How Do You Store Clothes?

We have a raindrop and travel with the sofa in bunk bed position. (Dog gets the lower bunk to sleep and for her space) top bunk is designated for our clothes. I’ve used low profile laundry baskets but find myself pulling the baskets out to find what I need which defeats the purpose of being organized. Does anyone use plastic portable pull out drawers? What do you do in regards to storing your clothes?

 

I use packing cubes. I haven't bothered yet, but I could put luggage tags on them to Id what is shirts vs pants.etc. Since they are mesh, you can usually just eyeball what is what. for two people, you could at a minimum have different colors for the bags. I have a 550, but I would think that on the top bunk if a bumpy road happens and it all tumbles down, the cubes would be easy to toss back up.

You can find packing cubes at Walmart, target, Amazon, etc.

 

I ordered the same, great system I think, yet to be tested but makes good sense!

 

We too have done several nights in packing cubes, shopped from sierratradingpost.com.

It’s worked well! For me, a small for undies & socks, a medium for shirts, and medium/lg for pants, shorts, a spare jacket. Don’t forget the laundry bag!

 

Darn it! Add one more thing to my list!

 

Hello Lynne and Scott,

How long are you on the road for? My wife and I just did ten days in cold weather (4" of snow at the north rim of the Grand Canyon) and fit all our clothes in the cabinets on either side of the AC except for my heavy Mammut (best investment ever), which hangs by the door. I could have used half as many pairs of pants. We use one of the under-matress compartments for our dirty laundry and visited an excellent laundromat at Kodachrome Basin half-way through to refresh.

Cheers,
--Ken

 

Thanks Ken, we will be gone for about as long. I will have to look at those cabinets as an option!

 

Ditto Ken. We have a 550 Ultra (cabinet doors) but no A/C or furnace.

Most of our clothes go in the upper cabinets - you can fit a TON of clothes in those cabinets, especially if you choose light-weight layers. It's all just folded up in piles (I'm no Marie Kondo) so cabinet doors keep the mess contained. Packing cubes (or more compact folding) would probably increase the functional storage space by quite a bit.

Our day-to-day clothes (plus long underwear, fleece jackets, sun shirts, etc) go in the upper cabinet. Smaller items like underclothes, socks, handkerchiefs go in the lower cabinet.

Outerwear (insulated jacket, rain coat/pants, hat & gloves, sun hat) goes in the front storage cabinet. Stuff sacks (or packing cubes) work great to keep things compact and contained. This might be the kind of thing to keep in a bag/bin on the upper bunk - don't need it all the time, but accessible if the weather turns.

We keep enough clothes in the camper for about two weeks - we're a bit dirt-baggy and re-wear our clothes as often as we can so our timeline depends a lot on the weather/humidity. We just plan to do laundry as our clothes/bedding requires. I keep a small bag of Tide pods & a few dryer sheets in the front storage compartment.

 

We like using the packing cubes. I’ve labeled mine and tend to keep them in a certain order. I can find everything quickly. We keep a dirty clothes bag in the car.
I like getting clothes from outdoor stores. Underwear that is quick drying can be washed between laundry stops if needed. Wool socks and shirts insulate when wet, dry quickly, and do not smell even if worn a couple of days. Wool shirts are very comfortable even in desert heat. Convertible pants can be used as shorts or long pants and save room.
We have been out as long as 13 weeks at a time and have plenty of room in the cabin cabinets for all clothes and jackets.

 

We use packing cubes in our duffel bags. They make it easy to find what you want out of the bags and keep it organized. In our 560 Ultra we have used the bunks to have a shelf to put them in, but lately have decided we like the longer bed to sleep in with our 2 dogs. We keep the bags in the car normally if we are using the bed that way.

 

Many ultralight backpackers bring extra clothing on trips that they never wear and end up carrying for no purpose. Doing this has a ripple effect, because it means you need a larger backpack to carry the extra clothing, which is probably going to weigh more.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! We are on day 4 of our trip and I can tell that I packed too many things. I also need to invest in items Betsy and others suggest from outdoor stores. Gosh, a reason to shop? OK! I have all of our clothes in the four bins on either side of the A/c. Small items like undergarments and socks in packing cubes to keep things somewhat organized. I also invested in a plastic shoe hanging garment bag that I cut apart and have two hanging in the hooks next to the doors. So handy- a spot for our glasses at night, flash lights, electronics, tissue, baby wipes, air freshener, first aid kit, bug spray, rook cards, lotion-items easy to grab and toss back in place so we know where things are. Thanks for all the advice. This has been our first real long trip and we are loving it!

 

L&S, the shoe hanging bag sounds like a great idea! Pictures?

 

Thanks for sharing those pics!
We use color-coded packing cubes. One color for tops, one color for bottoms and one color for undergarments. Jackets or rain gear stowed/stuffed on bottom right and electronics/first aid and toiletries on bottom right. My husband rarely camps with me but when he does, he has the right top shelf and I use the left top shelf for the cubes. There is a LOT of storage even in my 500 Special. Quick-dry and wool all the way. I also gave up on sheets. Use sleeping bags with liners. Easier to launder a liner and pillow case than a set of sheets, for me anyway. Dirty laundry in bag stowed in car.

 

I want to get some packing cubes to make organizing our clothes easier. Anyone with a 560 Ultra know which size of cubes will work in the upper cabinets around the AC unit? I could get out my measuring tape, but I would rather be internet lazy if someone already knows the answer.

 

This is what I purchased, seems about right size. I’m happy. Could have done fine with a 3 piece. For the price, the quality is good, zippers are great, see thru mesh...but I would research more or wait for more well traveled members chime in perhaps. I am looking forward to putting mine to the test.

 

It worked out well for us to have things handy!

 

Got it! Thanks for posting the pictures; looks like that works in a 550 as well as a 560 ;-)

 

Yes it should! The clear sleeves help knowing where everything is -instead of having to dig blindly in each one.