’ll need: Drain pipe, bucket, hose
Nice Features: Faucet, trashbag holder

While field sinks are designed for cleaning fish, they can also be great for camping. The large, sturdy surface is good for doing large amounts of meal prep.

You’ll need to connect the faucet to a hose or spigot and a bucket for the drainpipe. With this setup, you can rinse vegetables at the table. However, the setup isn’t good for washing dishes as there’s only one basin and the drain bucket fills quickly.

1
Dragosum 42'' Fish Cleaning Table
This folding table is sturdy, holds up to 300lbs, and has lots of features like a double sink, faucet, and a garden hose connector for water under pressure.
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2
Tricam Fish Cleaning Table
It is simpler than the sink table above but might be better for camping because of that. The table is large enough to hold additional basins or even do food prep. There’s a drain pipe and a faucet which can be connected to a hose or pumpable water.
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4. Kitchen Stations

Best For: Food prep, some dishes
You’ll need: Optional drain pipe, bucket, hose
Nice Features: Removable sink, cabinets, adjustable legs

A kitchen station usually consists of an area for your stove and food prep, but some portable camp kitchens also have a sink.

Depending on the type of table or camp kitchen, the sink might have a faucet which can be connected to a pump. Or it might just have a basin with or without a drainpipe. Since portable kitchens tend to a pricy (expect to pay at least $150), spend some time thinking about how you will actually use the sink station and what features you need. Read this post about Choosing Portable Camp Kitchens.

5. Gravity Sinks

Best For: Washing hands, filling water bottles and pots, some food prep
You’ll need: Stand or hanger
Nice Features: Drainage bucket, hands-free operation

Want a camp sink with running water? You can easily make a gravity sink. These consist of a water tank which can be opened/closed. Gravity forces the water out, so no pump is needed. It’s easy to make cheap water containers with spigots like these, or even recycled bottles.

Gravity sinks are not good for washing dishes. Rinsing under the faucet wastes a lot of water compared to the 3-bin method. However, gravity sinks are great for washing hands, filling water bottles or pots and a bit of food prep.

For more, see: Gravity Sink Designs

6. Sinks with Pumped Water

Best For: Washing hands, filling water bottles and pots, some food prep
You’ll need: Probably some buckets, hoses and a stand
Nice Features: Foot pump, adjustable flow

Do you want your camp sink to have pumped water going through a faucet? You will probably need to go the DIY route. It’s fairly easy to add a battery-powered or foot-powered faucet to your sink. You might even be able to use the same pump for showering.