How do you pack your soft floor camper trailer?

[Prado BB]

Looking for ideas on how to pack all your "stuff" in a soft floor camper. 
Do you use plastic containers, boxes, tailor made units, partitions, bags or whatever?
I am looking for ways to make life easier and fit everything in an orderly fashion.  Coming from a Jayco with cupboards, drawers, under seat storage and boot, I am a little unsure how you soft floorers do it
Photos would be nice

[bullfrog]

Preferably with your keys & wallet OUT of the bloody thing!!!
I find for us a combination of H/D fish tubs with lids & milk crates pack best in the tub of the Trackabout. We use a large Spacecase as the food box. I have made a carpeted hinged divider to split the rear 1/2 so we can remove the Spacecase without the chairs etc falling into the hole. The fish tubs carry stuff that we want to keep clean, eg towels, the milk crates are filled with things like camp ovens ( fit well & don't bounce about) & stuff that gets pulled out & put in the kitchen area. We normally carry clothes in the car. I'll see if I can get you some pics to explain better than I can word it.
PS... I should have added "think square" . No good putting round plugs in square holes. A bit a work with the tape measure before you go off tub shopping will help too. I hate tubs with big o/hangs on the sides & bulges. Have found the Kytab brand OK, so far so good.

[Jon]

Pantry stuff in dual drawer/tub set up, Drifta type kitchen with all plates/cups/cutlery
Nally tub with general camping gear, 80lt tropical esky plus some other bits and pieces.
All the mechanical/electrical is in the front box with the batteries.
spare poles and ropes on top of tent uner the travel cover

I have tried to repack for more room but the larger storage units ie kitchen, pantry and esky limit the workable solutions to what we have now.

Most importantly though, pack it in order. Stuff you need last should go in first. Have a think about the order in which you need things while setting up.

[Big Nath]

We use a large space case (800x500x500?) and a white 60L Techni Ice esky for our dry food. (freebie)

Also we use a large 85L black container from bunnings.

Organised Chaos!!

Cheers

[gqcamper]

g'day we've just changed from an 18ft van back to a soft floor,fortunately we did have a basic soft floor as well as the van so we did have some things in order for the new camper.
our packing depends on length of trip.
weekenders don't require as many clothes so wife and daughter share one tub and i have one due to my clothes taking up more room due to size not amount.
normally one tub each for clothes,one for tinned and packaged food,one for towels and toiletries and one for cooking gear.
plates and cuttlery in kitchen box on inside of tailgate with everything else like chairs,camp oven and assorted bits and pieces stacked in to fill up any spare holes.
fridge lives in rear of patrol,poles ropes and pegs in tubes between draw bar box and front of trailer.
draw bar box is divided to house the electrical nerve centre for camper on one side and the other for the annex walls and screens with a few other light weight items thrown in.
probably sounds a lot but compared to what i've seen other campers drag out we travel fairly light.

[Nomad]

Bedding stays in the camper, laid flat on top of the bed base. Tables and chairs etc are then on top of this.
Non slip rubber stuff to hold all the kitchen gear, and a small tackle box to hold the cutlery and most cooking stuff in the kitchen.
A couple of those cheap stripey bags from any good reject shop for a dollar for clothes and towels etc.
Gas bottles and jerry cans on the side and electrical in another side box.
Draw bar has tubes for poles. bucket with lockable lid for pegs and ropes and stuff. Toolbox with hammer, spanners etc also in here.
Food box in the tub..just one of those fishboxes.
Fridge in the car and esky if needed, also in the trialer.

Cheers

[D4D]

We used tubs for kitchen stuff and just dumped the rest in as best it fit. I also stuck some anti-slip mat to the floor.

[Heiny]

Ladder and solar panel is laid flat on the bed base under the mattress, bedding is laid flat on top of the mattress with camp stretchers.
Kitchen/cookware and dry food is in plastic tubs with lids, perishables go in the 35 lt Waeco and bevies go in the icekool esky (esky goes in back of tug for day trips) clothes in 2 x canvas duffle bags, fishing rods/tackle box, bits and peices go in a small space case and all of this lives in the under bed storage area.
2 x pole carriers on front of CT, 3x jerry can holders and 4kg gas bottle holder on sides of CT.
Genny, tools, spares, pegs/ropes, bbq, Logitech ipod dock, portable led lantern, power leads and other stuff lives in the front storage box.
Anything else can go in the back of the tug.

 

[meimarocu]

Mmm, ok. Therse  5 of us. so,
We use a 80lt eski for dry food so it can be sealed/locked from critters/ants etc.This travels in car
Our 80lt weaco also travels in the car.

Our Track about has a Drifter kitchen in it so all kitchen gear stays there.
The table gets put on floor of trailer first.
A 60lt eski for quick drinks to keep kids out of fridge.
Inside all our beding and kids bunks etc get stored on bed.
Chairs get put/stacked in front of trailer.
The table gets put on floor of trailer first.
The pole box is for...poles
The tool box carries our camp ovens,lidght ,nic naks ect

As we learnt from here we try to seperate things,
The car carries car stuff.
The camper carries camper stuff.
Then we look at In side and out side of the camper.
Bedding stays inside and table/chairs are for outside ect here.

Cheers Ian.

[V8100]

kitchen suff goes in kitchen asell as food large plastic boxes for clothes etc bed stays made and kids stretchers lay on top of camper with a table. chaisaw camp oven etc in large gullwing box on draw bar.
fridge and extra clothing in back of ute.

something like this
eddy

[frenchac]

We use plastic drawers instead of bags for clothes.
 These stacked in the corner of the side fold used up minimal floor space when set up.
 We now have a rear fold soft floor so simply pull the 4 drawers, (2 drawers wide, 2 drawers high ) to the rear opening of the trailer and don't take up any floor space.

Cheers

[rellbell]

Pantry stuff in dual drawer/tub set up, Drifta type kitchen with all plates/cups/cutlery
Nally tub with general camping gear, 80lt tropical esky plus some other bits and pieces.
All the mechanical/electrical is in the front box with the batteries.
spare poles and ropes on top of tent uner the travel cover

I have tried to repack for more room but the larger storage units ie kitchen, pantry and esky limit the workable solutions to what we have now.

Most importantly though, pack it in order. Stuff you need last should go in first. Have a think about the order in which you need things while setting up.

Totally agree with pack in order, as I find if you have to pack up in a storm/cyclone everything goes into its specific place, and you don't have to dilly dally around finding space for your stuff in a hurry.  Cheers Rellbell

[Crisp Image]

Totally agree with pack in order, as I find if you have to pack up in a storm/cyclone everything goes into its specific place, and you don't have to dilly dally around finding space for your stuff in a hurry.  Cheers Rellbell

the beauty of a rear fold tent is you chuck it all in the tent and then pack everything in the trailer. Once it is all done fold the tent and cover up.
Regards
Crisp Image

[GU Rich]

I use the large black boxes from Bunnings. I paid $25 for them about 7 years ago. I have since bought a 3rd but the quality has changed. It still works well though.

Bedding and kids stretcher beds saty on the bed.
I also use the $2 painting drop sheet over the bedding to keep any moisture from a wet pack up at bay.

Cheers
Rich

[Bird]

Couple of space cases, an techni icebox...
Have a few ways to do it really...

But it all depends on how much you want to pack, how much you want to unpack everynight too. work out if your doing a trip of mainly 2-3 nights in 1 place would be different if you were doing 7 days with 1 night in each place.

[Prado BB]

some very good ideas and suggestions here, please keep them coming.
I am now hoping that the tent cover that comes with the top I bought is big enough to store things on top of the tent
Thanks everyone.

[Mace]

We have the ezy trailer divided into three compartments.

Front:  9kg gas bottles, axes, shovels, hotplates, camp ovens, annexx walls and floors.  Stuff you have to get out before you set up.  Compartment can be accessed with difficulty after tent set up.

Centre:  Fold up chairs, eazi up, crate of LPG accessories.  Can be accessed thru bed base.

Rear:  2 tubs, one of cooking gear, one of food. 
Adjacent to tail gate kitchen and battery box/inverter and lights.   easily accessed.

Fold up table and extra matrress lie on top between top of dividers and bed base.
Long Poles lie on floor on side, below dividers.

Front Box:  Esky with beer, :cheers:annex roof, (if not attached, hammers, pegs, ropes, cleaning gear, tarps & junk!!)

Stored on top of bed (made up with eggshell base on matress, sheets, doona, pillows):
Ladder, roof cross bars, dogs bed.


Vehicle has fridge and personal gear/clothes/tools.

We'll see what happens next time its out!! Bound to change, thats the current state of play.

 

[Beachman]

I personally try and put the heavy items (Fridges/Food/Firewood) in the back of the 4WD to keep the trailer as light as possible. Seeing he do a lot of beach driving I think momentum of the 4WD is the most important thing.

Our tonneau cover is quiet roomy, so those stupid foldable shower tents no longer gets folded into 3 rings, but now just folded in half. Also the kid’s mattress goes in there along with tarps and ground sheets.

In the trailer I use eskies mainly because they were given to me. Also use these green shopping bags to store things like pegs/ropes in as they then also be used to fill in spots in the trailer.

Also the bed is always made and this includes doona & pillows.

[MDS69]

Andy ours is a work in progress and currently use 60L tubs with lids for clothes. Another 60L tub with no lid for cooking gear (pots, pans, billy etc). I am currently thinking about trying the following
Drawbar Toolbox - ropes, extension lead, water hose, hammer, timber chocks/jacking plates, kids scooters/helmets, tools, junk, battery/electrical system eventually
On top of bed - adults bedding, kids air mattresses and sleeping bags, awning poles, bed ladder
Tailgate mounted kitchen - plates/bowls etc, cutlery/cooking utensiles, 2 burner cook top and hose, washing up stuff, torches
Trailer - thinking about making a slide out drawer 2/3 wide (hinge side of bed base) to hold plastic tubs of clothes and food. It is a bugger when you need to get to the tub at the very front and something has jammed it in cause it fell on it etc. In the left over 1/3 of space (latch side of tilting bed base) will go chairs, cartons soft drink, beer etc. I have some fibreglass unistrut and am thinking of bolting two lengths between the sides of the trailer between the gas struts to hold the blow moulded table and collapsible pantry above the drawer and tubs.

Our gas bottle is mounted outside of the trailer. I am also considering removing the tap mounted on the kitchen because A, in the 20 odd nights we have spent in the CT we haven't used it just the outside tap and B, where the hose comes up through the floor it is approx 50mm in from the side so wastes space if I wanted to make a drawer for that 1/3 side of the trailer. When I quote 2/3 for my drawer, it will be made to accept a 60L tub sideways so I can get about 4 deep front to rear.

[Prado BB]

Andy ours is a work in progress and currently use 60L tubs with lids for clothes. Another 60L tub with no lid for cooking gear (pots, pans, billy etc). I am currently thinking about trying the following
Drawbar Toolbox - ropes, extension lead, water hose, hammer, timber chocks/jacking plates, kids scooters/helmets, tools, junk, battery/electrical system eventually
On top of bed - adults bedding, kids air mattresses and sleeping bags, awning poles, bed ladder
Tailgate mounted kitchen - plates/bowls etc, cutlery/cooking utensiles, 2 burner cook top and hose, washing up stuff, torches
Trailer - thinking about making a slide out drawer 2/3 wide (hinge side of bed base) to hold plastic tubs of clothes and food. It is a bugger when you need to get to the tub at the very front and something has jammed it in cause it fell on it etc. In the left over 1/3 of space (latch side of tilting bed base) will go chairs, cartons soft drink, beer etc. I have some fibreglass unistrut and am thinking of bolting two lengths between the sides of the trailer between the gas struts to hold the blow moulded table and collapsible pantry above the drawer and tubs.

Our gas bottle is mounted outside of the trailer. I am also considering removing the tap mounted on the kitchen because A, in the 20 odd nights we have spent in the CT we haven't used it just the outside tap and B, where the hose comes up through the floor it is approx 50mm in from the side so wastes space if I wanted to make a drawer for that 1/3 side of the trailer. When I quote 2/3 for my drawer, it will be made to accept a 60L tub sideways so I can get about 4 deep front to rear.

sounds like some interesting mods there Mark.  Look foward to seeing/hearing how they come along.

[Dion]

I try and order my stuff according to when it is needed.

In the toolbox on the drawbar is the camp setup equipment - matting for under the tent and annex floor, pegs, tent peg hammer, buckets, hoses etc.  All the stuff that gets dirty/wet and is needed first for camp setup (And last to go in).  This gets the tent and annex up.  I don't need to open any other part of the trailer to do this.

Once the tent is up, I then access the walkway area from inside the tent.  This is where the sleeping bags / linen etc is kept, in a mixture of duffle bags (linen) and spacecases (sleeping bags - they stay in the camper permanently).  This is so I can setup the interior of the tent for sleeping from this equipment - no need to open the trailer.

In the kitchen area, I have a big long drawer on rollers that slides out in the kitchen area.  This contains all the cooking equipment and setup equipment for the annex (lights, etc) in their own "tubs" in the drawer.  Thus in this drawer is everything needed to cook and setup the outside of the camper.

Pack up is a reverse of this order.

The only hitches to this are the stuff like portaloo, table and chairs which sit in the trailer tub.  I usually get them out at the start as its the easiest to lift the trailer lid up then.  And they're the last to go in. 

I do have to fetch the fridge and dry food box from the Pajero.  I'm thinking of trying to keep them in the walkway area and just store the linen bag (duffle bag) and clothes bags in the car.

[harvs]

Hi Prado BB,

I guess packing depends on your camper. The size of you family, and destination.

We often bush camp.
So when do we take a chain saw, and a camp oven. These fit in the front tool box.

we have two kids, they sleep in bunks which pack flat on top of the bed.

Our CT has lockers and toolboxes all over it. These hold the electrics, general camp hardware. Camp toys for the kids. Etc

The rear has 1 big draw that is the kitchen. It holds a massive stove and fridge. food and general pots pans and general kitchen stuff.

Under the bed are 4 draws that hold our personal items. When the tent is up. They are in the tent.

A couple of things I have learnt.
A generous travel cover is useful. and bikes are always hard to pack, and resist the temptation to over pack. Less is more.

Have fun.

[Me+3]

glad this topic was raised - i'm also looking for a storage solution!
What materials have you guys used for the 'skids' ? and how do you stop it scratching the paintwork to the sinide of the trailer base ? Is it rubber? or more of a hard plastic ?
(and i don't intend on using drawer slides so don;'t suggest them please!)

[Mace]

We have marine grade carpet glued to the floor.  Seems 2 work well.

[Prado BB]

I try and order my stuff according to when it is needed.

In the toolbox on the drawbar is the camp setup equipment - matting for under the tent and annex floor, pegs, tent peg hammer, buckets, hoses etc.  All the stuff that gets dirty/wet and is needed first for camp setup (And last to go in).  This gets the tent and annex up.  I don't need to open any other part of the trailer to do this.

Once the tent is up, I then access the walkway area from inside the tent.  This is where the sleeping bags / linen etc is kept, in a mixture of duffle bags (linen) and spacecases (sleeping bags - they stay in the camper permanently).  This is so I can setup the interior of the tent for sleeping from this equipment - no need to open the trailer.

In the kitchen area, I have a big long drawer on rollers that slides out in the kitchen area.  This contains all the cooking equipment and setup equipment for the annex (lights, etc) in their own "tubs" in the drawer.  Thus in this drawer is everything needed to cook and setup the outside of the camper.

Pack up is a reverse of this order.

The only hitches to this are the stuff like portaloo, table and chairs which sit in the trailer tub.  I usually get them out at the start as its the easiest to lift the trailer lid up then.  And they're the last to go in. 

I do have to fetch the fridge and dry food box from the Pajero.  I'm thinking of trying to keep them in the walkway area and just store the linen bag (duffle bag) and clothes bags in the car.

Wow, this sounds very organised Dion, would love to see photos, I'm a visual person