Storage in 13' Scamp - Fiberglass RV
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Old 12-09-2017, 01:32 PM   #1
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Name: Susan
Trailer: Scamp
New Mexico
Posts: 24
Storage in 13' Scamp

Hi,
We finally bought our Scamp earlier this year, and have been out on two trips totaling 3 weeks. We have the 13' without bathroom. How do other owners use the storage areas in the Scamp? I'm trying to be efficient, but dont feel we are utilizing the storage areas well.

We use the 1large open are under main bed for hoses, electrical cords, tool box etc. I use the cupboard over the kitchen area for dishes & pots & pans, under the sink for a bucket, paper towels, trash bags, aluminum foil etc.. I use the large cupboard under the bunk for non-refrigerated food (in a slide out bin) & dog food. The two small cubbies in the "post" hold books (we are big readers), travel guides, purse, laptop etc., and the lower one holds bath towels, dittybags, and a first aid kit. We turned the upper bunk into a counter (removed cushion, added veneer & old style aluminum trim). Propped up with the bunk supports, it is very useful.

But the other storage seems useless or very hard to access. The upper cupboards are too narrow & dont secure, and the other under bunk cubbies are too hard to get to. We have been storing our clothes in plastic bins plased under the above "counter" and during the day, the bedding gets folded up and stored there too.

How do other people utilize these spaces?
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Old 12-09-2017, 02:29 PM   #2
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Name: bob
Trailer: Was A-Liner now 13f Scamp
Missouri
Posts: 3,209
storage issues

I have decided since we have retired did I say both of us that our camping trips now involve very little cooking. I cook breakfast and usually cook outside if in a park otherwise in the camper.

we pack 2 skillets 1 small pot paper plates plastic silverware 1 old style perk, not much else one meal we eat out and that is later in the afternoon so 2 meals a day. we do not stock up on food usually 2 days that's it!

some things we learned to just go very basic our camper is a 13f scamper no b/r so weight is an issue!

bob
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Old 12-09-2017, 02:49 PM   #3
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Name: Jon
Trailer: 2008 Scamp 13 S1
Arizona
Posts: 11,925
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I agree- the under-seat storage is hard to access. We "destination camp" (stay at one place for the whole time), so we use those compartments for stuff that comes out once when we're setting up camp and goes back in when we break camp.

We have also found it helpful to keep our clothes in the tow vehicle. At night, we bring in only what we need for the next morning. With four people, there just isn't space, and we like to keep the trailer as uncluttered as possible. Bonus is you always have an emergency change of clothes if you're away from camp exploring.

With such a small trailer, the tow vehicle becomes the closet. It will take some trial-and-error to get it right for you. Best wishes!
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Old 12-09-2017, 05:07 PM   #4
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Trailer: 1990 Scamp 16 ft
Posts: 654
Like Jon my nephew keeps his family's clothes in the tow. He made a wooden unit in the back of his minivan. Each of the 4 has their own narrow and long drawer carrying all their cloths, shoes, etc. That frees up lots of space in their 16 ft Scamp.

When in our 13 we always end up with a couple of plastic tubs in our tow as well, though they are mostly full of hammocks, tools, camping accessories. Also folding chairs ride in the tow. On long trips with variable weather our heavy coats ride in the tow as well.

Have patience. Experience solves a lot of storage issues mostly by showing you how little you actually need.

Cheers, john

Pic of fellow I met in the Everglades National Park.
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Old 12-09-2017, 06:06 PM   #5
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Name: Paul
Trailer: '04 Scamp 19D, TV:Tacoma 3.5L 4door, SB
Colorado
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Linck View Post

Pic of fellow I met in the Everglades National Park.
You two did not get introduced, I presume...
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Old 12-09-2017, 06:57 PM   #6
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Name: Lisa
Trailer: 1992 Scamp 13'
California
Posts: 781
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Poodlesrule View Post
We turned the upper bunk into a counter (removed cushion, added veneer & old style aluminum trim). Propped up with the bunk supports, it is very useful.
I'm sorry I don't have any good tips for you as I put all of my spare stuff in my tow vehicle, a van.
But, I am very curious about your upper bunk counter. That sounds great! Do you mind sharing a photo of it?
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Old 12-09-2017, 10:24 PM   #7
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Follow the basic rule. Light things high heavy things low.

I put a partition in the area under the street side dinette. That give room to put a constant breeze fan, a small battery charger and two sleeping bags in stuff sacks. The other part of that area has the power cord and couple small seldom used items.
Moving to the front. Street side contains tools (heavy stuff front). Curb side contains lego blocks and chocks. Middle contains a tote with food.

I have overhead cabinets at each end that contain some lighter stuff.

Now for the kitchen. Paper plates and paper bowls along with a small tote of tupper ware glasses etc. Next comes spices and seasonings, last is coffee filters, zip lock bags and medications.

Below the sink is one pot and one skillet, and one griddle. (don't need a whole bunch of pots and pans. The small skillet gets use the most. A cutting board that doubles as a sink cover.

The tall closet has hanging jackets and zip up sweat shirts. Sitting on the wheel well is two duffle bags with t-shirts, under ware, and socks (one duffle bag for each of us.

I have a pickup with lots of room in the back and it's covered and carpeted with the basic rule anything that is to be used out doors goes in the back of the truck. Since we travel in winter and out until it gets hot in the AZ there's two more duffle bags of clothes (one her's and one mine) with the opposite season clothes that get changes with the ones in the trailer as the season changes. Solar panel also lives in the back of the truck.

That's how we do things. It's worked great for us for 12 years, but it might not work well for all.

Again... basic rules heavy stuff low and front light stuff high. If it's used outside it goes in the tow. At least that's been my basic rules.

Mostly I though about how I pack a backpack to carry miles and do basicly the same thing. Study carefully what you bring. Do you need large terry cloth towels, or will a sponge type towel work just as well with a loth less space and maybe less weight. How many pots and pans are needed? Backpacking I got away with just a single pot. Trailer I've added a skillet and grill. Stuff does take careful consideration and after a trip go through the stuff with the idea lightening the load.
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Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing.
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Old 12-09-2017, 10:55 PM   #8
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
The Mountains of North Carolina
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Although we don't have a Scamp, I'd echo Jon's comment above, the tow vehicle plays a key role in storage for us.

First, I don't like to have any of the hook up stuff in the trailer: hoses, cords, blocks, and so on, all go in the tow vehicle (truck), or in the case of our Escape, the handy external box. Prior trailers we have owned did not have an outside box. The box on the Escape mainly contains stuff that on past trailers was packed in the truck.

We traveled by motorcycle for many decades. One thing we learned is to pack light, really light. Sure, we take more in the camper than we ever did on our motorcycle, but we build in doing laundry once a week on any longer trip. No need to carry three or four weeks of clothes!

Next time you finish a trip, look at all of the stuff you have in the trailer. How much did you take that you never used? We invariably have stuff we don't need. For example, I like to read. Stop carrying books and carry a kindle instead.

We are not weekend campers, we tend to go out for about a month at a time.

One thing I store in hard to get to area is my toolbox. When I need it, I need it. But most of the time, I don't need it. So it sits ready and able when I do need it, but tucked away. Easy to get to storage areas need to hold stuff you use frequently.
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Old 12-09-2017, 11:40 PM   #9
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Name: Steve
Trailer: Scamp 13
California
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In our Scamp 13 we destination camp too as opposed to travel camp since we are still tied to a workers vacation schedule.

Our Scamp doesnt have a bathroom. The front bunks are out and the lower bench is cut for a 2 seat dining table that drops down to a bed. When the table is down the porta potty still sits under it. The rear dining table is alwadys down to a bed. Under it during travel is our small grey water tank, a portable bbq. Propane lantern and 2 bags of leggo leveling blocks. At destination this all vomes out when we set up site. Once this space is vacated we put his and hers duffle bags side by side under there. That gives us space for clothes and room to stuff shoes to keep them out from under foot on a day to day basis. The closet is stuffed as a closet just like at home packed to the rafter. On big change for us was to get rid of normal towels in the trailer. We use micro fiber towels, they pack in 1/4 the space and dry so much faster. They feel weird but the work much better if your fighting space. We are lucky in our Scamp as the origional owners purchased it with overhead end cabinets on both ends. The rear end overhead cabinet carries big stuff that you dont use much. Foil, bbq tools, games and plastic place mats and plastic table cover.

Front overhead cabinet has all the daily stuff because of easiest access. Paper plates, napkins bags of silverware. Kitchen tools and tub of personal wipes and small light things.

Lower front cabinets, the one right by door contains hoses, tools for setup and spare parts and our cube electric heater. The one on the bottom next to fridge contains all electrical for the trailer. Our new power converter, load center and solar controller.

The compartment below the sink we added furnas there and left over space stores nest pots, fry pan, a square tub for dishes and a tea kettle for heating water. There are a couple of chemical bottles there too.

The 2 lower compartments under the bed, one carries the origional water tank. The other one carries our propane camping stove, a battery lantern, our small new wave oven and extra heavy duty rv extension cord and the electric water pump I added. Food in the fridge is minimal and the rest is liquid mostly drinks. The truck carries our efficient Ice chest and maybe one or two tubs of food depending wether we are camping boon dock or established campgrounds.

For the most part we cook outside so we carry extra stuff for those adventures. I like to keep the trailer as light as I can and carry allot of stuff in the tug. I like to park the trailer as base camp and travel out and about by day, so carrying the big ice chest and food in tbe truck works well for us.
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Old 12-10-2017, 02:46 PM   #10
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Name: Gordon
Trailer: Trillium
British Columbia
Posts: 178
While mine isn't a "Scamp", at 13' still has the same issues.

On my last couple of trips, I found I hardly used the underneath area at all, because of the difficulty accessing them.

This winter, I am planning on putting in a set of exterior access panels so that it will be easier to get stuff in and out of those spaces.
In the front area, I have built a set of custom fit drawers to hold particular shaped boxes and containers.

Plus, since I tow with a pickup, I use it as a basement.
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Old 12-10-2017, 04:21 PM   #11
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Name: bob
Trailer: Was A-Liner now 13f Scamp
Missouri
Posts: 3,209
something interesting

we have been tenting to Europe 4 times the first time we packed our cooler with stuff anticipating lots of cold cokes. Guess what no ice we learned to drink hot coke and love it.

so what to do while touring the grocery stores eggs are not under refrigeration or orange juice. so we got those I think we got some sort of meat oh bacon is non-existant!

Seems we sort of figured out pancakes most days again some sort of meal while out touring. We are careful then too as their food cooling way different than ours. Believe me you want to be very careful eating in Mexico for the very same reasons!

Our tenting days has taught us to be minimum needs campers!

bob
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Old 12-10-2017, 09:33 PM   #12
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Name: David
Trailer: Former 13’Scamp, now Snoozy
Arizona
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We came upon an idea in an old post here about this subject, that I utilized for our Lil Snoozy. I mounted lockable motorcycle saddle bags to the rear bumper for things that we use to setl-up (plastic wheel chocks, expandable fresh water hose, water filter, electrical fittings for 50amp to 30amp service, level, water theif, etc.) in order to have less clutter inside the trailer and the tow vehicle. Nothing heavy is able to be carried inside the small bags, so no sway worries.
We, like others have stated, use nesting aluminum pots, micro fiber towels, loofah, layers of clothing in place of bulky coats, books on kindle, and many items you find at backpacking stores to save weight and bulk.
Dave & Paula
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Old 12-11-2017, 09:08 AM   #13
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Name: bob
Trailer: Was A-Liner now 13f Scamp
Missouri
Posts: 3,209
min I did this to our A-Liner it made things so much easier but with the 13f the 2 bottom doors seem to work fine I don't use the storage on the other end. I do have a plastic box of stuff I slide under the bed.


bob
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Old 12-11-2017, 10:30 AM   #14
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
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I never thought of this before but one advantage of a pickup truck as the TV is the storage, particularly storage that is NOT in the passenger compartment. You don’t want sewer hoses in the cab with you, no thanks! But with a pickup, storage in the bed is ideal, particularly with a bed cap. Bicycles, grill, sewer hose, wood blocks, lawn chairs, outdoor table, etc. all go in the truck.

I really don’t like hanging stuff off the back of the trailer, it can really mess up tongue weight.
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Old 12-11-2017, 11:32 AM   #15
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Name: Paul
Trailer: '04 Scamp 19D, TV:Tacoma 3.5L 4door, SB
Colorado
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A pickup truck bed is definitely handy for so many things that you do not want near you for hours, or the stuff that is just bulky. What I have learned the hard way was that towing a 5th wheel creates a monster wind storm between the Scamp loft and the bed. One time I lost a door mat that I simply threw in. I suspect I lost a few other things that way, although they may have been left behind. And then there are those horror stories of loose long ends of tie-down straps that actually get sucked down between the bed and cab and wrap around the drive shaft - yuck!!
So, a reminder to myself and others - the bed is great, but secure that stuff.
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Old 12-11-2017, 01:06 PM   #16
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
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This is what talked us out of a molded fifth wheel. Years ago we had a traditional (large) fifthwheel so storage was not a problem. But with molded FG trailers storage is limited. So losing use of the truck bed was an issue for us. It doesn’t help that we are pickers, so on longer trips we tend to find bargains that we need room for. Brought home six vintage bicycles on a recent trip. In the old fifth wheel days we didn’t have this hobby.
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