Would love input on this if you’ve done it. We’re taking our first motor trip soon- having done countless number of canoe trips.

I’m wondering IF it would be a good idea to bring Rubbermaid tubs (storage totes) instead of canoe packs this year. I have about a billion of them and if I use the locking lid ones, why not just put this in the boat?? Would still need of course to keep the food items as normal, but since I don’t have to portage anything, I’m wondering why the tubs wouldn’t be a good idea? Seems a lot easier than cramming everything in a bag as per usual.

Anyone do this? Thoughts??

My experience is that they don't pack as well. They are not "forgiving" to scrunch in a spot.

Yes we do motor trips now on Clearwater and we switched to totes. Other then the food bag, we pack everything in totes and it works great.

Totes work great. Especially with a flat deck. Until you find yourself on a lake with all camp sites filled. Just watch your tote covers. And the quilts and blankets that were in them. Speaking for a friend.

Yes, we've used them for that purpose.

A friend even named his tote "Ed". :)

I’ve used them for food in Voyageurs. They slide right into the bear lockers.

I keep most of my BWCA gear and other camping gear in totes when in storage at home, would sure make packing for the trip easy if I just grabbed the tote and threw it in the vehicle. As long as you can fit your gear in totes and the totes fit in the boat it seems like a great idea. The totes themselves could be useful in camp as a work surface or a end table to hold your drink next to your chair.

Well! Crazy like a fox I guess! Thanks all!

For a motor boat trip, probably ok. Not much different than car camping. Don't even think about them for anything requiring portaging. Once upon a time in another time and place, in a land far far away, I belonged to a scout troop that one year decided to let some of the uninvolved moms and other inexperienced people plan our bwca trip to Cummins so they could feel "included". Most all of them were car campers and that is how they planned it out. Instead of portage packs we had huge totes. What a disaster. The portage from Burntside to Crab took over 3 hours. On top of that, this was a 5 day trip. We had food for 3 weeks. Why I didn't bail on this trip or those of us who knew better didn't speak up I don't know to this day.

Totes are all we use on motor trips to Lac Seul. They pack and load well and are splash-proof.

I also use a smaller tote when canoe bascamping. It holds cooking gear for the group and fits in a Duluth #4 pack. It does result in wasted space, but also keeps the pack from being overloaded.

I don't think that's a crazy idea at all! We are doing a trip in Voyagers this year with our speed boat, and absolutely will not put our gear in any portage packs. They'll all be in Rubbermaid totes.

If you are portaging, absolutely, portage packs make sense... if they're going in a motorboat, I think Rubbermaid totes make perfect sense.

Well I just got back and I will say that totes are fantastic in a motor boat. Kept everything perfectly dry despite a lot of wind and chop and splashing. And as someone mentioned, it was nice to have a few “tables” around the campsite. Easily fit 5 totes in a 14ft boat with 3 people.

If I do another motor trip, this is the way to go!

Those bins should be just fine in your situation. I would suggest a bungee cord for each bin when on the water. I’ve seen weird things happen to those bins when traveling in a open trailer down the highway.