Where did all this stuff come from?

[grizz272]

Our RVing needs changed in November. We decided to buy a fifth-wheel.
We get the new camper in march. The Wif and I went down to our current camper and started cleaning it out. I had forgotten we had all this stuff in there. I took four bins out of the outside storage area. Fire poker, hand tools, and misc stuff. We packed 2 bins up inside and have at least 4 more bins to pack up. We have not even got to the storage area under the bed. The thing of it we use all the stuff that is in the camper.
We generally have a rule. If it is not used during a camping season then it is removed at the end of the season.

[LVJJJ]

In 2000 I quit my job so we could full time RV. So, we sold our 4 bedroom house (which I built) and moved into a park model in a gated RV park. OUr TT sits in the yard and the RV and car in the driveway (we own the lot fee simple). Talking about downsizing. Got rid of lots and lots of stuff accumulated in the big house over 20 years. Actually got a dumpster to throw out tons of stuff, never thought of having a garage sale. Anyway, every spring we continue to downsize, stuck a lot of stuff under the park model, but we're slowly cleaning it out. Then, recently changed TT's, bought a 27' Trail Cruiser and sold the 22' Tahoe. The stuff from the Tahoe filled up the Trail Cruiser, I swear the stuff out of the 22 footer just expanded to fill up the extra space in the 27 footer.

[afidel]

dodge guy wrote:
I always laugh when someone says “I don’t have anymore than 5-600lbs of stuff in my trailer!”.

I have a lot of stuff. 2100lbs over the dry weight to be exact. And we use most of it. What we don’t use one season may get used the next!

I only have 490lb of CCC so I only have about 450lb of stuff max in the trailer 😃 For a normal trip of <=2 weeks we probably only have about 300lb of stuff total including food and clothes, in fact most of the weight is probably in the pantry, dishes, and tools.

[rockhillmanor]

I'll admit to having extra stuff.

We moved into our second home. And '8 years later' decided to sell it.

In the basement in an alcove that was not visible when you went into the basement for anything......I found boxes that were moved from the 'first' house that were never opened. :R

[Kittykath]

I too was shocked at how much stuff, doubles and triples of things we had packed into our 5th wheel. It didn't look cluttered, there was just plenty of storage space. We also did the transfer of stuff from one camper to a smaller one right at the seasonal site. Before the 2nd camper was delivered, we had a chance to see it all in one pile. Just wow. We set our new limits, and the remaining stuff that didn't make the cut has it's own shelf or two in the basement of our home. Like a little camp store we access when we need replacements.

[jsmart]

DW and I traded our older 32 ft class A for a new 2018 TT. A 20 ft.. lightweight trailer with a dinette slide. When we cleaned out the mh, we had a garage full of stuff. We're learning a new way to camp.

[grizz272]

My wife and I like to do stuff while we camp. There can be strange stuff with us. I carried around a box of rocks for years. I was into flint knapping. Later I worked leather so there was always bundles of leather scraps. Blacksmithing have a small anvil and some hammers. A Fire pit and a blow tube will get a fire hot enough for small stuff. Now I like to read. A kindle and 300 books is light in comparison to some of the stuff we carried.

[bukhrn]

K Charles wrote:
Years ago we bought a new TT and traded ours in. We were about 1000 miles from home and just saw one we liked. The dealer parked the two TTs side by side and we moved everything. George Carlins story about stuff came to mind. Why would the two of us have 12 coffee mugs? We found stuff we didn't know we had. We have tried to keep it in check since then.

If you find the answer to this one, please let me know, while I haven't counted in a while, I'm sure we have a few more than that, why, I couldn't tell you. :h

[Veebyes]

I am a bit of a pack rat. If there is a chance of it being needed in the future, it stays. The generator box accessible from the front of the 5er is my 'morgue'. All the never used or hardly ever used stuff goes in there.

At the beginning of each season combined with spring cleaning is stock taking where everything is hauled out of the basement, usually at the first CG we visit. What needs pitching, goes. Tools surplus to needs get set aside to be taken home. As each year passes the need don't need filter is catching fewer & fewer items

That spare trailer axle, brake drums with bearings, new in the box water pump, plus quite the assortment of other spares stay.

[bukhrn]

mowermech wrote:
Over the years, I have found it to be a "Law Of Nature" that "stuff" accumulates to fill all available space, plus 10%, regardless of weight.

If you clean it out in the spring, it will be full by the end of the year, leaving you wondering "Where did all this "stuff" come from?"
Some "stuff" is necessary, even though it seldom gets used. For instance, in the back country we are (used to be? I'm not sure the rule is still in effect.) required to have an axe, bucket, and shovel with us. They are still in the basement of the motorhome, and there they will stay.

This same "Law of Nature" applies to the S&B also, years ago, I built a little 12' X 16' shed, thinking, "I'll never fill this thing", Six months later, I couldn't get in the door.
TOO MUCH STUFF :S

[down_home]

I have seen a U haul backed up to Mh so you are doing exceptionally well in keeping the excess at a minimum.

[K_Charles]

Years ago we bought a new TT and traded ours in. We were about 1000 miles from home and just saw one we liked. The dealer parked the two TTs side by side and we moved everything. George Carlins story about stuff came to mind. Why would the two of us have 12 coffee mugs? We found stuff we didn't know we had. We have tried to keep it in check since then.

[mgirardo]

It is amazing how much stuff accumulates. Back in May we traded in our 32' Class C Motorhome for a TT that we keep at our seasonal site. We were already setup at our seasonal site with the Motorhome when we purchased the TT. I couldn't believe how much stuff we unloaded from the Motorhome. We signed the paper work and made the trade in on a Tuesday, but the TT couldn't be delivered until Wednesday. There was so much stuff on our picnic table it was embarrassing. We had even more stuff stored at my wife's parents.

It was even worse when it was time to leave for the season. Everything that was brought up in the Motorhome had to come home with us in our CRV. Needless to say, we had to leave a lot of stuff our seasonal site.

-Michael

[ohhell10339]

One of the most agonizing transitions that RV people experience is moving from a house (temporarily or permanently) where you have the room to keep all sorts of stuff "just in case you need it" to an RV, where you only have room for the stuff that's essential. "But honey, what if we NEED the automatic pickle slicer?" Multiply that by 500, and you have the reason why there's always so much stuff in your RV.

[aftermath]

Here is a solution. Get an Airstream. Not much in the way of storage so it won't be much of a problem. 😉