making a USEFUL crate....
 

Check out this thread for what teams have done to design/make their crates useful.

As for the coat herding...

We have coat racks that attach to the sides of our crate /pit walls (see link and my post for explanation). (this holds ~10 coats)
The rest of them usually get put into a seat, or at least as few as possible, out in the stands with the parents/teachers/mentors and students (as they are cycled through between 'pit crew' and their scouting duties)

Hope this helps

-Bill

what do yall do with your coats at comp?
 

The NYC regional will have a coat check on the lower level for a nominal fee