Knowing how you can pack your roof bag when traveling is as important as the travel itself. Not only because your luggage would be inside the roof bag, but also that not packing your roof bag well could lead to a lot of road safety hazards.
When you are traveling as a family and you do not have a roof bag, it will be difficult for you to carry all your luggage and still have enough space for all your passengers or family members to sit comfortably.
With a roof bag you are going to make it very possible. You will be able to carry enough load on your roof rack and you will still have enough space for people to sit in your vehicle comfortably.
Let’s quickly get to you to see how you can pack your roof bag:
- Step 1: Read the roof bag instructions
- Step 2: Sort your luggage according to the weight, size and shape
- Step 3: Do not allow sharp objects into your roof bag
- Step 4: Zip up
When you want to pack your luggage inside your roof bag, you do not just pack it in anyway, there are several steps and precautions that you need to be aware of to ensure that you are doing it the right way.
Despite the fact that roof bags are strong and durable does not mean that you will be able to put anything and any weight of items in your roof bag.
There is a limit to the kinds of things you can put in a roof bag, not just the kinds of things, but also, the weight and probably the shape of things.
Some roof bags are not able to adjust to irregular shapes of load that you put in it, while some roof bags are built in such a way that it can adjust to the shape of items that you put in it.
These are the things that will be explained in this article, that is why you need to keep reading till the end.
Take a look at the steps in packing a roof bag.
Step 1: Read the roof bag instructions
Have you ever bought anything new and you did not read the instructions on how it is meant to be used? That is the very first thing you need to do when you get your roof bag and you want to pack your load in it.
You should first of all check the instructions so that you do not go against some of the guidelines. The instructions are there to guide you on the things that you need to take note of.
One of the main reasons for checking the instructions of the roof bag is so that you can know the weight limit of the roof bag. Each roof bag has its own weight limit, it is wise that you are aware of it so that you do not go ahead to overload the roof bag.
Once you overload your roof bag and you are embarking on a journey with high speed, it could result in loud noise and also, if you are not careful enough it could result in an accident.
If the heavy roof bag eventually falls of from the roof of your vehicle while you are on transit. You should take this first step very seriously because ignoring it could cost a lot.
Step 2: Sort your luggage according to the weight, size and shape
This is the next thing you need to do after you are done reading the instructions of the roof bag. Remember that it was mentioned above that despite the fact that the roof bag is strong and durable does not mean that you can store any kind of load in the bag.
At this point, this is where you sort out the heavy ones, the light ones, the ones with irregular shapes and the ones that are very sharp.
For those that are very heavy, the best place to store those ones is inside your vehicle and not in the roof bag. This is because of the weight limit of the roof bag and the roof rack.
If after the warning you go ahead to store something very heavy in the roof bag and you embark on a journey, you are only jeopardizing yourself and other road users. The light ones are best kept in the roof bag.
Those ones with irregular shapes should be in your vehicle. The sharp objects should not be in the roof bag at all, the roof bag may be strong, but you should not expose it to sharp objects.
Keep the sharp objects far away from it when you are packing your load into the vehicle.
Step 3: Do not allow sharp objects into your roof bag
This is where you start to put the load inside your roof bag, having in mind the maximum weight limit and also bearing in mind that there should be no form of sharp objects or very heavy items around it.
You should take note of this because it is very important. When you are packing your load in the roof bag make sure that you distribute the weight evenly.
Make sure that the heavier ones are at the middle and then the lighter ones are at all the ends of the roof bag. Doing this will help to create balance in the roof bag in such a way that when you place it on the roof rack of your vehicle it will also be balanced.
All the weight will be distributed evenly. If you are putting some valuable things in the bag, make sure that you wrap them inside a plastic bag for additional safety.
Despite the fact that most roof bags are water resistant and will not get affected by rain, you still need to wrap all your valuables inside a plastic bag as an added precaution.
This will help you to keep your valuables safe and secure. The reason for doing this is in situations where there may be very heavy rainfall, some roof bags may struggle in very heavy rain fall.
When you wrap the valuables in the plastic bag, you are doing yourself a favor. You should not see it as being too careful, you cannot be too careful.
Step 4: Zip up
This is the final thing you need to do when you want to pack your roof bag. At this point you must have finished packing all your load inside the roof bag.
All the items that are very heavy would be in the vehicle and those ones that are not so heavy have to be in the roof bag. Doing these things will make it so easy for you to completely zip your bag and keep it safe even while you are on transit.
When you are zipping the roof bag you should also be aware if the weight limit has been exceeded or not. If the weight limit has been exceeded you should not zip the bag, you should first of all remove some of the items from the bag to reduce the weight.
When you do this, you are rest assured that the weight has been reduced, as long as you keep on checking the weight of each item you are putting in the bag.
When everything is set and done, you can go ahead to zip the bag and then get it on the roof rack of your vehicle in preparation for your journey.
Zipping the bag will help to close the bag and prevent things from falling off the roof bag.
Zippers are usually water resistant; this means that when you are driving and it starts to rain, you will not have to bother about the rain damaging the zippers. They are water resistant.
Now that you have seen the steps in which you can use to pack your roof bag then you can begin to follow it religiously without you having any issues with it.
If you do not follow these steps, you may even find it a little but difficult when you want to pack your roof bag. There are some tips you should know when you want to pack your roof bags, these tips will help you in the packing process and it will also prevent you from making silly mistakes that may put you, your passengers and probably, other road users.
These are the important tips that you need to know before zipping up your roof bags. The tips will help you to pack your roof bag the right way.
Do not overload the roof bag
This is something that has been mentioned repeatedly in this article, that is to show you how important it is that you should not overload your roof bag.
First, you should have known the maximum capacity of the roof bag. How you do that is by checking it from the instruction manual.
Once you have seen that you should work with it and make sure that you do not exceed it. If you eventually do, you may end up jeopardizing yourself and other road users. You should take good note of this as it is a very important one.
Centralize the roof bag on the top of your vehicle
This means that your roof bag should always be positioned at the center of your roof. This tip is majorly for when you are done packing the roof bag and you want to attach it to the roof of your vehicle. YOU should not neglect this at all.
This will help to create balance on the vehicle and it will help you to also have a very easy and safe trip.
When you are packing the roof bag it is also important to note that the heavier items are supposed to be in the middle of the bag, while the lighter ones should be at all the edges of the bag.
Reason for this being that the weight will be spread across the bag to help to create balance.
Understand the difference between capacity and weight
A roof bag can have maximum weight and maximum capacity as well. These two are different things entirely. Maximum capacity refers to the ability of the roof bag to be able to hold many things at once.
There is different roof bag capacity, there is the 15 cubic feet, there is 18 cubic feet and there is the 10 cubic feet capacity. This is what determines the capacity of a roof bag.
This is quite different from the weight. The weight is the force of the roof bag. With the weight you will be able to know how heavy the items you put in the roof bag should be.
That is the difference between capacity and weight of a roof bag, you are not going to mistake one for the other if you read this carefully.
If your roof bag capacity is 10 cubic feet, you should not exceed it, if it is 15- or 18-cubic feet capacity, you should not exceed it either.
With these tips that have been shared, you will be able to do things the right way when you are packing your roof bag. You will not repeat mistakes and you will not do things the wrong way.
Final words on how to pack a roof bag
How you pack your roof bag determines a lot. It determines how well your journey will go and how balanced the roof bag will be on your roof rack.
Packing the roof bag well is also good for safety, it well helps you to have a very safe trip and then you are on transit.
Packing your roof bag first starts with reading the instructions to know the important things you need to know about the roof bag.
Things like the maximum weight that the roof bag can carry. The roof bag capacity, etc. This will guide you on what and what not to put in the roof bag.
It has been talked about in the beginning of this article that very heavy items should not be kept in the roof bag because of the weight limit.
Not only heavy items, but sharp items and items with irregular shape. These ones are not to be put in the roof bag at all. All this is for the safety of your roof bag.