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Old 11-16-2005, 10:22 AM   #1
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OK, I am in the process of stocking our popup. I am trying to buy the lightest stuff possible, ie aluminum rather than cast iron. I am wondering how much weight canned goods will add. For our short trips around here, it won't add much, and our trip to WDW in Feb, we will only be eating one meal a day in (mainly brkfst). Our van has a lot of room to pack our suitcases and our cooler. We also have a luggage rack to put stuff on.

How do I distribute the wt in the camper and in my vehicle? How much will all of the different things add? How worried do I need to be about it? And does anyone have any tips for conserving weight?

Thanks for any tips!
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Old 11-16-2005, 10:22 AM   #2
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OK, I am in the process of stocking our popup. I am trying to buy the lightest stuff possible, ie aluminum rather than cast iron. I am wondering how much weight canned goods will add. For our short trips around here, it won't add much, and our trip to WDW in Feb, we will only be eating one meal a day in (mainly brkfst). Our van has a lot of room to pack our suitcases and our cooler. We also have a luggage rack to put stuff on.

How do I distribute the wt in the camper and in my vehicle? How much will all of the different things add? How worried do I need to be about it? And does anyone have any tips for conserving weight?

Thanks for any tips!
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Old 11-16-2005, 11:35 AM   #3
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We used to have a popup so I know why you are concerned. To do the weight thing correctly first take the empty popup to a scale and weigh it. Find the sticker that tell the maximum weight (gross weight). The difference is the weight all your "stuff" can weigh. When you take the trailer to the scales, have the propane tank full, the battery or batteries in it, and some water in the fresh water tank if you travel with some water. Dont travel with full tanks because water weighs 8 pounds per gallon.

Placement of weight in relation to the axle is very critical in popups (and all trailers). Try to place heavy items over the axle or a little in front of it. Too much weight behind the axle and the trailer fishtails (sways). Canned food weighs alot! Use your bathroom scale to weigh bags or baskets of stuff as you carry it into the camper. Keep a total of the weight that goes in. It will add up quickly. You may find space left in your cabinets but be at your weight limit. Make sure the tires are aired to their capacity per the rating on the sidewall. If you find you are overloaded, reduce the canned food, liquids in the refrigerator.... You might have to buy heavy foodstuff near your destination. Items can be carried in the tow vehicle, but it also has limits to consider. Your van will probably be near it's max with the people and the tounge weight of the popup so be careful.

When you get flustered, take a break, rent the Lucille Ball movie "The Long Long Trailer" and have a good laugh... it is all you need to know about "weights"
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Old 11-17-2005, 03:46 AM   #4
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I saw that movie. I LOVE Lucy. I thought that movie was trip. I may just have to rent it.

Thanks for the tips. Where do I find a scale to weight my trailer? I remember seeing public scale signs, but it never pertained to me, so I don't remember.

Oh, and we still don't know how to back up the darn thing, so that will be quite a trip, and an opportunity to practice.
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Old 11-17-2005, 04:11 AM   #5
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I just looked up that movie. It is oop and not on dvd yet. It will be on tv though on 12-3-05 on Turner Classic Movies at 11am Pacific, and 2pm Eastern. I homeschool, so I guess that day, part of our lesson will be 1950's pop culture. Ah, I just love homeschooling.
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Old 11-17-2005, 04:36 AM   #6
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Public scales are often listed in the yellow pages(look for "scales" or "truck scales"). Most big truckstops will have one, most common there are "CAT Scales". Farm coops, feed mills, grain silos are other good sources of scales in rural areas. To get the empty weight of the trailer, place only the trailer on the scale, unhooked from the van and be sure the tounge jack is also on the scale...or weigh the van / trailer combination, them unhook and weigh the van only and do the math.
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Old 11-21-2005, 08:21 AM   #7
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If you are staying at Ft. Wilderness, don't sweat the packing food for a week.

In FW there is a reasonable camp store with everything you will need. There is a real nice restaurant with an all you can eat buffet at a reasonable price. Load up on b'fast, hit the parks, eat supper. One meal a day for all the park activity will create some unhappy, uncomfortable young campers.

If worse comes to worse, leave the Ft and find a grocery store.

We were there a couple of years ago. We can't pack enough food for a family of 4 for a week in the camper. So we planned to buy several meals and a trip or two to the grocery.
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Old 11-25-2005, 07:09 PM   #8
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Oh, I did not mean we would only be eating one meal a day. We will only be eating one meal a day in the camper. We are buying a package including the meals at WDW. It includes a snack, a counter service meal and a table service or character meal every day. The counter service meal includes dessert, and the table service includes dessert and appetizer. And of course the actual meal. We won't need much food for the camper. We will buy the milk once there.

Oh, and for those wondering, the prices at the camp store at FW is ridiculously high. There is a WM not too far away and numerous groceries where you can stock up. We LOVE FW. We will be there for 10 days this time.
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Old 11-28-2005, 04:19 AM   #9
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The FW store is expensive. When I said reasonable, I meant it was stocked fairly well.

You have answered your own question. You are going to buy milk when you arrive. Just get the rest of the groceries then. I'd only pack enough food for the trip to WDW and FW.

Have a great trip.
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Old 11-29-2005, 03:54 AM   #10
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Ok, reasonable selection. Sorry, I thought you meant reasonable prices. Are the prices at most camp stores kinda high anyway? I have not been to many. I usually am fully prepared.

We will probably hit one of the groceries nearby. dh
avoids walmart on vacation because I very rarely leave with just what I went in for. The WM by WDW has lots of disney stuff though.

We solved the bringing bottled water prob by buying a filter for the faucet in the camper. If we decide to bring the milk that we need (4-5 gallons) could we just bring it in the van or would that be bad too.

I really would prefer just to settle in when we get there and not go shopping (did I just say that? dh would die of shock if he heard those words from me). It might be worth it to pay the extra at the camp store just for the convenience, which is why they can charge so much. I know the ice there is like $2/bag.

Laundry is $2 to wash and $2/half hour to dry, so about $6/load. I plan to wash clothes on 2 days that we are there to save space and weight packing. Bringing only 3 outfit per person rather than 9 outfits per person will make a HUGE difference, especially since it is winter and the clothes will be a little heavier (not much, I know it is FL). I also bought each of us fleece jackets instead of jean jackets because fleece weighs so much less.

Any other ideas on cutting down weight?
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