Photo: organizer for the trunk of a car (skoda-storyboard.com) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
To prevent small items from flying around the trunk of a car during maneuvers, ergonomics experts have come up with such a thing as an organizer. We tell you about several proven versions of this device, including improvisational solutions.
Read about how to tidy up your car trunk once and for all in the RBC-Ukraine article.
A bottle of washer fluid, aerosol for cleaning glass, an ice scraper and a sponge for washing – if you do not want to look for these frequently needed accessories in the nooks and crannies of the trunk, you need an organizer. If you are going to buy it in the store, we will tell you how to choose it, if you want to adapt something for this role quickly – we will suggest impromptu options.
What the organizer can do
There are many reasons to keep all your small luggage in one place, but perhaps the main thing is that it does not interfere with the location of the main luggage and does not distract the driver with its flights during maneuvering.
Even when the car's cargo compartment has pockets for small items, it is sometimes more convenient to keep all the accessories not in different corners and niches, but all together – for example, to quickly take them home or to another car if necessary. Then the motorist remembers about the trunk organizer. We have several options.
Factory trunk organizer
The choice of factory products is quite wide: in the form of a special bag, trunk or box, both with internal compartments and without. It is good if there is a “Velcro” on the bottom of such an organizer, which helps it to be fixed on the trunk mat and not to move while driving. Pay attention to models that can be folded like a book when empty, or, as an option, partially reduced in volume when the box is half empty.
Improvisation: plastic and cardboard
In case you need to “organize” something urgently and there is no time to visit a car shop, you can simply drop by the nearest supermarket. For emergency and one-time use, an openwork plastic box from fruits or citrus fruits will do as an organizer. Most supermarkets either give them away for free or sell them for a symbolic amount. It is worth remembering that boxes come in different depths, and shallow options are less suitable for use in a car. One of the disadvantages of this option is that the untreated plastic of the box can damage the trunk lining.
An alternative to plastic is a cardboard box. It is even easier to find than a plastic analogue: in addition to supermarkets, such containers can be taken from confectionery or meat shops, or even bought at the post office. However, they are inferior in strength to plastic ones and can easily be damaged if you pull the edge along the trunk floor with your hand.
Impromptu option
Finally, you can use a bag that is no longer used due to age or loss of trendiness as an organizer. It is better to choose a bag with a wide opening for easy packing of things and a wide bottom that will reliably prevent tipping over. Also consider the height – you may need one that is high enough to be able to place bottles of car chemicals vertically.
Professional approach
If there is a tuning studio in your city that works with car interiors, they will be happy to arrange an organizer for you in a professional manner. A neat box can be adapted to a certain corner of the trunk, for example, by fitting it into a niche near the wing. You will be able to order both the shape, and the type of finish, and the color of the material. A special advantage of this solution is that the trunk space will be used as rationally as possible.
In brief
Don't forget about safety even when placing small items in the trunk. Unsecured items, especially bottles of liquid, due to the evolution of the car while driving, for example, on a winding road, can easily damage both the upholstery of the car and the luggage located nearby. And we are not even talking about cases of collisions and other types of accidents, when each object increases in mass several times. To understand: a standard metal can of beer, which is lying loosely somewhere in the car, during a head-on collision hits the dashboard or windshield with a force of several hundred kilograms. Will every detail of the trim withstand such a blow? So this is another reason to keep small things organized.
In preparing this article, materials from Autobild and Autocentre were used.
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported why pedestrians are not always right.