Basement Overflow

'Lil Guy'

Well-known member
Getting ready to retire and start taking some long journeys in our new rig. I can't help but notice that some people have their basement full to the top with stuff. I would like to keep the weight down if possible at all times. Other than some tools for most jobs, outdoor rug and furniture and cooking items, fishing rods, golf clubs, what else is everybody carrying? Food, clothing, etc is inside of coach. What are you stuffing inside of the basement that I'm missing.
I'm sure I'll run into a few items I should have taken but I'm talking about a completely filled storage area using every inch.
I also carry some items in my truck like my Viair 450, etc. What am I missing?
Thanks in advance.
 
B

BouseBill

Guest
May be some of those folks you see are full-timers?? We store the off season clothing in the storage area in plastic totes, Her CHRISTMAS decorations and other holiday "stuff", my hobby supplies, does not take long to fill the both the main and the forward storage areas when you full time.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
I carry a couple of totes with miscellaneous lubes and sprays, and other junk, an easy up, folding chairs, a couple small tables, bigger folding table, satellite dish and tripod, couple of tool boxes, impact wrench, pin nailer, miscellaneous parts for my sewer hose supports, cat litter, ladder and a whole bunch of other stuff that I will probably never need or use.
Frank, you have the truck to do the job, I say load er' up.

Peace
Dave
 

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
I bet that you are not missing a thing. We have noticed the same thing that you just commented on as well. On one of ours trips this summer I saw a fella pull 2 extra propane tanks out of his basement. They were still underneath his rig unattached when we left. We did a trip to SC this summer and when we came back I was going through our rig and was surprised at how much stuff we didnt use and would not have ever needed. All of that stuff is gone. About the only extra thing we do carry that is not always needed is a couple of camping chairs.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Traveling on short trips vs extended stay vs full-timing have different packing requirements, we have found. When we were using our rig for short trips of a week or less, we never filled the basement up. When we went on longer trips, like a month in the summer, we had more stuff -- more chairs, our outdoor rug, golf-clubs, more tools including a creeper, and it filled up pretty good. Now living in it, it's packed with stuff I would not want to take on a trip (garage type items) -- garden tools, cleaning products for the rig, winterizing prep materials, weed-killer, etc.

Different items for different needs.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
I have about 8 Large Coffee containers painted black with each full of Cat Liter. We do not have a cat but I use them to weigh down our outdoor rug to keep it from blowing. Many parks do not permit you to stake it down. Also fishing gear, small portable ice maker, American flag with flag pole, sewer hoses, water hoses, various connectors, several types of tape, extra caulk and caulking gun, ant poison granules, lawn chairs, outdoor rug, extra ice chest, portable filter and some other stuff I can't remember.
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
Frank, you saw mine and that is about what I always carry. Assorted tools I use when setting up, Tailgater Satellite dish, ice maker, the usual stuff you mentioned, plus a couple of six packs of extra water and a 12 pack emergency ration of beer. When I take generators, I carry them in the truck so I use the generator compartment for all my extra cables/extension cords (I put in hangers), chairs, table, sign, battery charger and extra stuff for special events. I always load my Traeger Pellet Tailgater grill in the basement before we leave. My storage is usually pretty empty once I set up. My batteries are in the generator compartment so I have some unusable space. I just use four storage tubs for the little loose stuff (e.g., water/sewer fittings and spares, small portable vacuum, patio lights, tie downs, cleaning supplies, and other miscellaneous stuff I have found I needed in our travels).
 

whp4262

Well-known member
When I sold our motor home and cleaned out the storage compartments I was a little surprised at the stuff I pulled out. Seems you find stuff you think you will use on a trip so you stick it in the compartment. As it turns out you never do use it and after while you forget about it. In the the mean time you find more neat stuff you think you will use so you stick that stuff in the compartment too. Pretty soon you have a couple thousand pounds of useless stuff. That's when you clean out the rig, have a yard sale and sell the stuff to someone else who will never use it to stick in their storage compartment.


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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
When I sold our motor home and cleaned out the storage compartments I was a little surprised at the stuff I pulled out. Seems you find stuff you think you will use on a trip so you stick it in the compartment. As it turns out you never do use it and after while you forget about it. In the the mean time you find more neat stuff you think you will use so you stick that stuff in the compartment too. Pretty soon you have a couple thousand pounds of useless stuff. That's when you clean out the rig, have a yard sale and sell the stuff to someone else who will never use it to stick in their storage compartment.

Ain't that the truth!

Each time we upgraded trailers (twice now) we found more and more stuff that we didn't need or use, yet we thought we would!

Now I have a pile of stuff in our (house) garage that I don't know what to do with!

And right now our new Prowler is at the dealership getting several warranty issues fixed . . . so I pretty much emptied the basement so they wouldn't have to move stuff out of the way!

Yet one more pile in the garage . . . :p
 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
We're anytimers but spend quite a few nights in our BH (150+ this year and 120+ last year) and go on extended road trips (went to Alaska this year), destination trips, and 3-5 day short trips. For us the camper is always packed ready to go. All we need to do is add some items to the fridge and anything special for the trip like say beach stuff if that's where we're headed.
That said after 3 seasons I've pretty much weeded out what we don't need/use. Each time we've come home we've emptied out or gone through all our stuff inside and out and decided "don't need that"! Did the same thing when we car camped.
Not to say a few times I've had to run to lowes etc for something or wait until we came home to address an item but that's me. I'm kind of OCD about neatness and organization so for me less is good! !! If you've ever gone backpacking or canoe camping you know what I'm saying.


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