For all the excitement and mystery of travel, packing for a trip can be a tedious task. Your safe sanctuary of storage can quickly become a romper room of chaos and mayhem. Add a few kids or friends into the mix, and your packing problems just seem to multiply. But fear not, just in time for summer adventure, the experts at REI are here to help with the skill of precision packing.
The Art of Precision Packing…
Let’s be honest, you’re hitting the open road to escape the stress and turmoil of everyday life. By packing smarter, you’ll eliminate the frustration factor than can get your road trip started off on the wrong foot. This tetris-inspired idea, allows campers and outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes to efficiently, safely and strategically pack their gear before hitting the road or trail.
Below are seven useful packing tips gathered from the adventure experts at REI. Implement these into your backpacking or car camping routine and we promise that your camping experience will hit new levels of ease and enjoyment.
1. Start out with a good foundation with flat sides, such as a cooler or camp stove, and build up
2. When packing up the car, make sure all of the things that you’ll need throughout the trip are accessible; turn bags so you can get to the zippers without pulling out the bags, put lighting towards the top in case of the nighttime arrive at the campsite, etc.
3. Leave gaps/holes when building your foundation so that you can easily slide out the things you’ll need during your car ride (i.e. Camp chairs for a roadside pit-stop lunch)
4. Unrolling sleeping pads will allow more flexibility when packing, and can also be used to hold things together
5. All heavy/hard objects should be packed below the highest point of your rear seat to prevent items from banging into your head
6. Take everything out to the car before you start packing so that you’re aware of everything that needs to fit
7. After packing, take a quick picture so it will be easier to recreate on the return trip home