638RS

638RS

Well Known Member
How does one pack a RV for two people for a three-week trip? In addition to clothes, etc. are you carrying a tool kit and small parts?

I?m sure there are a lot of tricks to be learned from the group on how to pack a RV for an extended trip, yet a search of the forums turned up very little.
 
Very Carefully

1) Think light.
Samples size bottles of shampoo and pit-stop go a long way.

2) Get the wife to think light. How many pairs of shoes does she really need!

3) Don't bring anything you don't need. This takes some time to figure out but after a couple of trips you finally figure out what you used and did not use. If you didn't use something leave it home the next time.

4) Jeans and shorts can be worn for more than one day. Undies for 5:D Just kidding. Bring at least 5 days of underwear as washers are far and few between. Pack a small amount of laundry soap so you can wash undies and shirts in hotel room sinks.

6) My tool bag weighs in at 11lbs and is stowed forward of the wing spar in front of the fuel valve. I have a 6A so you mileage may vary. Stow heavy items right behind the seats or on the floor under your legs. I'm always amazed at how much stuff we can squirrel away in the nooks and crannys.

7) If were going to OSH the tent and bedding weigh quite a bit so we leave the MacBook home and take the I-touch instead. It carries tunes too!

8) If your traveling with a RV-10 bum a ride for some of your stuff if your overloaded.

9) RV's fly like pigs when heavely loaded.:eek:
 
Funny, I was going to say "very carefully" too.

I have learned that the more time you take to pack, the less stuff you bring along. Spend some time asking yourself, "Do I really need that?" Remember too, if you are going to the likes of Oshkosh, you aren't traveling to some third world country, there are places to buy the one thing you forgot.

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

"Why explore now? Because someday you'll run out of somedays."
 
What we take on our trips

zilik said:
1) Think light. Samples size bottles of shampoo and pit-stop go a long way.

2) Get the wife to think light. How many pairs of shoes does she really need!

3) Don't bring anything you don't need. This takes some time to figure out but after a couple of trips you finally figure out what you used and did not use. If you didn't use something leave it home the next time.

4) Jeans and shorts can be worn for more than one day. Undies for 5:D Just kidding. Bring at least 5 days of underwear as washers are far and few between. Pack a small amount of laundry soap so you can wash undies and shirts in hotel room sinks.

6) My tool bag weighs in at 11lbs and is stowed forward of the wing spar in front of the fuel valve. I have a 6A so you mileage may vary. Stow heavy items right behind the seats or on the floor under your legs. I'm always amazed at how much stuff we can squirrel away in the nooks and crannys.

7) If were going to OSH the tent and bedding weigh quite a bit so we leave the MacBook home and take the I-touch instead. It carries tunes too!

8) If your traveling with a RV-10 bum a ride for some of your stuff if you're overloaded.

9) RV's fly like pigs when heavely loaded.:eek:
Click to expand...

What Gary said plus;

10) If going to fly-ins, you can count on buying shirts at the show. I brought 2 polos and 2 Ts to the Cayman Islands knowing I'd buy one of each at SnF and also on the island.

11) I'm a big fan of these 2.5lb lightweight chairs found here.

12) For the foreign country trips: An 18-pack of your favorite soda fits well behind each seat. For side by side RVs that do not have the battery in the cockpit area, I could imagine putting LOTs of things (food items or a 24-pack of soda) in the 'tunnel' between the front spar and firewall for the side by side planes :) I carried a big can of Planters mixed nuts there. Gary is absolutely correct about the nooks and crannys!

13) I always bring an empty 24" poster tube for anything I don't want getting mashed or crinkled.

14) I have carpet in the baggage area, and I put lots of flat stuff under it also so it doesn't get mashed. I just brought home a Cayman Islands license plate and 'Astronaut Crossing' sign home on this trip. You will always find my insurance papers, weight & balance and prop cards under the carpet.

15) Peanut butter-filled pretzels and Jerky last for weeks if kept in a zip lock bag (or Tupperware ;-) Hard candies also last & last.

16) Oxygen when used with an oximeter is always good to have onboard.

17) A pair of those cheap, paper painter's overalls for those times when you gotta wrench on the plane and you got your good clothes on ;)

18) Handheld GPS and radio (with headset adapter), AA/AAA batteries, (2) ball caps, (2) brimmed hats, suntan lotion and chapstick are in the plane 100% of the time. For round gauge planes, a failed instrument cover.

19) I now carry a spare headset on the long cross country trips since it's no fun flying with a broken ear piece.

20) Hide a blank check (or two) somewhere in the plane, no kidding.

I'll add more to the list later but these things came to mind quickly.

Here are a few pics of how much stuff we can safely pack away in our RV-6A. Your mileage (CG) will vary!

Luggage03.jpg


Luggage01.jpg


Luggage02.jpg


And for those of you doing the math in your head: When I built my plane, I beefed up the luggage floor significantly more than what the plans called for.

Keep poundin' them rivets: It's all worth it! :D Rosie
 
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Please note in the above photos that everything is in a SOFT sided bag. That helps when packing. It is possible to use a small suitcase on wheels as one or two of the bags for help in moving your STUFF for when you say in the DORMS at Oshkosh AirVenture.

Two people in my RV-6 flew with 137 pounds of baggage including shotgun and survival food flew to Alaska in 2001. Over 37 pounds of that was FORWARD of the SPAR as Gary Zilk says above.

Do your best to get the lightest suff for travel and only take what you think you really MUST have.
 
Three Week Trip in an RV?

That seems awefully long for a fast RV. For a trip of that length I think you should plan on roughing it a bit - wear clothes longer than normal - Levis are good until they stand up by them selves. Underwear is small and light but plan on washing for a trip of that length. If you are visiting friends or relatives you can probably use their laundry facilities, motels often have laundry facilities and coin laundrys are options. We have washed underwear in sinks in Greece, Russia, China ... you improvise as you need to to solve the clothes problem. It is not necessary to carry tools - I do when lightly loaded but I have bought beach towels/bath sheets for a work surface and specifically needed tools at local stores while traveling to solve maintenance problems. You need a camera, your flight bag of charts etc. tiedown ropes and that's it. Fill the rest of the baggage area with fringe items like extra clothes (second pair of Levis) snacks, etc. Our US trips are never more than two weeks but if we were taking our RV-6A on a three week trip we would just skew the load a little more in favor of clothes and go. If a problem comes up it is doubtful that you will anticipate it (like a brake failure) in such a way that you can deal with it completely on your own out of your baggage compartment.

Bob Axsom
 
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PIGS????????????

Sam Buchanan said:
I concur! :)

Check the CG carefully.....
Click to expand...

Sam:

I beg to differ on this issue. This may be true for the side by side models.

My 200hp RV-8 fully loaded with the fore and aft baggage weights properly adjusted, flies very well. In fact with a "little" aft CG gets me a couple of knots more speed :D, and three point lands much better!

I find that most posts here are for the side by side models (which are in the majority), but one size fits all here doesn't always apply.;)!!!!!!!!!!
 
One thing I learned traveling via motorcycle is how to pack small and light! Many of the points have been hit: 5 pairs of socks and undies, 2 pants and 1 pairs of shorts (or vice/versa depending on weather), and 3-5 shirts will get you by indefinitely. There is always a store or wallmart nearby to purchase stuff at so unless you are going to a secluded area, no need to carry weeks worth of toiletrys, clothes, food, etc. One thing when traveling, is you usualy end up buying stuff...make sure you have room to bring it back! One trick I like is to save up old tshirts and undies that have reached the end of their lives and use them on trips. When they are dirty, throw them away on the last days of your trip!
 
Someone else pointed out the utility of soft sided bags. I take that a step farther by using extremely lightweight soft sided bags. REI has "stow" duffle bags that probably weigh 1/2 pound each. They are perfectly sized to fit through the gap between the slider and the seats on my airplane. I figure each one of them I use instead of a conventional duffle saves me a pound or two.

I also have lightweight stuff sacks for bed linens, etc. when I'm air camping. Again, much lighter than a conventional duffle bag.

The ultimate lightweight bag is a simple draw top garbage bag. Not pretty, but essentially weightless if you're trying to cut out that last pound or two.
 
zilik said:
1) Think light.
...
7) If were going to OSH the tent and bedding weigh quite a bit so we leave the MacBook home and take the I-touch instead. It carries tunes too!
Click to expand...
Paul is the king of RV travel.

Your bedding and tent do not have to weigh a lot.

My two person tent is only 3 lbs 14 oz. I use Tyvek for a ground cloth as it is very light.

For a mattress, I use a Z rest which are thin and light and don't pop! (They may be a bit thin for most.) I couldn't find the weight but they are less than a pound (14 oz).

My sleeping bag of choice depends on the weather. I have six or so plus two fleece bag liners. For summer camping I have some cheep rectangular bags I found at Target that are good down to 30 degrees. In the winter, I use one of my mummy bags.

You can find these items at www.campmor.com or www.rei.com.

For clothing I recommend a visit to Target where you can get the bags below for $15. They are light and don't have snaps, buckles, wheels, etc. that add weight and fit under the roll bar in our planes.

41piKN-RopL._AA262_.jpg
 
Lightweight undies too...

....Take very little space...the silky kind for men and the ladies...no heavy K-Mart stuff.

From scuba trips we learned to roll every piece of clothing tight. Shorts are folded double, then starting at the cuff end roll it up into a sausage that's tight....same for the shirts....amazingly small.

We also added a couple of storage spaces under the baggage floorboards with hinged covers for a couple quarts of oil, tools, a handgun (sometimes, Stateside). Between those floor ribs is a lot of useable space.

Regards,
 
Kyle Boatright said:
The ultimate lightweight bag is a simple draw top garbage bag. Not pretty, but essentially weightless if you're trying to cut out that last pound or two.
Click to expand...

And waterproof!... Use the heavy-duty yard bags or drum liners.

Packing an RV is similar in both weight and space available as a 16 foot canoe. The RV is much faster and reasonably drier:D
 
travel tool

Just after reading Gary and Rosie's list I stumbled upon this in my Popular Mechanics mag.

Kobalt SpeedFit system takes advantage of the fact that many tools consists of similar handles with different bits, blades, jaws or sockets. "It's a handle, chuck and bit system that transforms into whatever hand tool the situation requires."

Looks like this might be a good way to make a light weight tool kit for travel.

Ken
 
Flying like a pig?

mannanj said:
Sam:

I beg to differ on this issue. This may be true for the side by side models.

My 200hp RV-8 fully loaded with the fore and aft baggage weights properly adjusted, flies very well. In fact with a "little" aft CG gets me a couple of knots more speed :D, and three point lands much better!

I find that most posts here are for the side by side models (which are in the majority), but one size fits all here doesn't always apply.;)!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

In Arkansas "flying like a pig" is not a bad thing. I have only lived here 5 years but it is hard to escape "Whooo Pig ... RAZORBACKS".

Bob Axsom
 
Bob Axsom said:
In Arkansas "flying like a pig" is not a bad thing. I have only lived here 5 years but it is hard to escape "Whooo Pig ... RAZORBACKS".

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

Yep, the porcine quotient is a very subjective parameter. ;)

An RV "flying like a pig" is still probably better than a C172 flying like a panther (!?!) but when we stuff 800 lbs into any two-place RV, the flight characteristics are definitely going to be degraded.
 
Laundry

I used to bring quick-drying outfits and do laundry in the sink. Our local Walmart sells little packets of Tide laundry detergent that are sized and formulated for the sink. This cuts down on the amount of clothing you need during a long trip.

If you lug around an old-school laptop, take a look at the ACER Aspire One. My buddy displays approach charts on it and checks his E-mail while he's away. It's tiny, lightweight and very affordable.

If you need to save even more weight and space, you can always visit a store with camping stuff. Just about any item we need for our trips are available to backpackers in more portable sizes. I can fit everything I need to travel indefinitely in one backpack.

Of course... I currently fly an RV-10 with a cargo pod so I've turned into a heavy packer. I rarely fly anywhere without my 225cc motorcycle... and a couple model airplanes... and sometimes a surf board or mountain bikes... and the occassional 2x4's and such. :)

IMG_4625small.jpg
Stucks.jpg
 
Spouse Packing

Over gross is one thing - out of CG is another. Getting out in front of the packing helps when planning a long. A few days before the trip we use the spare room to put everything out we plan on taking along. Then we make 3 passes over what we have out asking, do we really need this? Both have equal say in this call, but your relationship may vary. We weigh everything and call it good to go. Once that process is complete we generally have room to spare. As stated before softsided/duffle bags are a must, and you have to have a tool bag when the O ring fails on the breaks. Ask me how I know? But if weight really is the issue and you can't get it at your destination (a fine bottle of port) FedEx ships just about everywhere.

Jailbird
N515CW RV6
S50 890 hrs
 
Eagle Creek

Sherri discovered and purchased luggage by Eagle Creek to use when we travel. Basically you roll your clothes or fold them around a board and you can fit boat loads into a bag that looks like it should have a small laptop computer inside. Our clothes are not wrinkled when we take them out to wear and the luggage is basically magic. We are always careful to have overnight bags that are light and stocked with everything that we need to stay in hotels when we travel so that we don't have to unload the plane. The luggage that is packed to get us thru the stay at our destination is unloaded at the destination. Another trick that we learned from the Rosales and the Ziliks is to take clothes that are throw aways so that instead of getting heavier for the trip home the baggage area is lighter and there is more room for the treasures that you buy on the trip. This is a good way to clean out your drawers of all your old drawers. :rolleyes: One of the best items that we take is a Melita single cup coffee maker that you sit on top of a coffee cup with a filter inside it along with some freshly ground coffee of choice. Hot water from the microwave in the hotel room and a steaming cup of good coffee is ready to be enjoyed. Coffee, filters, and the plastic dohinky weigh almost nothing but make the trip so much better.
 
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