Roof box

[MissDuke]

Hi! I am very new to camping with children. I took the children without dh last week for a few day sand we had a brilliant time. The only snag was the car was full to bursting, there wouldn't have been anywhere for dh to sit anyway! There certainly were a few things we could scale back on, eg we brought some ride on cars etc that weren't used. Also I will bring a smaller buggy next time. However I still don't think we can make it work. Looking at roof boxes but it is all very confusing! Have saw a few on gumtree that look reasonable however it seems to be the roof bars and fitting kits that cost the big money. Also are they difficult to fit?

I would really appreciate any words of wisdom! Camping was meant to be a cheaper option so don't want to spend anything more than necessary!

We use a roofbox for soft things like bedding etc. we'd definitely struggle without one for long trips. Storage was an issue for us so we got a Thule folding one which will go in the loft. It was about £150. There's a much cheaper one called something like a Handi Holdall which you can get inflatable roof bars for but it's not completely waterproof.

Brilliant, thanks!

We have the handirack inflatable racks and handihodall. We put bedding and mats in it. Used it twice no problems. Think it only drips in if you don't fold the straps up properly. Also think we got a discount from ukcampingsite website link.

We have a small house no garage so needed something that would pack away small.

Plus we put bedding in bin bags anyway to keep clean so would be OK if it did seep a bit

Our Thule roof box is getting on for 16 years old, I would buy the best you can afford as they last a very long time.

We bought a Thule roof bag in about 2008 and it leaked. Terribly, everything in it was soaked on the two occasions we used it. We only bought it's our roof box is so big, thought we could take it off and leave the things in it at intermediate destinations but it leaked too much. Maybe a Friday afternoon one but a bad experience all the same.

That was our worry with our Thule thing Lavendersun, but we had some really heavy rain at the beginning of our trip and everything was fine. I wonder if we have a different model.

We have the handiholdall and handirack and have used it a number of times, including all the way to the south of France.

It rained and it was completely waterproof. I know that the earlier models were not competent waterproof but I theory this latest one is.

It's fairly easy to assemble and it certainly didn't budge at any point. It's a little fiddly to pack if you are small but that's the same with any roof box!

One thing to look out for is how many people it takes to assemble and how long.

Thule have a claw/grip mechanism that one person can put up very quickly, which we felt was worth the extra money. We reckoned after a couple of years cussing and blinding each time we regretted getting a cheaper version that needed to be threaded on and somehow lifted up with two people, we would wish we hadn't tried to save money.

After a month or two we didn't even notice the extra money had been spend and so it has been worth every penny for us!

The HandiRack and Bag are amazing! Totally waterproof and really easy to use. Drove to Wales and back in torrential rain and not a drop got into the bag! Would recommend it without a 2nd thought to anyone. xx

We've got one like this. It's not waterproof so we use a tarp tucked tightly over the things inside & it's needed a few basic repair to seams but we'd not be without it! We do have a roof bar that we DH put on to stop it sliding around but I don't think it's really necessary.

We had to go for the handirack and hold-all because the Thule one and the other one linked to require roof bars or side bars neither of which we have! Also wanted something we could use with multiple cars.

Couldn't have managed the holidays we've had at all without it and it's never leaked.

We have a medium exodus one from halfords. only bought it last month, but love it. We can get tent, mats, sleeping bags, chairs, stove in the box with a little bit of space left. That leaves the car boot for pushchair, food, clothes and anything else. We still can't manage dc bikes though as we don't have a rack and worry about putting more weight on the car.

Oh forgot the essential info, ours was £300 for bars, box and fitting.

We have a local independent car accessories shop that sell second hand roof bars and will part exchange roof bars if you buy a new car, they also hire roof boxes, so maybe worth ringing round if you have any similar type shops round near you.