The RV

Owning a RV opens the door all kinds of wants and needs. There are numerous needs that need to be taken care of right up front. Then as you get a few trips under your belt the “wants” arise. I’ll discuss some of the things we needed and some of the things that have made our travels better, more comfortable and maybe just more fun. Meeting other campers is a great way to find out what is available out there as well as what works and what doesn’t. Meeting these new friends helps you save money as well as spend money. At the end of this discussion there will be Amazon links to some of the items we use and some are on our wish list.

Some of the needs are chocks, leveling blocks, a drinking water hose, a water filter, a sewer hose and a surge protector. There are a number items we use that are really handy but don’t really need much of a discussion such as USB fans that have little write up on the RV Items page. You can jump there by clicking here.

Chocks are the most important item in your arsenal. Without chocks you can’t be sure where your trailer will be when you unhook it from the truck. There are plenty of videos on this topic, but they are they are put in place as soon as you get your trailer level and before you unhook. We got the heavy duty versions at Harbor Freight on sale for maybe $4.99.

Leveling blocks serve a couple of purposes. One is to put as many as needed under your tongue jack to save wear and tear on your jack by keeping it from traveling up and down so much and to keep the jack from sinking into the ground. They are also necessary to put under your stabilizing jacks, also as many as necessary. Another use is to actually level your trailer from left to right. This is important for a couple of reasons, the main is that your refrigerator will work better if it is close to level. The other is walking on a sloped floor can be a challenge. Now being a thrifty kinda of guy that I am cut 2x6’s work just fine for me under the tongue jack and stabilizer jacks. I use a couple of 2x10’s cut to length for my wheel spacing to back the trailer on for leveling left to right. Don’t want to poo poo anyone but I was really impressed with the idea of the Anderson Camping Levers until I tried to use them. We have a short wheel spacing and those things wouldn’t fit between our tires. There is no mention of spacing requirements on their page and their solution is cut then until they fit. What a concept. No return or replacement, just cut them. I’m a lucky guy and happen to have a band saw so after numerous cut got them to fit. Do they work? They seem to but I have only needed the once so far. I like my 2x10’s better.

A drinking water hose. There is a difference between a garden hose and a drinking water hose. There are a number of varieties and brands of drinking hoses out there. I prefer 2 shorter ones verse 1 long one. Nine times out of ten the shorter one will be all you need, but just in case.

An external water filter is something you should just have. Most trailers come with some kind of internal, in the basement, type of water filter. The external filters a fairly in expensive and there are a couple of options to choose from. Do your homework, a 50 micron filter doesn’t really do much. A 1 micron does a really good job but can also reduce your water flow. I have our hose connected to a one micron filter connected to our water pressure regulator which is connected to the hose bib. In that order. Regulate your pressure before it get to the filter and filter your water before it get to the hose.

A sewer hose is one of those necessities you need unfortunately. This falls into the category of 2 shorts are better than one long. But better have long enough. Since we are on the sewer topic you will need some type of black tank treatment. There are a number of black tank treatments out there, we use Happy Camper black tank treatment (link to RV Items) and have had good success with it. We haven’t noticed any odors coming out of the toilet. We dissolve it a gallon of warm water in our bathroom trash can and pour it in. We do this when we arrive at a new site.

A surge protector on the surface may not seem like a necessity but if the campground electricity is not quite up to par you could be in for a rude awakening. There are other things that are no fault of the campground that could destroy you wiring such as a lightning strike. A complete rewiring of your trailer will most likely fall into the “totaled” category. I know they are a little pricy and there are a number of them on the market. The one I bought does what it is suppose to I guess, everything still works. Having said that there is at least one and maybe more that have a replacement “fuse”, not sure of the correct term, that will allow you to replace that part instead of buying a whole new unit. That is a lot cheaper and is something you can have on hand as a spare in case you need one.

Some of the things that fall into the “almost need” category. A water pressure regulator. A cheap one does the trick or you can get one of those variable pressure ones but you should have one or other. Another little item you might want to have is a power adapter. What is a power adapter you ask? If you have a 30 amp hook up on your trailer and you pull into a park at 9:30 at night and all they have left are 15 amps services you need a power adapter. Otherwise you will spend the night with no power. You need a 30 amp to 15 amp power adapter. Same could be true for 50 amp but not likely. Now if you have a 50 service on your trailer you need a 50 to 30 and should probably have a 50 to 15 as well. They aren’t expensive and could be a life saver if you need that AC unit running.

We all know that after removing and reinstalling screws in the walls a few times they no longer hold what they are support to. Heck some of ours were already stripped when we bought the trailer. Did a fair amount of homework and this is what I can up with, Hollow-Door Anchors by Toggler (link to RV Items) . I got a box of 100 because when you start counting screws you will be shocked. If you buy a different brand be sure to get the ones that are for 1/8” to 1/4 “ thickness and there is no reason to buy screws because the stock screws work fine.

Items that fall into the nice to have. We use 2 small dehumidifiers, one up front and the other in the back, to keep the humidify under control when we are not using the AC or are parked between adventures and especially in the winter when run the heater. The ones we use have do an excellent job but seem to be no longer available so I can’t recommend them. Ours are good for about 250 sq. ft. as well as most of the others out there. Our, I think most of the others, actually operate off 12 volts so I connected ours to a 12 volt power source I have run throughout the trailer. This is more efficient when not connected to shore power. One of the best improvements we have done is adding LED light strip (link to RV Items) above the kitchen counter. Seems you always standing in your light and just couldn’t see what you were doing. With the layout we have I got power from the range hood light, these lights operate with 12 volts as well. I ran the lights under the range hood, under the kitchen cabinets above the kitchen counter and into the pantry which was also pretty dark. I attached a piece of 1” wooded corner molding, stained to match, under the cabinets along the front edge prior to installing the lights and then attached the lights to it. This keeps the lights out of your eyes. The LED lights we got have a dimmer built in which means in many cases we can turn off the overhead lights at night and use these lights.