Who Brings What
A good lot fails in the group chat first: three bags of chips, zero ice, and two people who both thought they owned the canopy. Assign the slices once. Write it down. Move on.
This page is for crew locking lanes with the captain. Guests get a simpler list in What to Bring. Night-before walk-through still lives in Planning the Lot and the Pregame checklist.
Assignment lanes
Pick one owner per lane. Backup is fine; twin primary is not.
| Lane | Owns | Anti-double note |
|---|---|---|
| Protein / grill | Meat, marinade, tongs, thermometer | One grill captain — helpers chop, they don’t freestyle a second main |
| Sides | Cold sides, buns, condiments | Name the dishes; “someone bring a side” guarantees three pasta salads |
| Ice + coolers | Bags, spare cash, drinks vs food split | See Ice Math for Twenty and Lot Cooler |
| Canopy / tables / chairs | Shade, surfaces, seating count | Count butts, not optimism |
| Games | Boards, washers, bags, pump | One games tote — not four half-sets |
| Trash / leave-it-kinder | Bags, bin, wipe-down, final sweep | Assign teardown before kickoff, not during |
Add lanes your crew actually needs (kids zone, generator, AV). Skip lanes that don’t apply — empty rows are fine.
How to lock it
- Captain posts the lane table in the group chat the night before (or earlier for big crews).
- Each person replies with their lane + one concrete item (“Ice — 3 bags + drinks cooler”).
- Captain fills gaps with a single follow-up, not a new brainstorm.
- Screenshot or pin the final list. The Pregame checklist tool is for run-of-day ops — this list is who owns the cargo.
Anti-double rules
- If two people claim chips/drinks/dessert, keep one and move the other to a hole (ice, trash, chairs).
- “I’ll just grab whatever” is not a lane — make them pick.
- Last-minute adds go through the captain so the cooler math still works.
Lot notes
- Roles for setup and teardown still matter — Packing / setup helpers stay on their Checklist cards; this page only answers who brings.
- Dietary constraints land in the same chat as the lane table so the protein owner hears them once.
- Homegate: same table in a text thread — living-room hospitality still hates three bags of chips.
Assign it once. Trust the list. Cook.
I Love To Tailgate — feed the crew like you mean it.
More in Checklist · Tailgate Finds · Rituals