Do you despise having stuff just floating around loosely in the back of your truck or SUV? Me too! I took it upon myself to find a storage solution for all the little things I keep in the 4Runner. I keep stuff in the back for various activities like biking and hiking. I keep a few things for light off-roading as well.
In this post I will go over what I did to help organize my stuff and what I do with different gear for different activities. I will also go over a couple different brands to take a look at.
Table of Contents
Necessities for Your Car/Truck
I always keep certain things in my truck no matter what season it is. All this stuff can easily get cluttered if you don’t have some sort of a plan. Just to list a few things that never leave my vehicle.
- First Aid Kit- EVERYONE should have a first aid kit in their vehicle. I keep a pretty basic one in the 4Runner, but I do have some key components that are not in your standard first aid kit. The biggest one for our family is an epipen. Our kiddo has allergies and I don’t want to be caught without one in that freak instance. The other thing I carry is a tourniquet. In fact I have one hanging from the drivers side sun visor, one in the drivers side door, and another one in the back. (No I’m not paranoid)! The rest of the first aid stuff is pretty basic.
- Jumper Pack- Nowadays you don’t need to carry jumper cables or a huge battery around to be able to jump start your or anyone else’s car. Instead you can buy a battery pack the size of a big cell phone that will do it. We have these in both our cars just in case. I have used the one in the 4Runner several times helping people out with dead batteries. It always blows their mind when they ask for a jump and I pull it out.
- Paper Towels and Wet Wipes- Having two toddlers makes it a necessity to have these on hand at all times. Just when you think they are doing better at not making a mess, they dump a hot chocolate down the door of your car. I have a roll of the blue shop paper towels, and a full pack of wet wipes always on hand.
- Recovery Straps- I always have a tow strap and a snatch strap in the back of the 4Runner. Rolled up they don’t take up a ton of space, and you never know when you might need to use them.
- Blankets- I always keep a couple different blankets in the back of all of our cars. In the 4Runner we have a wool Pendleton blanket and a Rumpl. These are both great options if you are searching for a good blanket for camping or the drive in.
- Simple Tools- It’s always a good idea to have some simple tools with you, even if they aren’t top notch stuff. Just go to Harbor Freight and grab a few things. Socket wrenches, vise grip pliers, and a crescent wrench are a good start. You can add duct tape and zip ties to that as well.
Molle Panels
I personally have installed the Rago Fabrication Molle Panels with storage shelf in the back of the 4Runner. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like these, but have since become a believer. First I just added the Molle Panels to the sides, but as I started carrying more and more gear on the daily, I added the shelf. The shelf might be the best part of the whole system. With the above list of stuff that is always in my truck I needed a way to organize it all. With the Molle Panels paired with a few different brands of Molle pouches, I was able to do a pretty good job of keeping things tidy.
I keep the blankets up on the shelf out of the way, along with my tow strap and my Indeflate. This is great for me to keep it out of the line of sight in the rear view. Everything stays up and out of the way. I have the shelf on the highest setting. If you need more room on the shelf you can easily set it up lower.
The sides of the Molle Panels is where you will find a few Molle pouches strapped to them. On the right side you will find the first aid kit, a flashlight, the roll paper towels, a pouch with wet wipes, and a few small bike tools. On the left side you will find a pouch with my DB Power jump pack, a pouch with some walkie talkies, an Element fire extinguisher, and some more small hand tools.
These panels have worked great at keeping all this stuff easy to reach while still leaving plenty of room in the cargo area for those runs to Costco. Along with that I also have the sliding rear cargo tray in the 4Runner, which allows for some small stuff to be stored underneath. It also has a storage space in from of the sliding tray where I keep some D rings and soft shackles.
Offroad Gear
If I know we are going to hit the trails or go camping, I have some easy to grab Pelican cases with various stuff in them. I have one for the camp kitchen, one with recovery gear, and one just for hitting the cabin. I also make sure I have my Maxtrax loaded up. I always have a Crazy Beaver Tools Shovel and a Fiskars Ax mounted to my Gobi Rack. If the tent isn’t on the roof you will most likely find the Maxtrax and a Pelican 1750 case with all recovery gear mounted up there. Unfortunately with the tent on the roof none of that fits up there. (Big downside of a rooftop tent).
I have seen people use simple bins from Home Depot to organize various gear in. You can also get things like these Front Runner bins that are able to stack. Bags always work well too. Factor 55 makes a nice bag with all the recovery gear you would need already in it.
Off Road Essentials
- Tow Strap and/or Snatch Strap- you never know who might need to be pulled out of a sticky situation.
- Soft Shackles or D Rings- these are a must for hooking tow straps up to your vehicles.
- Recovery Point- I run a Factor 55 rear hitch shale mount. This is just a block that slips into your tow hitch and allows you to hook a shackle too.
If you have a Winch…
- Snatch Block-These are especially great for increasing pulling power of the winch
- Gloves- Winch line can become frayed and sharp unless you go with a synthetic line. Still a good idea to have gloves
- Line dampener- This is essentially a weighted blanket to throw over the winch line in the event it breaks. It will help prevent it from snapping back and causing major issues. Again a synthetic line doesn’t carry as much kinetic energy, but still a good idea.
- More D Rings or Shackles- What good is having all these things like snatch blocks and stuff if you don’ have enough shackles to hook everything up.
- Tree Saver Strap- Don’t be that guy that wraps their winch line around a tree for a self recovery! Get yourself a tree saver strap. This will protect the tree by spreading the load over a wider strap. They are fairly inexpensive and good for Mother Nature.
All this stuff will fit in a medium sized bin pretty easily, or you can opt for one of the all in one recovery kits out on the market by companies like Factor 55 or ARB.
Final Thoughts
These are just a few ideas of how to carry the things needed for safe off-roading. Obviously you can off-road with none of it, but if you get stuck, a tow bill will not be cheap. The farther you get off the beaten path, the more important it is to have more of the things listed above.
I love the Molle Panels as an option for keeping everyday things out of the way, but you could just keep a small bag or box in the back of your vehicle if you choose. Just be sure to strap it down somehow as you don’t want all that gear to become a projectile in the event of an accident.