A little while back at a camping show in Newcastle I came across the Ute Bumbag, a camping rubbish bag for Utes! My initial thought was, why didn’t I think of this! I recalled with fondness the bag I had on the spare tyre on the GU, which dutifully contained all my rubbish in one place at all times, was easily emptied and kept the smell and mess that can come with camping somewhere other than where my nostrils are!
Speaking to Tony, the founder, he had undertaken a remote trip in his dual cab Ute, funnily enough, with a mate that had a wagon with the bag on the back. The smell of the rubbish in the tray on his return, as well as the dreaded “bin juice” led him to devise the Ute Bumbag. A few iterations ensued and were shared with his mates before it went into production.
Given I had a desert crossing coming up with The Offroad Adventure Show, Tony was kind enough to send me one to try out on the back of the Raptor.
Soon after, the item was delivered with everything required to fit other than a couple of screws which are re-used from the vehicle. The instructions (yes, I do read them!) were rather good and the item really wasn’t too hard to install with the whole shebang taking me about an hour. What I really love about the way Tony has pulled this together is that it has a magnetic pad that sits on your tailgate behind the bag, preventing damage or scratches that could easily come about with dirt and corrugations. I’m after peeling magnetic backer off when I got home, the wrap underneath was well protected with no dust getting in other than near the badge which I would consider removing or cutting around to ensure a completely sealed and tight fit.
Installation was pretty easy. I started with attaching the main “rib” as I call it to the inside of the tailgate. This requires removing and re-using the screws that usually hold the faceplates on the inside of the tailgate and adjusting placement to position where the bag will sit. In my case, I needed to source longer screws as I have a tub-liner – a quick trip to an auto parts store was all I needed. Following this, the magnetic pad gets cut to suit your vehicle, then it’s just a matter of feeding the various belts and latches around the tailgate and adjusting for tightness.
The bag supplies a fair bit of space and is made of a super strong mesh. Even with the rubbish in it, the smells weren’t evident as the contents were able to breath whilst I was driving. I was able to do the entire trip without having to empty it. To be clear, only 7 days were off-grid and careful crushing of bottles and cans helped this along the way. It looks small compared to the traditional wheel hung bags, but looks are deceiving obviously.
A great idea pulled together with Aussie ingenuity – I reckon everyone with a Ute that goes camping should have one. It’s a great way to ensure you tread lightly and save yourself a messy clean-up job at the end of a trip!
Likes
- Protection for the paintwork/wrap behind the unit
- Breathable mesh bag that was really easy to empty and hose off
- The option to detach the bottom of the bag when dropping the tailgate
Dislikes
- The zipper got really difficult to pull as it got dusty – not unlike traditional wheel hung items
- Need to disassemble inside the tailgate to remove the latches and belt-ware if choosing not to use it full-time
- I didn’t get one sooner!
How much is it? $169 from https://utebumbag.com.au/
