[Cora Finch]

Every time I take a corner, my jumper cables and first aid kit slide all over the place. I have a small hatchback and the trunk is pretty shallow. I tried a cardboard box but it just tips over. Any simple ways to keep things in one spot without buying a whole organizer system? I just want to grab what I need without digging around.

[Leo Grey]

A cheap rubber mat or even a shelf liner under everything stops most of that sliding. I tossed an old yoga mat in my hatch and the cables stay put. Not fancy, but it works.

[Carla M.]

A collapsible crate worked great for my hatchback.

[Parker S.]

Mine just live in a canvas tote bag shoved against the side wall. Not fancy, but the bag keeps everything together and it doesn’t tip like a box does. Cables and kit stay put for the most part.

[Alex_28]

I just use a small plastic bin with a lid, but mine stays put because I wedge it behind the seat. Never had much luck with anything loose in a hatchback.

[DonnaD]

I gave up on keeping things separate and just accepted that some sliding is going to happen. What worked for me was stopping the whole pile at once instead of each item. I keep a cheap plastic milk crate wedged in the back corner of my Fit, not strapped or anything, and the tall sides mean the cables and kit stay in there even when things shift. The crate itself moves an inch or two on hard turns, but nothing falls out and I never have to dig. Took me a while to get there because I kept trying to make individual items stay put, which was the wrong approach for a shallow trunk. Not saying it looks great, it’s just a crate sitting there, but it’s held up for a couple years now and cost me nothing since I already had one. The one downside is it eats a chunk of the floor space, so if you carry a lot of groceries it might bug you.

[no_sleep]

I keep a plastic milk crate back there. Not the fancy kind, just one I grabbed from the garage. It doesn’t match anything and looks dumb but it doesn’t tip. The trick for me was putting the heavy stuff on the bottom and the lighter junk on top, because when I had it the other way around the whole thing would lean and dump everything out on turns.

My personal preference is to keep the crate empty-ish so I can just toss the jumper cables in without playing Tetris. If it’s packed to the brim I end up digging anyway, which defeats the whole point. I also stopped trying to make it look neat. Loose stuff in a crate is fine.

Only downside is the crate itself slides a little on really hard turns, but nothing falls out, so I don’t care. Cheap and it works.

[Jordan Hayes]

The floor of my trunk is a total mess of dog hair and old receipts so sliding stuff actually drives me nuts too. I ended up just lining the whole bottom with one of those cheap non slip shelf liners from the dollar store and it made a huge difference. Cables stay put now and I can still pull the first aid kit out one handed when I need it.

[Luke M]

Loose stuff in a shallow trunk is always gonna slide, that’s just how it goes. I quit fighting it and screwed a couple of small eye hooks into the side panels, then ran a bungee across. Jumper cables stay put now and I can still yank them out one handed

[Claire Woods]

Mine still slides, the shallow floor is the real problem.

[Lisa Hydrow]

I keep my emergency stuff in a soft-sided tote bag instead of a hard box. It squishes into the little gap behind the seats and doesn’t go flying when I turn. Plus I can just grab the whole bag if I need something. Simple but it works for me.

[AnnaK]

I don’t think the shallow floor is actually the problem. My trunk is tiny too and I just tossed everything into one sturdy canvas bag, and now I only deal with one thing sliding instead of five. It settles into the corner and stays put well enough. Digging around isn’t an issue since it’s all in one grab.

[Nina White]

The thing that finally worked for me was ditching the box idea entirely and just using a small gym duffel. The shape of it molds to whatever space is left back there instead of sitting on top of the floor like a hard box does. When I turn, the bag kind of wedges itself against the side and stays put. It’s not bolted down or anything fancy, but it stopped the whole sliding around problem for me. Plus it has a handle so I can just grab the whole thing if I need to. Mine has a separate little pocket on the end that I keep the jumper cables in so they don’t tangle with everything else. Cost me nothing since I already had it in the closet. The shallow trunk thing is real though, there’s only so much you can do with limited floor space.

[Tom 2020]

A bin liner full of stuff just slides anyway.

[Cora Finch]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I was overcomplicating it with the box idea. I’ll just try a bag and see how it goes. Appreciate the help.

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