Can I get my band in my Van

[Kevin Dean]

I have a 6 seat SWB Nissan Primastar , two or 3 seats can easily be removed . I'm going to see if I could get all the bands equipment into it to make car ferry crossings to mainland feasible . Any clever stacking/organising suggestions welcome .

[Cat Burrito]

It depends on how big the band is and what kit people have. I'd suggest it'd be in the interest of the band to keep costs down so not bringing 15 guitars, the extra cab and the 20 piece drum kit would be the order of the day. A case of everybody working together. We hire splitter vans for tours but it does eat into the costs. Long gone are the days of band members hiding in the back of the van because they don't have seats and we've been stopped by Police.

[JapanAxe]

Place the largest band member horizontaly and stack the remainder on top in decreasing order of size.

Oh, wait...

[Len_derby]

My experience is that it's surprising what you can fit into even a small hatchback.
The key is to come up with the best way of getting it all in by a bit of planning and trial and error.
And then take some photographs!

[T-Bay]

And do a trial run a few days before the day. Also stack stuff in stuff, so make sure anything that has spare space has something in it. It's surprising how small you can pack stuff down when you really need to.

[Trueno]

It's 3D Tetris and some people are born with a special talent for it. I've been lucky in that bands I have been in have always had one member with "the touch"... whether it's a van or a hatchback.
My (serious) advice is to find out which band member is best at it. Leave him to do it alone, but the rest of you are on hand for fetching and carrying... except the singer who'll be sitting on his arse inside the venue "networking".

[Dad3353]

Put the heavy cubes in first, and get 'em packed tight so that they can't shift about at all. Sometimes laying 'em flat, face down, is worthwhile. You'll want the weight in the middle of the van, not to one side, so balance 'em out. Anything 'crushable' (drums..? cymbals..?) goes at the very top. Mic and PA stands can often slide under the seats, or in the foot well. Once all is in, cover the lot with a thick blanket, or your drum rug. Nothing should be able to swill about; all must be wedged against something else. As said above, do a couple of trial runs; it often happens that, perfectly packed going out, it becomes an impossible Chinese puzzle after the gig. Things seem to expand..!
For a 'normal' sized band, there should be plenty enough room. For a Genesis tour, it might be a tight squeeze.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Dad3353

[E sharp]

This above is the correct way .

I was always amazed at what I could get into my old Astramax van .

Though I tend to carry this into real life too - my wife thinks I'm anal , as I 're pack' the dishwasher after she's done it , just to get a few more bits in . Old habits

[casapete]

Some good advice here.

When loading the van , try and keep the heavier things spread out a bit. I was stopped on the M6
driving a band van (a hired SWB Transit ) as it looked like we were overweight. Got escorted to a weighbridge
where the front and rear axle loads were calculated. One was a touch over, one a bit under so the nice
policeman sent us on our merry way, although I daresay he could have given me a ticket.
If there's a council weighbridge near you it's definitely worth loading the van and seeing what it adds up to
for your peace of mind.

Maybe obvious too, but check your tyre pressures - often a big difference between laden and unladen figures.

[TimR]

Hire a trailer?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1504445525' post='3364882']
Hire a trailer?
[/quote]

Certainly 'do-able', I towed a trailer with my Renault Espace for a couple of years. Seven seated and the whole caboodle (drums, PA, backline...) in the trailer. The OP, however, was hoping to reduce ferry costs; I believe a trailer would scupper that, as there's be a supplement (could be wrong...).

[fretmeister]

I got two 4x12 bass cabs, 3 basses, kit bag, pedal board, 16 channel powered desk, 2 PA cabs and 2 people in my old Focus estate.

It managed about 40 mph then.

The main issue was the weight, not the volume of kit.

[TimR]

I had to move some paving slabs. I weighed them at 15kg each. 5 of them is the equivalent of one person. I reckoned just 40 of them would put me into 'overloading' territory.

Might be worth weighing the kit before you wedge it all in, 6 people plus gear could get you into trouble.

[TimR]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1504445748' post='3364885']


Certainly 'do-able', I towed a trailer with my Renault Espace for a couple of years. Seven seated and the whole caboodle (drums, PA, backline...) in the trailer. The OP, however, was hoping to reduce ferry costs; I believe a trailer would scupper that, as there's be a supplement (could be wrong...).
[/quote]

Just trying to work out if he's just putting gear in the vehicle or people as well. If it's just gear, the people will need separate transport. I don't know the vehicle in question, it's not clear to me.

[Kevin Dean]

Thanks for all the advice .

[ivansc]

I hadnt realised just how expensive the IOW ferry had got since |I used to gig there in the late nineties!!!
When I first did it the organisers of the various Country Music and Re-enactment festivals we did would pay for the band van, provide accomodation and basic food & drink! That stopped about 1997/8 iir.
Feel for you trying to do gigs on the mainland.

[bigjimmyc]

Check the tyre pressure first. If your load is as much as four adults then inflate to full load prssure.

For safety put the heaviest (most dense) items central (between the axles) and low, evenly distributed. E.g. Flightcased power amps. Cabs are much less dense.

Where possible stand units tall rather than flat. Use rubber matting to minimise sliding. Consider gig bags rather than flight cases if space is really tight.

When fully loaded consider the fallout in the event of braking hard.

You can get massive amounts of gear into most vehicles, with effort. Far more than is safe if the weather turns poor. However, I don't like trailers myself, I'd take two cars or hire a bigger vehicle.

[ricksterphil]

[attachment=252877:Chainsaw.png]

[xgsjx]

I'd check your van's weight limits first. You don't want to go over this or you could have trouble braking.
Vans are usually adequate for band vehicles, but your's is a Nissan. I've got a Nissan, they're usually underpowered & I don't trust anything Nissan say.

[Kevin Dean]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1504590072' post='3365810']
I'd check your van's weight limits first. You don't want to go over this or you could have trouble braking.
Vans are usually adequate for band vehicles, but your's is a Nissan. I've got a Nissan, they're usually underpowered & I don't trust anything Nissan say.
[/quote]I'm a safe & vault engineer in my other life & so not too bad at weight limits ,

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1504647388' post='3366381']
"safe & vault engineer"
[/quote]
Is that the same as a "heist operative"?

[steve-bbb]

do this....

[url="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwfYU2M8TBAus0TIaNtjxlQ"]http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwfYU2M8TBAus0TIaNtjxlQ[/url]

[media="http://youtu.be/0oxAhPryoY8"]http://youtu.be/0oxAhPryoY8[/media]

Edited September 6, 2017 by steve-bbb

[Dropzone]

As best you can put everything in a box (or case or whatever) and have a box for everything. That way you can limit the amazing expanding kit that always happens ager the show. If you are anal you can label what goes in each box