How do you use your parcel shelf?

[PurBal]

Something I pondered upon on the drive home from DMIL yesterday. We live in a tourist area so lots of cars piled high, and roof boxes etc. How do you use the parcel shelf?

Do you keep it clear on pain of death, using it as a fixed sized boot and preferring to leave stuff at home if it doesn’t fit? Do you use it to store your Panama hat? Or is it to hell with the parcel shelf?

Interestingly I realised that we tend to keep ours clear. And I don’t really know why. I meticulously and painstakingly Tetris our stuff into the fixed space and any excess I tend to pack into the footwell.

Am I making things harder for myself?

Lighthearted.

I don't have one. I took it out to accommodate the labradors!

And if we go on holiday we just keep packing up towards the roof till everything fits.

Usually it's clear, but if we need more space then I remove it.

Keep it clear, anything on it will shoot forward in an accident.
If need the space then remove the shelf entirely.
For me it isn't a parcel shelf, it us a 'hide contents of boot' shelf.

Yeah I don't particularly fancy a 50mph parcel to the back of the head, so it stays clear.

This.

I now need to know why it's called a 'parcel shelf' and was it ever the norm to carry parcels on it?

My parcel shelf has been in the shed since the day i bought my car where it will remain until i sell the car 😁

Ours is in the garage until we've finished using the bassinet on the pram, it doesn't fit in the boot with the shelf.

I wonder if parcel shelf as a term is a throw back to design of carriages (or trains - they have shelves for parcels/luggage)or something? (Can't be bothered to google)

Also use it to hide contents of boot, keep stuff in boot slightly cooler, and prevent things flying out of boot in an accident. Remove it if putting kids bikes in the car or something. I like that it’s retractable, easy to pull back to access the space then draw back over to hide the stuff!

Is parcel shelf made up?

Keep it clear. It hides clutter in the boot.
You don't ever want anything casually stored on it as it will shoot forward like a rocket if you have to emergency stop.

Mine is very badly designed and doesn't open properly. Mine is always closed to hide what's in the boot. Never put something on it. Only take it out to transport big items, like the £30 FB marketplace freezer we bought yesterday.

Keep it clear. My parcel shelf in my new car is this weird sort of flexible thing that folds up like one of those kids pop up tents, not sure why, but you couldn't store anything on it anyway.

We don’t use it at all, ours is one of those rolling ones, a bit like a roller blind, so we have it attached but open.

Nothing and I stack the boot high if travelling.
Thankfully I have a retractable net that pulls up so nothing can come forward.

I have blankets folded flat along it, which are always handy to have for long journeys or messy wet DC after sports, and occasionally coats if boot is full but never anything that could cause injury in an emergency stop. I do occasionally remove it when cannot fit everything in boot, but don't like doing so and use the black blankets to tuck in around, secure as much as possible, and hide the contents from view (grew up in an area with a lot of opportunistic crime and had it drilled into me not to leave any items visible in a car). It's also really not wise to pack to ceiling and have no use of your rear view mirror other than for a short transfer of large items if no other option. I would not want to drive on motorways without clear mirror views.

Same ! And Husbands,Daughters and Sons . Also a PITA when hiring car on holiday.

Lost mine- took it out at the petrol station and forgot to put it back.
Don't like having my messy boot on show.

Mine is in the cupboard under the stairs as I have dogs who travel in the boot.

I'd never use it to store anything on as it would all come flying forward in a crash and could kill or severely injure someone.

I thought it was there to hide away any shopping to stop people being tempted to nick your stuff. Insurance requires stuff to be stored out of sight, to be covered etc.

Ours is always there, and empty on top, unless taking crap to the tip.

I followed a small car the other day with a cushion on the parcel shelf. That bought back memories of when you would often see cushions in cars! Why??!!

Incidentally the one the other day had 'car' embroidered on it. Again, why??!

We also have blankets folded up on ours. They've come in handy a million times.

But I agree the parcel shelf is mainly for hiding things in your boot.

And boxes of tissues.

Mine is like a horizontal roller blind. It's too flexi to store anything on.

Mt car comes with my job, I am required to always have my parcel shelf closed, concealing what is in the boot anyway.

Removed it! It was really flimsy and fell out everytime you opened the boot.