Another possibility is a van + existing trailer
A decent sized van is actually a really good idea, as it can be used for gear AND people simply by removing/replacing seats - which most of them are fairly easy to do on, and we know for a fact you wouldn’t need an HT licence so it’s just a case of finding a driver. Immediately though, it would not provide enough room for everything currently in the shed.
I guess the main point I’m trying to advocate in all this is that short term, the upfront cost of buying ANY vehicle is huge, whereas we can get a decent amount of storage for three months for around $330-$350 total. Ok it’s going to be money spent but Adam has pointed out elsewhere that NZLARPS isn’t exactly broke just now, and at the very least it buys us another 3 months time to look at the truck/van thing properly with a bit of time to consider various option along those lines, rather than having to knee-jerk buy something in the next week that could bite us quite hard.
Re pack in/out, I would say regardless of what option is taken overall, you’re still looking at a mission of a morning/afternoon to get all the gear out of the current shed and either into the trailer for a trip or two down the road, or into a truck that might not be able to work around the corners in Nikki’s driveway. As to the location of the shed within a storage compound, the bigger units ie those over 3m on any given side, tend to be the ones on the outer wall of the buildings with garage door access. If it was one of the ones indoors, it would simply be a matter of asking for one near an entranceway (and the doors in/out of the building are usually fairly decent) so it’s still easy to get to.
As for the trailer, like Kara said it’s obviously not working the way we planned. Maybe Derek’s idea of a van would work as a replacement - but again this is not something to be done spur-of-the-moment to fix our immediate problem.
The concept of the truck only works if it replaces the need for storage i.e. if it is basically a shed on wheels, to use Dave’s phrase.
And I agree with all those that say we need to be careful when selecting a truck. I’d expect the committee would need to satisfy themselves that a vehicle was in good order before proceeding with the purchase process.
A van might a useful option in the future, once we’ve resolved the current gear storage issues. But until then, finding a way to reliably tow the trailer is very much lower on the priority list. If we do get a van, it would do well to get as big an engine as possible because it is likely the van will be heavily loaded as well as towing the trailer.
A cheaper alternative would be to purchase a 6 cylinder Falcon or Holden with a towbar, and use it specifically for towing the trailer.
Mate, old Fords aren’t cheap to maintain. I had a 6-cylinder Fairmont for a few years, it was dodgy. Having said that, it was great for trailers.
I think that loading the gear into the trailer and putting what won’t fit in people’s houses after this game sounds like a good short-term plan.
Then we can keep asking around for storage space, or a new spot to plant the shed.
If we can’t find volunteers, then we could move it to professional storage, but not for more than 3 months or so. After that, then a truck may be the only medium-term solution if we still can’t find cheap or free storage.
So in the mean time, we may as well start truck shopping and check its feasability, in case no less financially risky strategy can be found.
Any gear that did not fit into the trailer needs to be rehoused by Sunday 6th. We also need to decide what to do about the shed (i.e. are we going to deconstruct it, if so, when ?)
We waited for the kit for starwars to come to mine after the event - No show…
My bad, sorry. I wasn’t able to attend on Sunday, so couldn’t take the gear, and I forgot to delegate this to someone else.
So, one of the outcomes of the gear rehousing this weekend will be to hive off the gear you need and get it to your place.
We will be away this weekend - Our other flatmate may be at home failing that Kim and Matt are moving to our place and have a key so would theoretically be able to bring it over or at least get it into the house.
i’m willing to also have food and cleaning gear stored here temporarily (makes sense with both me and Kim here) but unfortunately we don’t have much room for more than that.
THeoretically, if someone had room for the shed on their land how much would NZLarps be willing to pay a month to keep it there?