How to pack your caravan

Lugging box after box of stuff out to the van isn’t fun but most of us do it with good grace because it’s the prelude to getting away on a great caravanning holiday.

This, you’d think, would be the easiest thing to do of the whole trip - after all, who hasn’t packed a suitcase before?

It’s more involved than that, of course, because you're trying to accomplish two things that you're not when packing a suitcase: you need to get much more gear in the van for the various needs of camping while not overloading it or upsetting towing balance whole doing so.

You’ll also soon appreciate the ability to keep everything quickly squared away in a caravan than when staying in hotels - there simply just isn’t the room to have mess lying around in a van.

First up, there’s some packing and storing items you’ll need. Cloth shopping bags are excellent for moving gear in and out of a van and also containing gear within the van. You’ll need some bags when topping up groceries on your trip too.

For larger items, strong plastic tubs or foldable cloth boxes are ideal. They're not only a contained space in which to load gear, they can hold it all when loaded up in the van. This will also reduce the chance of gear being knocked around in the van’s cupboards when travelling.

If using storage boxes to store gear in the van, measure them and the spaces first, to make sure they fit. A common trap for young players is the tunnel boot - if you’re thinking about fitting tubs in there it’s easy to forget that the tubs have to get through the typically much smaller boot opening first.

Many vans have much larger internal access to such storage areas, but it’s good to have the flexibility to grab the tubs from outside if needed.

You won’t want everything in containers, but most things are subject to being knocked about when towing. So invest in some soft rubber grip matting to fit between plates and bowls, for example, to stop them banging around and breaking.

Other useful storage gear to consider includes hooks (for hanging utensils or clothes) and hanging cloth cupboards (for quick storage of knick-knacks when at camp).

When fitting out your van with equipment such as cooking utensils, where possible buy the lighter, plastic items. Space-saving camping gear such as collapsable bowls and pots aren’t just useful for backpack camping; they're excellent weight- and space-savers in your van too.

This brings us to the next issue in caravan packing - saving weight by not trying to empty every drawer at home and taking it on the trip with you.

Even the biggest van won’t carry everything from home you might think it can. Payload weight adds up very quickly, and most vans have from about 300kg for a smaller single axle van to 400-600kg for a tandem.

You have to ask yourself why you need every possible luxury from home when on a caravanning holiday anyway. You might not be in your 20s living out of a backpack anymore (thus the caravan)  but neither can you expect to have every little thing you’d have on hand at home.

This includes the ‘just in case’ stuff. Two floor jacks (in case one breaks or in case you need to lift both sides of the van) is perhaps a bit over the top. In fact, even taking one floor jack is probably not necessary for most road trips.

It’s not just tools and the like; it can be easy to get carried away with the amount of clothes and food you take. Even though food can be really expensive in outback areas, don’t for example take a month's worth of tinned food. You’re likely to get sick of it well before then and end up bringing most of it back home anyway!

The same applies with clothes; while clothing is relatively light, it can be bulky. Take a week’s worth and allow time to periodically get it washed along the way, rather than wedging every piece of clothing you have into the van.

That doesn’t mean you should scrimp on clothes; take layers so that you can cater for cold snaps. Inland winter temperatures can vary from shorts and t-shirt weather during the day and long sleeves and jumper at night.

Because most caravans have a limited payload (some would argue too limited) if you’re new to the van you should weigh what you’re about to load into it.

Get all your gear packed in their bags or tubs, in the one spot at home. Have a list of what you’ve packed (so you know what you’ve missed) and then weigh it all.

All you need is a set of bathroom scales for most gear. Some items can be placed on the scales directly, others you’ll have to hold and step on the scales, subtracting your weight from the total.

Caravans are not ideally designed for payload balance, but then if they were they would not be practical in any other way. That’s because the heaviest items such as a generator or 20L jerry cans should be fitted above the axles or just ahead of them, right where the dinette or kitchen are located.

Clearly, that isn’t going to work. Most vans have their large and/or ventilated storage at the front of the van.

If you're putting heavy gear like a generator, portable fridge or full jerry cans up front then don’t try to load up other heavy gear towards the front. Get a towball weight scale to check what your actual TBM is - you can easily go over the maximum legal weight with enough heavy stuff loaded up front in the boot and jerry can holders.

Water tanks should be either full or empty (so water isn’t sloshing around, upsetting towing balance). Where possible top up your water tanks before heading off on the next leg of your journey.  That’s not very practical when you’re Outback and water is in short supply, so just be conscious of any changes on the next leg of your journey if water tanks are getting low.

Avoid putting heavy items anywhere behind the axle. For example, don’t fit a toolbox on the back and even a bike rack full of bikes can add 50kg swaying out on the breeze, upsetting towing stability.

Don’t pack heavy gear in high cupboards, leave them for lighter items such as clothing. Many vans have centrally located storage, such as under the kitchen bench and under dinette seats. Heavy foodstuffs like tinned foods and tools should be stored here.

Even though weighing your payload is helpful, it doesn’t give you the full story. The only way you will ever know if your van is legal and well balanced is to get a weighbridge ticket, or else your van professionally weighed.

Get the full weight of the van (Aggregate Trailer Mass, or ATM), its axles-only weight (Gross Trailer Mass) and its towball download mass (TBM). Then compare these to the maximum weights declared on the caravan’s compliance plate (and on the towbar for the vehicle’s  maximum permitted TBM).

If your van is over its legal weight, you’ll have to shed some payload. Don’t forget that payload not only includes the gear you put in the van but also water and gas as well as any accessories not fitted at the factory.