Packing your Jeep for a weekend adventure is a lot like the childhood story book "A Fish Out Of Water". No matter how much space you have, you are certain to fill it. The problem is, with a short wheelbase CJ, YJ or TJ, there isn't a whole lot of room to start with. Add a family to the Jeep and space becomes even more limited. Even if you are going alone, do you really need that 20x20 two-room dome tent for just yourself? And where are you going to find a spot on the side of the trail big enough to pitch it? We rounded up some ideas to pack more efficiently so you can leave the roof rack at home and keep your wind resistance and center of gravity as low as possible.
 Adding gear to the top of...  Adding gear to the top of your vehicle raises your center of gravity, which is a bad thing in off-camber situations. Additionally, the added surface area will have a negative effect on fuel mileage at highway speeds. Unless you are living out of your Jeep for longer than a week, you should be able to fit all of your gear inside. |  Staying hydrated is important...  Staying hydrated is important when you are out on the trail, but eggs, mayonnaise, bacon, and a head of lettuce are a little overkill unless you're pulling a trailer or have a pickup bed to fill. Consider a small, collapsible cooler for drinks that you freeze ahead of time, so no additional ice is needed. As for food, we find an eight-piece bucket of KFC chicken good for a weekend. Big boys may wanna double that. Cold pizza works well too, and it stacks flat. No, we are not even kidding. |  Leave the six D-cell Maglite...  Leave the six D-cell Maglite at home unless you are planning to pull people over and beat them for driving erratically. Modern LED flashlights and headlamps put out an amazing amount of light from a small, lightweight package that you can hang from your review mirror. We prefer headlamps like this 45-gram Princeton Tec Scout because, although some people think that they are dorky, they look a lot better than a guy holding a flashlight in his mouth while he digs through his gear in the dark. |
 Forget about bringing all...  Forget about bringing all of the comforts of home when you hit the trail. That's why it's called camping. Instead of spending your time pulling gear off of the roof rack and setting up camp and cooking meals, you could pack light and be sitting back enjoying dinner and bench racing around the campfire. |  Big propane lanterns are a...  Big propane lanterns are a bad idea on the trail for a number of reasons. First, they are bulky. Secondly, they have glass globes that are prone to breaking on rough trails. Third, they are thirsty and require disposable propane canisters to function. A compact candle lantern like this REI model puts out plenty of light for most uses and takes up a fraction of the room. You can use the wax to lube stubborn zippers and they are even available with citronella candles that will keep bugs away. |  A big flannel sleeping bag...  A big flannel sleeping bag is definitely comfortable, but just one would take up the whole area behind the back seat of a Wrangler! Mummy bags for backpacking such as this Ultra 20 model from GoLite are as small as a two-liter bottle, and in some instances they can keep you warmer than that huge sleeping bag. The mummy design has less void space that your body must heat. The tradeoff? A good down sleeping bag can cost significantly more than that big flannel bag. |
 Closed-cell foam pads are...  Closed-cell foam pads are inexpensive, but they are also bulky and really aren't that comfortable. The Bozeman Mountain Works TorsoLite pad in the foreground compresses to smaller than a two-liter bottle and only weighs 10 ounces. It's also more comfortable than the cheap foam pads. |  Some people eat better on...  Some people eat better on the trail than they do at home. You don't need a huge two-burner stove just to heat water or make oatmeal, though. A small backpacking stove like the Coleman Mountaineer in the foreground is simple to use, easy to repair if necessary, and it will run on just about any fuel from white gas to unleaded gasoline. |  If you are bringing the whole...  If you are bringing the whole family with you, you'll likely need a roomy tent. But if you're by yourself or with your significant other, a smaller tent will take up less space in your Jeep and on the ground. On most trails it seems hard enough to find a clear, flat spot to set up a small tent like the Coleman Peak 1 Aries pictured here, much less a huge dome tent like the Apex Design Quick Pitch tent in the background. |