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plaidstripes-blog · 5 years ago

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Gear up and go

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Getting setup and understanding how your new camper works can be overwhelming. But it does not have to be. There are a ton of online resources that helped me get started. However, there is an endless amount of information and it can be tough to sort through it all and decide what you need and what can wait as you start out on your travel adventure. Here are my tips and suggestions on what to do to prepare your camper and truck to get started.

We drive a 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 Z71 and a 2018 Gulfstream Friendship 275FBHG.

I was most intimidated by towing my new 30’ travel trailer. The idea of backing it up made me very anxious. To help with this I invested in these tow mirrors from Trail Ridge. I did not have these when I picked up the trailer and I wish I did. These mirrors make a huge difference. The bottom spot mirror let me see how I was doing staying in the lanes driving and a good line of sight on the sides of the rig backing up. They are extendable roughly 4 more inches which allows me to make good lane changes and make sure I can see the sides of the whole trailer. They work great and the top glass is power with my factory option and they are heated as well. Trail Ridge has Youtube videos on installation and it is pretty straight forward with some pretty basic tools. (They do have an optional fourth mounting stud, which requires a whole to be drilled. I did this because I wanted the extra support, but it is not required.) They make them for all makes and model with all kinds of different options.

After driving, I would say that the black water tank was my next mountain to climb. I was very concerned about smells and the proper way to empty the tanks. I watched a s-load (pun intended) of videos on YouTube and read all the stuff I could on maintenance and treatment of the tank. I found a video from RV education 101 (great channel on YouTube) that introduced me this Valterra 45 Hydroflush attachment. I ordered it and am quite impressed with the quality and ease of use. It attached nice and tight and hose adapter fits most hoses and they give you another for larger hoses. After dumping the blackwater you can shoot water right up into your tank and wash it out, no mess or sticking a wand down the toilet. It worked great and took the guess work out. In addition to the Hydroflush, I bought these tank treatment tabs that worked great. We just popped one in at setup, flushed 2-3 gallons down the toilet and we were good to go. You will also need septic safe toilet paper. I ordered these camping specific toilet paper rolls, but have been told by a couple veterans that the one-ply Scott (the real cheap stuff your grandparents use) works just fine.

After addressing those issues, it was time to figure out what else was needed. A water filter is a good idea. Some campgrounds are nicer than others, but having a water filter just adds a layer of protection and will save you money if you can drink straight from the tap. Not mention the less plastic bottles you use. We chose this one. It worked well and water tastes almost like home. (Pro Tip -when you first turn on the water after you install the filter a blackish/blue color comes out once the filter is starting to work. Do not be alarmed, just an indicator that your filter is good to go.) We also bought this water pressure regulator. Campgrounds can have some pretty high water pressures that could potentially damage your RV’s plumbing, which will cost way more than a regulator. There are some pretty fancy and pricey ones available. Since we were spending money quite quickly, I chose a very basic setup. But I did opt for the “high flow” to try and keep water pressure up. It worked well and pressure was good for showering. (Pro Tip - I ended up leaving it at the campground by accident when we were packing up, I suggest attaching to your hose with a teacher or just leave it screwed to your water hose.) We also invested in some electrical adapters. It turns out most places have 50amp 30amp and some other outlets on their sites so this was not necessary but they are in the trailer now.

From home, I brought a basic tool kit. Screwdrivers, hammer, pliers, some wrenches and sockets, duct tape, stuff like that just in case something came up. I have a cordless impact driver that I brought for the stabilizer jacks, makes setup a lot faster. (Be careful using it as it will jack that trailer up and down. I like to run them up with the gun and then apply one to two turns by hand). We brought a four foot carpenter level as well to make sure we were level side to side and front to back. I will be putting together a more complete list of tools that I plan on bringing on longer journeys. Make sure you bring a hatchet or axe. Many states do not allow you to bring in outside wood (at least in New England) which means you buy firewood at the campground or on the side of the road. Many of the pieces are large and do not light that easily, and splitting the wood into smaller pieces will make it last longer. To save a little money I brought some plywood pieces I had laying around for the stabilizer jack supports and tongue jack pad. I assigned each of my kids a side and gave them the pads to layout. They felt included in the setup process and actually helped me get done faster.

I loved that everything from Amazon came in one box that I could put in the storage compartment of the camper.

Hope this helps all of you on your travels. Feel free to DM any questions.

#rvlife #rvgear #travelingwithkids #roadtrip #camping #rv #glamping

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