Keeping Supplies in Pop Up When Stored

[FancyJ]

Just used our new 2003 Starcraft 1404 for the first time this past weekend for a one night test run. Absolutely loved it--can hardly wait to use it again for our annual family camping trip.
Can I store various camping items in the tent trailer all year (i.e., lanterns (minus batteries), pots, pans, dishes, etc.)? I assume that I should not store rugs, bedding, pillows, towels, etc., things that could get bugs in them.

 

[JayAmyJamy]

We store ALL that stuff in there. We use space saver bags for the bedding. The kitchen supplies go in the drawers. Playstuff, chairs, rugs, microwave, stuff, and things.

Batteries stay in the house though. You never know when you'll need exactly 22 D-cell batteries.

 

[Flyfisherman]

My 1706 Starcraft has the same floor plan as your 1404 ~

I keep the bedding in the rear center storage compartment (under the seat) stored in clear 11 gal garbage bags. On the road side rear compartment I installed an outside access door so I can get to the main electrical power cord, Coleman lantern, wheel chocks, roof crank, ect.,ect.

The only thing I do not store in the camper during the season is any kind of perishable food stuffs, packaged or otherwise ... canned goods are O.K.

 

[mschepac]

We keep all of it stored in there, really the only thing we pull out is perishable food.
ms

 

[Big Dawg]

We keep everything we need in ours. That way, when we are ready to go, all we need to do is grab clothes and food and head out. At the end of the season we take out any food items that we can use over the winter months. Thats the best part of having a popup/camper.

 

[Hawkester]

During camping season we keep all we can inside, minus perishable food. Because we live in an area that freezes in the winter, we remove anything that may freeze and explode such as canned goods when we winterize.

That's one reason we bought the pup, less work to get ready , as we seem to be spontaneous for our last minute get aways to local campgrounds, it's like our emergency response wagon, bad week? lets go camping!

 

[Grim54]

During the camping season we keep everything in the pup except food stuffs. The bedding is stored under the dinette. The fake grass is rolled up with my home made awning and stored in the center isle with the garbage can (empty and clean of course). Dishes, silverware are in the cabinets around and under the sink, and lanterns, radio, pots and pans are in the cabinet across from the sink. That way all that I need to add is food, the DW and the dog, not necessarally in that order.

 

[wardog]

Us too. Most everything stored in the pup. No food of any kind left in pup. Clean bedding and towels all stored for the winter in pup. About the only thing we don't store in the pup are our chairs and EZup because we used that stuff with the kids activities.

 

[Mr. Bill]

Like everyone else. Keep as much as you feel comfortable in the PUP. We keep bedding, pots, pans, laterns (during the season), etc. Basically we only want to have to pack the minimum when we get ready to go (food, clothes).

 

[Davylee]

Same deal, everything stays in during the summer except food, during the winter the food is out as well as mouse nest material. The only other thing we take out during winter is the lanterns we use in the house for those "no power" winter storms.

 

[barb_dave]

Same here. We have dishes and other assorted camping stuff that is kept in the camper all the time. We keep the blankets in totes which also stay in the camper year round (except when we wash them).

As for food stuff, we stock the camper at the beginnning of the camping season (except for parishables) and remove anything left prior to closing up for the winter.

 

[Yooperwannabe]

Ditto that. Everything stays in the pup except for perishable foods. Bedding, cast iron and non perishable foods come out after our last trip of the season and all else spends the winter in the pup.

 

[RhinoDave]

Everything except food, clothing and toiletries is kept in the PUP. I remove bedding, towels, and liquids(soaps, cleaners etc.) when winterized.

 

[FancyJ]

Thanks for all of your replies. I LOVE my PUP more and more each day (first one) and am really looking forward to more leisure camping trips this summer. What a difference between a PUP and tent camping which was OK when the kids were little and I was younger, but now it takes too long to get up and out of bed. LOVE my PUP

 

[tsc]

Like everyone else, everything but perishables are left in the pup. We also have a small stash of canned goods inside the pup too. Realistically, we could hook up the pup and take off for 3 days without stocking anything (except water).

Sandals/water shoes, a change of clothes (long sleeves), extra rain gear are also kept in the pup..We ran into an incident once, where one child didn't pack any clothes and we got caught in some bad weather. Now we keep "emergency" clothing just in case.

 

[dmaerz]

It seems as though I only keep things in the PUP I end up needing , so I have to dig them out at the most in opportune times.

That said, we do like most of the posters. We keep as much ready to camp as we can. We have a tub we pull out and stock with drygoods after each camping trip and put it right back into the pup. We also keep our DO supplies by the door for camping and outside cooking.

 

[Albert and Melanie]

Yep, we leave it all in there, too.

 

[Dusty82]

Looks like I'm the weirdo again (no surprise there, huh?) We take everything out of the pup when we get home and give it good cleaning inside. We run all the dishes and such through the dishwasher, run all the linens and such through the washer/dryer, and pack stuff away in their carriers. I set up the screen & shower tents and all the canvas chairs, then hose them off, let them dry, then pack them all up in their carriers. Everything but the dishes and linens is stored away in the garage. I pop open the pup a few days before we go camping again, and we load it up - that way I can give the up a good once-over while we're loading, and before we hit the road.

 

[jim1999]

At the end of each trip:

Perishable food...out.
Items that need washing....out. This always included towels and wash cloths but also sometimes included pots and pans that I couldn't get totally clean while camping.
Other than sheets I did not have separate bedding so all that was returned to the house otherwise it would have stayed in the camper unless needing washed.
Of course all clothes came in.

At the end of the season all food items came out as did all bedding. Pots, pans and dishes that were clean stayed in, and the dirty ones were returned once they were ran through the dish washer. The bedding went into one of the totes that always went between the house and camper.

I have several totes with the "locking" lids that I store camping items in. In the winter months I have one in the camper to store all the pots, utensils, etc in. I don't leave them in the cabinets because in the spring when I open up the camper I bring the tote in and run everything through the dish washer again.

Other totes use to store the items that are camper only that I had to bring in for cleaning in between trips and I also use them to transport our bedding and clothes in. That way I don't have to worry about anything getting wet or dirty while loading or unloading...and since my TV is a pick up during transport.

 

[Nascar Fan]

All food out, sheets and towels that need washed out. All else stays in for the season. We make sure that the toaster, griddle and pots and pans are really clean before we pack away. When we get home DW washes the sheets and towels and puts them in a clothes basket ready for the next trip. Put them in the pup, pack the food and drinks and we are ready to go. We store our pup at DSs farm about 1/2 hour away or we would put the sheets and towels in after washing up.