Ok you know you've got it bad when.....

[gatorboy]

Fully loaded:

I drive a Chev. Venture mini van. Went diving in Kingston, Ontario for a weekendand this is what the two of us took:

2 sets steel double 95's
2 sets steel double 104's
4 80 alum.
1 50 steel for oxygen
1 20 alum for argon
2 dry suits
2 7mm wet suits
1 mares frontier expidition BC
1 Dive Rite Trans Pac
1 Dive Rite backplate and classic wings
2 tool boxes
1 BBQ
2 large coolers
2 sleeping bags
1 tent
2 gym bags for clothes

Everything was completely strapped down secure and safe. I should have taken a picture. The nice thing with the van is that when you take out all of the seats you already have a spot to attach a strap to tie everything down. Nothing rolling around.

 

[dc4bs]

Hehe...

All this reminds me of a story a friend told me about his college days.

He was on the sailing team at his university in Massachusetts and drew the short straw so had to drive the team van with the trailer and 3 racing sailboats to an event in Florida.

Well, he and his copilot were running a bit late when the axle on the trailer broke...

After lots of cursing and ingenuity, they ended up with two boats sticking out of the back of the van (tied down with LOTS of twine from a local store), and the 3rd boat upside down on the roof with the trailer tied upside down on top of the boat.

Passing through Georga they got stopped for speeding (about 90 Mph or so) in this configuration.

My friend was just as happy that it was the other guy driving at the time.

He said that they did make it in time to get the boats into the water for the race, but just barely.

 

[JDostal]

Hehe...I own an f150 - the tailgate is a great spot to get geared up on...

However, I have made it to a dive site with 4 people, 8 tanks and gear in a geo metro before. It wasn't pretty.....but we did it.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Ya gotta love the Chevy venture minivan.... Lots of room, especially the extended version...