Beach storing/packing tips

[Perfectos]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, and double sorry if it has already been mentioned, but...
What do people store on top of the rear wheel arches (inside the boot)?
Up to now, I’ve been stuffing small things like groundsheets and gas canisters here, but they slide off rather annoyingly during unpacking/shuffling. Could this be solved by a soft box, Velcro-taped underneath, perhaps? Or a thin board, to create a wall between the multiflex legs and the space above the wheel arch?

Shoes and things that you can stuff into the spaces that you won’t need until at site.

 

[kave]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, and double sorry if it has already been mentioned, but...
What do people store on top of the rear wheel arches (inside the boot)?
Up to now, I’ve been stuffing small things like groundsheets and gas canisters here, but they slide off rather annoyingly during unpacking/shuffling. Could this be solved by a soft box, Velcro-taped underneath, perhaps? Or a thin board, to create a wall between the multiflex legs and the space above the wheel arch?

I have built myself a shelf in front of the mft table which can be there when we lower the sofa for a bed. Then I have thin masonite boards, about 40x40cm on the side of the mft table. On the sides we store two Sunset chairs and extra shoes. On the side of the table inside the masonite we store a big roll of house hold paper for easy reach when cooking as well as folded bags etc.

 

[Amarillo]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, and double sorry if it has already been mentioned, but...
What do people store on top of the rear wheel arches (inside the boot)?
Up to now, I’ve been stuffing small things like groundsheets and gas canisters here, but they slide off rather annoyingly during unpacking/shuffling. Could this be solved by a soft box, Velcro-taped underneath, perhaps? Or a thin board, to create a wall between the multiflex legs and the space above the wheel arch?

With the three seat bench on the rails in position for lowering into the bed, I have made two large plywood crates which stow between the multiflex legs and bench back, and at the same height as the wheel arches. This will allow the bed to be lowered without removing the crates.

On top of the wheel arches and across the whole boot, resting on the plywood crates, level with the top of the multiflex, I have made two large plywood trays, about 18cm deep. In these go shoes, walking boots lying down, or wellies lying down.

These trays need to be removed to lower the bed, but are shallow enough to slide under the van.

Before I made the trays, we had IKEA Skubb shoe boxes (22x34x16cm) sitting on the two wheel arches. One contained wooden railway pieces, and I can’t recall what we stuffed in the other.

 

[Bramco]

Bramco's very neat window shelf - is it a DIY job or something you can buy? I've done a bit of searching and I can't find anything similar.

Bit late in seeing this but I did post about what thickness of double walled plastic you need. If you search on side tables for the Beach, you should be able to find all the posts on the topic - there are lots of solutions.

I think someone else has posted about the idea behind ours, I posted about the material we'd used.

 

[Bramco]

What do people store on top of the rear wheel arches (inside the boot)?

Long things that don't fit in the crats we use. They need to be long enough to rest against both othe legs and then they don't fall down.

Perfect example - the tripod for a bog-in-a-bag.... Or maybe the posts for a wind break.

Simon

 

[jimmywease]

With the three seat bench on the rails in position for lowering into the bed, I have made two large plywood crates which stow between the multiflex legs and bench back, and at the same height as the wheel arches. This will allow the bed to be lowered without removing the crates.

On top of the wheel arches and across the whole boot, resting on the plywood crates, level with the top of the multiflex, I have made two large plywood trays, about 18cm deep. In these go shoes, walking boots lying down, or wellies lying down.

These trays need to be removed to lower the bed, but are shallow enough to slide under the van.

Before I made the trays, we had IKEA Skubb shoe boxes (22x34x16cm) sitting on the two wheel arches. One contained wooden railway pieces, and I can’t recall what we stuffed in the other.

Got it. Perfect, thanks.

SKUBB dark grey, Shoe box - IKEA

SKUBB dark grey, Shoe box. You can look through the mesh to see what shoes are inside the box. Easy to open and close the window as the shoe box has a hook and loop fastener. All four boxes fit side by side in a 100 cm wide wardrobe frame. When you don’t need the box and want to save space...

www.ikea.com

 

[Perfectos]

Long things that don't fit in the crats we use. They need to be long enough to rest against both othe legs and then they don't fall down.

Perfect example - the tripod for a bog-in-a-bag.... Or maybe the posts for a wind break.

Simon

Long items such as wind break (size dependant) fit perfectly at the rear of a three seater rear bench ( the seat back is angled & offers an opportunity to fit stuff in at the base filling a potential void)

 

[jimmywease]

Got it. Perfect, thanks.

SKUBB dark grey, Shoe box - IKEA

SKUBB dark grey, Shoe box. You can look through the mesh to see what shoes are inside the box. Easy to open and close the window as the shoe box has a hook and loop fastener. All four boxes fit side by side in a 100 cm wide wardrobe frame. When you don’t need the box and want to save space...

www.ikea.com

Errm... have I got the wrong size scab, or were we talking cross-purposes @Amarillo ? I can’t really get these to fit...

 

[Amarillo]

Errm... have I got the wrong size scab, or were we talking cross-purposes @Amarillo ? I can’t really get these to fit...

View attachment 83240

View attachment 83241

That is the area behind the wheel arches, not the area above the wheel arches.

 

[jimmywease]

That is the area behind the wheel arches, not the area above the wheel arches.

I see. Cross-purposes then. You meant here, yes?

 

[Brodger3]

Read through this thread with interest. Did not see the biggest tip from when using my Caravelle to sleep in (soon to be Beach owner for first time).

It is not the space in the boot that is the limiter - it is the available awkward spaces when sleeping.

Until you have a firm packing plan follow these steps

Pack the van with the three seat bed set-up.

Put things were they belong when you are sleeping. Front seats. Driver and passanger footwells. The little tunnel under the front of the bed between middle seats (7 seater).

The sliding door step - Vanessa bags are great down there. I now have 4 for windows and steps.

Velcro hoops for the hand grabs to hang things up.

Brandrup back seat pockets for driver and passanger seats.

Find suitable bags/boxes for the stuff and spaces your using. Label or colour code for communication when not packing alone.

Put the sleeping things on top of the bed.

When you have everything where it should be when sleeping it is then time to re-pack for travelling.

Put the bench back up and re-pack.

It may seem like a lot of effort but it a lesson well learnt by me. Parking up in the rain and finding I have packed to much awkward stuff to get the bed down. Then another time, again in the dark and rain, having to shuffle everything around to get it in its overnight space without being able to do it from outside.

 

[Borris]

Read through this thread with interest. Did not see the biggest tip from when using my Caravelle to sleep in (soon to be Beach owner for first time).

It is not the space in the boot that is the limiter - it is the available awkward spaces when sleeping.

Until you have a firm packing plan follow these steps

Pack the van with the three seat bed set-up.

Put things were they belong when you are sleeping. Front seats. Driver and passanger footwells. The little tunnel under the front of the bed between middle seats (7 seater).

The sliding door step - Vanessa bags are great down there. I now have 4 for windows and steps.

Velcro hoops for the hand grabs to hang things up.

Brandrup back seat pockets for driver and passanger seats.

Find suitable bags/boxes for the stuff and spaces your using. Label or colour code for communication when not packing alone.

Put the sleeping things on top of the bed.

When you have everything where it should be when sleeping it is then time to re-pack for travelling.

Put the bench back up and re-pack.

It may seem like a lot of effort but it a lesson well learnt by me. Parking up in the rain and finding I have packed to much awkward stuff to get the bed down. Then another time, again in the dark and rain, having to shuffle everything around to get it in its overnight space without being able to do it from outside.

We go one stage further. We have a three seater rear bench Beach, also a seven seater although the two extra seats only get fitted when required. When there is just the two of us touring, which is the case most of the time, we make up the rear bed and leave it in place. The kitchen and fridge etc is located on a slide out in the boot and our clothes etc are kept in the Vanessa window bags. When we stop we merely swivel the front seats and pop the top and hey presto, a massive bed which you can put you feet up on when sitting in the front seats. Very easy and very comfortable. There's even room for the Thetford WC under it's cover.