Top 5 must have accessories for outdoor families

Adventuring in our beautiful country often requires carrying equipment or setting your vehicle up for the environment with different accessories.

We know the world of car accessories is vast and it can be daunting to decide which ones your family will need. To help with the confusion we have compiled our list of the Top 5 accessories for outdoor families – plus a bonus one at the end.

I have tried many outdoor car accessories with my family over the last nine years as a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au.

Here are my top five car accessories to make your family’s outdoor lifestyle easier…

It feels like no sooner have your kids mastered their two legs that they can’t wait to explore the world on two wheels. Whether it’s a child seat on your bike or a bike of their own, family bike rides are a fun way to spend the day.

Even if you own a ute or a car with a big boot you might be better off with a bike rack. Untangling pedals from spokes (not to mention all the scratches to bikes and vehicles alike) gets old fast.

There are bike racks to suit just about every vehicle with various options for fixture. So, investigate which racks are appropriate for your vehicle and think about which fitment will be easiest for you.

They fasten to either your tow bar (some even swing or tilt out of the way so you can access the boot while bikes are attached) or to the back of the vehicle itself. You can also get roof-mounted bike racks – just don’t forget about the bikes when entering multi-storey car parks.

Australia is such a high-UV country that an awning can make a huge difference year-round to provide some well-needed shade.

Whether you’re going on a big family camping trip and the awning will be your daily cover or driving up the beach on the weekend and you roll it out for some shade while the kids build sandcastles, an awning saves having to use room inside the car to take a gazebo (and the hassle of setting one up).

Awnings can range quite a bit in quality and price. Yet, they can be simple to attach to the side of your vehicle’s roof bars (and there are even quick-release accessories, so you don’t have to keep the awning on the car all the time, thereby saving fuel).

I have used a simple roll-out Thule Overcast Awning with my kids and found it very easy to put up and pack away on my own.

Larger and more elaborate 270-degree awnings provide more coverage and shade depending on your budget and several models can be used freestanding, meaning you only need the legs and guy ropes in windy weather.

Often outdoor activities require extra equipment, whether it’s skiing in winter, a family camping trip, kayaking, bush walking and everything in between.

Not everyone has a large car that can fit all the extra gear in the boot. Even if you do – as I always experience with my family – even a ute can seem to fill up very quickly with all the kids’ things. Roof boxes are a great place to pack some of that extra gear. A good quality one keeps everything dry too, meaning you can put your clothes, bedding or pram in there on family trips.

Roof baskets are another good storage option, although anything in there is open to the elements and will need to be carefully strapped down. We really like roof baskets for camping as we can place campfire wood or any wet and muddy gear in to keep it out of the car.

A firm favourite of our family is the roof tent. We have a camper trailer for longer camping trips, but for shorter excursions we like the simplicity of a roof tent as it isn’t always possible to take a camper trailer.

Roof tents tend to be nice and quick to put up and pack down, so they can be a good choice for families as the kids aren’t hanging around complaining that they’re bored.

You’ll need to check the roof load rating of your vehicle to see if it can take a roof tent and whether you can get the required roof rack attachments for your vehicle.

If you are looking at a new family car and camping is something you think your family will want to do, then investigate the roof weight limit before you make your car buying decision. Check out our Top 10 camping tips for families, too.

We have tried a few different styles of roof tent, from a James Baroud hard-shell pop-up tent with gas struts and the Thule Approach L family size canvas roof tent, which all four of our family can sleep in comfortably.

We’ve got a few pros and cons of rooftop tents and camper trailers for families worth having a read of.

The likes of MAXTRAX and Tred recovery boards can literally be a lifesaver when you are off-road and get bogged. We don’t go off-road without ours, especially with our kids on board as digging the car out without our MAXTRAX can lengthen recovery time dramatically.

Full-size recovery boards can take up a fair bit of space unless you attach them to your roof rack or dedicated storage system elsewhere on your vehicle. They’re available in different sizes suitable for smaller off-roaders or a handy extra set for your trailer wheels in case you get them bogged.

The first thing I recommend all outdoorsy families to purchase are rubber floor mats, especially the ones that are shaped to almost fully line the footwells. Whether your family likes bushwalking, camping, off-roading, beach drives, bike riding or horse riding, at some point the evidence gets trodden all through the car.

It never fails to amaze me how much dirt and sand comes off everyone’s feet or from the dirty sportswear, beach gear or camping kit in the boot.

Rubber mats in the footwells can be easily taken and shaken or hosed out and a liner in the boot protects the carpet on your boot floor while also helping equipment grip and not slide about. These also help in ute trays, too.