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HI,Campers,

I need advice on roofboxes,due to the growing camping gear and larger tent,i'm slightly concerned it is not all going to fit in the renault laguna boot this is with the boot ledge removed as i have had to do previously and the roof rack ,kids already have pillows and sleeping bags on backseat,so how much can you fit in and do they fit in folding chairs etc;need room in boot for toilet,gas bottle,etc;oh where to put suitcases

We've just bought a Karrite 470, which is massive,for our mazda 6 from roofbox central www.roofboxcentral.com  for £135 (even cheaper if you bid thro' ebay)

We are really happy with it and it means the kids dont get crushed by camping paraphenalia every time we go round a corner.

Mind you we can still only just fit everything in, we just buy more!

I had the same problem after only 2 weekends away (is it too much stuff? that's what you ask yourself).

I tried bidding on Ebay and was thwarted at the last minute in every bid. So I took advice from here (thanks BTW) and got my self to Aldi and bought a 320ltr box for £80.

Add to that a pair of roof bars from ebay (Buy it now) for £40 and now guess what.......

I've got a crammed roof box and crammed boot lol.

The box gets the chairs at the bottom and then the sleeping bags and other soft stuff whilst the boot has table and all the rest of the apperel. The tent still sits at the side of my boy like a forth passenger though even strapped in by the seatbelt lol.

One tip - put the light stuff in the roof box (Sleeping bags etc.). My roof box is big, can't remember the capacity, but will only take 50kg. Sounds a lot, but it all adds up if you start putting tents in there. Its also easier to pack/unpack if its only got the light stuff in there. Best thing I ever bought. We use it for all trips even if not under canvas - even if we're just visiting the inlaws we keep the clothes on hangers and lay them in the box - saves loads of time.

6000KGV - even if the spare wheel is slung underneath, I still need to empty some of the boot to get at the bolt head to undo it (I have a Picasso)!

Another thought from experience is that I find it easier to put squashy things in the roof box and things like folding chairs in the boot. The reason is that it is very difficult filling the space in a roof box to its maximum unless you have things which can squash down. I tend to put chothes in soft bags rather than suitcases for this reason. I have raised a few laughs on campsites by literally lying on top of the roof box trying to close it.

My tip is have a test run at packing your roofbox before you put it on the roof of the car as I was surprised at how much extra I managed to pack in when I could actually see where I was putting things.  The trouble I have now though is I have to take a small set of steps with me as well as I can't reach the roof box on the top of my Ford C-Max.

I now have a list of everything I put in the roof box, it includes folding chairs and table.  I also use large plastic noxrs with lids on to keep things in and make it easier to lift stuff in and out of the roofbox.

Do Aldi still stock the roofboxes.  We were thinking of getting one for camping but dont want to pay too much just for summer holiday.  For weekend etc all the stuff WILL fit in the boot.

Mike J

Quote: Originally posted by puiyee on 15/7/2006

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Try the new Thule Ranger canvas roof box. You can pack it up into a bag which is about 120cm long.Great if you got no storage room for the box. If anyone has got this can they let me know im thinking about getting one.

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We got a 470l roofbox there are 5 of us plus a double buggy and all our stuff and we managed ok in our mondeo.

Its surprising how much stuff you can put you can get in a topbox absolute godsend.