Where does the weight come from?

[Bowti]

There is so much talk about the weight of rigs these days that I wonder what people are loading into their 5r's. Assuming most rigs, even the smaller lighter ones can carry 2 to 3 thousand lbs, what is it that is filling up your trailer?

[starcraft69]

The mother-in-law 🙂

[dewey02]

Not only the things we carry in the trailer, but the things we carry ON the trailer. I often feel like the Beverly Hillbillies sometimes with all the things I have hanging off my trailer.

My Portabote: (The transom, seats, and trolling motor are in a duffel bag in the bed of the pickup).



Our bikes: Sit atop the Trailer Tray and ride over the propane tanks.



And...when boondocking we carry 90 gallons of fresh water in the tanks below our trailer. Two large FW tanks like these (unlike the above two photos, this one isn't mine, just a photo I grabbed off the internet). At 8.36 lbs per gallon, that's 750 lbs. right there.

[Old-Biscuit]

WE FTd for 7 yrs and hit CAT Scales every year...

I can open any compartment, any cabinet, any drawer and SEE everything w/o having to move items.
BASICS and no extras needed.

If it hadn't been used in 6 mos it was gone.
1 bag IN --- 2 bags OUT

At CGs I am always amazed at the STUFF folks bring/pull out for a weekend camping trip ----most just lays in a pile to be put back in.
Reminded me of one of those Clown Cars at the Circus -----just keeps coming out never ending stuff.

[blofgren]

I've really become aware of this every time we have upgraded trailers. In fact we upgraded to our current fiver 2 years ago which has much more storage than our last unit. This year it was predicted that we were going to have a nasty winter in our area (which it has been) so we decided to put the trailer into indoor storage. This meant that we had to unload a lot of the interior items such as all food, magazines, toiletries, and my son wanted most of his toys out of there as well. I was absolutely shocked at how much stuff there was! It took the better part of a weekend to clear it out and put the junk, I mean stuff away! We clearly kept adding stuff over the last 2 years and didn't really remove much of anything. Both DW and myself said we will watch this much closer in the future!

[WNYBob]

I made a list of everything I loaded in my truck and TT. Then I checked off the things I used on a camping trip, and added things I missed or needed. When I get home I remove the things not checked or used.
This keeps the weight down.

[azrving]

It comes from the syndrome. The "I might need that" syndrome.

[Gearitis]

To the OP, what a great query! We do NASCAR races and setup a circus, for lack of a better description. For some reason, we tend to take things you may never use, but yet when you need it, well you need it. Every 2 years or so the DW and I actually cull out what we have not used the past year, kind of like your closet in your home. Turn the hangers around in your closet and if you use it then hang it properly. What has not been turned around, get rid of it or give it away. Anyway, we cull out nearly a third of the stuff under and in the RV every 2 years or so. But for some reason and some how, we keep adding stuff so in 2 more years its either right back in there or we have NEW stuff. I swear there are magnets in these things pulling in the "stuff!" Now full timing, I can relate to taking a lot of "stuff" as you will need something, somewhere, sometime and somehow.

[DutchmenSport]

You truly realize how much "stuff" you have when you purchase that new camper! Weight? yea! Lots of it!

Here:

[dapperdan]

In a word ..... "stuff"
Seriously though we ran into a guy in New Mexico last year that had an elaborate tool box in the basement of his fifth, looking at the large tool box I asked him how much it weighed. His response to me was "around four thousand pounds". He likes tools so he brings his collection with him I guess. :h

Dan

[MFL]

Too many things to list, but Fly 4 Fun covered some. Just basics, fresh water, plus water heater another 6-10 gal, batteries, and propane, your starting with 1,000 lbs. Now add all the rest!

Jerry

[K_Charles]

When we were looking we found many without much CCC at all.

[FLY_4_FUN]

Firewood, kindling, clothes, food, booze, water, chairs, mats, bbq, water, pantry items, personal grooming items, first aid kit, fire extinguishers, 4 x 6v golf cart batteries, inverter, solar panels, tables, tools, hoses, spare power cords, bicycles, books, laptop, dvd's, games, lantern, flashlights, bug spray, sunscreen, bedding, towels, dishes, cleaning supplies.....should I continue?

Hopefully you get the point that my list is just 30 seconds off the top of my head but everything has weight. For weekend warriors sure you can keep the weight down, but if you full time in a rig then your gonna want/need your stuff so really what does it matter to anybody else how much stuff you bring? Personally I didn't spend 100K on my setup to rough it, im bringing everything we need to enjoy our time away.


Daryll