RE: Hints for quicker pack-up?

[whitestar505]

 my4cuties

However, on our first time out, it took THREE HOURS to totally re-pack everything and get the camper ready for our trip home. This seems WAY TOO LONG! We DO have four kids, which makes for more STUFF, but I never imagined we d use a whole morning

 
 My4cuties,
 
     Yes, I understand where you are coming from. This past weekend it took 3 hours to setup the way we wanted and 3.5 hours to tear down. I keep telling the wife we have to much, but as I look around it is all mine for whatever. So we need a better plan.
 
    I watched my neigbor pull in Friday night and he was up in less than one hour. Of course he only had his popup the awing and two lawn chairs and a BBQ grill. That was it. No carpet, no cover for the table, no camp kitichen, no gray water tanks and on and on. He also packed up and was gone in one hour and 15 mins.
 
  He did eat there one time I know of. Just him and his wife.
 
  So why do we work so hard with all of our STUFFFFFFFF ?

[MtnCamper]

 my4cuties
My wife packs all of the clothes and food. While I m at work. We usually got a couple soft sided bags. Food goes into the cooler, and the sterilite drawers.
 
 When I get home, I water the camper and put in the wood box. Charge the batteries, check the LP.
 
 Then carry the drawers out and slide them down the hall, load the cooler, dogs, misc. stuff that goes in the truck. And we are off.
 
 Arrive at the campground, back in, level, unhook, roof up, stabilzers down, ends out and up, Drawers on the hutch, start the grill, put on whatever for lunch, Start HW Heater, refer switched to gas... Check grill.
 
 Take whatever off grill and have lunch.
 
 From the time we leave to the lunch part is maybe 2 hours. That includes the drive to the campground. Maybe we are doing something wrong! What helps us is, we always use the same containers for the same thing. clothes are always here. Food is always there. Bread is in this drawer, that is in that drawer.
 
 You just got to go more often, and develop your own system. It will get better and faster. But then again, what s the hurry, your campin  right?

[whippetwrun]

 my4cuties
It took me 3 hours this weekend to set up.  Mostly because I packed up " wrong"   when we left the last time, and because the beds weren t made.  
 
 It helps a lot to have designated space for things and to put them in the places where you can get to them easily as you work your way through set up.  For example - my camp kitchen is usually under the dinette table since I set it up last outside. That wayI don t keep moving it out of the way while I am doing the beginning stuff.  This time it was on top of all the stuff I needed in the storage trunk.
 
 Take your time the first couple of times to really figure out what works and where the best place to store your things is.  Once you have that down set up and tear down are faster.
 
 Also my six year old helps with the chairs and the mat, he also helps hold the poles for the awning as Dh or I set it up.

[luvourjayco]

 my4cuties
I ll echo what the others have said you do get into a routine. We have always made it a point to keep a tidy campsite. We keep things in the same spot all the time. Packing up is easier when you know where it all goes. By putting stuff away as you use it the last day you can save a lot of time the morning of pack up also. We do the cereal, toast and coffee thing the morning of departure. I get really miserable if I skip breakfast and it seems like nothing goes right besides the kiddos get miserable too. While eating, water heats to do the few dishes and since the coffee pot and dish pan get stored by the door it adds nothing at all to the breakdown. We leave the bedding on the beds to save work if it needs changing it gets tossed into a basket outside the door. Also, with 2 kids I keep 2 baskets just outside the door (for shoes while there and laundry to go home) and just toss the things into them that need to go into the house. Those baskets and the drawers with food and clothes are all the go into the van everything else is dedicated and never leaves the PU. The cooler sits on the picnic table and is slid inside the PU door when everything is down.
 Start to finish for us is about and hour. I do not pop up at home everything is wiped down and cleaned before being stowed. It really does save not having to pop at home.  
 We can now be ready to leave home in under an hour. I feel almost guilty because it used to take me 2 days to pack when we were in the tent.
 I  did buy some disinfectant wipes made  by Mr Clean to wipe things down with so its not so wet and there are no wet rags to bring home.

[rajones315]

 my4cuties
My big contribution is don t sweat this whole thing.  If it takes 3 hours, it takes 3 hours.  One of the best lessions I had this last weekend during our first camping of the season is that if we start out early enough and we don t have any pressure to get home, take down is almost as fun as the camping.  I d say we took 2 hours, but things went smoother and attitudes stayed cooler.  A much more enjoyable time if you don t watch the clock every few minutes.