Top 7 Items We Use Full Time RVing
Living full time in our RV and traveling around the United States we have found there are items necessary for the RV lifestyle. Yeah there are things that seem like a good idea but have no real life value. Note these are things we use daily or when we need them they are priceless. Things that have helped us be more independent as well as items that have multiple purposes. We love items that serve more than one purpose.
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Leveling Blocks
The leveling blocks are great when you pull into a less than perfect camping spot. They are easier to store and lighter than blocks of wood that can serve a similar purpose. Like many of these products they serve multiple purposes as well.
- Leveling the RV. They snap together like lego blocks to add a little height to one side from the other relatively quickly. We recommend two packs of these. Not cheap but worth it.
- One thought that we have used them on is safety while jacking up the RV or even the truck while changing or rotating tires on the RV.
Pool Noodles
Pool noodles are cheap and have much more uses than just floating away life’s problems.
- Floatation safety devices. Yeah this one again is obvious but it had to be mentioned.
- Cushioning items for travel. Our TV moves around a little bit while we travel so we sliced them lengthwise and put them on the edge of the TV. We also use these to protect our larger fishing poles as well as many other things we pack up for travel.
- Edges of slides. The edges of many RV slides are at a height that can cause damage. Using a pool noodle along the edges can keep you from gauging the top of your head.
- Pipe insulation. Once the pool noodles are split they become pretty good pipe insulation for that cold weather that came unexpectedly.
Bottle Jack
Many times we have had to lift either the truck or RV for repairs and a bottle jack has been a lifesaver. You can rely on your tow vehicle’s jack that came with it, if it actually did. Might be something to look into. Changing a tire on the side of the road or other types of repairs and maintenance to either the truck or RV. One use was replacing the cab mounts on the truck while boondocking in the middle of a national forest. We have also lent it out a couple times to some fellow campers for some projects they were working on. Use your imagination and use it as needed.
Cordless Impact Gun
We recommend an actual impact gun and not a cordless drill. Impact guns actually are made to be used to drive or loosen nuts and bolts where a cordless drill is used to drill. Yep they both spin an attachment but the impact gun adds torque to the act of turning. Which brings us to the next statement. We’re not talking about an impact gun that will remove tires from your RV or vehicle, we are talking about one that accepts different attachments. Even these can be pretty powerful. Here’s a few uses for impact guns while Rving.
- Lifting landing gear up and down. Many travel trailers have stabilizers or landing gears that need to be extended or retracted. Your Rv might have come with a manual wrench for this but after a day of traveling do you really want to manually turn that wrench, not us. There is an attachment made for an impact driver that is specially designed for this use. Or you can simply use a socket attachment and a ¾ socket.
- Tightening up things around the RV. Our RV is only four years old and we have had to remove or replace screws that simply fall out while traveling. Just remember RV’s are made of cheap wood and you can easily strip out either the wood or even break the head off a screw. Use caution or select the right impact gun for your needs.
- Remove lug nuts. No these don’t have enough torque to remove lug nuts but after the lug nuts have been loosed manually they make life a lot easier to spin them off.
- Just screwing around. The peace of being outdoors and away from civilization brings clarity and with clarity ideas come up. So projects come up, and having a tool that simplifies things never hurts. Having one that is cordless while screwing around. Priceless.
Rubbermaid Step Stool
Ok a rubbermaid step stool might sound stupid but they, yep we have two, have multiple purposes.
- First and obvious purpose is to reach things on the top shelves of your storage cabinet. Many RV’s have tall ceilings and the cabinets usually go all the way up and many times they are deep.
- Second and not so obvious reason we use them is a table. The reason we have two is so that we can put them back to back and with a little board they become a table that can be used for a multitude of things. Projects, cooking or maybe just a place to set a cocktail on.
- Third, they hold up really well, but they are pretty bulky so we leave them outside while we are at a location for a length of time.
- This brings us to the fourth reason is just a simple place to take a load off and have a seat.
Ladder
A ladder, as simple as it sounds, can bring any Rv adventure to higher ground. May not exactly be necessary but when you need it, priceless. RV Living or even recreationally a ladder comes in quite handy. We like the little giant ladders, but you do you on ladder selection. Here’s a couple uses
- RV cleaning. RV’s are typically anywhere from 10 to 13 ft high. Making cleaning a little difficult.
- Checking slides before retracting. The forest can drop many leaves and twigs in the slides and checking them before bringing them in for travel is an important part of a pre-travel checklist. A twig can rip the seal around the slide before you know it.
- Step ladder. We selected the little giant because it can be a step ladder that can be as small as three feet and as tall as 6 feet. Not to mention it can also be a 13 ft extension ladder. All weighing about only 26 pounds, weight matters.
- Non RV related use is for photography. Getting an elevated shot helps bring larger subjects into focus without needing a drone.
These are a few items that we found useful in our travels around these beautiful United States. By no means is this a complete list but these are the ones that help us keep it simple.
We would like to hear from you if this helped or if you have any questions or suggestions. Leave a comment. We’ll get back at ya right after we finish another Damm Fine Adventure.