Compact car packing suggestions

[Sandwichman]

I am finally making my way to BRC this year after hearing about it since the mid-ninties. My main question I have has been driving me mad. If I am packing a shade structure, water, a tent, and plenty of other items what is the best way to pack a small car. I am taking my little Kia Spectra just because gas mileage and comfort. I am hoping to build a good sized shade structure the will be sturdy so the parts might be a bit larger. Tents and clothing are easy for me to cram into every square inch of available space but larger items I forsee as a problem so any advice. It will just be me in the car. So all advice is welcome. Thanks

Sammich the one and only

[stuart]

trailer or roof rack

[Chai Guy]

I really advise against the trailer for any compact car. Your little 4 cylinder econo box was not meant to pull a trailer (especially up and over the High Sierra's if you are coming from the west), not to mention it makes driving more dangerous.

So on to the roof rack. There are several "soft racks" available
like these: http://www.orsracksdirect.com/thule-845.html

You can also rent hard top roof rack boxes from Y'all haul and similar comapanies.

To make even more room, you might also want to look at removing your rear seat, (depending on how your car is set up this will also allow you to have longer storage enabling you to load bigger items in the trunk so you can slide them all the way into the back of the front seats). If you don't have a passenger, you can also remove that seat as well for extra storage room.

When packing, try picking up some medium sized rubbermaid type containers that stack well on top of eachother. You will fit alot more stuff in your car if everything is well packed into boxes than if you have a lot of loose items.

Finally, you should get in contact with some larger theme camps in your area, find out if they are going to be renting a truck. Often times theme camps will have extra room on their rented trucks (or shipping containers) and are willing to rent out some space for $ or in exchange a little help in loading and unloading the truck with them.

[Sandwichman]

Some good bits there. I will probably consider renting a roof rack maybe buying one if ecconomical. Thanks

Sammich

[blyslv]

1) Pack very carefully.
2) Consider what you can realistically build from the stuff you carry.
3) There are lots of good folx form the northwest, hook up with some of them.

[ronski]

Hey Sandwichman:

Your situation is pretty much identical to how I approached BM this summer. I understand the desire to have everything fit into the regular vehicle for a solo trip. It is very doable if you plan it right.

The Kia is a 4 dr sedan with a trunk? I drove a Toyota Corolla 4 dr sedan, with no trailer or rack. I was able to bring a Quik-Shade pop-up structure (that just fit into the trunk) as well as a table, chair, cooler, boombox and lots of miscellaneous other stuff. Make sure that everything that possibly can breaks down. If it doesn’t, reengineer it so it does.

You know that stuff in the survival guide about eliminating excess packaging, i.e., taking the cardboard box off the cereal bag? Practice this draconically and you’ll save a lot of space. Ziplock bags are your friends here, small ones & large ones. They also protect your stuff from the playa dust. The rubbermaid containers that Chai Guy mentions are good, but you can’t stuff one into that final nook or cranny like in a flexible bag. Eliminate glass as much as possible in your packaging, ‘cause it’s heavy, rigid, and breaks.

Your difficulties are going to be with the bulky rigid items, like the cooler and the water containers. Mine all just fit in the back seat. The water is the heaviest thing you’ll bring, so you wait until Reno to fill them. I brought two 7 gallon containers for the week and ended up pouring a bunch out on departure. To save space you could use the collapsable water jugs, but this is a tradeoff—kinda nice to have the rigid ones when you’re there. Watch the overall weight; don’t strain the car.

The one thing I regretted not bringing was a bike, which was a concious decision to save weight and space. The playa is at least a couple of miles across, so you can’t see more than a fraction of the stuff strictly on foot. (I also have some lower back problems, and extensive hiking around on the flat, hard surface caused some real excruciating pain a couple of times.) If you bring a bike also bring a cheap lock (unfortunately lots of bikes “disappear”, like during the five minutes you’re in the portapotty) and if you have a rack or a basket on the bike it helps for carry bags of ice from Camp Arctica.

Anyway: plan all your packing. Then before you go make a dry run, with all your stuff loaded AND the water jugs filled. Take a spin into the hills. If your Kia feels alright, you’re good to go.

[Sandwichman]

Cool those are great tips. I think I am going to end up investing in an electric cooler that runs off of the car battery it just seems wise. As for the cardboard I have been reading all the guides religously. I wanted to ask about your shade and what route you chose seeing as you had to pack small. I want to bring something strong enough to hold up to the playa winds but also have it compact enough for packing. I am looking at a 2 room tent to allow for storage in part of the tent. I am very used to desert camping and rain but the wind will be a new part to the equation. Thank you

Sammich

[stuart]

hey chai, other than the dangers inherant in towing, what dif does it make to the 4 banger if the added weight is on top or towed out back?

[Chai Guy]

Well, my main reason for advising against it were the inherent dangers in towing. But most vehicles are capable of carrying more weight in the vehicle (or in this case on top of) than in a trailer being pulled by the vehicle. This has to do with the way the suspension and brakes in the car are designed.


http://www.sherline.com/lmbook.htm#refrn3

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/ ... nt/towing/

[unjonharley]

Sammich Guy, Portland is craweling with burners. Most about half nuts. Only thing I suggest is... ever see a car up side down? If they get to top heavy and catch a cross wind. Like the one that gets VW vans as your coming south into Tumwater Wa. Just be careful with those little cars. I tow 1000lb. with a newer VW van. The wind has give a good scare more than once. The people behind me can kiss it. I'm going to slow down when over loaded.

[ronski]

Great info from Chai Gai about trailers. You seem to have good advice about all sorts of stuff here on eplaya. Like the suggestion about removing the car seats for extra room, a nice simple solution.

Sandwichman:

If you use a roof rack you'll want to avoid too much weight up there so you're not topheavy. As a solo though my concern was anything outside I'd have to keep an eye on during the trip. If it's inside it's locked up when you're at the truck stop. But a rack does increase your space dramatically for clothes and such.

There's all sorts of good advice about the relative merits of shades over at the Structures thread. I liked the popup shelter for its frame, which is pretty strong and quick. Could use a better canopy though. You want something dense that will block sunlight well. A two-room tent is good, but you'll want a shelter tall enough to stand up in.

I haven't had any experience with the electric coolers, but my hunch is that they won't do the trick well enough on the playa to justify the hassle. Regular coolers are pretty good, and I wouldn't mind trying the dry ice approach-- but not if I had to transport it inside the vehicle. Only outside so the CO2 can vent, like in a trailer.

Anyway, if you're an experienced desert camper you should have no problem at BM. I think the best advice I've heard about packing for BM was something like

"take 2/3 as much food as you think
take twice as many beverages (alcoholic and otherwise)
and bring 5 times as many toys and cool stuff".

[unjonharley]

Thermal-coolers are limited to the outside temp. You would be asking a lot of it to cool in the desert. But that is written in the instructions. Just check first.

[Ivy]

I am the goddess of packing a lot of stuff into very small palces (references upon request).

I excel at things exactly like your situation. In fact, in 2001, I totally directed my friend in how to pack all his stuff into his Kia Spectra--tent, shade, food, clothes, cooler, art sculpture AND even bike--inside the car, no roof rack or trailer.

My advice? Start playing a lot of Tetris. It's really the same concept--looking at the shopes of everything and what fits where.

I won't say it's totally easy, but it's entirely possible.

[Sandwichman]

I am a tetris fanatic so this should be fun. I could even sample the music and play it as I pack. Thank you for the help all

Sammich

[Icepack]

I am finally making my way to BRC this year after hearing about it since the mid-ninties. My main question I have has been driving me mad. If I am packing a shade structure, water, a tent, and plenty of other items what is the best way to pack a small car. I am taking my little Kia Spectra just because gas mileage and comfort. I am hoping to build a good sized shade structure the will be sturdy so the parts might be a bit larger. Tents and clothing are easy for me to cram into every square inch of available space but larger items I forsee as a problem so any advice. It will just be me in the car. So all advice is welcome. Thanks

Sammich the one and only

We rented a slightly larger car last year- a Dodge Stratus or something like that. We ended up skimping a little on costumes and clothes, bringing just the minimum we needed. We put a bike rack on the back for our bikes which was a bit cumbersome for accessing the trunk, but worth it I guess. Take things out of boxes. The tents and stakes and poles do not have to be in a box or packed with each other. Try to position the water jugs over the rear axle of the car if you can so that the wheels can take the weight instead of the frame. Use 2 small coolers instead of 1 big one. Fill your clean and empty trash containers with food and stuff, and then unpack it when you arrive. Be prepared to use every square inch of space. When we finally arrived, the larger person was driving and the smaller person was packed in so tight, there was booze and last minute purchases on the floor of the passenger seat, maps, tickets, and water bottles in the lap. Do make sure that your tickets and ID are in a secure but accessible spot. You don't want to arrive at the gate and realize you have to unpack the car to get your ticket. All obvious suggestions I know.

[Quidam]

In addition to playing Tetris until you can see the blocks fall with your eyes shut, I recommend buying too much food for a few weeks and practice on your fridge.

[Badger]

As i understand it most newer cars have rated towing capaciteis which are included in the owner's manual. Smaller econ boxes will often have no rating per the manufacturer. Other's will specifically state it.

Many rentals places - U-Haul is a case - will reference your car model and will ONLY rent to you in accordance with the rated towing capacity of the vehicle.

[Dork]

I tried the cheap cigarette lighter plug coolers, they can barely do anything at normal room temperature so I wouldn't trust them in the sun at 110 degrees. More expensive ones might fare better, but at that point it's probably better to just keep buying ice. Pack only as much as you need for the trip at home, buy the rest in Reno and on the Playa.

Keep the heavy stuff low and in the center of the car, light stuff can go on the roof, hopefully not in any orientation that will catch the wind badly. Coolers go in the back seat, water purchased in reno goes on the floor in front of the passenger seat, clothes and such in the trunk, shade structure and bike on the roof.

The idea of taking out seats is a good one. You'd be amazed how much space you gain by taking out the passenger seat. You get another 20 pounds of cargo space as well.

Go slow, especially on the twisties. When you take corners too fast you're putting a lot of extra weight on the already overloaded outside tires, risking a blowout and/or flip.

If you're unsure about how to properly affix things to the roof of your car, do a test run ahead of time and drive around town to see if it stays in place. Any shifting around means you did something wrong. Long PVC pipes can bounce, as long as they aren't at risk of hitting the ground or your car.

The size of your car is not an issue. One rule of Burningman is that you will take one full car load plus 30% whether you have a vintage Mini or a cargo truck. My first year I took an '85 Sentra (smaller than your Kia) packed to the gills, the two years since I've taken a pickup truck with camper shell, also packed to the gills.

Align yourself with a group if you can so you don't have to deal with all of the shade issues on your own.

[Sandwichman]

As i understand it most newer cars have rated towing capaciteis which are included in the owner's manual. Smaller econ boxes will often have no rating per the manufacturer. Other's will specifically state it.

Many rentals places - U-Haul is a case - will reference your car model and will ONLY rent to you in accordance with the rated towing capacity of the vehicle.

I never thought of that and it is a great idea.

Sammich

[robbidobbs]

1) Pack very carefully.
2) Consider what you can realistically build from the stuff you carry.
3) There are lots of good folx form the northwest, hook up with some of them.

And I'm one of them! We have so far collected a 4 vehicle caravan coming out of Klamath Falls OR...including a full sized school bus (named the Green Pickle).

See the Regionals site for more updated info.



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