In spite of what anti-access groups will often say about off-road enthusiasts, the concept of treading lightly is at the forefront of every off-roader’s mind. Even in areas where packing out your own trash isn’t required, many off-roaders practice this anyway to keep the trails as clean as possible for the next group of travelers to enjoy.

The Trasharoo, the “off-road spare-tire trash bag,” is the perfect example of off-road ingenuity and respect for the environment coming together. The Trasharoo provides a safe, secure and simple way of cleaning up every bit of trail trash you may have (or come across in your travels). The bag itself is constructed of durable 900-denier nylon canvas and features wide, double-stitched straps with high-quality wide buckles to attach to the spare tire of your vehicle. Aside from its tough exterioir, the interior also features a water-resistant coating to keep the trash from getting soggy during bad weather. Drainage holes at the bottom of the bag allow any water or leaks to escape.

The Trasharoo is designed to carry up to 50 pounds of weight (fitting a standard 30-gallon trash bag), which provides a large place to store trash that’s not in the vehicle, meaning no stinky leftover food smells or anything else filling up your cab during the remainder of the trip. It also keeps trash from building up inside the vehicle and bouncing around on the trail.

We’ve seen Trasharoos at a number of events and on the trails in recent years but we didn’t get our hands on one until recently. After a recent trip up to the Rubicon in Northern California, where packing out all of your trash is necessary, we thought the Trasharoo would be the perfect complement to our adventure.

When we first attached it to our Jeep, the first thing we noticed is the bag is well constructed; the straps wide and thick, and the plastic buckles that help attach the bag to the tire are stout, and the canvas material looks like it’ll stand up to trail abuse. Before hitting the trail, we adjusted the straps to fit the bag to our tire. The bag fit on our 33-inch BFGoodrich Mud Terrain with no trouble, but it will fit all the way up to a 40-inch tire. For a little insight into how to properly attach the bag, check out the video below.

Properly Tightening Trasharoo Straps

The Trasharoo has a large opening at its top with a flap that folds over to seal the opening to keep trash inside when on the trail. The flap is then kept closed with two large buckles on its front. To keep the Trasharoo from getting too stinky and gross, we decided to line the bag with trash bag to make cleanup easier, storing a few extra bags in the top flap’s zipper pouch.

You might be thinking, ‘Why not just use a trash bag and drop the Trasharoo?’ Good question. The thing is a plastic trash bag can get caught on twigs, branches and other trail obstacles and easily rip open, spilling all that trash and debris you’ve diligently picked up during the trip. The Trasharoo is sturdy and durable and will take trail abuse in stride. It’s also large enough to fit more than one trash bag, so if you fill one up you can seal it up, toss it in one side of the Trasharoo and grab a fresh bag (50 pounds it quite a bit of trash). With mesh elastic pockets on its front, there’s also extra storage for first-aid or trail recover items as well.

After our trip it was hard to imagine not having the Trasharoo along with us. It’s such a seemingly simple idea yet it serves as an extremely useful trail companion. Having the additional space for trash also made us much more apt to pick up and piece of trash, be it small or otherwise, we came across on the trail. We’d almost consider it a must-have item for the trails.

The Trasharoo retails for $44.95 and is available in tan or green. Trasharoo also partnered with Tread Lightly, Blue Ribbon Colatiion and the United Four-Wheel Drive Association to offer limited-edition bags for each organization, with $5 of each sale going to the respective organization.

CONTACT
California Tape Products Inc.
3309 E. Miraloma Ave., Suite 108
Anaheim, CA 92806
714-854-7292
Trasharoo.com