How necessary is a pantry for fulltiming?

[janegowest]

I am considering two different models. One, I love the floor plan, but no pantry. The other, I am not so crazy about the floor plan but it has a pantry.

How do you all feel about the pantry issue?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[2gypsies1]

Realistically, when you full-time it's not economical to pick up groceries at the camp store or in a small-town grocery, so you'll have a tendency to store more than weekenders do. You don't have to have a pantry but you do need a place to store things. Do a mental picture of your food storage items which are in your home now. Yes, you can eliminate a lot but you'll probably be taking all of your spices, flour, sugar etc. and those take up space. Picture all of it in the RV you're choosing. Where will you put it? Plan out your kitchen before buying the RV. If you don't have room in your kitchen, where will you store those plastic boxes? Does your RV have a lot of basement storage? Room enough for excess kitchen stuff and all the other 'necessities' you'll need to carry for full-timing? You'll also be taking along more kitchen items than weekenders, including appliances. This will be your home so it will all be traveling with you. Good luck in your new lifestyle!

[stickdog]

We fulltime and have a nice pantry with two slide out shelves, two stationary. The top shelf is difficult to reach the back of so we store bath towels in front and seldom used beach towels in back. We shop Costco and place cases of can goods in the basement and only bring up what we need for a meal. We can go a good two weeks other than milk and bread without a shopping run.

[janegowest]

I do agree. And RV shows seem even worse, because you can never be alone. However, they do give you an idea of what is out there.

[The_Mad_Norsky]

Really as far as floor-plans and what will you like or will work for you, there is one sure fire way to get a good, quick feel for a fifth wheel.

Chase the salesman away. Shoo them off.

Then just sit in the fiver you are looking at. All by yourselves. Stay awhile. Sit back, relax and just get a good feeling for the place. Perhaps go through the motions of fixing a dinner, to see how the kitchen arrangement will work for you.

Having a salesman at your elbow just hurries things along too much. Really does not give you the time you need to appreciate or correctly interpret any given floor-plan.

[janegowest]

Thank you, UsoutWest! That is the MOST storage I have ever seen!! We are really in the market for something less than 35'...as close to 30' as we can.

Thanks, everyone else, for your input! It is helping me "think outside the box."

[hitchup]

A workable floorplan is key to fulltime happiness. While a pantry is nice and convenient, as long as you have adequate storage, the food can go in almost any cabinet. Cabinet interiors can be modified with extra pull-out shelving and you've got a mini-pantry.

We shop once a week and sometimes overbuy. But we raised 6 kids, so it's hard to break the habit.

[Us_out_West]

janegowest wrote:
I am considering two different models. One, I love the floor plan, but no pantry. The other, I am not so crazy about the floor plan but it has a pantry.

How do you all feel about the pantry issue?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Floor plan, storage and quality were the most important for us. We knew we wanted a rear living room with big windows and were able to narrow the search down to a couple of manufactures.

The wife does a lot of crafting and when we saw the rig in our signature it was a done deal because of the pantry area...never saw, even to this day another floor plan with this much interior storage.

Some people think of a pantry for food storage, which is true to a point, but we can store all of our dishes, glasses, cooking appliances, food stuffs and most of the wife's crafting things in one area.

Here are a few photos;











Heavy rig to be sure but won't have to upgrade in the future to get what we really wanted in the first place.

[DO_N_DAT]

dan-nickie wrote:
My wife would say it is at the top of her list as she cooks a lot.

X2

[DianneOK]

Every one of my three fivers I fulltimed in had a pantry of some sort. When fulltiming, it was essential for me. If the unit has the floor plan you like, see if there is some way to fashion a pantry...be creative.

[LakeN]

As much as I like a pantry, floor plan is more important! Another vote for
Sterlite drawers. Recently bought a set on Amazon at an excellent price + love them. If your unit is large enough to full time seems like you will have plenty of regular cabinet space....overhead, tv cabinet, etc

[mockturtle]

Even if you don't have a pantry, as such, you can store canned and packaged goods in lidless plastic bins that you can slide out of a storage area for easy access. I did that in our Class A which didn't have a pantry.

[5thwheeleroldma]

Years ago, we worked in Libya in the oil business. We noticed that the Brits there would just shop for that day's meal. We "Yanks" would buy enough to last a week. It really irritated the Brits as we slowed the lines down at the butchers, etc. As time has passed, I think the Brits had the right idea; just shop for a day or two of meals. Unless you are boondocking, of course.

[Bumpyroad]

when I was looking at smaller TTs those that had pantries had the moveable shelf supports which I would have removed to be able to have a hang up shirt closet instead.
bumpy

[skipnchar]

Any storage area can be a pantry as long as you are satisfied with the convenience. To me it would be the wrong thing to be a deal killer but others would consider it one. Different strokes and all that stuff.

[WoodGlue]

I don't really have a pantry per se. I just store my food and other items in one of the cupboards using "Sterilite Drawers"

Sterilite Drawers

They have an assortment of sizes and purposes.

WoodGlue