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Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:02 am

Has anyone ever carried firewood in their luggage racks? and if so how did you secure the wood? Im trying to find a cargo net for that purpose instead of using a dozen bungee cords, but the ones I see are mostly oblong , any suggestions?

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:04 am

Use a plastic milk crate or something like that to set the wood in then tie the box down. That might work.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:28 am

Not much fire with a milk crate's worth.Why not lay a tarp up there,load wood,then close tarp and tie it down with a rope?

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:31 am

Find a boy scout and have him show you how to lash down a load by tying knots. Stack the wood side by side...use the hooks to run rope across top of load...pull rope taught...tye with square knot.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:32 am

I use a hammock and some carabiners for a cargo net. I'm able to have it under the cargo I'm carrying and pull over and clip/tie the 2 together...then you also have the use of a hammock when your camping/hanging out. The hammock I have is old military surplus thats made from like 1/8" nylon cord, not thin string things. I actually put this together for carrying more stuff in my raft, but have used it on one of those long vw roof racks when I had a 65 splity camper.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:35 am

iratehippie wrote: I use a hammock and some carabiners for a cargo net. ...then you also have the use of a hammock when your camping/hanging out.
Now THAT'S thinking! :D

Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:40 am

I just use bungee cords.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:05 am

thanks for all the great suggestions! That hammock trick sounds like just the ticket since I have an old one laying around...Thanks fellas!!

Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:40 am

just remember that your well stowed (*insert item name here) can become a offensive missle in the event of a sudden stop, swerve or accident maneuver and you are liable for the outcome of it's impact on the unsuspecting public..

Ohh and my biggest pet peeve is GAS CANS on the roof rack. that's just not smart in any aspect.. (IMHO anyways) I hate to say it but if ~2gals of gas makes or breaks ya.. top off the tank more and fix the gas gauge. if you jut need ~2gals more distance away from and back to a gas station out in the remote wilderness.. well.. it's still not smart (again IMHO) to store it up on yer head.. err roof.. with a UV & Ozone aged bungee..

I use a roof cargo bag in my luggage rack, keep the camp table & chairs up there.. firewood I carry in a big cardboard box midship where the weight is down low and secure..
I've tried firewood on a rear cargo hitch type carrier but that made the bus handle funny.. and I still constantly worried i'd loose one on the highway and damage or kill someone else..

just load your gear securely, safely and responsibly. that's all I'm sayin.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:48 am

how are you going to take a shower up there if it is full of firewood???

Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:53 am

SoWesty wrote: Has anyone ever carried firewood in their luggage racks? and if so how did you secure the wood?

Put the firewood into the luggage.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:53 am

SoWesty wrote: Has anyone ever carried firewood in their luggage racks? and if so how did you secure the wood?

Put the firewood into the luggage.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:05 am

danfromsyr wrote: just remember that your well stowed (*insert item name here) can become a offensive missle in the event of a sudden stop, swerve or accident maneuver and you are liable for the outcome of it's impact on the unsuspecting public..

Ohh and my biggest pet peeve is GAS CANS on the roof rack. that's just not smart in any aspect.. (IMHO anyways) I hate to say it but if ~2gals of gas makes or breaks ya.. top off the tank more and fix the gas gauge. if you jut need ~2gals more distance away from and back to a gas station out in the remote wilderness.. well.. it's still not smart (again IMHO) to store it up on yer head.. err roof.. with a UV & Ozone aged bungee..

I use a roof cargo bag in my luggage rack, keep the camp table & chairs up there.. firewood I carry in a big cardboard box midship where the weight is down low and secure..
I've tried firewood on a rear cargo hitch type carrier but that made the bus handle funny.. and I still constantly worried i'd loose one on the highway and damage or kill someone else..

just load your gear securely, safely and responsibly. that's all I'm sayin.

Hm! That's interesting! I commonly receive a torrent of abuse from certain parties, whenever I tell people in the USA, what they should or should't do. Perhaps it's because I'm British, from Great Britain; that well known colonial power!?!

To secure loads to the rear-mounted roof rack of my 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, I have always used two 25 mm (i.e. 1 inch, in USA parlance!) nylon ratchet straps, threaded through the 12 cleats, front-to-rear and side-to-side. Ideally, I would like to have 8 more cleats, but that's on my future list of things to do. The whole roof rack is then covered by my home-made, stretchy, butyl-rubber, roof-rack cover, secured by nylon cord, hooks & eyelets.

I have a low-profile, Paddy Hopkirk, "Explosafe", aluminium-foam filled, sheet-steel, 5 litre petrol can, which is designed for optimum safety.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:28 am

Thankyou Gentlemen for your replies, you can trust that whatever I choose to do in pertaining to the storage of items on the roofrack it will be secured tightly, safety is my no1 concern. I must say its an honor to have Nigel reply to one of my postings, I respect his knowledge without reservation. Again, thankyou all.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:53 am

We have a problem in Canada about transporting wood from one area to another. They are concerned about bug relocation. I bought wood on the weekend and had to fill out a statement that it was bought within the area in case I was confronted about its origin. So I am going to cut up some hard wood skids and pack them perfectly into cardboard boxes and store them on the roof.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:54 am

NASkeet wrote:
Hm! That's interesting! I commonly receive a torrent of abuse from certain parties, whenever I tell people in the USA, what they should or should't do. Perhaps it's because I'm British, from Great Britain; that well known colonial power!?!

Yeah we're real sensitive about that. That's why we love our guns here. Otherwise the King of England could walk in any time he wants and start shoving us around.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:48 am

1975 Kombi wrote: We have a problem in Canada about transporting wood from one area to another. They are concerned about bug relocation. I bought wood on the weekend and had to fill out a statement that it was bought within the area in case I was confronted about its origin. So I am going to cut up some hard wood skids and pack them perfectly into cardboard boxes and store them on the roof. Same here going from oregon into calif. Theres a bug station at the border, and I remember reading in the paper about open loads of firewood(cords,etc) being stopped, depends how far you were going down into calif. Theres been this "sudden oak death syndrome" scare. But I've never had the bug inspectors want to look up in the luggage rack, just in the vehicle and just for fruit/vegies. Always see tourons with the beach driftwood on the tops of their cars.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:19 am

... the reason I don't carry firewood in my Westy is re location of bugs, especially Black Widows, into my riding/living space. I don't drive fast enough or stop suddenly enough or corner hard enough for items on my roof rack to suddenly leave their place up there.

Dude, I suggest bundling your sticks into small groups of 6/8/10 pieces and using sections of an inner tube to hold the bundles together, then just bring down however many bundles you happen to need at a given time. Several bundles are easier to lash down that dozens of individual sticks. As well, bundles are harder to sling off onto the unsuspecting public by spirited driving. My 2 cents.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:49 pm

8) I'm not to sure about firewood unless its dry (no sap..hardwood only), bug free and there isn't too much of it as far as weight.
I have used motorcycle cargo nets for many things in the past. You can get them at any bike shop. They look like a bungee spider web and have about 6-8 hooks on the edges to clip into your rack loops. They stretch quite well and have kept many the luggage (and a 12 of beer or two :lol: ) secure at hwy speeds on the back seat of my bike.
They'll run you between 10-20 bucks at the most.

Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:57 pm

BigLoaf wrote:
Yeah we're real sensitive about that. That's why we love our guns here. Otherwise the King of England could walk in any time he wants and start shoving us around.

This is my current, favorite Samba post of all time. Well done BigLoaf. Nicely played.