Our Story

A great American product, almost lost.

In 2009, industrial designer Harald Kanz spent twelve years perfecting one thing: a portable kitchen good enough to earn Overland Journal's Editor's Choice. Then in 2020 he quietly closed the doors — no ads, no marketing, just a product too good to disappear.

I found the Field Kitchen as a broke college kid in 2010. Couldn't afford it. Watched it win awards. Lost track of it. When I finally went to buy one in 2020, the whole company was for sale. So I bought it, brought manufacturing back to the USA, and started building again.

I'm not a marketer who found a brand. I'm the customer who wouldn't let it die.

The timeline

2009 — Harald founds Kanz

An award-winning industrial designer starts refining one idea: a portable kitchen built like furniture, not like camp gear. He'll spend twelve years on the details.

2011 — Editor's Choice

Overland Journal gives the Field Kitchen its Editor's Choice. Reviews follow in Outside, New Atlas, The Kitchn, and Expedition Portal. Harald never runs a single ad.

2020 — The doors close

After eleven years, Harald moves on and quietly closes the company. A product too good to disappear almost does.

2021 — The customer buys the company

Allen — who'd wanted a Field Kitchen since 2010 — buys everything and starts rebuilding the supply chain in the USA. Five years later, the first American-built batch comes off the line — six numbered units available, August 2026.

Same design since 2009. New American supply chain.

When I revived Kanz, I didn't redesign anything — the kitchen that won Editor's Choice didn't need my improvements. What took five years was rebuilding how it gets made: new American suppliers — including CNC-cut Baltic birch from Mountain Metalworks, just up the road — and every kitchen assembled by us, in our own shop in Taos. The first batch is small — six numbered units available — because that's how you get it right.

Read the full revival story on the Journal →

— Allen Livingston, Owner
El Prado, New Mexico