Realistically ... what does your "stuff" weigh?

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SilvrT

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We are planning on buying a 33' 5th wheel for a 6-8 month road trip.

While I realize everyone's "stuff" varies, it would be great to get some breakdowns on what "you" carry and what it weighs. This will help me determine what ccc I need in a 5th wheel.

We are a senior couple with one small dog. We plan to spend most of our "nights" at an RV park although we'll be doing some boondocking.

Excluding things like the weight of the holding tanks when full, LPG, tools, etc, how much does your "stuff" weigh? Things like clothes, bedding, dishes, pots, pans, utensils, food basics, and so on?

Any help appreciated.

Any existing links to info appreciated.
 
My best guess, mostly based on what I have carried to and from my RV....under 400 lbs of "stuff" including food/drink....just a guesstimate...excludes the water in fresh water tank
 
Reason's why I ask...

Currently it's a tossup between a "Light" model and a standard model.

The ccc on the light model is 2530 Lbs and GVWR is 9995
I can tow this with my truck no problem and I don't have to upgrade my D/L licence. (here you need to upgrade it if the GVWR is 10,120 or greater.
If all holding tanks were full, that would weigh appx 1260 Lbs leaving 1270 Lbs for "stuff".

The ccc on the standard model is 3515 Lbs and the GVWR is 12340
With all holding tanks full I would have 1940 Lbs for "stuff".
In order to tow that I need to change the gears in the diff of the truck to either 4.10 or 4.30 and upgrade my D/L

I'd prefer not to do the latter.
 
decaturbob said:
My best guess, mostly based on what I have carried to and from my RV....under 400 lbs of "stuff" including food/drink....just a guesstimate...excludes the water in fresh water tank
Click to expand...

I'd say that's about right for our "Stuff" too. Maybe a bit more ? (tools and such)

 
BIG JOE said:
I'd say that's about right for our "Stuff" too. Maybe a bit more ? (tools and such)
Click to expand...

Things like tools I'll be carrying in a tool box in the truck bed. It has sufficient payload to handle all that I'll be putting into it as I've already calculated that including trailer tongue weight.
 
I think you'll be shocked at how much things weigh.  Look in your kitchen pantry at the canned goods.  A can of soup can weigh almost a pound!  Dishes are heavy.  Pots and pans can be heavy.  Clothing can be heavy.  How much does a large pair of men's jeans weigh?  Pick up a bed sheet and see how heavy it is.  In other words, go for as much CCC as you can.  For example, some of the older motorhomes had minimal CCC leaving only 600 pounds for "stuff" to carry.  That's not much at all.  You also need to consider loading.  Every now and then we shift things around to even out the load.  We carry our tools in an underbay and try to pack them amidships to even the weight distribution.

ArdraF
 
Between Lodge cast iron, firepit tripod, and "stuff", my RV has gained about 700 lbs. since I bought it.

The motorcycle on the back is another 350 lbs. But that comes and goes depending on whether I take it or the VW with me.

But I'm single, and only camp on weekends and holidays. There will be more in there when I go full time.
 
Our motorhome has a dry weight of apps. 16,000 lbs.  When we travel we're close the GVWR of 18,000 lbs.  That includes maybe 500 lbs of water in our fresh tank, myself, the DW and a full tank of gas.  So carrying capacity not great.  That will be a consideration when we buy our next motorhome.  Cargo carrying capacity, (CCC), part of the learning experience.  Lot's of gassers and a few entry level diesels don't have much CCC.
 
ArdraF said:
In other words, go for as much CCC as you can. 
Click to expand...

I would; however, sometimes one has to compromise for various reasons such as what I refer to above.
 
When I unloaded our 23' hybrid in prep for trading it in, I weighed everything we had in it but, this did not include clothing or food and the STUFF came to 750lbs, and that was with just 2 adults in the TT using it for weekends and 2 week trips here and there.
 
Cant Wait said:
When I unloaded our 23' hybrid in prep for trading it in, I weighed everything we had in it but, this did not include clothing or food and the STUFF came to 750lbs, and that was with just 2 adults in the TT using it for weekends and 2 week trips here and there.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate what that "stuff" included?
 
Unless I miss my guess, I'm thinking if a person loads up enuf stuff for a 2 week trip, they've pretty much got what they'd need for a month cos things like food, drinking water, etc are renewable. I know what it takes to load a tent trailer for a 2 week trip and frankly I couldn't imagine taking anything more for longer than that. Heck, we've even taken 2 week camping trips on a motorcycle pulling a small tent trailer and managed just fine.
 
Stuff tends to expand to fill all available space.  If Murphy did not say it, he never went camping!  It is much easier to pare down to necessities when traveling by bike than it is in a nice big (relatively) trailer.  Extra blankets or a few more pans will never make it with the bike, but are automatic with the big trailer.  You can keep the weight down, but it becomes a full time job!
 
Yeah our 32' travel trailer is (I think) a "light" model... Wilderness LE, and based on the Forest River model catalog it seems that the LE stands for "Light Edition".  But it still has tons storage space in cabinets that we've never come close to filling.  But we are weekend/vacationers, and the longest camping trip we've taken has been 5-6 days.  I'm sure it would be easy to fill on a months-long trip!  My trailer has the available CCC (around 2500#) for lots of stuff, but my tow vehicle wouldn't be able to handle it fully loaded... so that's my main hurdle to overloading.

I've never weighed my trailer "empty" but the stated UVW according to the manufacturer is around 7900#.  Fully loaded and ready for travel this past year I was towing around 9300# if I remember right.  But we're a family a 5 + a dog (that weight included estimates of our body weights in the tow vehicle too), and the trailer had firewood, bikes, lawn chairs, electronics and movies, games, a couple small dumbbells (seriously... my wife is serious about working out!), and food/clothing for everyone.  We still ended up driving to nearby stores almost every day (during a 5-6 day trip) to pick up this or that, so we ended up not carrying everything that needed for that time frame.  And I don't travel with much water or waste in the tanks.
 
grashley said:
Extra blankets or a few more pans will never make it with the bike,
Click to expand...

We pulled a Leesur-Lite tent trailer (designed for motorcycle towing) with the bike. You would be surprised what all we could carry. The storage inside the trailer was also full.

 

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We took a 5000 mile round trip last summer with our set up. I carried a good compliment of tools (~100 lbs.) that could have handled a number of potential issues. In addition we had about 4 gal of extra water in the truck bed, an extra 5 gal can of gas, and oil for an oil change. We were comfortably equipped in the TT; well stocked with food, pots, pans, dishes, our clothing, an outdoor mat and 6 outdoor chairs. We also had a step ladder and an extra 30 feet of electrical wire (30 amp). I know the truck weighs about 6200 lbs with me in it.  The TT weighs 6080 lbs (factory spec number).  I pulled the entire rig onto a CAT scale on our trip out of curiosity with a full tank of gas in the truck. We weighed in at 14,500lbs with both of us on-board.  I do not recall the TT tank levels but I would guess we had at least 50 gal of water between all the tanks.  We basically were carrying an extra 2000 lbs of "stuff" and there is still more space that could be filled!
 
viceprice said:
We took a 5000 mile round trip last summer with our set up. I carried a good compliment of tools (~100 lbs.) that could have handled a number of potential issues. In addition we had about 4 gal of extra water in the truck bed, an extra 5 gal can of gas, and oil for an oil change.
Click to expand...

Yeah you mentioned a few more things that I forgot we also carry in the underbelly.  Large Craftsman socket set, corded drill, extension cords (both household and 30A for the RV), 4-5 gallons of drinking water since we never know what the campground water will be like, boards and heavy rubber mats for leveling, various water hoses and attachments.  None of that weighs much alone, but it certainly all adds up quickly.  Makes more sense that I had 1400-1500# of stuff when you add all those items in with the "inside" items that I mentioned earlier.
 
Last time I weighted we had just under 3, 000 lb of STUFF. We full time so that was pretty well fully stocked. Our ccc is about 4, 400 lb and we may well be closer today.

Ernie
 
BBQ grill, lawn chairs, folding tables, pots & pans, fresh/frozen/ canned foods, dishes and glassware, beverages, clothing, bedding, shoes, computers & phones - the list goes on and on. For a 6-8 month trip, you need clothing for all sorts of weather,  which means more clothing than a weekend trip in the summer.

When we traveled  6 months/year we carried about 2400 lbs of stuff (other than water and LP), but that included tools and emergency repair stuff, which I guestimate at about 250 lbs. We always traveled in comfort, with extra lawn chairs for guests, folding tables, patio mat, a nice BBQ grill and that sort of thing. Also seasonal decorations, outdoor lighting, etc. When you spend several months in an RV, many of us seek to maintain their normal lifestyle and not just "go camping".
 
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