Storage, Storage, and Storage

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Posted by Rick, Moderator, Vancouver, BC Canada:

Storage, Storage, and Storage
As many of you know - I am now the proud owner of a 21.5 foot baby, er... I mean Bigfoot. Don't get me wrong - I have camped all my life and my Sue thinks I was actually a genuine bushman in a previous life. (maybe it's my table manners! )

Here's the dilema that I am presently facing:

What stuff do you bring and not bring camping? Where and how do you pack all the "stuff" What stuff do you need and how do you keep it compact and out of the way.


Post your space saving storage ideas - got pics? Please post them.

I need some ideas

-----------------------------
Rick

*Leadfoot in a Bigfoot*

95 Bigfoot 25B21 (21.5FT)

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You'll find my most recent solution, the "Watt Box," here:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/read.php...=43&page=1#1656

Put one of these in back of your DodgeMobile and you have lots of organized storage. This was invented by one Charles Watts of rural Illinois (Land of Lincoln). :banana

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Thanks for the link (I have seen it before).

I was refering to storage solutions for our trailers themselves.

( I need the back of my Durango empty to haul all the beer that Sue drinks when we are camping! :laugh :laugh )

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Rick, it's something you learn ... what works for you might not work for me, etc, etc.

But, one big key to making camping easier is duplicating the stuff you usually move from house to trailer before you leave ... and then from trailer to house after you come home.

But that of course, isn't what you asked. I'm telling you to take more stuff, not less ... just the opposite of what you're asking.

But, no, in a round about way, it will help you pack ...

We think small .... a small coffee maker rather than a large one. a baby crockpot instead of a big one. Smaller wine glasses, rather than larger. Pam has long hair ... and keeps a small hairdryer in the trailer (one about 1/4 the size of the one she uses at home.)

You get the idea ... think small.

Don't know why, but it seems anything Europeans use is good for our little trailers. For some reason, they think small over there ... whereas we all think large.

Sweden's IKEA store is a dangerous place for me to let Pam visit ... because she's always finding some appliance or plate that while saving us space, costs me money.

I used to carry something like 8 flip-top stackable crates of stuff in the back of our mini-van ... and would fight it the whole trip ... because either I would forget what is in which crate ... or if I remember which crate, only to discover the stuff I was seeking was buried in the bottom crate .... so everything was either coming in or out everytime I was looking for something.

Then I started building enveloped drawers for the back of my mini-van ... and built several sizes and depths, before I built one that fit just right for the stuff I wanted to carry with me at all times.

Stuff that is "trip specific" i.e. we take different stuff to the Maritimes than we do to Florida or Colorado ... is packed in flip-top crates on top of the drawer envelope ....

Over the years, we've actually purchased enough flip-top crates ... that I have packed trip-specific crates in the garage.

So if we're headed to Canada, I throw in the crates containing my lobster picks and claw crackers.

If we're headed to Florida, I throw in those crates containing suntan oil, beach towels and beach mats.

Stuff that goes on everytrip is stored neatly in the drawers I built ... and is easily accesible ... with everything in its spot and a spot for everything.

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We all know that I'm not Rick, but I think your ideas of trip specific crates are phenominal. No, I'm not kidding. The creates are very resonably priced and the stuff has to be stored anyway. Now all you have to do is grab the crate.

Thanks...I LOVE that idea. It is always the simple ones that make such a difference and those are usually the ones that most people forget to share.

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The 1st step in solving storage problems is *travel light*.
Here's Lani Teshima's award winning Travelite website
http://www.travelite.org/

While this site is oriented towards overseas travel, you'll
get a lot of packing light travel tips plus useful resources
available on the Internet.

For example, why buy jackets for the different seasons
when a Windstopper Tech jacket from Mountain Hardware
will due in most climates, down to 20 degrees. Also, why
buy wool blankets when Polartec blankets are much lighter
and warmer.

Travel Lite and Smart

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I have been trying out a new campaign ( with limited success).

The policy is :
1. If we haven't used it once in the last year it stays home.
2. Try to have only mutlipurpose items (this is a goal not yet a reality)

My plan is to pare everything down to the minimum and have it all packed and ready to go at any time. But someone I live with( who will remain un-named) wants to bring the whole house- just in case..........

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A small portable world band radio is an excellent example of
a multipurpose item, since you can access AM, FM, and
shortwave bands, plus most radios can serve double duty
as an alarm clock.

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Leadfoot:

We know whatcha tow with........ so your storage problems should get no sympathy. heh-heh :r

........like mabe a roof top carrier and training wheels for the jeep.

=========

Ever seen Charles standing by his Suburban with the back doors open? :jester

It's a wonder nobody calls him Jonah.

=========

Travel light??? I've gotta drive my V-6 with spurs and a whip. :steer

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hummm?? crates, good idea.
I was thinking of a list of what goes where in the trailer so I can check and replace quickly. but that's not storage.

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Rick, The main area for kitchen storage in my Casita is under the sink and stove. I have a couple of shelf units (stackables, nothing fancy, not built-in), and on these I keep the pots and pans, a few canned goods and etc., all in dishpans or small storage crates. The dishpans are easily pulled out from the shelves, and this way stuff doesn't bounce out and around or get lost in the back of the compartment. There's just enough room beneath the bottom shelf that I can stow a nested set of pseudo-tupperware, a folding dish drainer, and my ever-trusty stash of plastic grocery bags. I have another dishpan for the sink, and a spare that usually does duty as the dogs' water dish. (Dishpans are incredibly handy, and four take up only a fraction more space than one!)

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Orginally posted by Rick

Thanks for the link (I have seen it before).

I was refering to storage solutions for our trailers themselves.

( I need the back of my Durango empty to haul all the beer that Sue drinks when we are camping! :laugh :laugh )

I've calculated that a Watt Box in your Dodge would hold 14 metric cases of Molson Canadian on top. :wink You just have to get Sue to drink less when you camp. Alternatively, she could drink something that's more concentrated; 12% or even 20% alcohol. :winky


I'm sorry, Rick. Having a Casita, we just don't have the storage problems you Bigfoot owners face; we don't have any storage.

Contrary to the minimalists you've heard from, we take everything on every trip that we think we may ever need or that someone else may need. It's a real trip when a neighbor says, "man, I left my interocitor home and I need it," and I can pull out my interocitor and hand it to him. :banana

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Tom,
I agree about the radio. I usually have a Sangean 803A with me.

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is the classic world band radio, was sold at Radio
Shack as the DX-440.

Right now I'm using a Sangean 606P (DX-399
at Rat Shack), but plan to upgrade to a Sony
7600GR.

Over the last 20 years, I've owned almost every
major portable shortwave radio on the market.

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Now exactly why would you up grade? they all get the same stations, so why?

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Tom,
I applied the common mods to it also.I'm happy with it, can even copy morse ( yech) if needed.

Janifer,
Being also a Ham radio hobbist ( the other sickness besides fiberglass trailers) we are always looking for better performance.
That's why..
Although I havn't been active for a couple of years now ( Hmmmm maybe I could fire up the rig today) I still am drawn to the toys.

As for stations, I'm sure Tom ,as well as I ,like to listen to exotic, hard to get foreign stations, that's where the performance part comes in, its kind of like the thrill of the hunt more that anything else.

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Being a great fan of shortwave radio, I have a Sony ICF-2010. Amazingly enough, the design is over 20 years old, and it is still sold. Now THAT was good engineering :-)

I also have a Phillips shortwave radio/cassette player that went in my last car, but when I bought a newone it doesn't fit. I haven't managed to get it installed in the new truck yet. Listening to Radio Australia's evening service on the way to work in the morning (before the sun was too high in the sky) was wonderful...not to mention BBC and Radio Canada.

Between radio and internet, this is the age for geeks!

Nathan

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Did you ditch the Ranger, Nathan?

(Sorry Rick. Not about storage anymore, is it?)

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Upgrade to Kiwa AM/FM filters and you'll think you got a
new radio.