It’s easy to pile gear inside the back of your vehicle, but the more gear you need to take with you, the more difficult packing becomes, and shortly you become a puzzle master, finding which piece fits best where!

Packing is a somewhat tedious task and one of the biggest issues people face when packing for a trip away is just how they are going to fit everything in, without causing undue upset to the balance of your 4WD’s suspension or ending up swearing like a sailor ‘til all hours of the night, the night beforehand whilst trying to organize everything in the back of your vehicle.

So here are a handful of tips that can help you with packing your 4WD for your next trip away, for organization, easy access, and quick response during an emergency situation!

MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE

How many times have you gone away, thinking everything was packed only to find out that when you get to camp you’ve left some critical item like the tent pegs, or the gas for your Portable BBQ sitting on the bench in the garage.

By drawing up a detailed list of gear for each type of trip, e.g. 4WDing, Glamping, Touring, Fishing or bushwalking, using a spreadsheet program like Excel, you can print of a bunch of copies, and literally tick off items as you pack them, this way you can ensure that you haven’t missed anything important.

When making your lists don’t forget the most important gear you could need are the things that are essential to life, Food, water, shelter and clothing.

ORGANISATION

By getting your vehicle organized, you can tick a lot of boxes easily with regards to packing faster and more efficiently. By adding a method of keeping structure to your gear packing, you will be able to easily and simply locate and identify exactly where bits of gear are in the back of your 4WD.
There are quite a few ways to begin organizing your gear, the cheapest and easiest is with cheap plastic crates from the hardware store, built to be fairly robust many of these crates are interlocking and provide an easy way to separate gear, that makes packing your vehicle a lot easier.
For people who have experienced using plastic crates, but want to get more organized, you will understand the limitations with stacking plastic crates and the lack of ease with getting gear out when it matters most, not to mention crates bouncing around and cracking and breaking when you hit sections of track that are rough and unpredictable.

To move forward from what can now be seen as a flimsy system, a set of Titan Rear Drawers allow you to easily access even the deepest items packed underneath everything else in a matter of seconds, not to mention the durability of the heavy duty galvinised steel chassis, which with a DIY installation can be bolted down to the floor of your vehicle. The heavy-duty Titan Rear Drawers offer heavy-duty tie down points, and an integrated fridge slide which allows you to quickly and easily remove your fridge from the back of your vehicle and access cold drinks without completely unpacking the rear of your vehicle.

Another upgraded method of keeping your gear more organized is by taking advantage of a full-sized Roof Rack, like those found in the Adventure Kings range, by giving you a secure and stable place to tie down larger bulkier items such as your Adventure Kings Big Daddy Deluxe Swag, you can free up plenty of internal space inside your vehicle, making room for less critical items you might choose to bring camping such as the Adventure Kings Inflatable Standup Paddleboard.

EMERGENCY GEAR

Safety when off-road is critical, and when you are in an emergency situation, your response time can be EVERYTHING. Whether you are responding to a first aid emergency or a recovery situation, being able to access the critical emergency gear, like a first aid kit or your recovery gear at a moment’s notice can make a massive difference. So when packing your 4WD it’s a good idea to keep these things handy and towards the top so when it counts you can access everything quickly.

When getting creative whilst packing it’s wise to take advantage of all of the usable space, being able to stash gear in nooks and crannies and under your seats, coupled with using affordable and easy storage upgrades, more Aussie campers than ever before can afford to get out and explore the great outdoors of Australia without leaving anything important at home!