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Hello,
 
My husband and I have camped for many years in a hardside camper.  We decided to buy a 1998 Palomino Colt Pup camper.  It is a little small but, with 3 children who would rather sleep in tents it is perfect for us.  Our problem is where to put everything that I usually take with us.  Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
 
ME: Tina
DH, Mitch
DD, Kayla 15
DS, Kyle 13
DS, Kolten 8
Maxie the "ferocious" little dog
Felicity the "fearsome" cat
Toby the "Big baby" cat
 
TV, 2003 Chevy Venture
1998 Palomino Colt pup

I'm not familiar with the layout of a Pony.  But on our Bayside, which is much bigger than your Pony, we use the front trunk and the little bit of aisle space we have in the pup.  Everything else goes in the TV.  If you are out of space, have you considered a roof top carrier?  You could probably put one on the pup for travel, but you'd probably have to take everything out of it to put the top up.  There are limits to the amount of weight you can put on the roof.

We have 2 sets of Sterilite drawers.  We set them on top of our cabinets.  In one set of drawers (2 drawers) I keep my picnic table cloth and cloth holders, sun screen and the other one I keep flash lights and other misc. stuff.  When my 5 year old was a baby, I kept diapers and wipes in one of the drawers.  The other set of drawers which are a little bigger I keep all of my plates, cups and storage containers and in the other drawer I keep all the misc odds and ends like matches, lighter sticks, reading light, playing cards, paper and pen and extra batteries.  When we tear down these drawers fit perfectly on the floor or if we are eating and cooking outside a lot I carry the utensil drawer outside and leave it there.  This eliminates multiple trips inside to retrieve the required utensil.

Jacqui

One thing I do ( but I don't know if you have a counter top or exterior Add a room)  I pack all of our clothing in large tupperware tubs.  
I have three children;
I combine the boys in one large one,
My Husband and I each have our own which we keep in the truck bed,
my daughter has a small one. which sits on top of her brothers tub.  Theirs I keep in the pup, or out in the add a room for more interior space.

I also bring my food in a large tub, which I unload when we get to the location and that doubles as my laundry basket.

At the end of the trip I put clean clothes in a  tub - so I don't have to rewash, and the other tubs are dirty.  I put the dirty laundry tub outside the pup, next to the collapsable trash can
(another space saver that stays in my pup - it's actually meant to be a collapsable laundry basket, but it's lined with plastic, I put trash bags around it and place right outside the front door for trash, I bought it at wal mart in the ironing boards section).

Once a tub is full of dirty clothes, into the truck bed it goes.


hmmm...I think that's all as far as storage.  One of our dinnette seat boxes (under the cushions) is for games, lanterns, whatever is dry - that seat is smaller storage because of the box which incloses the inverter.

The other dinette while in travel carries all the children's sleeping bags and extra blankets.  While camping it's my pantry - holding breads and a smaller cooler which I keep our meat in - I don't like meat in the main cooler even if it is in ziplocks - what if it leaked, YUCK!

And I just  bought this for my table top - http://www.lillianvernon.com/catalog/product_display.jsp?pdId=2463&name=Picnic+Caddy&parentCatId=5&catId=21
because you have the plates here the forks there, the napkins over there in all the cupboards and we usually eat outside - it's gonna be great to keep my kids and husband out of the cupboards and STOP ASKING ME WHERE THIS OR THAT IS! :eyecrazy:

OK there's many more - but there's my ideas!

Thank you all very much on your advice for my storage issues. I really enjoy reading everyone's threads and replys as it has given me alot of help.
Thanks again,
 
ME: Tina :eyecrazy:
DH: Mitch :confused:
DD: Kayla :p
DS: Kyle :D
DS: Kolten :)  
 
Our babies, Maxie, Felicity, and Toby.
 
TV: 03' Chevy venture
98' Palomino Colt pup

One thing that I have done is go through any webshots forum members have and look at the mods etc.  A few have pictures of their pup's loaded etc, it has given me great ideas.  We have a palimino and we have two tubs with cutlery, pots & dishes that go in the aisle, we cook outside so they stay outside when we arrive.  Our clothes are packed in a couple of laundry baskets that fit in the other end of the aisle.  During the day the baskets sit on a bed and then are moved to the table at night.  Dry Food is packed in a cupboard.  Tool kit & hubby stuff is in a tub just inside the back of the van for easy access.  Our collapsed camp chairs fit nicely under the the little table space.  LIGHT Items like pillows/blankets fit in the hollow of the flipped sink.  The thing that we are trying to work out this year is how to haul the 4 bikes around.  For that we have a bike hitch and we will most likely buy one of those adapters that will allow us to use the bike rack & haul the pup at the same time.

Shelly

I don't know if you are looking at ways to store stuff when packed or at camp.  If it is at camp then I would look into hanging a 3 tier basket or two, using stacking bins, and you can make shelves to put behind/over your galley using 2 shower curtain rods (the spring loaded type) and the wire shelfs.  Several people have done this type of mod, the one I am thinking of used hose clamps to hold the shelf to the poles.  I have added wire shelves (small ones) inside cupboards and under the dinette seat to make more usable storage space.:)

We use a hanging shoe rack, this has about 7 shelves 7x10. Wal-Mart buy about $10

We bought a plastic tub with wheels for our ATV trips. Saved lots of packing and time. I just wheel it to the truck and toss it in. Of course, most of those trips aren't overnighters.

So today at Walmart, I told Holly that I really liked that tub for those trips. So we bought another for things. It may be used for wood only, but that will make packing easier anyway, AND it will keep our wood dry. That has been a problem, as we seem to pick rainy weekends (or rainy traveling days).

Larry

We have two main storage issues with any popup: what to do with all the big, bulky stuff like clothes, towels, etc. and what to do with all the really small stuff like flashlights, keys, quarters for showers, bug repellent, glasses, since popups almost never come with drawers :-(

We put the bulky stuff like clothes and towels on the beds during the day and we put all the small loose items in a single tupperware tub that sits on the cabinet by the door.

What's left over that doesn't fit in the storage cabinets goes in our TV.

Good luck!

Quote from: jclarkWe have two main storage issues with any popup: what to do with all the big, bulky stuff like clothes, towels, etc. and what to do with all the really small stuff like flashlights, keys, quarters for showers, bug repellent, glasses, since popups almost never come with drawers :-(

We put the bulky stuff like clothes and towels on the beds during the day and we put all the small loose items in a single tupperware tub that sits on the cabinet by the door.

What's left over that doesn't fit in the storage cabinets goes in our TV.

Good luck!

We have 2 big plastic drawers (his & her's) that we bought at OSH Hardware:
http://www.sterilite.com/Category.html?Section=Storage&ProductCategory=45##  Item #1708
 They are each 20" wide x 18" deep x 11" high. We have a 40" wide counter next our galley that is too low to useful for the galley. It used to just be a junk collector.

I put the drawers, side by side, on top of the counter and then I have a matching counter top that is 18" wide x 40" long and about 1/4" thick that sits on top of the drawers. It is held in place by 4 wooden dowels that fit into holes that I drilled in the top of the drawer cases (2 in each outer edge). That holds it all together as one sturdy unit, like a dresser. The counter top is made out of 40" lengths of Pergo Laminate Flooring:
http://www.pergo.com/shop/category.aspx?categoryID=5

This gives us a counter that lines up (pretty well) with the galley sink. We put our microwave oven on it and it still gives the galley a lot of extra counter space.

We store the drawers in the house and when we get ready to go camping, we load them up with all of our clothes and accessories. We carry them in the TV until we pop up the camper. Then we take them in and we are all set to go. All of our clothes and stuff are already stowed. We keep the flat counter top on the bed, in the PU. It takes about 3 minutes to put it all together and is easier then bringing luggage that we have to unpack and stow somewhere.

Here is a picture of the drawers on our bed, at home. We are going camping at Refugio SP this weekend and I will take a follow-up picture of it all set up in the PU. It works great for us :D . As you can see, my wife is almost all packed and I haven't even started yet :p .

Can't wait for the photo!  That sounds really interesting!  I want more counter space!  Cooking is a bit of a juggle when we are inside.

Quote from: PITPOP27Can't wait for the photo!  That sounds really interesting!  I want more counter space!  Cooking is a bit of a juggle when we are inside.

We just got back from a trip to Refugio Beach:

Here is a pic of the finished mod and a link to a progression of pics.

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=549352213&security=lEjnyL

Quote from: fritz_monroeI'm not familiar with the layout of a Pony.  But on our Bayside, which is much bigger than your Pony, we use the front trunk and the little bit of aisle space we have in the pup.  Everything else goes in the TV.  If you are out of space, have you considered a roof top carrier?  You could probably put one on the pup for travel, but you'd probably have to take everything out of it to put the top up.  There are limits to the amount of weight you can put on the roof.

Do you know of an approximate weight limit for a PUP roof.  I've never seen anything on that, so I've been afraid to put anything up there.

Not really.  I've seen other on the forums mention that roofs have something like a 150# limit when up and a 300# limit down, but that's not any sort of official number, just what I've read.  I know that my AC is something like 90#.

Quote from: waveryWe just got back from a trip to Refugio Beach:
 
Here is a pic of the finished mod and a link to a progression of pics.
 
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=549352213&security=lEjnyL
 

 
Thankyou very much for the pictures.  That is a really good idea.  I think I will do it that way too for our clothes and try to make a counter space out of them like you did.  Again thankyou.

We are still trying to figure out the best way to cover the front of the drawers, so that they are not see through.

We tried wood grained shelf paper and that looked awful. I am considering just painting the inside of the drawer with a light brown paint. I'm just concerned that it will just scratch up and quickly look worse than it does now.

By the way...................If you look at my webshots pics:
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=549352213&security=lEjnyL

Pic #2 shows some modifications that I had to do to my drawers to make them fit. I have the pop-out galley and the frame support rests on that counter. I had to make a hole in the drawer frame for the support to pass through and a slot in the drawer so that it could open and close with the frame passing through the slot.

If you drill and cut that plastic with a blade, you stand a chance of it cracking and it will soon fail with use, over time. I used a "Hot knife" to cut the plastic. The edge of the cut ends up with a reinforcing ridge of plastic that will keep it from cracking.

Wavery that looks great!!  I NEED more counter space for cooking...we put our cooler there, but maybe we could put it somewhere else?  I'm going to show the hubby tonight and see what he thinks!

Quote from: PITPOP27Wavery that looks great!!  I NEED more counter space for cooking...we put our cooler there, but maybe we could put it somewhere else?  I'm going to show the hubby tonight and see what he thinks!

Sure works great for us :D . It's so cool to have everything packed and in place when we set-up and tear down.

Do you have the Pop-out galley like ours? It seemed like a pain at first but it was an easily overcome obstacle (as described above) and actually serves to make the whole thing very solid. The only drawback is that ours over-laps the counter by about an inch. It would have been 4 inches (unacceptable) had I not slotted the drawer for the galley brace.

Quote from: RockHoundDo you know of an approximate weight limit for a PUP roof. I've never seen anything on that, so I've been afraid to put anything up there.

The Coleman/Fleetwood trailers have a 300 pound capacity with the roof down and 150 pounds with it up.:)

Quote from: waverySure works great for us :D . It's so cool to have everything packed and in place when we set-up and tear down.

Do you have the Pop-out galley like ours? It seemed like a pain at first but it was an easily overcome obstacle (as described above) and actually serves to make the whole thing very solid. The only drawback is that ours over-laps the counter by about an inch. It would have been 4 inches (unacceptable) had I not slotted the drawer for the galley brace.

We don't have the pop out galley (one of the features my hubby wanted( but we have a 6 ft counter top besdie our flip up galley I don't have the greatest photos but:

attached to this

this sort of shows it, I'd like to extend the counter space over here, the only other option is to place things on our bed which isn't great sounding to me, since I'm great at spilling things :p

Quote from: PITPOP27We don't have the pop out galley (one of the features my hubby wanted( but we have a 6 ft counter top besdie our flip up galley

That looks like a perfect set-up for a drawer modification. Those drawers come in all sizes and there are several manufacturers. The nice thing about yours is, you wouldn't have to do any cutting on the drawers. Just set 'em on the counter, snap the top in place and your done. :D

There are only the 2 of us, so it's pretty straight forward.....2 people = 2 drawers. I'm sure that you could come up with a 4 or 6 drawer combination that would fit perfectly for you. Each person could be responsible for packing their own drawer at home for the camp-out, then removing it and putting it in the TV for tear-down. It's the same thing as bringing duffel bags or luggage but a lot more organized and you use it right in place. We hated having stuff scattered all over the bunks and luggage to deal with.

It also gets the counter up where it is usable. At that low height, it's just a catch-all and you can't really use it for galley counter space.

My hubby uses the counter closest to the bed to sit at when we eat inside, there's 5 of us so we don't all fit in the dinnette :yikes: , But I'd like to do the same thing you did to our tupperware we bring, we just got free laminate flooring, so it would be great, but I'd have to get hubby to cut it down to size for nice "ness".  Thanks for the mod idea....I'd like to get him to do the shelf mod first!

Just finished working on this.  I came up with the design based on wavery's description before he posted pics.  I added 4 support "legs", 1 on either end and also between each drawer.  I was concerned that the 5 foot span wouldn't support weight and bear on the drawers.  The upright supports are hinged, so the whole thing breaks down to about 1.5 inches thick for easy storage and transport.  Anyway, we'll give this a try this next week.

Very nice setup.  I really like that you put the shelf on so you don't lose your counter space.  We still haven't figured out our system yet.

That looks good. You really have a long counter. That's nice. There are a lot of different configurations out there and each has it's own unique benefits and challenges to make this type of mod work.

I was also concerned about how much weight my set-up would hold. With the microwave and a 5 gallon jug of water on the counter, the drawers still open just fine. :D The dowel pins going from the laminate counter-top, through the top of the drawer cases on my set-up make the entire thing quite rigid.

Quote from: waveryThat looks good. You really have a long counter. That's nice. There are a lot of different configurations out there and each has it's own unique benefits and challenges to make this type of mod work.
 
I was also concerned about how much weight my set-up would hold. With the microwave and a 5 gallon jug of water on the counter, the drawers still open just fine. :D The dowel pins going from the laminate counter-top, through the top of the drawer cases on my set-up make the entire thing quite rigid.[/QUOTE
 
After seeing yours, I now would think that weight evenly distributed across the tops of the drawers should work just fine.  I probably could have done the same thing across all our drawers with good results.  This counter is not connected to our galley, it's on the other side of the camper.  
 
I didn't do any doweling as of yet.  The drawers just set loose in their "compartment".  We'll try it as is this next week.  I can easily add the doweling later if I get too many family complaints.  These drawers are great for storing clothes.  We can generally get 4 days worth of clothes in one drawer, 1 drawer per family member.  We roll our clothes instead of folding them.  Fewer wrinkles and you can fit more in by rolling.  If we're camping more than 4 days we find laundry facilities and start all over.

FANTASTIC set up!  Good job!  I'll show the hubby your pic!  I finally got him to commit our drawer mod for saturday YIPPEE!!!  I HATE our drawers they never pull straight out and the faces are pulling from the sides because of it!  We're tuning them into shelving with the flip down face.  He MAY even throw in our cutting board attachment to our flip up galley, now that would be exciting!

Note to self bring camera!

dthurk,

With your set-up, the only thing that I would be concerned about is being able to open the drawer and having the drawer case stay in place. That could be one reason to dowel them but you would need to cut the legs down so that the bottom of the counter is right on top of the drawer cases. It might be a hassle to get all of the drawer cases to line up with all of the dowels while you lower the counter on them. Then again, it may only take one dowel per drawer case to hold it from sliding.

You could also just put a piece of 3" thick foam rubber (assuming the gap is only 2") beween the bottom of the shelf and the top of each drawer That would be a lot easier and should hold the drawer cases from sliding around.