Managing All the Camping Gear

[citykidzmom]

My house looks like the inside of Gander Mountain. How do you keep up with/manage all the stuff ??
We have those big plastic totes, but they take up soooo much room. I'm also using those recyclable shopping bags from walmart.

It just seems impossible to keep up with all the stuff and I feel like I'm gonna forget something.

[Smokey Mtn. Camper]

I understand totally. A great help in managing your gear is a checklist. You can download several camping checklists on the internet. It is invaluable to getting all my gear to the campsite. As far as the plastic totes...if you get inclement weather you will have nice dry gear in your totes. We use several totes to transport our gear and absolutely love'em.

Get you a checklist and follow it. It is a great way to make sure and not forget your gear. Good luck and you will be glad you have chosen totes for your gear.

[Rob22315]

I'll offer a second vote for totes, haulers and organizers.

- I've got a Kelty binto organizer (holds two bintos plus room for a third) that I use for kitchen stuff.

- I use a large plastic bin from walmart for other camping gear (stove, lighting, first aid etc.).

- I also bought a bunch of Mountainsmith haulers similar to the bintos but the individual cubes are larger and fit snugger. I use the individual cubes for clothes and they make packing clothes into the roof top soft carrier really easy.

Look for these or similar on sale on the internet. I've gotten some good deals from backcountry, campmor, overstock et al.

[renodesertfox]

We use soft sided bags(duffel-bags) and try to keep items that go together in separate ones. Different sizes too. Totes(plastic bins) take way too much room and if you need something from a tote everything has to come out first. With a soft-sided bag(Walmart) you don't have to take everything out of the bag. Another thing is since we camp often, we have purchased items that we use only for camping. We don't use it camping and then take it out and use it in the home kitchen too. But that took some time to develop, it just didn't happen over night. We each take a small soft bag for our own clothes too, we don't use a suitcase...again way too much room there! Good luck deciding!

[Eaglebait Ranch]

Ok, I'm going to be a bit different, but that is because the "gear" Susan and I deal with 99% of the time is for backpacking.

We each have a steamer chest. This time of year, it holds what we want to use backpacking for spring/summer. We each have loaded our winter gear into bushel size cardboard boxes and taken it up to the attic (my stuff on one side of the attic, and Susan's on the other). When summer ends (if it ever gets here), we each swap out winter and summer stuff.

We have a cabinet which we keep/accumulate our backpacking food. Yes, some of it is only for her and some of it is only for me. But, we also have stored lots of foods which we both use.

Spring/summer backpacking is a lot easier to "prepare" for. We each have what we take packed and ready to go. The saddle bags which go on Billy Bob are designed to hold two square 5 gal buckets a piece. So, those 4 buckets will be loaded and ready to be put in the trailer to go; all I need to to is gather the food I will need.

Susan has her backpack loaded and ready to put in her car, except for food. So, for us, that solves a lot of "storage" issues for us.

Because we live in a very rural area, in the winter we lose electrical power quite regularly, and we can lose it for 2-4 days. So, we store our Coleman lantern and stove in the house for such emergencies. So, that solves the issue of storing those bulky items.

And, now with the van, we are starting to move some things into it, so when the "hair twitches" we can (in theory) load us, and Squeaky, in the van and head out.

But, most importantly............... Before we toss our bags into the vehicles/trailer, we will completely unload our backpacks, get out the LIST OF THINGS WE NEED TO TAKE, and inventory everything to make sure it is there - no matter how confident we are that everything is there. It ain't fun to get 6-10 miles out on the trail, settle into camp, ready to light up the stove and fix a nice meal, and realize there are only two matches in the match holder to last for the next 4-5 days.

I guess, when it gets down to it.......... MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE AND TRIPLE CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING ON THAT LIST - or know the reason why you don't.

[tplife]

We're also #1 fans of the soft duffel/trunk. I have a pair from JanSport we use that have a single double zipper opening and are shaped just like a trunk. Besides folding flat and being flexible, together they carry 4 sleeping bags, 3 Thermarest pads, Coleman 2-burner propane stove, one tent,three tarps, marshmallow rods, Coleman pie oven, and the camera tripod. Once at the campsite simply cart the thing from the car and empty it out...
Of course we're still plugging the Kelty Binto Bar (3-binto model with shielded food prep surface), it replaced two handfuls of smaller duffel bags, which curiously all looked alike once at the campsite... :D

[renodesertfox]

Checklists & Travel Notes

Eaglebait Ranch touched on another very important aspect, that is making a list and really checking it twice but thrice is better! That's what we do, I'll empty the jeep and go through stuff to see what needs mending, replacing, or re-fitting. Then Desert Rose takes her turn. We talk about what recipes were good, what ones we are going to try next, communication is the most important thing going in any relationship and if your relationship involves campin then you gotta communicate! Not only with each other but also with the sheet of paper too.

When we're out campin and not a quick store to run too, if we run out of double AA batteries, we know we have to get some but instead on relying on the other person to get them, we write it down in our travel notebook and who ever buys the batts first then we write down the date we replaced the batteries, so we both know what is up with what! Seldom now we do not forget anything, but every time we camp we discover something that we wish we already had, so we write that down too in our wish list section of our little travel book.

[citykidzmom]

I completely agree with checking that list three times. lol I only checked it twice and we forgot some pretty important things. (Sweaters and socks)
Those nighttime lows in the 50s are no joke.

tplife...I LOVE that bag.

We had a heck of a time getting all our stuff into the vehicles. We were stuffing stuff anywhere there was a open space.

We did have a great time, though ! Can't wait to try it again.

[Bigdog57]

Ms. CKM, if your vehicle has a reciever hitch, one of the 'hitch haul' gadgets makes a great place to put a couple large coolers. Saves a lot of internal room in the vehicle!

[Rob22315]

Roof racks and hard or soft carriers are also great ways to make more room inside your car. Soft things go great in these because they can squeeze into the corners and odd shapes. Packing clothes into bintos (Kelty) or cubes (Mountainsmith) or other duffel bags works great. Sleeping bags, pillows, blankets will also pack well.

Thule and Yakima make quality stuff but you'll pay a premium for that and the name.

On the cheap, soft rooftop bags can be had for around $40 at Target. They work well, just don't step on the plastic buckles. :o

[citykidzmom]

I might have to look into those soft rooftop bags. That sounds like a great idea.
The van we had was a rental and the rental company said we couldn't tow anything or attach anything. I do like the idea of a hitch haul. That along with a rooftop bag would have been perfect.

[Michael09]

We use soft sided bags(duffel-bags) and try to keep items that go together in separate ones. Different sizes too. Totes(plastic bins) take way too much room and if you need something from a tote everything has to come out first.

Completely agree with this.

[Bigdog57]

Top load duffles can be bothersome though - same problem of having to dump it all out to get to something on the bottom!
There are 'side loading' duffles though, and the same in the rain-proof "Dry Bags" - a buddy has one that has the opening in the side. Much more versatile!
I just got a bicycle carrier I ordered for the minivan. It mounts in my hitch receiver, and has two fold-down bars with the loops for the bike tires. I got to looking at it, and it would be easy to strap a soft bag on each side - double as a 'hitch haul' gadget! Gotta love 'double duty' devices!

[Rob22315]

One caution about the roof top bags on minivans. Unless someone in the family is quite tall, you'll need some form of ladder or a wheel step to get access.

[tplife]

I might have to look into those soft rooftop bags. That sounds like a great idea.
The van we had was a rental and the rental company said we couldn't tow anything or attach anything. I do like the idea of a hitch haul. That along with a rooftop bag would have been perfect.

Obviously if they didnt' want you to attach anything they'd take the roof racks off their minivans. They don't do that, so the takeaway message here is "use me". We've always attached soft JanSport and Eagle Creek King Cargo duffles to the tops of our rented minivans.