In-Depth Review of Storage Space in the HIKE 100 FLX & Usage Tips!

In-Depth Review of Storage Space in the HIKE 100 FLX & Usage Tips!
Plus, insights for maximizing your space with helpful gear and customizations.

By: Austin and Kirsten Lawrence @Adv4two

Storage is the number one topic we are asked about while out adventuring in the HIKE 100 FLX. Though this camper is only 16-ft in length, it “packs” a punch when it comes to having plenty of areas for storage. 

The Winnebago HIKE 100 FLX offers inside and outside storage for all your adventure gear and other essential necessities. However, you can really make the most of it with some simple customizations! 

In this article, we will share all of our storage secrets that we have gathered over the last several months of traveling in this Winnebago travel trailer. Using every square inch of our HIKE has definitely given us the upper hand on always being prepared!

Where to Store Food in the HIKE 100

The HIKE 100 FLX 1316SB floorplan comes equipped with the standard Norcold refrigerator that will easily hold two half-gallons of milk, plenty of refreshment drinks, condiments, meats, cheeses, etc. This refrigerator also has a small but powerful top freezer to keep those ice cubes and popsicles cold! 

With this being said, we also have two Truma coolers in our truck (C30 single-zone and C69 dual-zone) for extra storage on those longer off-grid adventures. Having these coolers has increased our amount of food storage capabilities and gives us the peace of mind while off-grid.

There is a small “pantry” cabinet up above the convection oven that allows us to store our cooking spices, paper goods, tablecloths, pot holders and hand towels. We only keep dry goods in the camper year-round to help eliminate the chances of ants. 

How We Customized Our Food Storage Space:

• Installed Crazy Chef Spice rack system that can easily hold up to 30 spice jars, adheres with 3M adhesive tape, customizable to your needs. 
  • Spice jars used: 1 oz plastic spice jars with caps and sifters for all spices! These fit perfectly within the Crazy Chef Spice rack system. We even added labels to ours! The fit is nice and secure for travel! 
• Command damage-free plastic hooks with removable backing and safe for coated surfaces. These helped us use the pantry door to hang our potholders on and created easy access to them while cooking.  
• A flexible storage bin was a great addition to our pantry cabinet to help keep our paper goods – plates/bowls and plastic utensils all in place while traveling. However, we are currently researching for a drawer system that we can add in place of it. We will keep you posted!
• We also highly recommend a bread saver! I hate traveling with a loaf of bread just to stop for lunch and it has ended up squished somewhere! 

MORE Kitchen Storage

Under the kitchen sink is a large storage area that is divided into an upper and lower shelving unit. The upper area does have some restrictions due to the plumbing for the sink; however, by adding some small individual Rubbermaid containers, we are able to store cookware, hygiene items, toilet paper, Jetboil items, bug spray etc. 

We also added non-slip drawer material to both shelving areas to help assist with keeping items secure and not sliding around while traveling. 

Getting Creative with Food Storage

As we’ve mentioned, storage/organization is key in a small adventure camper. Since we use our small pantry cabinet for spices, plates and utensils, we pack our dry foods in a large Scout bag that has sturdy sides and a reinforced bottom that we are able to slide under the bench seating. 

Our “food bag” as we call it, stays in the truck while we are traveling so we have access to snacks while on the road. Coming from a 13-ft camper prior to our HIKE 100, we learned how to pack out and save or make space. This is second nature to us, so we don’t mind having to move some items from the truck to the camper during our travels.

Just by adding these small inexpensive but BIG space creators, we have already added more storage space!

Bathroom Storage in the HIKE 100

The HIKE 100 wet bath offers a very nice black shelving system that is removable and is a great addition to storage. However, we have found ourselves removing those shelves and placing other items that helped increase space and still offer storage within the wet bath. 

These items help us by being able to leave a lot of our items in the camper between adventures, and that means not forgetting them next time!

Command damage-free plastic hooks. We placed these on the shower wall to hold our bathing poufs and hair scrubs easily. We also leave items hanging on these hooks while traveling. They haven’t moved yet and we’ve been down some rather bumpy roads! 

Command damage-free shower caddy, soap dish, and razor holder. These all come with removable backing and are safe for all surfaces to leave no trace after removing. We placed these on the shower walls, and they have not budged in any of our travels! 

The shower caddy holds all of our showering needs, the soap dish is perfect and holds the weight of a large bar of soap. The razor holder has definitely come in handy for the husband!

This system makes it super easy to hop in the shower and have all your showering needs right there. We found this in a bundle at Walmart as you may be able to; however, you can also order them from Amazon. 

An over-the-door towel rack. We purchased our towel rack from our local Dollar General. It was only around $5 and is perfect to hang our bathroom towels on after use! To help keep the rack from moving during travel, we placed two small pieces of Gorilla Tape on the top of the door, then placed the rack! It’s perfect and does not move during travel! Our towels are able to hang easily and are always dry for the next use.

HIKE 100 Living Space Storage

Let’s talk about all the living space storage! Of course, all floorplans are going to offer different layouts. So, you’ll have to find what works best for you. But with the 1316SB (stowaway bed), we have the whole floor for living space. 

Using Wall Space Efficiently

During the winter months we all have those bulky jackets, hoodies, beanies, and even hats that need somewhere to go. While the closet space is a great size, you still need more space for all those jackets. Utilizing the wall space to the left as you walk into our camper was definitely a must. 

We decided to add some heavy-duty aluminum alloy fold-up hooks with the use of Gorilla Tape to secure them and not use screws.

These hooks can hold up to 33lbs each! We love that they fold away for a sleek look and hold all of our jackets and backpacks after a long day of hiking! This has also given us the usable space on the floor under the hooks to place our hiking shoes without all of it being on the floor. (We have also used these hooks in the kitchen area to hang our hand towels and one in the shower to hang a hand towel for drying our hands after using the sink.)

Another storage hack for the HIKE 100 is the factory installed Molle panel on the inside of the back door. We use this panel for storage of flashlights, hatchet for cutting firewood, and a machete for those hiking adventures into thick woods. This makes it quick and easy to grab these items and hit the trails, or just have peace of mind knowing they are onboard.

Closet Space in the HIKE 100

The large closet space that the HIKE 100 floorplan offers has two wide opening doors that make access very easy. Installed at the factory is one shirt rack that goes across the top of the closet allowing you to get creative with the rest of the space. 

At first, we thought just to use our duffle bags and place them in there then dig around when needed. But after a few trips out, we decided it was time for an upgrade. Until you start traveling, you don’t realize how much “stuff” that we all like to take with us - binoculars, walkie talkies, hairdryer, makeup, etc. A random catch all space was needed. 

We decided to install four Closet Maid storage bins that would give us both our own bin for clothes, one for bathroom towels/washcloths, and one for all the other stuff that we wanted to have within arm’s reach. Installing these bins still allows room on both sides of the closet for hanging shirts and the occasional thinner jacket, along with storage for makeup bags, CPAP machine, and other items. 

Our closet is the “main hub” of our living space, and it definitely has the room we need, it just needed to be organized and make the best use of that space.

• Closet Maid stackable bins were purchased at our local Lowe’s home improvement store. Since these baskets are not lockable to each other, we secured them together with heavy-duty wire ties and by placing the hardware included by screwing them in place. We chose these 16.69'' W x 8'' H x 15.75'' D White Steel Stackable Baskets. 
• Motion-activated lights that only turn on if the lighting is low have also been a huge hit for us within our camper. We have placed them in all of our cabinets and are very happy with them. 

Bonus Storage with HIKE 100 Stowaway Bed Floorplan

With our floorplan being the 1316SB (stowaway bed), it has two large foldable bench seats that also have the ability to collapse together to make another queen size bed, or fold up completely against the wall. 

The bench seats also have a good amount of space behind the backrest and outside wall. We are able to secure our step ladder, eating table, and collapsible trash can behind them with no damage to the walls, so this adds to our storage space. 

Since we use the stowaway bed, we leave our bench seats down (unless we have our bikes with us) for seating and that allows even more storage underneath! 

Under one of the bench seats we have placed a Roam Adventure Co. 95L rugged case that gives us a whole new area of storage! I consider this box our “garage.” We use it to secure ratchet straps, grilling utensils, smore sticks, paracord, charging stations for our bikes, and just about anything else we may need to add. It is easily accessible by just lifting up the bench seat and opening the box. 

We have the Roam Adventure box secured to the floor with the factory placed D-rings in the floor of the camper with custom fit ratchet straps. We have added the top lid organizer to our Roam Adventure Co. box recently to add even more storage and organization.

Under the second foldable bench seat, we use this area for even more storage! When the bed is stowed for the day, we do have to remove our pillows as there is not enough room for them to remain. We have found that using Ikea’s large blue reusable/waterproof bags are perfect to place them in and tuck right under the bench seat for the day. 

The bag is plenty large to keep the pillows clean and ready for use at night. We own several sizes in these bags that we also use to carry items back and forth to the camper while getting ready for an adventure. They are very affordable and fold up nicely and stowaway small.

What about dirty clothes? 

After those long days of hiking, climbing and finding those hidden mud holes, you want those clothes packed away until laundry day. We use REI’s lightweight roll top dry sacks that allow you to pack away those clothes and place them under the bench seat keeping them out of the way and in a secure bag.

HIKE 100 Outdoor Storage

Fender storage boxes are a great outdoor storage feature on the HIKE 100 series! This additional storage space has been amazing to have. 

The front-side fender box has a folding feature that adds additional outdoor cooking space along with three compartments for storing more items. We are able to store our single burner stove, extra propane, lighter, and utensils. Having this additional space makes it a fast and easy setup for outdoor cooking. 

The back-side fender box does not offer the foldable feature but is perfect for storage of our electric cord (which makes for a super-fast hook-up since it is right next to the plug), wheel chocks, leveling blocks, and more. As a precaution, we added a rubber seal to the top lid on this fender box to help with waterproofing since we store our electric cord in this area. 

With our HIKE 100 having a gray tank, we needed a place to store our drain hose. Everyone’s least favorite item! The exoskeleton on the HIKE 100 can offer another way to add storage. 

We installed the RV Adjustable EZ Hose Carrier with lockable door cap to the front of our unit with just the use of heavy-duty zip ties. With this type of installation, we are not structurally compromising the exoskeleton in any way. Our hose carrier does lay over-top of the tongue of our HIKE 100, so it does have a solid bottom component to help stabilize.

We have enjoyed the ease of use and lockable cap to keep our hose away from other parts of the camper and the black color blends with the bottom of the camper to help not create an eye sore.

Final Insights on Storage in a Small Camper

There are so many ways to use the space within the small camper lifestyle, you just have to use your imagination and think “outside of the box.”  Creating more storage will definitely allow you to bring along all your comforts of home without being cramped for room. 

With “tiny” living becoming so popular these days, you’re bound to look at a new space and have an “AH-HAH” moment with an idea of how to use what you have. Think about wall space, corners, and organization. We hope that our storage ideas help you look at your space with a new light! You can follow us at @adv4two for more insights.

Happy Camping with more storage!