Inside set up/organization?

[mdtundra]

Newb question but how do you guys have your inside set up/organized? I know it’s minimal but any insight would be appreciated!

 

[AWG_Pics]

It boils down to 5 things:
- Gear (for your vehicle, for your camper, for recovery & camping, for safety)
- Food (Do you cook, do you have a good size fridge, do you have snacks & drinks you particularly enjoy, will you be near shopping or in the backcountry)
- Clothing (Do you hike, or swim, or hang out in camp, any particular sport that has specialized clothing)
- Bedding (sleeping bag or sheets and blankets)
- Toys & stuff you don't need but want (Bikes, cameras, kayaks, SUP, climbing gear, ballroom dancing)

It would help us to help you if you could describe what you like to do and what you want to do with your camper.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

One way to organize (and I’m terrible at this) in a popup is to have all the nonessential stuff that Tony mentions above stored in easy to move bags/boxes/cases. When you arrive at a campsite, they immediately move to the cab. Things like tools and recovery gear always stay in the cab.

One of our members simplified/organized everything by making lists of Diamonds and Bricks. The Diamonds often served more than one function, and the Bricks stayed at home on the next trip.

 

[BBZ]

Lots of storage pouches for us..

 

[mdtundra]

Lots of storage pouches for us..

Oh I like the pouches, good idea

 

[mdtundra]

It boils down to 5 things:
- Gear (for your vehicle, for your camper, for recovery & camping, for safety)
- Food (Do you cook, do you have a good size fridge, do you have snacks & drinks you particularly enjoy, will you be near shopping or in the backcountry)
- Clothing (Do you hike, or swim, or hang out in camp, any particular sport that has specialized clothing)
- Bedding (sleeping bag or sheets and blankets)
- Toys & stuff you don't need but want (Bikes, cameras, kayaks, SUP, climbing gear, ballroom dancing)

It would help us to help you if you could describe what you like to do and what you want to do with your camper.

I like what BBZ has posted below with the pouches to organize things, mainly I’ll be doing surfing trips and hiking trips, I’ve done a ton truck camping before sleeping in the bed with my cap but now it’s nice to have more room

 

[Herbie]

We have a Flatbed Hawk, so the storage situation is different (generous storage being one of the reasons we opted for a flatbed), but we have some general organizational tenets that might be helpful:

• I absolutely HATE "The Duffle Shuffle" - the little dance we used to have to do where bags were constantly being relocated from cab to camper or from one end of camper to the other when changing activities or making/breaking camp. I've worked really hard to try to have almost everything have a dedicated place to be stowed where we don't have to constantly shift things around. My wife and daughter constantly frustrate this effort by always having at least one bag of stuff that they suddenly remember needs to be fetched at the last minute, but things are much better than they used to be.
• The only stuff stored under the cabover bed is stuff we're going to access when camping or laying up in one place for a while (extra bedding, sleeping bag for the 3rd camper, pillows, overflow food, beach towels, etc.). I cut down a couple of cardboard boxes to make "trays" that fit the narrow side spaces - this makes it easier to contain/retrieve small items that otherwise tend to migrate up to the corners at the nose of the space.

• Clothing is organized so each family member gets a duffle, and these are stored under one of the dinette seats. We started doing this after we had originally stored clothing under the cabover bed only to run into needing to pop the top to grab all the clothing if we were unexpectedly checking into a motel for the night, etc. (The allure of Laundry and showers is powerful after a week on the road!)
• The other dinette seat is used for all other larger camping items - camp chairs, propane fire pit, hiking gear, etc. I built a little extension to make a cubby for the camp chairs so that they're easy to get in/out without the rest of the stuff in that cavern of storage jamming them in.

• All the cooking pots/pans (hard/heavy) are stored in the drawer under the fridge, except for the backup butane grill/stove we keep in one of the flatbed underbed boxes for outdoor cooking only. The drawer is not super-deep, but smart selection of nesting pots added to the rest of the kit makes this work.
• We use Overland Gear Guy 4WC organizer pouches (that velcro between the camper wall and the thermal pack) for organizing kitchen stuff like utensils, washup kit, and frequently used oils/sauces/spices. This keeps everything convenient to hand when cooking and frees up space in the remaining cabinetry for other stuff. I don't have a good photo of how we have it loaded, but here's a stock image from their site:
• 
• The smaller galley cabinet was very narrow but super deep, so I built a full-extension drawer for that space - this drawer has everything for coffee prep, mugs, and drinkware, and some of the taller containers for stuff like sauces.

• The larger galley cabinet is similarly deep, we use that for the majority of our food items, especially everything bulky like bread, etc. We have a collapsing "tote box" from our local grocery store that makes a semi-hard-side bin with carry handles, etc. that is a perfect fit and makes it easy to load up at home or the store and just slide the whole thing into this cabinet. (Also easy to pull out to find what we need, rather than digging in a deep space.) We also stash paper towels, extra TP, etc. in the corners and crevices here.
• The Flatbeds w/o an Inside shower also get a storage area under the footwell area, which we use for additional items like canned goods and other overflow items

• And lastly, since our unit was built without the cassette toilet, that cabinet is split into a lower cabinet (in which we store a porta potti, cabinet modified so we can slide it straight out), and a shallow upper cabinet which houses frequently used food/cooking supplies etc. (You can just catch a corner of this in the 2nd photo above)
• Our flatbed has four underbed boxes
  • As mentioned above, one has the outdoor cook kit with grill/burner, etc.
  • One houses the mounted on-board air compressor, air hose, the tire-service/patch kit, and some miscellaneous camping stuff like a bag of stakes/guy lines for the awning since it's convenient on the curbside.
  • One houses all my recovery equipment
  • One houses all my "last things to get stowed before we roll" dirty gear which includes the levelling blocks, grey-water drain hose and collapsible container, etc. since it is convenient on the street side.

 

[CPT Davenport]

I feel you will find many different answers to your question. It truly is based on you and your specifics needs and wants, as AWG-pics mentioned. When I first got my camper, I had everything under the sun packed in there! After every trip, I found my self removing certain things and then adding a few here and there. We do like the rig to be "camp ready" at any moment. All of our essentials have found a home even in the limited storage space available. All we need is to add food, beer and clothes when we head out. I prefer having my cloths in the cab of the truck. We each have a quality hiking pack mounted to the back of our seats. This is great for long overnight hikes. Also if we stay at a hotel or with friends, we can just grab the pack and move in I took out the rear seat in my Chevy and store recovery gear, floatys for the lake, fishing poles and even two Oru Kayaks.

Just get out and use your rig, and you will get the answers you seek.

 

[AWG_Pics]

All we need is to add food, beer and clothes when we head out.

Just get out and use your rig, and you will get the answers you seek.

Wait! What? No single malt scotch?

Your last sentence is the best advice.

 

[Herbie]

Wait! What? No single malt scotch?

Your last sentence is the best advice.

He said food. Good Scotch is a food group all by itself!

But agreed - Best advice is use your rig!

While you're out having fun, keep a list of the things that feel cumbersome or drain your energy - those are your opportunities to make improvements. I keep a running Google Keep list in my phone called "Truck Projects" and at least once a trip I'll end up adding something like "The duffle I need is always on bottom - build organizer for dinette seat?" or "Add 2nd set reading glasses to truck cab".

 

[Smokecreek1]

The basic idea is everyone has different goals, ideas of what is fun or not, or as has been mentioned -is what your definition of comfort is, or put another way do you want to rough it or just kick back, eat good, be warm and enjoy that beer and watch the world go by from your nice comfortable chair in the high desert. Since you surf and hike now, you are already learning what you need to know to survive to be able to enjoy the next trip out. I'm 80 now, and I have spent most of those years working (the BLM (retired), and playing (camping, hiking, car and truck camping , backpacking) in the back county and throw in a hitch in the Army and I still am alive and kicking. I am probably more lucky than smart to make it this long, and hope for a few more years to play! What I took from all that -situational awareness- never ever do anything without understanding about what you are planning to do first and, just in case, if things go wrong, being prepared for whatever happens-both good and bad!

Getting a pop-up just increases the opportunities for more fun and trouble. If you break down out there in the back country or break your leg or run into that grizzly bear that wants to eat you or what ever, what you have with you in both experience and gear will determine whether you come back or not. As you get older (or wiser), all these things you carry change. When I retired and bought my Four Wheel pop-up--- boy did my ideas change. After 20 years of having my pop-up, I don't need all that survival and off road stuff I used to carry because I do different things for fun now- but what I do carry will hopefully get me out. Less gear, more fun stuff (maps, & more maps, a GPS and lot's of books to read) but if that fails and I need help, a Spot 10 to call and have someone to come a get me (it costs me $ but that is okay by me)! Use this site (and others like it) for help, lots of good info here-for example, a few months ago we had a great discussion here on whether or not you should get a hot water heater-check it out ! Is it a must or something you can live without. I talked to much-have fun learning to enjoy life,

Smoke

 

[mdtundra]

The basic idea is everyone has different goals, ideas of what is fun or not, or as has been mentioned -is what your definition of comfort is, or put another way do you want to rough it or just kick back, eat good, be warm and enjoy that beer and watch the world go by from your nice comfortable chair in the high desert. Since you surf and hike now, you are already learning what you need to know to survive to be able to enjoy the next trip out. I'm 80 now, and I have spent most of those years working (the BLM (retired), and playing (camping, hiking, car and truck camping , backpacking) in the back county and throw in a hitch in the Army and I still am alive and kicking. I am probably more lucky than smart to make it this long, and hope for a few more years to play! What I took from all that -situational awareness- never ever do anything without understanding about what you are planning to do first and, just in case, if things go wrong, being prepared for whatever happens-both good and bad!

Getting a pop-up just increases the opportunities for more fun and trouble. If you break down out there in the back country or break your leg or run into that grizzly bear that wants to eat you or what ever, what you have with you in both experience and gear will determine whether you come back or not. As you get older (or wiser), all these things you carry change. When I retired and bought my Four Wheel pop-up--- boy did my ideas change. After 20 years of having my pop-up, I don't need all that survival and off road stuff I used to carry because I do different things for fun now- but what I do carry will hopefully get me out. Less gear, more fun stuff (maps, & more maps, a GPS and lot's of books to read) but if that fails and I need help, a Spot 10 to call and have someone to come a get me (it costs me $ but that is okay by me)! Use this site (and others like it) for help, lots of good info here-for example, a few months ago we had a great discussion here on whether or not you should get a hot water heater-check it out ! Is it a must or something you can live without. I talked to much-have fun learning to enjoy life,

Smoke

Smoke, I appreciate all the insight and words of wisdom, keep charging it!

 

[Wyo4Life]

There is always room for a 5th of single malt in any camper!
I will be picking up my new Hawk in a couple of weeks. Wh re n we sold our Northern Lite (another fantastic camper if you want a hard side) we put everything in bins when we unloaded it.
I am going through those bins now and figuring out what I want to put in the FWC. It has been fun and I am not going to have near as much in the FWC.
As others have said, use your camper and you will figure out what you really need and don’t need. I am sure some of what I have put in the pile to go into the FWC will come back out at some point as well.
Now, go explore!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

There is always room for a 5th of single malt in any camper!
<snip>
Now, go explore!

Fifth? You’re showing your age, 5ths have been gone for quite a while.

An old geologist pal nearly had a coronary when they dropped down to 750ml and simultaneously reduced proof of his favorite bourbon to 80 proof. He brought it back to 86 by adding everclear.

FWIW, I miss the fifths, too.

 

[Wyo4Life]

Fifth? You’re showing your age, 5ths have been gone for quite a while.

An old geologist pal nearly had a coronary when they dropped down to 750ml and simultaneously reduced proof of his favorite bourbon to 80 proof. He brought it back to 86 by adding everclear.

FWIW, I miss the fifths, too.

LOL, yes, I guess I am showing my age in that one!