Packing For College - Trunks?

<p>I'm delivering my freshman to college by airplane, and mailing/shipping the bulk of her stuff separately. Is a big camp-style trunk recommended? Seems a good idea for the 4 years, rather than packing boxes to be removed and retrieved every season. Does a trunk take up too much space in a typical dorm room, or is it a useful storage/coffee table? Is the weight extra costly to ship? Thanks for any insight.</p>

<p>There is no space in a dorm room to store a trunk. Check with the school. There may be some extra storage area. I recommend boxes. And, yes, you would be paying extra for the weight of the trunk.</p>

<p>Depends on the dorm room. My son took his camp trunk and used it as a footlocker. Very useful.</p>

<p>Although some certainly can’t, many dorm rooms can accommodate a trunk. They get used as spare tables, extra seating, etc. If there isn’t floor space, they go underneath beds (sometimes even without raising the bed, but risers are easy to find). </p>

<p>Definitely check with the school in question.</p>

<p>Definitely check where you would store this trunk during the summer.</p>

<p>Possible helpl: We are not flying our D, rather we are driving her…but I bought a cardboard mover’s wardrobe box for $13. We can simply take her clothes out of her closet and hang them on the original hangers on the little pole. The bottom of the box can be utilized for shoes & other loose items.</p>

<p>I believe you can ship these boxes. (They can be collapsed and stored under the bed for shipping home? or recycled. Then just get another one for move home…)</p>

<p>My brother used those huge duffel bags from camp (they can be rolled up so they don’t take up too much room) as well as some boxes.</p>

<p>Another fan of footlockers (trunks) here! D has had one of these the past two years and it is great! [Trunks</a> - Trunks made in the USA. A great trunk for camp or college.](<a href=“http://www.cnmfg.com/]Trunks”>http://www.cnmfg.com/) They are great looking and sturdy, AND you can lock them! She can store her checkbook, credit card, extra cash, camera, iPod, etc. in it when not being used. Her laptop even fits in. We also bought the wheels. It stores easily under her bed - she just grabs the handle and wheels it out when she needs to get something out. We figured it would be a great “coffee table” (with storage) for her first apartment.</p>

<p>Thanks so much, will check on space. And the trunk could solve that question about where to lock valuables.</p>

<p>My daughter flew Southwest (allows 2 bags–max. 50lbs each) last fall and took two suitcases holding 50lbs. each, a 30lb carry-on, and two boxes holding 50lbs each. This covered everything and cost $100–$50 each for the two extra boxes. Shipping would have been much more. She was able to store a lot with a friend over the summer and returned with the two suitcases, the carry-on, and paid $50 for an additional box.</p>

<p>Don’t assume that if the room floorplan looks spacious there will be some room for a trunk when your kid and the rommate(s) move in all of their stuff. I’d wait and buy one while you are there. For summer storage kids often split the cost of a pod from College Boxes or some similar company. D and two friends rented a pod to store their junk this summer, and her share was $150 or so. The pod came with some boxes, and also her college provided boxes and some limited storage for out-of-state students.</p>

<p>No room for a trunk in either of my kid’s dorm rooms. Three years ago when DS moved in we purchased two very long rubbermaid under the bed type containers. He has had them every year. Stuffs them with laundry detergent, etc. in the fall, clothes, etc in the Spring. He is across the country but we have summer storage with relatives nearby.</p>

<p>The newer slim trunks will fit under a bed just like the under the bed rubbermaid products. The link above had them.</p>

<p>Both my sons took trunks or footlockers with them to college and were able to store them under their lofted dorm bed. S1 has graduated and still uses the trunk when he moves from apartment to home and back to apartment. S2 goes to college in TX (we’re in FL). We shipped his footlocker by FedEx ground for about $40 and he’s able to store it in his dorm basement over the summer.</p>

<p>Slim trunks sound OK but a standard trunk is not seen in most college dorms at all anymore nor do many dorm buildings offer the proverbial “storage room” in the basement for luggage etc that was offered in my generation. Here is the luggage we bought son who immediately went to Russia for a week with every thing he needed in one case and also took it abroad to a cold climate with warm shoes, coats ect…junior year…all he needed! He got the mother load Junior.
[eBags</a> Mother Lode TLS Junior 25 Wheeled Duffel > Wheeled Duffels > Duffels - eBags](<a href=“http://www.ebags.com/ebags/mother_lode_tls_jr_25_wheeled_duffel/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=125548]eBags”>http://www.ebags.com/ebags/mother_lode_tls_jr_25_wheeled_duffel/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=125548)
I suggest a collapsible duffle suitcase or my son’s fave…which is big enough to have two “stories”, pack sporting goods, or when underpacked…looks fairly innocuous, rolls easily and can be checked (too big for overhead), space for dirty laundry and dirty shoes in it, collapsed nicely under his dorm bed.
If you don’t loft in the dorm, you might buy BedLifters from Bed Bath and Beyond which raise the bed four inches and allow for luggage or rubbermaid storage or perhaps the slim trunk referenced above to be stored under the bed…however, I don’t like the idea of a trunk…the same space could hold a nice piece of soft collapsible luggage like my son’s above or a rolling duffle that you can fill to the 50 pound limit so your girl can get on a plane and perhaps change out her season wardrobe over holiday breaks.
At Duke, so many students are brave and come from far away, that it is quite common to go together to rent off campus storage room where they leave a lot of off season things over the summers. Duke got out of the summer storage room on campus business as have many colleges.</p>

<p>I found out about ebags Mother Lode a few month ago here on CC. Had the 29" one sent to D. It’s the absolute max dimensions that airlines permit w/o extra fee (62"). Ended up getting two more. They are great!! They’ve been through the airlines 4 times now. Each time, totally stuffed, they ended up at 46-47 lbs. No books in there, just girl stuff. Only casualties of the move were the printer (too heavy, too big, free w/imac) and a nice thick mattress pad (from Target that we bought out there.) She should be able to get them back in the fall, as summer roommate lived under an hour away. Oh, and the hangers - had to leave those.</p>

<p>For second yr of college, I think she’ll be traveling lighter. (We did the “fly out there right before freshman orientation, get a car, buy stuff” - but then you have to get it all back!) (And Manhattan’s not easy for storage.) The three rolling duffels plus a good-sized carry-on should handle everything.</p>

<p>Best to get a light, small printer (or no printer; use roommate’s or school’s) and a good compact mattress pad (haven’t figured that out yet.)</p>

<p>My S has a footlocker trunk at the end of his dorm loftbed. We packed it with some of his bedding wrapped around some oddly shaped items like his desk lamp, and secured it with duct tape. We flew Southwest and checked it as one of our free checked bags. It worked great and was not the only footlocker we saw come off the baggage carousel.</p>

<p>Trunks have gone the way of the pay phone, IMHO.</p>

<p>One reason they’ve gone is that trunks were most useful in the rail days, when train baggage allowances were plentiful, handling was rather gentle, and getting missing stuff was difficult. (and anyone remember the Railway Express Angency (REA) days?)</p>

<p>that era is long gone. The big problem with most trunks is that they’re just not built to stand up to modern shipping procedures, so you have a good chance that the trunk will land damaged or worse. Believe it or not, many corrugated shippers are sturdier, especially the purpose built boxes (not liquor store leftovers!).</p>

<p>As others have suggested, storage solutions are best implemented when your kid has an idea of what works in his space. During the early weeks of college, kids have a number of chances to go to big box stores (walmart, target etc. depending on location) to get storage. Hall staff even organize these runs when they’re needed. It is now part of the settling in process for new residents.</p>

<p>Keep in mind the mantra that “less is more” because mail order, especially through Amazon, works well these days and is not expensive. </p>

<p>A good rule is that if the need is not obvious, then wait. Don’t take it.</p>

<p>whatever you take up there will eventually have to come back home.</p>

<p>You can ship a trunk via UPS. They will come to your house to pick it up, but it must have a lock on it. Shipped trunk stayed at college for 4 years (school had a trunk room and storage on campus) and shipped it home when she came home.</p>

<p>Found out right here on CC about the LL Bean extra large duffle. They are sturdy, inexpensive, holds a ton of stuff and fold down easy. We also had the extra large rolling duffle but D though it was a bit of a pain.</p>

<p>[Adventure</a> Duffle: Luggage at L.L.Bean](<a href=“http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=62719&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&from=SR&feat=sr]Adventure”>http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=62719&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&from=SR&feat=sr)</p>