duffel bag gear organization - how do you do it.

[vartz04]

alright so i know one thing - i don't think i can run with a drawer unit, and using large hard sided bins won't work either. I need to be able to switch vehicles. I travel all over the Midwest for work so sometimes i take a little adventure in my work car (right now a 2014 ford explorer) and then next summer when the boys are older (they will be 2 and 3) ill be going out with them in my wife's car (2012 Chevy Traverse) while we always could take my work vehicle, that is subject to change so doing any sort of investment that is permanent or vehicle specific is not really worth while as its their car, they can swap it out as they please, and there are always rumors of switching us over to vehicle allowances (which i kind of wish would happen so I could get something i really want) sizing bins that are most efficent in both vehicles just won't work because the cargo areas are so different. So i decided on duffels.

I had a ton of cabelas points on my credit card (from business use :wings so I got one of their Harlan 50L waterproof duffels ( I kayak fish and intend to do some kayak camping so the $160 price tag didn't scare me as ill use it for that) I also bought (2) North face base camp medium duffels, and 1 small. I have a couple other little gear duffels that i use for ratchet straps/tools already too.

so how do you guys sort your stuff? All tent/sleeping stuff in one, clothes in another, ect? or do you do a duffel per a person and then one with just general gear and that persons stuff (sleeping bag, clothes, electronics ect.) all goes in their duffel?

aside from the clothes and food i would like everything else to remain packed so its just grab and go. I plan on using this https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...560753824511981727&ipos=1&bargainStoreId=3164 for my camp kitchen box as I already have it and it offers a lot of organization in a semi rigid platform and i use stove inserts for my coleman roadtrip so i don't need to stove to fit in the box.



thanks in advance for your ideas.

 

[Kerensky97]

I use hardsided totes instead of duffel bags for most of my gear but I group by gear type.
Kitchen, Food, Sleeping Gear, Personal clothes, Misc+Bathroom, Tiedown and hauling gear, Extraction Gear, Cold Weather Gear, Watersports.

Then depending on what the trip requires I can leave or take the tote/duffel I need.

 

[krax]

Hard, uniform, stack-able boxes are a pretty good way to keep your stuff organized in the vehicle, but also at home so you can pack/unpack faster. I personally like Wolf Packs. I like these for kitchen/camp gear and I used them for vehicle-specific items (tools, recovery, etc.) prior to installing drawers. I'm down to two Wolf Packs. One is all cooking gear (minus the stove which doesn't fit into a box) and the other is small camp items (lanterns, TP, etc.)

Our sleep setup is in one large duffel and I like to allot a carry-on-sized bag to each passenger for clothes and personal items. Stole that idea from an Expedition Overland video. This lets us pack our clothes separately without getting in each other's way and keeps the amount of clothing reasonable. Once the tent is up, it's just a matter of moving the bedding bag and the two personal bags into the tent and we're done.

We usually carry food stuff in a canvas shopping tote or two.

 

[krax]

Should this thread be moved to the storage section?

 

[Honu]

we have switched up quite a bit and got into large duffles for the 4 of us a while ago and so far going well we got north face duffels since they seem to be a good bag and heavy enough I wish the thing was all that vinyl like fabric so even easier to keep clean but the full open style zip seems to work well
only suggestion wide opening and easy to keep clean on the outside so more rubbery vinyl as much as can be

downside of course is a duffel so truly waterproof and dirt so I like to keep them inside the rig which IMHO is a fine thing anyway cause if I ever rolled I would rather have a soft inside with me

I have an aluminum box for our kitchen has held up not one plastic bin has lasted and last month the ones I though were good finally cracked ? bummer

my pelican I use for my living doing photo I have used for camping and never had a issue almost think of getting a few of the new ultralight ones BUT the soft

we use the duffels one for each family and all personal stuff goes in along with sleeping bags (in our case hammock insulation) inside we use a mix of luggage bags the small pack cubes from ikea and others we got from ebags so underwear is in one shirts in another etc.. even the helinox chairs for each of us

why this instead of all items in one bag such as said trying it out was kinda like OK who needs pants just two kids wife and I but that was enough when each of us have our own color bag its easy same for insulation to hang on the hammocks so was more for easy if it was just two of us this method might work

overall I love soft bags as they vary on how much we have in them so packing size can vary which is a huge plus

hard stuff I still like for certain things kitchen and other items in a set size hard case for ease of packing back in a spot but our clothes and set things we bring with each of us the bags have worked out awesome

as far as dirt and junk I do not want to strap them to the roof bare since they get to dirty one of those vinyl bags from REI that was cheap fitst 3 easy and keeps em totally dry and clean for long trips or dusty road trips if they have to go on the roof

 

[TwinStick]

Cabela's has many sizes of gear dufflel bags. The XL one fits the 8 man Alaskan Guide Geodesic Dome tent, & extra floor liner with room to spare. The sizes can be had in different colors to help identify what you store inside of them, if that helps you at all ? I like dedicated duffel bags for certain things. The tent & all of it's stakes, rain fly, floor liner, etc , is one of them.