The Never Bin

The Never Bin.

The Never Bin.

Ah, the Never Bin.  This is the 27″ x 15.5″ x 12″ plastic container we had in the back seat that eventually became full of things we N E V E R used.  We’ve been terrified to actually open this bin since neither of us actually knew what was in there… Turns out there wasn’t that much stuff… This basically means we dragged a half empty bin around for a year and half.

We thought this might be an interesting post since so many of us, when preparing for an extended overland trip, turn to each other and ask what we will need and want for the next year.  Looks like most of the items in our bin aren’t worth more than a giggle at our expense.  So maybe the moral of the story is, if you find you aren’t using something after a month or two, toss it.  Don’t put it in a giant plastic container and haul it around with you for the rest of the trip.

Not pictured, because we gave them to the guy who ultimately bought our truck and camper, are extra fuses, extra lightbulbs for the headlights, and extra ratchet straps to hold the camper on the truck. Should you find yourselves craving any of the items that ended up in our never bin (who are we to judge), we’ve provided handy links to items when possible.

Clockwise from left:

Placemats: 8 (yes, E I G H T) grey and one pink, because you never know when you might be entertaining S I X other eaters at a obviously filthy table somewhere. The pink one was supposed to be an accent in the camper, under a vase of flowers or something. Don’t ask.

Vintage Polkadot Party Streamers (from W. Germany): 2 rolls, because who doesn’t overland with vintage party streamers?

Motion Activated Cordless Light: We had two super bright Hella lights at our back door which could be turned on from the inside.  They provided enough illumination to light an entire campground so somewhere along the line we thought about attaching this to the back door for late night bathroom trips.  Turns out that if you are walking to a bathroom (or bush/tree/sand dune) at night you will have a headlamp with you anyway therefor completely rendering this pointless.

Glass Markers: Set of 9, to avoid confusion on all those times we had seven other people hanging out drinking from identical cups.

Clockwise from upper left:

Funnel: To be fair, we did use the other funnel we brought everytime we refilled our water in the camper.  This little guy was for filling our gas tank when we ran out of gas.  Never ran out of gas, never used this funnel.

Upper Cylinder Lubricant and Injector Cleaner: 3 bottles.  Apparently you are supposed to add this to the gas south of the border since it is such a low octane. We started with three bottle and ended with three bottles.  Awesome.

Folding 5-Gallon Water Carrier:  This was given to us by a well meaning family member before we had bought our camper with a 25 gallon water tank.

Cargo Net:  We used to use this for toting groceries and whatnot in the back of the truck before we left.  Somehow it came with us and lived in the Never Bin for 99% of the trip.

OBD2 Scan Tool:  Apparently if something goes wrong with your vehicle you can plug this little guy in (somewhere) and it will give you a code for what is wrong. Still in it’s original packaging.

Siphon Pump: Not sure what this is for.  Maybe for getting gas out of something and into something else?  Or maybe for water?

Bungee Tie and Ball:  These are actually pretty rad and had we known we had them with us they actually might have been used.

IMG_8787

Clockwise from left:

Food Tents: 2, because we were going places where it was buggy. Turns out waving your hand at the flies works pretty well.

Permethrin:  This is an insecticide you apply directly to your clothing or gear to prevent insect bites.  We did use one of the kits in Costa Rica when we had the time and space to soak everything we owned and hang it to dry all day.  Never opened the second set.  Pretty sure it works.

D-Ring and towing strap: We brought these for all the times we got stuck in the sand and mud.

Giant BBQ Spatula:  There are no words.  This was the only thing surviving from Jason’s BBQ tools when we were leaving.

Cuidado/Caution Tape:  We bought this during the trip so other campers wouldn’t trip over the cords holding down our awning.  Used it once and it went into the Never Bin.  Turns out other travelers aren’t as clumsy as we thought.

Altimeter: I guess at some point we thought it would be important to know our altitude?

10 pack of disposable gloves:  For all the times we planned to use the permethrin.

So there you have it.  One giant box full of useless things. We’re off to find a giant garbage bag…

3 thoughts on “The Never Bin

  1. Geneva Saint-Amour

    Okay, the placemats really made me chuckle. For the first few months of our trip, I carried a small, suction cup mounted bird feeder that I envisioned sticking on the van window when we stopped. As it turns out, birds want nothing to do with a van containing three dogs. Even when baited with food.
    In order to avoid the “Never Bin” I am working on just giving stuff away. Thanks for sharing your list with us.

    Reply
  2. Rhonda

    that is fantastic. While I”m sure we, too, will have such a bin (Jim more than me.. what a hoarder! You know he was a boyscout and they’re always over prepared 🙂 ) I think it will be harder this time around.. when we were backpacking the world you truly carried your life on your back… it certainly made you think harder about what you really needed. With the truck and camper and STORAGE, oh my, who knows what trouble we can get into. The glass markers made me laugh out loud because a year ago we had a great camping trip with friends and all wore fake mustaches while drinking martinis and playing ladderball. I got the grand idea that we needed mustache glass markers… well, they’re still in their package, in the camper, even though we’ve camped with those same friends 2 dozen times since. lol.. perhaps next trip i’ll actually take them out of the package!

    Reply
    1. Lanni

      Looks like you were ready for the Zombie Apocalypse. Some of that stuff is like carrying an umbrella when it might rain; If you schlep it, you’re pretty much ensuring you won’t need it. So awesome. And I COMPLETELY understand the pink placemat! <3

      Reply

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