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.

Only time it is used is when I have been to the supermarket and bought flowers. I lay them on the parcel shelf instead of putting them in the boot with the rest of the shopping.

I have cushions in the car! They are for DDs who sleep on long journeys. I never bother to take them out any more. I also have a box of tissues. I am clearly old school. Parcel shelf holds only folded blankets (for aforementioned sleeping) as I too have been warned about objects becoming deadly missiles.

When I lived abroad and crossed a border between 2 countries daily I removed the parcel shelf. It allowed customs officers to see what was in there at a quick glance and speeded things up. Now I live in UK and don't need to cross borders so the shelf is back to hide boot contents. Stuff stored in the boot is a danger in an impact so don't!

Mine has been sprawled across half of the back seat, which is folded down, since June!

Otherwise, it sits in place looking tidy.

Our parcel shelves are clear of all missiles unless on holiday and then they contain kagoules(?), wet wipes and small packets of tissues.

They've always been called that, I guess it does hark back to bygone ages. The only time I've ever used mine was in the days when I wore hats to weddings routinely to keep the hat safe. Otherwise no because of the danger of flying objects in an accident. I never take it out either, I mean I would if I had to as a one-off for a large load but otherwise it stays for safety and security. DH's car has one of the roller blind types, we always close that for safety and security too.

We use straw hat on the parcel shelf as a sign of a particular type of dozy Sunday driver.

The only thing I ever put on it is flowers if I pick some up at the supermarket, we have a big boot though so even driving to the Netherlands for a holiday we got everything in without needing to take the parcel shelf out

Jumpers, jackets, and the odd soft toy might get put on there occasionally but I hate having anything in my eyeline in the rear view mirror, even a little bump of a jumper makes me feel like the view of something behind me might be obscured and just annoys me so even if the car is packed tight the shelf will remain clear.

Mine is somewhere in the garage covered in spiders webs - I can't be bothered with it at all.

I never have anything on the parcel shelf or the dashboard that would hurt if it hit you. No handbags or phones etc on seat either; anything loose in the car could become a missile. I speak as someone who moved house with a mini (the original one) with most of her worldly goods piled high on the back seat. An emergency stop led to me being kicked in the head by my own boots.

mine has a dedicated storage space in the boot. I like to be able to see clearly through the back window so i use it to keep my boot contents covered but never put stuff on it. No stickers on windows or rear view mirror danglies either

Currently there's a blanket on it. Usually clear and used to hide the mess in the boot.

Mine isn't a fixed one but like a roller blind type thing. Day to day it's useful to keep the contents of the boot covered. When camping I remove the whole thing to make space and then use that space to wedge the sleeping bags in....no chance of them flying forward with the headrests up(and jow wedged they are). My old car actually had a net you could raise to prevent the overstuffed contents of the boot flying forward.

I remove it when we are going away in the uk and have too much stuff but rest of time it’s just there to hide contents of boot

@sunsetsandboardwalks

ehst do you use to secure the dogs in the car?

I've changed nappies on the parcel shelf a few times, but other than that I tend to keep it clear.

I never put anything on mine.

I was once in a car that rolled, it was scary enough with being bashed on the head by flying objects!

it's why no one travels in the back of my car without a seat belt either, I'm more scared of that than being fined! No Aunt Maude I don't care how crease your blouse might get 🙄🙄

mine isn't designed for it either, it's a Ford Focus & it tips up to expose the boot space when you open the boot, so if you were to put something on it you need to undo the wee straps.

if something a bit tall or the boot is badly packed it lifts up & annoys me as it catches my eye in the RVM.

i take it out if I need to, but it's very rare.