Recreational
Vehicle
Camping Tips & Ideas
We received a
request for some RV camping tips from a friend of ours, and decided to
include the information here for the benefit of anyone
looking to avoid some pitfalls with their RV.
We encourage
you to drop us a line if you have a good tip so we can include it.
What
You
Should Know
Use
Checklists!!!!!!! No matter how many times you move
your RV, you can forget to do something! Roof vents and TV
antennas are the biggest offenders for most folks, but basement storage
bins being left unlocked can make you lose some good stuff!
Check tire
pressure
before every trip!!!!!!! I do, and still
had a double dual blowout on I-10 last December. I figure
that I caught a nail or something that caused one tire to go low
pressure, and all that it took was time to heat up the other tire and
take them both out!
Speaking of
on the
road problems...if you can't change your own tires like we can't, or
you do break down, roadside assistance is worth every penny! Our double
blowout cost us $385. That was the cost of 2 tires
and tax. Service call, labor, mounting and balance was
covered by the road service. We also picked up a nail in a
front tire and just needed the spare put on...Free!!
Staying in RV
parks
alot??? There are several discount camping clubs that might work for
you and where you need to travel. Check them out carefully as
no club is right for everyone. We don't stay in RV parks more
than a night or two a month, so we don't belong to a discount program. Our Discount Camping Section
has
a list of every discount camping club I know of.
Weigh your
rig!!!!!!! It is SOOOOOOO easy to overload an
RV!!!!! You really need to weigh each corner separately so
you can balance your load.
Measure the
height!!!!! Don't guess!!! You WILL get
into situations where a building canopy is too low for you to
fit...also remember when parking at a curb that the top of the vehicle
may be hanging over the curb due to slope of the street...this can be
very embarrassing if you tag a light pole or tree too close to
the street.
Get a pair of
small
CB
radios to communicate with each other during parking/backing of the RV,
or get on the same page with hand signals. I suggest the CB
radio method as most reliable...and if you get separated in Walmart
they work too!
When staying
in
parks,
don't leave the black tank "open". Only dump black when tank
is 2/3 full or more otherwise you stand a good chance of having a
clog. The same is true to some extent with the gray
tank. Dump black first every time so the gray water can help
clean out the dump hose.
Are you
towing a
vehicle? If you tow with all 4 wheels down, you will not be
able to back up more than a few feet at most!!!!! This is
always a problem at the worst possible place. For example, I
dumped our motor home at Colorado's Chatfield Reservoir a couple years
ago with the Jeep hooked up and couldn't make the U-turn I thought I
could, and had to disconnect the Jeep before I could back up to
complete the turn. I was lucky that there was only one person
waiting to go by me as I unhooked the Jeep, then got the
motor home out of the street. This can happen even easier at
fuel stations. Don't forget that some vehicles can't be towed
4 down!!!
When you pull into
an RV park and go to hook up water,
I suggest turning on the water for a second or two before hooking up
your hose. I would have had quite a bit of rust in my tank if
I hadn't followed this advice. In addition I'd suggest a
water sediment filter that goes between the water spigot and the motor
home to help keep junk out of your tank.
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We camp in
the
desert
Southwest often and water taste is poor often. We've found
that the Pur charcoal water filtration system available just about
everywhere like Walgreens, Walmart, Kmart etc works great to take the
smell and bad taste from the water.
Back to RV
parks for
a
second...Power can vary widely from park to park. At the very
least get a good surge protector for the RV, and there are several
rather expensive power conditioners available that will protect against
surges, and improve commercial power.
Satellite
TV... Our
power inverter makes what is called "modified sine wave" AC
power. This power works great for micro wave, TV, computer
and everything else EXCEPT the satellite TV receiver. We now have a
pure sine wave inverter (just a small unit of
150 watts) that turns 12 volts DC into clean AC that works for the
satellite TV receiver. (We understand that new receivers will work on
modified sine wave...check specifications carefully)
Will you be
boondocking (remote dispersed camping)? This is our standard mode of
traveling whenever possible, and throughout the west, there is plenty
of public land available for it. The issues here are how to conserve
resources so you can stay out longer without having to find an RV dump
and fill location. We carry a couple extra 7 gallon water
containers and have a 12 volt electric pump to transfer the water from
the containers to RV fresh tank. We can stay out with our rig
for 14 days if we are VERY careful with water consumption. Here is a
link to information about finding good spots to
camp...Boondocking.
You can save
water
by
washing dishes in a dish pan instead of the sink. Wipe plates
off first before washing to cut down on water needed. Take
Navy showers...get wet, shut off water, wash yourself, rinse.
Experiment with soaps and shampoos to find what you like AND rinses
easily. You can save gray water space by washing your hands
outside...use a plastic milk jug for water and poke a small hole in it
and put a golf tee in. This will keep the water in the jug,
pull the "tee" when you want water and it dribbles out instead of
running down the sink!
Use Scott
toilet
tissue. Don't buy the expensive RV toilet paper...we think it's the
same
stuff at a fraction of the price.
You will find
a lot
of
people use RV holding tank chemicals, but we don't recommend
them. The black tank smell comes from bacteria, but by not
using chemicals, you promote another type of bacteria that eats the
waste and kills the smell. Smells coming from the tank inside
are a result of a plugged or disconnected vent pipe to the
roof. Don't use antibacterial soaps unless you really want
to...this will kill the good bacteria that eliminates the bad smells in
the gray tank too.
RV awnings
are
great...as long as they work and don't get ripped off in a freak
wind. My example is our trip from Washington State to Denver
last December. We hit very heavy side wind which just
happened to catch the big awning turning it into a parachute. If I had
straps (bungi cords) around the awning supports and roller, I
wouldn't need a new awning.
Check for
leaks, and
if you find one, don't wait...fix it now!!!!! Water is an
RV's worst enemy. There are some great calks available for RV
roofs and windows, and I'd suggest having a tube on hand for when you
find a leak in the future.
You can save
propane
by not running your water heater all the time, and turning the furnace
off at night and snuggling or putting an extra blanket on the
bed. You can run a battery down overnight with a lot of heat
usage. If you plan on camping in the winter, I have some
ideas there too if you want them, drop me a line.
RV
batteries...you
have at the very least 2 batteries in your Rig and maybe
more. You have battery for starting the engine, and you have
coach battery or batteries for lights inside, and if you have enough
batteries and an inverter, you can watch TV, run the micro wave and
pretty much live in the dirt like folks in town. If you have
room, 2 6 volt golf cart batteries (deep cycle) will last longer than a
single 12 volt battery. We are set up with 8 6 volt
batteries. 2 are for engine starting, and the other 6 are our
power source. We seldom use our generator as we have 4 big
solar panels on the roof to charge the batteries. We also
have a 2500 watt power inverter to convert 12 volts to 110. We can
watch TV all night without a problem as well as operate the
computer and satellite internet equipment.
Carry a step
ladder
so
you have a way to clean windows, wash the rig perhaps, and make repairs
if necessary. It also is a must if you are strapping your
awnings down.
Consider
joining an
RV
camping club. These clubs are available for just about every
interest, vehicle type, and lifestyle. RV clubs are a great
way to meet new RVers with similar interests, and these clubs have
camping trips that will show you new places to go RV camping. You can
find a list of every RV club we know of in our RV Clubs Section.
Finding
information
about RVs and RVing can be frustrating. A web site with links
to many RV related web sites is rvresources.com.
The site is set up in categories to help you find what you are looking
for quickly.
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