Tips for packing your car for a walk
By Tryfan Williams 
Posted in Outdoor Articles, Outdoor Skills and Tips, Walking
Tips for packing your car for a walk
Tips for packing your car for a walk
If you’re anything like me you chuck your boots, back-pack and bag of jelly babies into the boot and #GetOutside asap! But if you’re out there walking on a regular basis you might want to get a bit more pro about your efforts. Following these simple tips for packing your car for a walk will save you time, space, improve safety and protect your gear.
Organise
As with your walking pack, packing your car should also take the same amount of organisation and thinking.
Some simple tips would include the packing of dry post-walk clothing at the bottom of the boot.
Placing any walking sticks or ice axes horizontally against the rear seat.
The first item needed on arrival should be at the top, such as yours and your passenger’s walking packs.
A handy expert bonus tip we were given by one of our Mountain Rescue friends is to keep a pre-packed set of walking gear in the car boot at all times. This may be more of a tip for those looking to grab an adventure at any given moment than a tip for packing your car properly, but it’s still a good one!
Cover the boot floor
Muddy boots are a given at the end of any #MudandRoutes adventure and a sure sign of a good walk, but also a muddy car boot carpet to contend with the next day!
An easy cheap solution is to cut a plastic water resistant sheet to size and place in the boot. Just take out, shake down, wipe down and place back, simple!
Or if you want a pricier but more robust solution you can opt for a non slip rubber fitted car mat liner. Mats similar to this one from Travall come with a raised outer edge, so when your gear comes back from a soaking day on the hills, or you have a major spillage the mat will contain the problem.
Dogs
If you have dogs then we’re quite confident that you already have your boot well in order, and that packing your car for a walk with your dog is second nature. But for the uninitiated we’d suggest a dog guard to ensure your k9 pals, and your own safety.
You could also attach a centre divider to your guard so you can feel comfortable having your gear on one side, and your dog free to move on the other.
Secure Cargo
Even those who don’t own a dog could benefit from a guard, as it can secure your gear in the boot and mitigate any risk of objects traveling forward at the same speed as the vehicle to the main cabin during a frontal collision.
The weight of such items would also be multiplied many times over, meaning that a piece of kit weighing 5kg would be 250kg if a car was travelling at 50mph!
As depicted here in this safety test. Imagine if said object was a walking pole or ice axe!
Storage
It is recommended for safety that smaller items are packed together in some sort of storage in the car, but it also ensures you can easily locate said items.
This could be as simple a solution as a bag for life from any supermarket, or could be a purpose made boot organiser which could be folded away when not needed, or better still a plastic box with clipped lid.
I tend to place my gaiters, walking boots and second layer of socks in my boot organiser. Where as a plastic tupperware style box could be handy for your electronic gear and cables, such as gps.
Another bonus tip is to get a boot bag, may seem over the top but believe me the boot bag is a winner. It keeps the boots in place, and makes transfer to and from car to house/hotel easy and clean.
Especially handy if you’re staying with friends, as the last thing you want to great your host with is your muddy 500k smelling walking boots!
A lot of this is common sense of course, and things you knew you should be doing but can’t be bothered or haven’t the time, but a little forward thinking in packing your car for a walk can minimise risks and maximise your time for walking!
Have we missed anything, or maybe you have a better system for packing your car for a walk? Please let us know in the comments section below or via our social accounts.
This article was kindly sponsored by Travall do check them out for high-quality and easy to use vehicle accessories.
Tryfan Williams
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