Turns out that getting roof box would probably be a good idea for trips away. We already have a Thule roof rack and the square bars. However I don’t know where to start with:

What size do I need?
What shape? A long one so can still use a bike rack? Or a bigger, wider one?
Where do people keep them?
What brands to go for/avoid?

Any advice is appreciated. Our car is a Seat Leon ST.

Thule Ranger 90 soft box.

Holds loads. Folds up to fit in a cupboard or under a bed.

We have had our Thule box for 16 years ish, still going strong, originally used with square bars and now with aero bars using T bolts, bars stay on the car all year and the box lives in the garage stood upright, only takes 5 mins to fit/remove. I would recommend a box that opens both sides, ours does and has been dead handy.

Have a Kamei Husky from roofbox.co.uk having read they have more useable space than others. Store it up in garage rafters using lifting straps.

Would probably look on eBay if buying again unless using a lot. Ours has been used fairly little and prob won’t be needed on current car. Prob a good investment in long run but 2nd hand would have been fine.

Bought a thule atlantis from someone on here about 5 years ago I think he’d had it 4, been absolutely flawless, crab claw type clamps that just go over the roof bars so easy and opens both ways. Highly recommend.

I have a Thule motion with the claws. Very easy to fit, can put it on and take it off alone. Great capacity. Opens both sides which for me is an absolute must even if just to pack stuff correctly.

Think about the largest thing you want to carry. For me, 175cm skis.

Gumtree is full of second hand roofboxes looking for a home. I bought a Thule Alpine 900 that must be few years old for less than £100. It doesn’t open both sides, but I can live with that.

Someone round me has had their roof box colour matched to their BMW…

this would do what you need

https://www.aldi.co.uk/240l-roof-box/p/015012279665600

you need roof bars/rails they have 3 sizes for example

https://www.aldi.co.uk/120cm-open-rail-roof-bar/p/014953276173600

keep the box strung up in the garage or hide in the garden under cover

Bought a thule atlantis from someone on here about 5 years ago I think he’d had it 4, been absolutely flawless, crab claw type clamps that just go over the roof bars so easy and opens both ways. Highly recommend.

That’s what we had and it was great.

Been debating this recently and keeping an eye on eBay and gumtree. Just secured a Halfords Exodus 360 for £60 – should be a lot better for camping!

Thule Ranger – (as per perchypanther)

A normal roofbox can take up half your shed or garage, The Ranger folds away into the loft.

We can allso fit two bikes on the roof with ours – although it is a bit of a squeeze.

Thule Ranger – (as per perchypanther)

If you can get these when they’re in Aldi, 4 of them fill a Ranger 90 pretty well…

https://www.aldi.co.uk/crane-dry-duffle-bag-50l/p/096343225039200

We have one of these or at least a previous model that looks the same:

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php?37301&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl6LoBRDqARIsABllMSbKmiZamPPtPPAvDjqhgwRaaaQ4Vjec7aCemlHX5xtrbiilxSTmpwQaAtH3EALw_wcB

It’s been great for trips away and gives you room for a bike rack each side. Seems much more robust than a mates Exodus box. Keep it in the garage, on top of a old chest of draws.

Can’t remember paying anywhere near that though.

We also have a Kamei Husky from roofbox.co.uk. I’d use roofbox.co.uk again — they were helpful when I called them up before buying, and when I had some queries after the box/bars arrived.

I think a longish/narrowish shape is good since it’s easier to access from the side of the car. A wider box would cause me issues getting everything loaded and strapped down I think.

One thing to be aware of is the roof weight limit for your car. On our motor its relatively low (50kg), which does impose some limits on what you load into the box, especially once you consider the weight of the box and roofbars themselves.

I’ve two, a massive Exodus 580 litre thing and an ancient thule ocean 600 (which is about 360litres). The Exodus is one of the older series from halfords which look suspiciously like they’re made by thule – it’s the same quality with exactly the same fixtures and fittings as on our ocean. They recently changed manufacturer though, so I’m not sure about the newer ones.

The Exodus is dual opening, the Ocean, single sided. I fit the Ocean asymmetrically as its narrow. The Exodus generally has to go in the middle, so dual opening is essential, particularly when it goes on the van. I’ve thrown away the u-clamps and always use t-track fittings. They’re quieter, easier to fit (you don’t end up dropping the u-bolts onto the roof) and take up less room inside.

If you buy a used one, beware of stress fractures in the lower tub where it curves up, just above where it would sit on roof bars. These indicate that the box has been overloaded. You can’t easily repair it either – it would need plastic welding (nobody I’ve spoken to is willing to do this to something structural) or replacement of the tub, spares are almost impossible to obtain.

Most boxes have quite low weight limits. I think both of ours are 75kg. I use foam garage flooring inside ours, this reduces point loading from things like ski bindings, the frame of our thule chariot. I’ve never had an issue with water ingress, but I always pack anything that would be ruined by getting wet, inside dry bags in the boxes. I also carry gaffer tape, something to clean the plastic with and two straps capable of going around the entire thing and the bars should something fail – I’ve seen a few and their contents strewn across motorways and autobahns over the years. The locking mechanism should mean you can’t not lock it, but I’ve driven off leaving the keys in the lock twice now.

Edit: roofbox.co.uk are the masters at good customer service. Highly recommended. They even offered to code my roof bars, to my boxes, to my atera rack.

The Exodus is one of the older series from halfords which look suspiciously like they’re made by thule – it’s the same quality with exactly the same fixtures and fittings as on our ocean. They recently changed manufacturer though, so I’m not sure about the newer ones

I thought Exodus was Made by Thule? Out of interest, when did it change (and who to)?

We bought a returned (unused) Kamei box from roobox.co.uk Saved around £50 on full price from memory. It’s been great, it’s big enough to hold two large soft cases and a load of other stuff. being long and narrow it allows space on the roofbars for a bike too.

They’ve got a similar one on sale here

We’ve one of the 400 litre roof bags from https://www.handiworld.com/roof-box/. Considering we use it once a year it’s vastly more cost effective than a Thule box, and packs into a small bag that hangs in the garage. We’ve tested that it’s watertight after driving through a heavy storm for several hours on the way home last winter.

The giant one is so big that you can’t fit anything else on the roof, but the skinnier ones look like you’ll be able to get racks on too.

As BIG as you can get …. you’ll fill it…. and 2nd hand.

Try FB market place … I picked up Thule square bars and a big box for £120.

Good Luck

Dunno who makes exodus now, but all the designs changed about a year ago. It may still be Thule, but the boxes don’t look like Thule any more.

Those handiholdall roof bags look very good for the money… Tempted. The other cheap option could be a rack and a roof bag. Searching eBay I found big roof bags that sit either direct on the car roof if you have rails, or for cars without rails you can sit them in a rack. The handi version looks neater as it’s just a bag with integrated glass fibre poles to strength the base, but a separate rack may be handy occasionally… Hmmm decions.

The handi roof bag needs to go onto a rack of some sort, the bars are for strength but you need to lash it onto something. We typically use it with Thule bars, but did buy their Handirack for emergencies. This is an inflatable rack that I’d only recommend for rare or emergency use, the straps run inside the car so if you’ve a low ceiling then they get in the way of your head, and when we used it last the combination of rain plus motorway meant there’s now a two foot long piece of roof which is heavily scratched.

the handi bag, just needs roof bars doesnt it? i have a pair of roof bars for my car which get used for the odd ladder/sheet of plywood/mahoosive mirror the other half had and so on. so i think…think i just need a handibag and it goes on to the bars…i think.

other bags on ebay like this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132758407103
go straight on the car if it has rails built in (i’d be nervous of the car roof getting damaged but then it should only hold soft, light bulky stuff) OR if your car hasn’t rails, like mine, you can fit bars, fit a rack to the bars, and the above bag in the rack.
rack like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223496567217

this photo shows a bag in a rack…which is odd as the car its fitted to ha rails so the bag cold go to the car but hey.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/520-Litre-XL-UNIVERSAL-FOLDING-CAR-ROOF-CARGO-BAG-with-STRAPS-van-4-x-4-caravan/162500599359?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D80592e105b91484b90b65e6546191140%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D132758407103%26itm%3D162500599359&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

a handiholdall bag on its own looks neater but less flexible in uses that a rack and a bag, costs are similar

Great info thanks. I think I’m going to have to buy new as good stuff moves so fast on Gumtree/Facebook here. Plus the next time we’ll need a box is in about 2 weeks.

The Kamei Husky L looks like it will do the job. This one.

Kamei sound like great boxes… my only reservation is it’s only roofbox.co.uk who sell them. Why doesn’t anyone else if they are so good?

Kamei sound like great boxes… my only reservation is it’s only roofbox.co.uk who sell them.

Turns out they have an exclusive sales agreement for the UK

On our 2nd Thule.

First was a 2nd hand Atlantis 900 bought locally off Gumtree for £120. It outgrew our new car. Sold with no loss after 4 years.

Our current one is a Thule Motion XT M. Again a local Gumtree purchase. Had been used once. A few small scratches, but at 30% of new price I can put up with that.

The Thule aero bars were also Gumtree.

I like Thule stuff…