JPSC Forum

Getting all exited about Le Mans now

What's the recommended form for packing camping & overnight gear onto a JPSC type car.
And what do I actually need to take in the way of kit ?

Tent & S.bags
Clothes & a toothbrush.
Basic Roadside repairs tools, & simple/ spares - (service & full checkover before leaving!).
Brew up kit - intending to buy meals
& its aeroscreened - so helmets & decent waterproofs if it looks wet (& in my experience LM is is either a pond or a furnace)
... anything else

I have the luxury of a full cage, so could mount a roofbox across the top - just might look a bit OTT (read G.A.Y)
And certainly wont help the CofG.
So rear rack or something - dont really want to be drilling holes in the rear deck though

Oh.. & need a game plan to keep SWMBOs luggage down to 1 squashy bag , no the usual 5 or 6 !
(She's got a shock coming)

Matt

Matt

I have one of these

http://www.boot-bag.com/

which works very well on the Phoenix.

Solo, I just use the passenger footwell; Running 2 up makes it harder.
Packing tips..
Put out everything you want to take. Get rid of everything you don't need. Loose 50% of whats left!
Don't duplicate stuff; One tube of toothpaste, one shower gel, etc. Use a plastic bag instead of a proper toiletry bag saves a lot of space.
Take "travel towels". They aren't as good as normal ones but you'll cope and save a huge amount of space.
Put your clothes in vacuum bags (available from Wilkinsons stores). This reduces the volume and keeps them dry. You'd get a lot more packed flat in the boot. I put 1 change of clothes per bag and just swap clean for dirty. You can vac' them with a 12v lilo air pump or just squeeze most of the air out and then even suck if you're brave to get the max reduction.
Use "dry bags" instead of kit bags for anything stored externally. You can get them from camping shops but look out for them in the offers from Aldi.

Camping kit...
An inflatable mattress takes up less room than a camping mat and is comfier.
For brewing get a heat exchanger style stove (jet-boil or Primax ETA express) and you'll have hot water in a couple of mins. Primax available cheaper from GoOutdoors if there's one near you.

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The space on the top of the (none exhaust) sill under the bonnet will take a bag if it's anything like a Fury.
I have a boot rack that hangs off the roll bar with tags welded to the bar; Could you you work something like that but with clamps?
I've seem pictures of motorbike/cycle paniers mounted on the roll bars.
Small stuff sacks/dry bags will fit infront of the seats under your knees.
A (smallish) rucksack can be hung between the seats, lieing on the tunnel with its straps on the roll bar.

Here's my rack. Jerry can is just for scale...



And loaded up...

Cheers Jeff, Cheers Adi

Some good solutions there.
A clamp on rack is a definite possible along with a decent bag - and reusable too, so prob worth the effort.

Adi - when was that ?
Its good country around Alpe d'Heuz - either by Sylva or by Bianchi.
I've have some fun round there on a bike - getting too old these days - knees well knackered !

That was 2010. Went again 2011 and there's another planned for this June. There's nothing quite like a hair-pin alpine road and 13500rpm to play with!
I'll be back there cycling in July as well.

More 2010 pictures here...
http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z282 ... lp%20trip/

...and some of 2011 here (didn't get them all downloaded)...
http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z282 ... ip%202011/

It's worth getting heavy duty tent pegs (even though they take up more space. French camp sites can be very hard/stoney ground. Caravan/camper van sales places have a selection of industrial grade ones that you wont see in the normal camping shops.

Matt,
I'm sure you've been to LM before so i won't bore you with stuff you already know so:-
1. Spay campsite is softish soil, so normal tent pegs are ok.
2. Agree with you ref. weather furnace or flood! Key in flood case is to keep dry, once wet it takes ages to get dry/warm. We always have a dilemma when it starts raning while driving, do we stop and put the hood up or bear with it? We normally wait till it's torrential!!
3. I do have a 'large' cargo net type if thing made from bungee cords which I cable tie to the roll-bar and it clips behind the rear sill/wheelarches. Not sure how well this will work on a Fury/pheonix. TBH I haven't used it the last few LM's and I am hoping Andy is a light packer too! I have a small camping gaz stove, TBH I normally I only get as far as boiling water for tea/coffee! BBQ/Croissants/Pain Chocolat/Pain make up the rest of my diet, and a light brown type fluid!
4. If you can get it to the ferry, there are a few tintops with us that may be able to carry kit through france but I don't want to offer space I don't own IYSWIM, ask on the googlegroups LM chat list, will check who has the big Hilux later....
5. The space on the floor under your knees is good space, I don't have sidepods in Striker so no go there. Put all the soft stuff in first and force it with hands/feet to compress it! Can you get to spce behind seats ok? Obviously Striker has a boot which is suprisingly spacy!
Not sure if this helps or not!
Edd.