Tetris - The Artform of Packing a Jimny

 I have come from a sea kayaking background where we would undertake remote 3-4 week unsupported trips into the wilderness - in this case, island hopping around the east coast of Australia.  This has taught me the artform of making the most of every available space.

Packing a Jimny is like packing a seakayak - the same principles apply.  Keep your heavy gear down low, keep your gear to a minimum, and ensure you have room for your camera gear and an ability to be off-grid for the whole trip.

A key for packing is around your ability to cover your needs between resupply points, in this case for food, water, fuel and wine - not necessarily in order of importance 😉

No need for dehydrated food on these trips!  Though I do have some dehydrated food packs for emergency situations to cover a few days if required.  Having a fridge means that fresh food doesn't mean you have to catch a feed along the way!

To the left of the fridge I have a single burner stove, tools, spares, extraction straps all packed individually.  The gas burner is hardly used as the travel buddy (12volt oven) takes care of all our cooking needs.  This is brilliant for casserole type meals - slow cook meals that we prepare around 2pm each day that simmer away as we keep driving and are ready to eat in the evening at our leisure, allowing for a relaxed camp setup and wind down after a day of exploring.

The drawer is the storage area for heavy pantry items and gas bottles for the gas burner, shower and jetboil. I have put in a platform above the fridge which has two sections which we will use for storing lighter food items and some camera gear.  This section is contained by two panels either end which will stop things flying around the car and falling down on us as we are bouncing around, but require a bit more time to access.

The Travel Buddy is on a slide which has some additional pots and pans stored behind that.  The jack and a fold up shovel is stored to the right of the Travel Buddy.

The shelf above the Travel Buddy can support three full 20 litre jerry cans and the shower/hot water unit.  I plan to have my camera and lens packed in here as well for easy access.

I have a hand winch which is stored behind the front passenger seat and the electronics switch panel is behind the drivers seat with a second battery hidden behind the panel.  This 120 amp lithium battery charges when we drive and is managed by a redarc controller which also caters for solar panel input, though I don't usually carry the solar blanket on this type of trip where we are driving most days.

The lithium battery runs the fridge 24 hours a day as well as the Travel Buddy, USB charge points for multiple cameras, phones, drone, etc.  We have power for around 3 days without starting the vehicle or reaching for a solar input device.