Fish Chaser
Member
This is a great thread with some good advice. I bought my 2004 Hawk used, and the original owner had really worked out a lot of the storage issues for me. My big challenge was in paring down from the stuff I had carried in my last camper, a tent trailer. I have found that keeping everything in the camper all the time except for my food and clothes works well. I can be ready to roll on a spontaneous weekend trip as fast as my wife,son and I can throw some food in a box and pack a small bag each. Of the cool little organizational ideas in use already that I've kept my favorite is "the entertainment center" . this is a square basket about 10"x12" and 10" deep that is screwed down in the front right corner of the camper next to the couch. This little box easily holds 6 magazines, 3 books, an iPad, an iPod, 3 books, a sketch pad, and several good but very portable games, literally days worth of entertainment in a very small space.
I have taken the same approach others mention with a series of small plastic boxes and some small soft bags to hold a variety of items. For example a small canvas tool bag holds my cool campy flatware set with wooden handles that was in my grandparents cabin when I was a kid. I have intentionally sought out boxes and bags to fit items and spaces. With my camper on a 4x4 that does get out on some pretty rough mountain roads and in the open desert, the bags and boxes help to contain and protect stuff when the camper bounces along.
My next project, still in the thinking state is to convert the funky 2004 convertible couch into a level, higher and wider bed that is there all the time. When the couch is in couch mode it is just barely big enough for my 12 yo son, and he isn't getting smaller. It's a hassle to convert it to a bed and with my model requires the placement of three support slats that go all the way across the cabin. these provide a tricky obstacle when my wife or I get down in the night. The width of the bed also prevents the deployment of our porta pottie. My plan is to raise the cabinet under the couch seat to the level of the window sill behind the couch and the put cushions at one level from the window to about the existing front edge allowing probably 35 or more inches the bracof bed with no conversion and no porta potty issues. The delema at this point is do I make a big shallow box to fit on top of the exsisting base cabinet, or rebuild the whole cabinet. A shallow but long wide box might be mounted securely but removable and provide storage for chairs, fishing rods, compound bows, guns, or any number of things. If I hang the box just slightly off the front of the existing cabinet I could use some small L brackets cut from aluminum angle to bolt or pin from the inside of the box through the bracket allowing easy access to whatever fastener was underneath. If I get this worked out I'll have to post a thread, I know I'm not the only one with this camper frustrated by this old sofa setup
I have taken the same approach others mention with a series of small plastic boxes and some small soft bags to hold a variety of items. For example a small canvas tool bag holds my cool campy flatware set with wooden handles that was in my grandparents cabin when I was a kid. I have intentionally sought out boxes and bags to fit items and spaces. With my camper on a 4x4 that does get out on some pretty rough mountain roads and in the open desert, the bags and boxes help to contain and protect stuff when the camper bounces along.
My next project, still in the thinking state is to convert the funky 2004 convertible couch into a level, higher and wider bed that is there all the time. When the couch is in couch mode it is just barely big enough for my 12 yo son, and he isn't getting smaller. It's a hassle to convert it to a bed and with my model requires the placement of three support slats that go all the way across the cabin. these provide a tricky obstacle when my wife or I get down in the night. The width of the bed also prevents the deployment of our porta pottie. My plan is to raise the cabinet under the couch seat to the level of the window sill behind the couch and the put cushions at one level from the window to about the existing front edge allowing probably 35 or more inches the bracof bed with no conversion and no porta potty issues. The delema at this point is do I make a big shallow box to fit on top of the exsisting base cabinet, or rebuild the whole cabinet. A shallow but long wide box might be mounted securely but removable and provide storage for chairs, fishing rods, compound bows, guns, or any number of things. If I hang the box just slightly off the front of the existing cabinet I could use some small L brackets cut from aluminum angle to bolt or pin from the inside of the box through the bracket allowing easy access to whatever fastener was underneath. If I get this worked out I'll have to post a thread, I know I'm not the only one with this camper frustrated by this old sofa setup
