Hauling Your Camping Gear

Many times, hauling your camping gear simply means loading it into the trunk of your car, the back of your SUV or pickup, or on the roof rack and hitting the road.  But what do you do when your stuff no longer fits in the trunk or other available space?  Whether it is because your family is growing, you've invited more people to join you, or because you've just accumulated more or larger camping gear, the time will come when you run out of room.  In the old days when cars had running boards, extra cargo could be tied down on them. But since running boards disappeared back in the 1930s options for carrying excess cargo have been limited.  If you have a trailer hitch, you may be able to get a rack or an enclosed "trunk" that fits in the hitch like a wheel-less trailer.  Another low-cost and low-impact option is to purchase a car-top carrier.   This may take the form of a bag that attaches to an existing roof rack on an SUV or a unit that mounts on the drip rails of a standard sedan. In either case you'll likely have a zippered vinyl container that is suitable for carrying tents and sleeping bags and some other gear.   Both to reduce the stress on your back getting gear up and down and to minimize the load on the roof, try to limit the weight of items you put up there.   Too much weight can affect handling and piling things high will create drag that affects fuel economy, even if it isn't heavy enough to cave in the roof.   I prefer to load soft, fairly light items, like sleeping bags and put the hard, heavy stuff (like camp stoves) in a lower, more secure cargo area.   Some modern cars don't have drip rails so there isn't a good place to attach a roof carrier without drilling holes in the roof, which, of course, isn't a good idea. Some may sit on suction cups, secured with straps into the top of the door openings. Keep in mind any strap that interferes with the weather stripping will cause wind noise and will very likely leak when it rains.  Many times the weather stripping will be permanently damaged so the door whistles and leaks even after the strap has been removed.   Try to make sure all the straps lie flat to minimize the impact on weather stripping.   If you plan to use a roof top carrier often it might be worth adding a roof rack if you don't already have one.  You usually don't see them on sedans, but there is no reason they couldn't be added.  If you're a pretty ambitious do-it-yourselfer you might pick up a roof rack from an old station wagon at your local junk yard and install it yourself.  It will require removing the headliner and that can be a pain and you might want to look for ways to reinforce the roof where you mount the rack to prevent damage.  Luggage racks can sometimes be added to the deck lid but that makes opening the trunk difficult when they are loaded.  If a roof top carrier doesn't appeal to you or won't work on your vehicle, you might consider getting a small trailer.  Most cars, even sub-compacts, can have a trailer hitch added.  Just be sure you don't exceed the Combined Vehicle Weight Rating CVWR) loading your trailer.  An overloaded trailer or exceeding the CVWR is recipe for disaster!

Utility trailers are a convenient option for transporting camping gear.  If you don't already have a trailer hitch on your vehicle, you'll have to add one, together with appropriate connections for stop, turn, and tail lights.  In some states, light utility trailers don't even require license or registration.  Small trailers like this can be towed by just about any motor vehicle, including compact cars and even motorcycles!  Light utility trailers usually don't have electric brake systems.  If you choose a larger trailer with electric brakes, you'll need a brake controller on your vehicle.  Some small trailers come equipped with a "surge brake".   This is self-contained.  The hitch on the trailer is designed to flex and activate a hydraulic braking system on the trailer when the tow vehicle slows down.  Light weight trailers often don't have any brakes.  While simple flat-bed trailers like those used to haul riding lawnmowers will do the job, you'll probably be happier with a box style trailer with enclosed sides.  It will look kind of like a pick up bed.  You can cover it with a tarp to keep the sun and rain off your gear and keep things from blowing out.  Fully enclosed box trailers provide extra protection for your gear against weather and extra security, but they are usually a little more expensive and a little heavier to tow.  Fully enclosed trailers, or a well-tarped utility trailer, can provide extra protection against unusually bad weather in camp.  For that reason I would probably buy a trailer that is at least long enough to lay down in, unless I really needed something very small and very light to tow behind a small car or a motorcycle.  With a little creativity you can make a pipe frame to support a tarp over your utility trailer to create a protected patio space in camp.  An enclosed utility trailer just might become your first step toward an RV and can provide emergency shelter if the weather turns bad.  I like to have an enclosed trailer when I have work on my dirt bikes in bad weather.  It also provides a secure place for tools, spare parts, and riding gear.  A couple of people could sleep on the floor out of of the weather in an emergency.  I have seen old tent trailers stripped down to make light weight utility trailers that are ideal from hauling tent camping equipment.  I obtained on old Apache tent trailer that includes a clam-shell lid that does a surprisingly good job of protecting the contents from the elements.  All the original amenities were long gone but it makes a great trailer for hauling our camping gear.

Trailers can provide other functions besides simply hauling your gear to the campsite.  I've seen small trailers with removable tops that are equipped with folding legs to serve as tables in camp.  If your trailer is approximately the size of any pick up bed you might put a truck tent in the trailer to get you up off the ground.  You might build a "chuck box" to fit in the back of your utility trailer (or your trunk or the back of your SUV or pickup) similar to the ones used in chuck wagons on cattle drives in the Old West, giving you a ready-made kitchen when you get to camp.  It should have cupboards and bins to hold pots and pants, dishes, utensils, and provisions.   Every door and drawer should have a positive latch so doesn't come open in transit.  With a little clever engineering you could add a sink with running water, adding further convenience to your camping experience.  A shepherd's crook style lantern holder might be fitted to keep your camp lighting stable and up out of the way.  If you use a propane lantern, you could power it from a large propane tank on or in the trailer so you don't have to bother with changing those little 1 pound cylinders every few hours.  A trailer might serve as part of the support system for your tent, adding strength and stability over standard and sometimes flimsy tent poles.  An enclosed trailer could be fitted with an RV awning or just a tarp and appropriate supports for convenient shade and protection from light rain.  I've seen simple PVC pipe frames used on flat-bed utility trailers to turn the trailer into a portable pavilion, providing much needed shade during desert camping.

You can use a trailer as a box to put your stuff in or customize it to create specialized compartments to secure items so you can find them easily and they don't get damaged in transit.  Just adding hooks or eyes where you can attach bungee cords to strap things down can make a lot of difference in organization and in preventing stuff from shifting during your travels.  A customized trailer might even include a chuck box (like they used in old-time chuck wagons) as the foundation for your camp kitchen.  Here is one source for building your own:  Chuck Box Plans  A chuck box can also be useful in a pickup bed, SUV, station wagon, or even the trunk of your car -- if you design it properly to fit the available space.

We picked up a small trailer to haul tent camping gear.   It had begun life as an Apache tent camping trailer and made an exceptionally good trailer for hauling camping gear.  All the internal features had been removed making it a simple utility trailer.  The original aluminum "clamshell" lid was still fully functional and kept out all but a few drops of rain when we were caught in an unexpected deluge, even with some damaged seals.  A small, lightweight trailer is a handy way to organize and even store your camping equipment if you have a place to park it.  You can keep it stocked with non-perishable items to make spontaneous outings more convenient.  In some states lightweight trailers like our Apache don't even have to be licensed.  I have found it hard to resist the temptation to restore more of the Apache's original camping features.  I have been experimenting with ways to make use of the trailer in camp, including rigging PVC hoops to support tarp to create protected living space inside but haven't yet gotten close to its full potential or even its original purpose.  Still we have found it VERY useful for tent camping.  Our converted Apache has a clam shell lid that does a surprisingly good job of protecting the contents.  We encountered an unexpected deluge during the first outing we took ours on and escaped with only a few drops inside.  The rain was so heavy there was 1 1/2" of water on the freeway even though we were on a fairly steep hill!   That same rain managed to fill the spare tire well in our supposedly well-sealed SUV!

It is likely you'll begin to find new uses for your trailer each time you take it out.   A trailer can help support a canopy or awning to get you some shade and you might even use the bed of the trailer as a sitting or play area to keep you and the kids up out of the dirt.  But be warned: as you start finding more innovative ways to use your trailer, you'll probably start gravitating toward upgrading to a trailer with even more amenities, like a quality tent trailer or pop-up trailer or perhaps even a camping trailer or a toy hauler.

Sometimes, if you have a hitch receiver on your vehicle, you can use a cargo rack or cargo box that attaches to the hitch receiver.   This may be a viable solution of you only need a small amount of additional carrying capacity and don't want to tow a trailer.  Dragging around a trailer often impacts maneuverability and, in some states like California, subjects you to lower speed limits.  Which is one of my pet peeves.  Traffic shear, the difference between speeds in adjacent lanes of traffic, is well known as a dangerous condition that contributes to accidents.  I find it appalling and irresponsible that governments choose to mandate traffic shear by setting different speeds for different vehicles on the same highway.  At one time a lower speed for over the road trucks and trailers might have made sense, but with modern suspension and braking systems, those restrictions are outdated.  While there was time when the brakes on trucks weren't adequate, a typical modern 18-wheeler has a maximum gross weight of around 80,000 lbs and is equipped with brakes designed to handle 100,000 lbs or more.

Before you figure out how you're going to haul your gear, you need to figure out what you need and how you're going to organize it.  What you have and how you put it all together will help you determine how much room you need to carry it.  Or, conversely, how much room you have may dictate how much stuff you can bring along.   What you need will be determined by where you're going, for how long, and how many people will be in your group.   You will probably need tents and sleeping bags for everyone plus kitchen supplies (pots, pans, dishes, utensils, and cleaning supplies). Unless you can rely on campfire cooking you'll need a camp stove.  Everything should be neatly packaged it either its own stuff sacks (like tents and sleeping bags) or in plastic bins (kitchen stuff, toiletries, clothing, extra bedding).  You often have a kind of "chicken and the egg" problem in choosing bins or tubs for storage.  The size of the bin must be at least big enough to accommodate the largest item you need to put in it, but the size of your bins might also be limited by where you can put it in/on your vehicle.  So, the space you need depends on the amount of stuff you bring and the size of the bins, but how much stuff you bring and the size of your bins may be limited by the space you have.  When space is of concern, and it usually is, take advantage of tools and equipment with multiple functions to reduce how much stuff you have to bring.  Sometimes you need to take advantage of every bit of available space.   You can do things like put small items like spice containers in pots and pans and pad them with dish towels, dish rags, and pot holders.  Mess kits designed for camping usually have pots and pans that nest inside each other, greatly reducing the amount of space needed.  Many times you'll find it more convenient to use moderate sized bags or bins that are easier to load and fit in smaller spaces instead of trying to pile everything into one container.

One word of caution:  don't try to haul too much!  As you create a convenient way to haul your camping gear, there may be a tendency to pack way too much stuff.  Having a place to put it lends itself to the "if you think you might someday need it, bring it along" criteria for choosing what goes in.  While that sometimes works to your advantage, until "someday" comes, you'll be carrying extra weight that will reduce fuel economy and most likely make accessing what you regularly use more tedious and difficult.  The best approach to packing is to carefully select what you use regularly and organize things efficiently so you can get to everything you need when you need it.  Then, if you have room left over without interfering with access to regularly used items, you might carefully and thoughtfully add a few items that might add convenience or functionality to your camping.

As in most camping situations, efficiency and convenience are key bywords.   Careful selection and organization of equipment and supplies together with a convenient way to transport them will ensure a pleasant and enjoyable outing.  You'll want a system that make is easy to load, locate, store, use, and load your equipment and supplies.

Haul away!