Organizing our new E-Pro 14fk

[Oldbears]

Posting how I packed and organized our new camper for those who may find it helpful. Please feel free to post your own tips/tricks on organizing your small campers, especially the 14' and 15' E-Pro models or Geo-Pros.

Bathroom:

Command Mirror secured with Velcro and silicone cord clips used as toothbrush holders. These items are mounted inside the bathroom hatch door so we have an instant vanity when we flip up the hatch.

Hanging on the wall above the hatch is a squeegee. (Not shown)


Found the perfect sized trash can. It sits on a piece of non-skid shelf liner to keep it in place during travel.

A school locker rack on the left holds our Aquis Adventure microfiber camp towels. These towels are very absorbent and dry quickly; they really reduce the bulk vs. regular terry towels. An organizer tray at center holds personal care items, and a tray on the right holds cleaning supplies. Not visible in the photo is a first aid kit hanging from a hook higher up in the storage area, and a collapsible dish drying rack is also lashed up out of the way for travel.

Kitchen:

A 10" x 12" wire shelf (Amazon) is a perfect fit for the kitchen cabinet.

The two drawers easily hold all our kitchen supplies.

I've used this Rubbermaid towel holder for years. Attached with Command Velcro, it has never fallen down or lost its paper roll in all our previous travels.

The microwave is storage for our light weight camp cookware (GSI Halulite) which nests together. A fry pan, large lidded pot, medium lidded pot, and tea kettle. Non-skid pieces sandwiched between things keep everything from bouncing about and scratching stuff. The kitchen shelf is solely reserved for non-perishable food stuffs. A mini electric coffee maker rides in a padded case in the kitchen sink and is removed and set up upon arrival.

Nightstand:
All three drawers in our nightstand are reserved for socks/underwear, etc. No junk.

A desktop organizer is attached to the top with Command Velcro strips. It holds all of our end-of-the day stuff like coins, wallets, phone, charging cord, and jewelry. Along with space for DVDs, remotes, and campground/trail maps.


A handy broom and dustpan hang near the door.


Closet:
I removed the hanging bar and installed shelves. We can easily fit 2 weeks worth of clothes for each of us in here by rolling them.


Gear Loft:

Our sleep system consists of a double sleeping bag, a couple standard pillows, a Kelty blanket and a light weight para-blanket. The sleeping bag stows away in a compression sack, and the pillows stash away in the sleeping bag's original stuff sack. Keeping everything out of the way and dog-hair free! A basket with misc. supplies hides behind the divider. Two storage bins hold dog supplies and games. Leaving plenty of space for things like our camera, binoculars, or computers.

Additionally, our under bench storage holds two small Hefty totes. One for the water hose and H2O supplies, and another for tools and misc. A dry bag to carry wheel chocks and jack pads during travel. Two sets of Lynx levelers. Two camp chairs, an outdoor light weight rug, jack handle, bottle jack, lug wrench, kneeling pad, and the electric cord in its storage bag.

[JS Stanley]

Hi,
I’ve been reading your posts as I have a 14fk, too. You have some great ideas. Please keep them coming! Along with the pics.
The only changes or additions I have made are adding a handle on the screen door, which is also useful to hang towels, a second solar panel to move around, and I use bungie cords to hold the paper products on roll. I also added two strands of those thin LED light strips, which plug into the USB ports. This cut down on the bright indoor lighting for later into the evening.
Been debating how to best utilize containers and shelf additions like you have shown here. So, I appreciate the ideas. I haven’t put much thought or shopped much for anything yet.
How are you keeping the bath hatch door open?
Again, thanks for sharing!

[Oldbears]

Thank you, and hope to see the ideas you've been coming up with.

Luckily I didn't have to shop for much for this camper. Most stuff migrated from our other camper, from our backpacking and car camping gear, or was scrounged from around the house. But overall I'm trying to keep it minimal and simple.

Our bathroom hatch has a magnet, just like the one that holds up the exterior hatch door. Although I believe I saw a post elsewhere on the forum where someone mentioned no latch in the bathroom. That wouldn't be very handy... I wonder if it is something that could be ordered though?

I know what you mean about having some less intense light. I've been thinking about something for the bathroom, that won't be so glaring for those middle of the night trips. I've got a couple items around the house that I might try...

[Oldbears]

So, since you got me thinking about it.... I have a couple motion activated LED puck lights that I think I originally found in the RV aisle at Wal-Mart. It was a 2 pack, and not very expensive as I recall. They could be mounted either with screws, or by the magnet on the back which came with a metal disk with double sticky foam tape as a mounting point. Anyway, I got them because I wanted a light on the ceiling above the shower in our cabin. It worked great. So since I had an extra one I put it over the shower in our 17' camper, which was also very handy since the only light for that shower is a skylight that doesn't do much for ya if showering at night!

We'll be putting the 17'er up for sale soon, and I had thought about letting that puck go with it, since I had stuck the disk to the ceiling.... But I just went out to see if I could pry it off without doing any damage to the ceiling. I DID IT! And the stick 'em was still in tact so I went out and stuck it up in the E-Pro. Perfect! Just enough light without blinding me, and I don't have to fumble around to switch it on when I'm half awake. It just comes on when I open the bathroom door. And just as in the other camper, I don't trust to leave it in place during travel, so I simply removed it from the magnet and stowed it away in the hatch until we need it.

So thank you for getting me to thinking about that issue!

[JS Stanley]

Hmm...Maybe I should contact FR and get the bath hatch magnet setup. Mine did not have that.

I forgot, but I did buy those puck lights as well. We put them magnetically on the steps.

BTW...same concern over the water miser/bath plunger. Too much leakage. And also removed the water filter. Too dangerous to leave that where it is should it crack. It's right near the electrical.

Does your sink seem to have little pressure?

[Oldbears]

Wouldn't hurt to ask. Our 14fk is a 2019 as well, so not sure why they didn't put the magnetic latch in all of them.

Neat idea to light up the steps!

Yep. That water purifier is coming out as soon as I get the chance. Not sure yet how I'm going to address that oozing bath faucet.... Might try to make a gasket, or whittle a cork to fit the spigot!

We have good pressure in the sink. BUT, if we're running the water pump we do get an airlock in that silly water purifier! One would think there would be enough power from the pump to push water straight through, but I think because the hose coming off the pump joins in with the city connect hose, above the level of the pump, and without a check valve, that it creates that issue. Yet another reason I want it gone.

[vasnipe]

Call me a cheapskate if you will but I'll squeeze that nickle until the buffalo burps.
I found a night light at the Dollar Tree store I use in my Sunseeker that puts out enough light to take care of business but not wake anyone up. I like it so much I bought another to put in my car / hotel travel kit. I prefer my rig for travel, but when needed...


https://www.dollartree.com/dome-shap...-lights/279745

[Oldbears]

Originally Posted by vasnipe

Call me a cheapskate if you will but I'll squeeze that nickle until the buffalo burps.
I found a night light at the Dollar Tree store I use in my Sunseeker that puts out enough light to take care of business but not wake anyone up. I like it so much I bought another to put in my car / hotel travel kit. I prefer my rig for travel, but when needed...


https://www.dollartree.com/dome-shap...-lights/279745

Love that $Tree! We've "gear" shopped there for years!

[Oldbears]

The first aid kit hung on a Command hook w/Scotch Velcro in place of the usual Command strip.


And the collapsible dish rack and basin (behind rack) lashed up on the inside wall of the storage hatch:

[Simsaklac]

Closet:
I removed the hanging bar and installed shelves. We can easily fit 2 weeks worth of clothes for each of us in here by rolling them.
Attachment 212589


I love this idea. I presume you had to cut the shelves depthwise? We want to do this with ours and we need shelves that measure 9" D X 29.75 W. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Oldbears]

Originally Posted by Simsaklac

Closet:
I removed the hanging bar and installed shelves. We can easily fit 2 weeks worth of clothes for each of us in here by rolling them.
Attachment 212589


I love this idea. I presume you had to cut the shelves depthwise? We want to do this with ours and we need shelves that measure 9" D X 29.75 W. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

The depth of the closet in our E-Pro 14fk was about 13 1/2", so I just used the standard 12" wire shelving. Got a 4' chunk and had the two shelves cut to length at the store. The only issue with it being 12" is that it came short of touching solid mounting points at all corners. In a previous camper that I added shelves to a closet - I just cut 1x2 supports, attached them with screws where I could, reinforced with construction adhesive, and was able to lay the shelving on top of the supports. But I got lazy with this project.... I attached the shelves at the back with C clips, and at the front I fastened C clips where it was solid and hung the fronts of the shelves with zip ties!

With the space you've described, you might be able to cut down a larger bit of wire shelving, right up to the cross supports of the shelf, and either grind off the multiple sharp nubs or cap them. Obviously one could cut solid wood planks to size as well, but that adds weight.

One of the things I considered with this closet, because I only intended to use it for clothes, was to tack up RV bungee cargo netting as shelves. So I suppose that could be an option as well, provided they weren't overloaded to sag too much. (Side note: I just purchased bungee netting on-line at a place called, "Organized Obie". They have all sorts of stuff on their site that might be suitable for your needs.)

Would love to see what solution you come up with!

[Oldbears]

I thought my only mods would be the closet shelves and removing the water filter.... But, after a couple times out I decided that I'd really like our bed pillows out of the way. My first fix was to compression strap them and stuff them up on the shelf - but that wastes storage space for other gear. Next I stuffed them into a stuff sack. Better, but still somewhat in the way. And I'm just not into having a whole "pillow scape" all around the dinette, because it takes up the sitting room.

We also travel with a dog who LOVES our pillows! So to keep them free of dog hair and slobber, I sewed up a couple pillowcases made of nylon. Sheds dog hair, and if they get dirty we can just wipe them off with a damp cloth.

But, to get the pillows out of the way during the daytime, I decided to make a pillow loft:



I got a 4' piece of bungee netting that matches what is used elsewhere in the camper. I threaded a piece of shock cord that I had laying around from a kayak rigging project, and used some cable clips. I attached one side using the existing screws holding the shelf net, and the other side to an available stud at the opposite corner. I left the bottom edge of the net loose so that it holds the pillows better.

We can also use this at night to help stash away one of the side cushions that we don't use to make up the bed.

I was able to find the matching bungee net at a place called, "Organized Obie". They had LOTS of RV do-hickies and whatnots for your custom projects. Including the hatch magnets that our bathroom hatch has, that apparently aren't in all the E-Pros. Reasonable and fast shipping too.

[Oldbears]

I didn't intend to modify anything else in the camper, but after cleaning bacon grease spatter off the wall on one of our outings I decided to put up some backsplash.

In our previous campers I had used Façade brand thermoplastic backsplash panels, but found that I would need about $100 worth of it (including edgings and adhesive) to span this kitchen area. So I went with the self adhesive Smart Tiles for this one. I was able to find inexpensive close-outs in a color I liked, and it turned out great.






Side Note: The thing in the sink is a padded case (lunch box) that we tote the coffee maker in. We leave it in the sink for travels and set up the pot after we arrive. Then we can stash away the case and use it for packing our picnic lunches for our daily outings.



Our pet.

[watermelonlover]

Originally Posted by Oldbears

Posting how I packed and organized our new camper for those who may find it helpful.


A dry bag to carry wheel chocks and jack pads during travel. Two sets of Lynx levelers. Two camp chairs, an outdoor light weight rug, jack handle, bottle jack, lug wrench, kneeling pad, and the electric cord in its storage bag.

wow i love your posts. My camper is not that organized and you are inspiring me to take a good long look at how i set things up. I am mostly putting things at higher place in case of flood or wet weather.
how big is ur dry bag to carry wheel chocks and jackpads. lol

[Oldbears]

Originally Posted by watermelonlover

wow i love your posts. My camper is not that organized and you are inspiring me to take a good long look at how i set things up. I am mostly putting things at higher place in case of flood or wet weather.
how big is ur dry bag to carry wheel chocks and jackpads. lol

Thank you, glad you enjoy them

Ha! Yea, the dry bag isn't quite that big!

Actually, the dry bag has a reverse roll... Whenever we have to break camp in the rain I stow the wet and/or dirty jack pads, chocks, water hose, etc. in
the bag to keep the interior of our storage hatch clean and dry. Then, once we're home I pull that stuff out to dry and repack it. The dry bag is easy to clean and dry as well, and is so much stronger than a plastic garbage bag.

[Sarahcat]

We're newbies, having picked up our E-Pro 14fk at the dealer two days ago. The backsplash idea is fantastic and I'm headed to the box store to look at mosaic tile options before we even turn the propane on for the first time! Also:
Cargo nets - check
Wardrobe wire shelves (we didn't get a hanging bar, anyway) - check
Organization of the bathroom hatch (ours has the magnets) - check
Microfiber towels - already done
Storing coffee maker in the sink for travel - check
Camp chairs in the external storage - already done

We're looking into a few things of our own, too and will post them in this thread, if that's appropriate.

Thanks!

[Oldbears]

Originally Posted by Sarahcat

We're newbies, having picked up our E-Pro 14fk at the dealer two days ago. The backsplash idea is fantastic and I'm headed to the box store to look at mosaic tile options before we even turn the propane on for the first time! Also:
Cargo nets - check
Wardrobe wire shelves (we didn't get a hanging bar, anyway) - check
Organization of the bathroom hatch (ours has the magnets) - check
Microfiber towels - already done
Storing coffee maker in the sink for travel - check
Camp chairs in the external storage - already done

We're looking into a few things of our own, too and will post them in this thread, if that's appropriate.

Thanks!

Just finished posting a welcome on your intro post when I found this.

YES! Would love to see how you organize and customize your new 14fk!

So are you considering real tile for your backsplash? I used the stick-on fake tile.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Enjoy!

[Sarahcat]

Originally Posted by Oldbears

So are you considering real tile for your backsplash? I used the stick-on fake tile.

!

It will be 'fake' tile most likely, due to the lighter weight. The idea of an easy to clean backsplash is the bomb!

[Sarahcat]

Originally Posted by Sarahcat

It will be 'fake' tile most likely, due to the lighter weight. The idea of an easy to clean backsplash is the bomb!

We found actual stainless steel mini subway tiles and covered the same area that you guys did. Worked really well! I’ll post a photo of the galley when we head out on our maiden voyage to a lake 30 miles away, tomorrow!

[Oldbears]

Originally Posted by Sarahcat

We found actual stainless steel mini subway tiles and covered the same area that you guys did. Worked really well! I’ll post a photo of the galley when we head out on our maiden voyage to a lake 30 miles away, tomorrow!

That sounds really neat! Can't wait to see it.

Enjoy your first trip in your new camper! Safe travels.