Its been on-and-off snowing here for the last week. And while I like having an open-top pickup truck for the ability to throw a shovel and other gear in the back, its kind of a pain in the butt to have to plunge your hand into a foot of snow to dig out the shovel or windshield snow broom when you need it.
Everyone I know has one of those combination ice scraper / snowbroom devices for clearing off your windshield. I keep mine in the bed of the truck because once you use it, its got ice and snow all over it and I’m not throwing it behind the seat of my truck for all that stuff to melt off and puddle in the cab of my truck.
Problem is, when I go out in the morning, the last thing I want to do is plunge my hand into a foot of snow to fish around for the damn thing. Now, I could simply tuck it behind the truck box in a vertical position…but that makes it an attractive target to the less-prepared in a snowy parking lot. What to do? Well, the obvious answer is to wear gloves. Thats true, but I still wind up with snow coating my arm up to my elbow. Gotta be another way.
I was pondering this one the other day and came to the conclusion that a refrigerator magnet and some paracord could fix this. I tied a fridge magnet to 4′ length of paracord and tied the other end to the snow/ice scraper. Now when I toss it in the back of the truck, I stick the magnet to the underside of the truck bed rail. High enough to be out of the snow, hidden enough to be out of sight, and most importantly I can just grab the cord and fish the thing outta the snow that way. Paracord for the win.
Until it freezes in place. Mine lives on the floor behind the driver seat of my truck on a WeatherTech floormat. No muss, no fuss.
Clever, Commander!
Weathertech floor mats, and a Decked unit in the bed of the truck FTW
I have the weathertech…worth the money.
or you could get a pack of cheap carabiners on amazon… saw a 6 pack for $9.99… but get, magnets work to
We have had a tri-fold tonneau cover on our 2000 Tundra for years . Easy to open and close. Easy to remove and it keeps the snow off the bed and conceals what’s in the bed. Not anywhere as expensive as one of your other toys you keep getting when you give into the temptations of the devil LOL
The soft tonneau cover I put on my Tundra has been going strong since 2017.
If you haven’t ever gone into the Blue Ribbon showroom in Missoula…well, it’s a cool place.
What’s snow?
It’s like big dandruff but hard to stop.
CZ,
O, If Only™ you had a spare plastic .30-cal sized ammo can somewhere, that you could put behind the seat as a place to put that scraper after it was coated with snow and ice to avoid messing up your cab.
I kid.
Best wishes,
Maybe one day he’ll get one! Or two!
Following. George did post the most sage advice. For about 200 dollars on eBay etc Get a tri fold (or quad fold, smaller panels, and easier to open up or remove) cover for the bed of your pick things up truck. Keeps bed and gear out of weather, opsec concealed of items, limits theft temptations from skells and scumbags pedestrians spooking on by your publicly parked vehicle. Unless one is a burly man hurling tools and supplies in and out of a mashed and mauled work truck all day, the bed cover is the way of the wise people. This weather factor exposure to the now extremely expensive (properly sized and equipped trucks) trucks nowadays is cause for factoring in mandatory garage storage as a priority for vehicles / equipment storage.
addendum Instead of buying land and building up a homestead, consider those already developed properties with a garage / workshop already built and established by that legacy boomer guy, so you have proper storage for those expensive trucks and assorted man toys. It is -15 this morning, but my truck is ready to roll, clean and dry in the garage with the block heater plugged in for easy on the engine starts/quick warm ups. The security quotient is also vastly improved for storage of the vehicle and the gear contained within as well. Just data points for readers to pencil into the flow charts. Stay stored well, thus staying frosty.
We have heated garages in
Alaska but also block heater on the truck in case if needs to be parked outside in the winter
I’m glad I live much further south where snow is hardly ever encountered. When it does happen, hardly sticks at all. Ice does happen at least once yearly and a drizzle plus freeze does make Life a bit difficult.
Good idea! I liked the walk through your thought process.
Now if we ever get more than 1/2 inch of snow here…
Thanks,
Bob
I will throw in my $.02 for a folding tonneau cover. Mine is a quad fold that locks. It will fold up all the way to the cab to free up bed space for tall things.
I had one on my RAM….Didnt like it. It seemed to always be in the way, kept me from filling the bed up with yard waste, etc…
But, I had the same issue with a shell.
For me, my beds are open-air.
The only problem I’ve had was cleaning it out after filling the bed to the rails with mulch several times in the spring. A leaf blower followed by a garden hose took care of that problem.
The across the bed tool box is where I keep assorted bulky extras from cluttering the extended cab. A folded cot – tarp – CS shovel – tow strap – jumper cables and other assorted sundries. The driver’s side has a tray for often accessed items like pliers (regular and fencing), screwdrivers and other.
Its lockable, but a determined thief given privacy and time could probably break into it.