Recommended RV Gear
Whether you own or rent an RV you will need some RV Gear to make your travels more comfortable, convenient and fun! We have put together a list of items that we find useful during our travels that may help make your RV experience fun and convenient too!
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RV Gear
Rinsing our black water tank after dumping has always been a hassle. It took forever to fill the black tank with water to flush it out. We would have to hold the toilet valve open or drag a hose through the RV window to fill the black tank through the toilet.
But now flushing the black (and gray) water tank is super easy. We just use the Rhino Blaster and connect a hose to it to quickly and easily fill the black water tank.
The key is to buy the Rhino Blaster with the Gate Valve. RhinoFlex sells the Blaster without the gate valve for less money, but without it, you can’t fill your black tank because the water is pouring down the sewer hose at the same time you are shooting water into the black tank. Anyway, this is a great item that has made maintaining our black tank way easier. We absolutely recommend this product!
This the Sewer Hose we have on board our RV! It is tough, has a translucent elbow and fits in our bumper for easy storage!
The RhinoFlex heavy duty sewer hoses are awesome! You can step on them, which I have done, and they won’t break! And the fittings on each end stay connected!
Don’t waste your money on a cheap $10 sewer hose. We did that once and the end fitting came off! Ugh!!! We threw it away right at the dump station and got ourselves the best sewer hose we could find. Trust me, you should do the same so you never experience the shock and horror of a broken sewer hose.
A sewer hose support is used to make sure your sewer hose flows downhill from your RV to where it dumps into the sewer system.
The type we use cascades slowly so we can maintain proper gravity flow so we avoid a belly in the hose which could create a backup!
And nobody wants a backup to occur!
Our sewer hose weights are used where the sewer hose drains into the sewer pipe.
The reason we use them is that sometimes when you open the gate valve on your black or gray tank a large amount of water releases quickly and causes the hose to jump!
If this happens, the end of the sewer hose can pop out of the sewer drain, and you will have a big mess to clean up! So, we love using our sewer weights to make sure this doesn’t happen to us!
Have your rubber gloves ever ripped while you were putting them on? Or worse yet while you were in the process of dumping your black tank? Well, mine have and I found it very frustrating.
So, I set out to find the best gloves on the market and I found them! They are orange nitrile gloves made by a company called Gloveworx and they are absolutely the best gloves I have ever used.
Why? Because they are thicker than other gloves, so they are less likely to tear. And they are puncture resistant too! Plus every glove has a diamond pattern molded into them, so it is really easy to grip and hold onto things – like plastic sewer hoses and fittings – without them slipping.
These are the only gloves I recommend, and I bet you will love them too!
Have you ever been driving down the road in your RV and been falsely accused of creating a noxious odor? Well, I have. And even though I am occasionally guilty of this crime – sometimes it’s not me! It’s the black tank!
So, after trying several brands we found that the RV smells much better when we use Auqa-Kem – and I avoid eating too many hotdogs.
There are lots of toilet chemicals on the market but we think Aqua-Kem is the best camper toilet chemical product out there. Just read all of the 5-star reviews! Nothing beats it and we agree!
You can use regular toilet paper from your house in your RV. But you are taking a big risk that you might clog your black tank or get toilet paper stuck on one of your black tank sensors. And it is a pain in the butt to clean wads of toilet paper out of a black tank or its sensors.
So, rather than go through all of that just use toilet paper specially made for RVs so it dissolves and doesn’t clump.
When it comes to Toilet Tissue softness is the biggest concern for most folks. We have tried several toilet tissues and Aqua Soft seems to be the best we have found. Definitely, a must have for your camper or travel trailer.
The Tri-Lynx Wheel Chocks work together with the Tri-Lynx Leveling Blocks to ensure that you’ll hit the top of the stack every time! We also like them because they are bright orange so we don’t leave them behind when we break camp.
We love these modular levelers not only because they are strong but they are bright orange so we don’t forget them when we drive off! Leveling blocks are an absolute must have for any camper.
The Zero-G Hose is a fantastic hose. So many hoses kink, thereby cutting off or reducing your water supply. This hose will not kink. It’s the best freshwater hose out there.
This adjustable water pressure regulator is accurate and ensures that you won’t overpressure your water lines and possibly pop a plumbing leak! It’s another must have product that we recommend to help save you from spending big money on plumbing problems!
We recently switched from the cheapo Camco TastePure Water Filter to the Beech Lane Dual Water Filter. It costs a little more but the water quality is far superior. Now that we have a real water filter I’m embarrassed to admit that we ever used the cheap blue canister type of water filter. If you want great tasting water with no odors, then the dual water filter setup is the way to go. I guarantee you will notice the difference immediately.
A 90 Degree Hose Elbow helps to keep your fresh water hose from bending or kinking when hooked up to the city water connection on your RV. We bought one to make sure we get good water flow into the RV but also because it takes the weight of the hose off of the plastic city water fitting on our RV. Hopefully, this will help ensure that the city water connection built into the RV isn’t damaged. So far so good!
The last thing you need is for your campers’ electrical system, appliances, TVs or computers to get fried due to a power surge. We highly recommend a surge protector because it can literally save you thousands in repair costs. Progressive Industries because they offer the best of the best.
When we RV we like to leave the windows open at night rather than run the A/C. But sometimes it is just too hot inside the RV to do that. We wished we had more windows to open to get more airflow. So we figured we could at least get a windshield visor to keep some of the heat out of our RV during the day and that way maybe it would be cooler at night.
While we were searching for a windshield visor, we found the perfect solution to our problem. The new windshield cover we found has side window screens built into it so we can roll down the driver and passenger side windows and get much more airflow without bugs flying into the RV! And it also reduces the amount of heat that enters the RV.
Another great benefit of our windshield cover is that we no longer need to use the privacy curtain. This gives us easy access to the front seats so we can get to the radio, glove box or our USB chargers. We can also use the front seats for storage while we camp. And, without the privacy curtain up, the inside of the RV feels much larger too!
Have you ever noticed that the bottom step on the RV is too far from the ground? Your foot searches for the ground and the next thing you know you make that awkward lurch toward the ground. In my case, that’s when I spill the drinks!
So, we bought a step to bridge the gap from the bottom step to the ground. We find that having a step just makes entering and exiting the RV safer and more convenient, especially when we are carrying drinks or plates of food.
The step we use is awesome because each individual leg is fully adjustable so it works great if the ground is uneven. And it folds to just 3 inches deep so it is easy to store. This is a great accessory to keep onboard your camper too.
Our RV floors used to get dirty pretty quickly. We almost always take our shoes off when we walk inside the RV but we were still tracking some dirt inside. And then when we were barefoot or in socks inside the RV, we could feel that gritty feeling on the floors! So, we bought one of these grass style doormats and what a difference!
These mats really do a great job scrubbing the dirt or sand off the bottom of our shoes. So, we end up sweeping and vacuuming the RV less often because it stays cleaner longer! It made a huge difference for us. It’s totally worth the minimal cost.
We love these sheets and use them in our RV! They are affordable, comfortable, and will fit your short queen mattress (even with a mattress pad) perfectly!
Our oscillation fan comes in quite handy all summer long! We use it inside the RV to cool down when we don’t want to run the A/C.
But we also use it outside to stay cool on really hot days. And this might sound crazy but we like a campfire – even in the summertime. So we use it outside to keep us cool on warm summer evenings while sitting in front of the campfire. It’s a must-have item for us!
Imagine going camping or worse yet boondocking in a remote location and having a dead battery or getting stuck! What would you do? I’ll be honest, I don’t even know how old the battery is in my RV. Which means one day it will go dead and probably without any warning. And I can’t tell you how many times we have driven our RV off the beaten path looking for that perfect camping spot or a beautiful view. We’ve taken some chances and almost got stuck more than a few times.
So, we decided to buy an emergency roadside kit. Why? Mainly because it comes with jumper cables and a tow rope. But it also includes roadside tools we might need, an emergency blanket, an 11-in-1 multi-tool, a flashlight, bungee cords, a magnesium fire starter, a reflective roadside warning sign, and much more.
We don’t want to get stuck in a bad situation and not be as prepared as we can be. We think this kit is a must-have item for any camper. We have one in our RV and suggest you keep one in yours too. You never know when you will need it – until you need it.
So here we are camping one weekend with Susan’s little grandson. We were having a great time and he was excited and went running down the road ahead of us and tripped and fell. As you can imagine, he skinned up his knees and hands pretty badly.
We didn’t have a first aid kit on board when this happened. We had some band-aids and that was about it – unless you count duct tape as a first-aid item. I felt bad that we didn’t really have the proper first aid items to clean and bandage him up properly.
So we decided to buy a good first aid kit just in case anyone got hurt. We found a great brand called Swiss Safe which has thousands of 5-star reviews. It’s a great compact kit that we can easily store on board in case we ever need it. Maybe you should too.
The NOAA Emergency Weather Radio is a fantastic emergency item every RVer should have on hand because you never know when you will not have cell service. And if you have no cell service, a radio can save the day!
But, the NOAA Weather radio is much more than just a weather radio. It can pick up AM and FM stations too! And it also is a flashlight, an emergency strobe light, a power charger, and it even has a dog whistle so a search dog can find you.
It requires no batteries because it has a hand crank to create electricity! Which is perfect if you are in an emergency situation. We keep ours in the RV most of the time, but we also throw it in the backpack when we go hiking, off roading, or surf fishing. It’s an essential emergency item that we love and highly recommend you keep on board your RV too!
We purchased our Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for two reasons. Safety and better gas mileage.
A good TPMS tells you the tire pressure and temperature for every tire on your RV. In our case, we have six tires.
If we have a tire that is low or flat, we can repair the tire before we end up having an accident.
But a huge secondary benefit of a TPMS is making sure that your tires are properly inflated at all times because that will help to maximize your gas mileage.
We drove our RV across Canada from the Michigan border to Niagra Falls and we only got 7.8 miles per gallon. I was so bummed! But then I realized that our tire pressure was at 60 psi instead of 80 psi. As soon as I inflated the tires, our mpg increased to 9.5! That’s a big difference! If only I had the TPMS, I would have known this and properly inflated my tires to get better gas mileage and save a bunch of money.
So, you could be like me and think “I won’t get into an accident because my tires are low” and you might be right. But you will absolutely drive your RV on any given day with low tire pressure and cost yourself lot’s of money at the gas pump. And you could have a tire blowout!
This is a fantastic device that will definitely save you money – and maybe save your life.
We keep a can of Bear Spray on board the RV because we love to hike and bike wherever we happen to be. And very often we are in bear country.
So, we found this bear spray which has a sheath that attaches right to my belt so if we have a surprise encounter – and we have – the bear spray is within easy reach. It won’t do you any good to fumble through your back pack looking for it when you need it fast! And it shoots up to 35 feet! The further the better in my opinion.
We also like to keep it on hand in case anyone threatens our safety too. We keep it in the cabinet above the door in our RV as a persoanl safety measure as well. You never know when you will need it, but someday it’s likely that you will.
Obviously everyone should have a fire extinguisher on board their RV. And most folks do.
But you should be sure to check the expiration date on your fire extinguisher to be sure it’s up to date so it works when you need it!
This is especially true if you buy a used RV because the fire extinguisher will most likely be as old as the RV. When we bought our RV, which is a 2008, we discovered that the fire extinguisher had expired so we bought a new one right away.
Not all fire extinguishers have expiration dates though. So, if yours is 5 years old or older, or you don’t know how old it is, you should probably get a new one. Better safe than sorry.
We use DampRid all year long in our RV to absorb moisture and keep our RV smelling fresh. It’s a fantastic product that we highly recommend.
I’ve owned a Ryobi cordless drill for years and it is a great drill. The battery lasts forever and the keyless chuck makes changing bits super easy. I highly recommend this product as it has served me very well over the years.
The first time we rented an RV we had two bikes with us and we actually carried them into the RV and bungee corded them to the dinette table leg to secure them while we traveled.
We have come a long way since then! Our ladder-mount bike rack is awesome. It holds our two bikes, and it is very lightweight but incredibly strong.
We love to bring our bikes with us everywhere we go because, in our opinion, biking is the perfect speed to sightsee! And this bike rack is by far the best one we have found.
OIut Thule hitch mount bike rack is perfect for hauling around oue Lectric Bikes. It can hold up to 130 lbs., and it even has a ramp so we can roll the bikes into position rather than lifting them.
It is very sturdy and it can withstand all the bumps we experience while driving down the road. It’s not cheap but it is by far the best bike rack on the market for electric bikes. We love to bring our bikes with us everywhere we go because, in our opinion, biking is the perfect speed to sightsee! And this bike rack is by far the best one we have found.
Camping Gear
These Zero Gravity Lounge Chairs have become our full-time chairs when we go camping. We have the other upright regular folding camping chairs but they hurt my back because I would sink down into the chair. In an attempt to make myself more comfortable I would actually grab one of the dinette backrest pillows and sit on it while in my camping chair.
Then one weekend we took all 4 of our camping chairs out of the RV and forgot to put them back. When we went camping all we had were the zero gravity chairs. Oh no! But that’s when the light bulb went on for me! I realized over the weekend that I could just use my zero gravity chair full time when we go camping and be much more comfortable.
Not only are these chairs much more comfortable for sitting around the campfire but we took them to a concert at a Harvest Host Winery and to movie night at another campground. They are also awesome for star gazing! We definitely recommend these chairs!
We have seen soo many disgusting things (like sewer hoses and bags of dog poop) on campground picnic tables over the years that a picnic table cover is a must for us.
LITO Tablecloths are designed to last for years. There are lots of colors to choose from, and these heavy-duty tablecloths are incredibly durable. They are waterproof sturdy, and beautiful!
We absolutely love our camping table. We always set it up when we are sitting in front of the campfire at night and it holds our drinks, snacks, cell phones, and outdoor speaker. The lower shelf is great too for a flashlight or whatever else you need. We actually have the red and the black colored tables. This is definitely an RVBlogger favorite!
Our collapsible trash can is great! It is light weight and stows away easily! We just add a trashbag inside and use the zip top to keep the flies away!
This is so much nicer than hanging a trash bag off a tree or side view mirror!
We used to use citronella candles to keep mosquitos away from our campsite. Then Susan decided to try the Thermacell Rechargeable Mosquito Repeller and what a huge difference!
This thing really works and actually protects very well within a 20′ radius. Plus we can recharge it so we don’t have to fool around with batteries. This is definitely an RVBlogger favorite!
We love our Solar Charger. It has 2 USB Charger ports so we can charge both our phones at the same time. It also has a built-in flashlight. It even has a lighter port on the side that can be used to light a fire. This charger is solid, heavy duty and works great! Honestly, I don’t know how long it holds a charge because I’ve never run it completely down. I just keep it in the sun or attach it to my backpack and it recharges while we are hiking or biking in the sun. Even after it sits unused for an extended period it still has a charge when I turn it on.
It doesn’t have to be in the sun to use it – just to re-charge it. And it’s waterproof and shockproof. I’ve had mine for several years now and it is awesome!
So, how are you supposed to make coffee in the morning if your campsite has no electric and it’s quiet time so you can’t fire up the generator? We run into this problem when we camp in State Parks because they typically have no electricity but they do have generator quiet times to deal with.
So, we discovered the propane percolator coffee maker. We just use it right on the stove top in our RV! We don’t even have to go outside to set it up on the camp stove unless we want to.
The coffee maker makes great coffee and it’s just like using our electric coffee maker. Just put in the filter, coffee and add water. Turn on the propane and in a few minutes we have fresh hot coffee. One other nice benefit is that we can control how fast it percolates. We like strong coffee so we use a lower flame setting to boil the water more slowly and it makes stronger coffee this way. Perfect!
The Bose Soundlink is waterproof, compact and has incredible sound quality. There are two important things to know about this speaker. First, although it is waterproof it does not float so tie a floating lanyard to it if you plan to be on the water. And second, it is a much better speaker than it’s more colorful (and more expensive) successor the Soundlink II. So save your money and buy the original Soundlink. You will love it too!
All too often my fire poker was a stick that I found laying on the ground. And most of the time it would break in half or catch on fire – or both! I would get frustrated because I like to have a nice fire and keep it going…and Susan would laugh at me.
But then she took pity on me and bought me this awesome log grabber and fire poker and I love it! It has a spring loaded grabber so I can literally grab a burning log, pick it up and reposition it. And it’s heavy duty! I push it into the ground so it stands up – that way I don’t lose it or step on it. Now it’s super easy to tend the fire and keep it going!
TWICE THE COLOR, half the price! Want to add a little magic to your fire? Magical Flames are the perfect accessories for any wood burning fire! Simply toss an UNOPENED packet or two into your fire for a magical experience that is sure to delight all ages! Magical Flames adds dazzling blues, brilliant greens, and delightful purples to transform a boring yellow and orange fire to a dancing rainbow of flames!
We use our collapsible bucket for all sorts of things. We use it to collect the A/C condensation so we can douse our fire at night. We also use it to conserve water when we wash the dishes. And we also use it to collect the cold shower water before the water warms up. This keeps un-necessary water from going into our grey tank. I even use it when I wash the RV!
What a handy multi purpose item to keep onboard!
We love our collapsible dish drain! Since it collapses it is easy to store and saves space! Plus it fits in our kitchen sink so we can wash the dishes before we hit the road and dry them while we are on the go.
It is made of soft silicone and even has a drip tray on the bottom to keep water from going everywhere.
Our collapsible colander serves three purposes in our RV! It is a colander, a fruit bowl and we can even use it as a microwave dish cover to minimize the food splatter in our microwave oven.
And best of all, it collapses into a space saving shape so we can maximize our kitchen dishware and utensils.
We don’t have much cabinet space in our RV kitchen so we try to use as many collapsible products as possible. We love our set of collapsible bowls and containers. We can use them for leftovers and they are microwave safe too!
Susan loves our Earth Breeze Liquidless Detergent Sheets. They are lightweight so we don’t have to lug around a heavy jug of laundry detergent and they work great!
We just throw one in the dirty laundry bag and off to the campground laundry we go! The leave our clothes smelling fresh and the even get rid of the campfire smoke smell!
RV Decor
We really try to keep the inside of the RV as clean as possible. We just can’t stand the feeling of dirt or sand on our feet when we are in socks or barefoot inside the RV. So, we discovered these RV Camping mats which are great for creating an outside 9′ x 12′ patio that helps to keep us from tracking dirt or sand into the RV. It’s essential to have the camping mat if you ever camp at the beach or in a sandy area. It makes a huge difference in the sand.
When combined with the Grassworx doormat listed above we are able to keep the inside of the RV cleaner for longer. It’s nice to get out of the bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and not feel sand or dirt on the floor.
Sometimes when we go to bed at night and we get thirsty it means we have to get out of bed and open the fridge to grab a water bottle or Gatorade because we don’t have nightstands in our RV. There is nowhere to put a drink before going to sleep. It’s a pain in the butt because Susan and I wake up if the other one of us gets out of bed.
So, Susan, the master of RV organization and gadgetry, found these cool adjustable cup holders that mount right to the wall in our RV. We each have one on our side of the bed and its made life so much more convenient. They literary took me 10 minutes to install.
They come in a few different colors and they adjust to hold cups, mugs and just about every size of can or bottle. Plus they fold up when not in use!
We got our Happy Camper coasters as a gift from a friend. They are bright and cheery and add a homey feel to the RV when we are camping. Even if you don’t buy them for yourself they make a perfect gift for that RVer in your life!
We use this sign against each other whenever possible. Just kidding! A friend of ours gave it to us as a gift and we think it’s funny.
The nice thing is it just hangs on a cabinet knob so we can stow it away safely when on the road and easily put it up when we get to our campsite. It definitely adds to the ambiance in the RV.
We have been RVing in a lot of really cool places and after we stay somewhere, Susan loves to Journal about it while we are on the road to our next destination.
We can record the route we took, mileage, people we met along the way, and memorable sights and events. It’s fun for us to relive our journey as Susan writes about it.
Plus it’s a perfect gift for your favorite camper or to keep for yourself.
Doesn’t everyone have a USA State by State sticker map? We do and we love adding a new sticker every time we camp in a new state. Our rule is that we have to spend the night in the RV in a state to put the state sticker on the map. Just something we think is fun to do! One day we will have every state on the board!
I don’t know about you but we definitely do not have enough countertop space in our RV. The sink is right next to the stove which leaves about 4″ of countertop space. Yikes! So, luckily we found this stovetop cover and now we have a place to set up the coffee maker and toaster in the morning or a place to put our cups if we want to pour a soda.
The great thing about this stovetop cover is that it is universal so you don’t have to guess if the stovetop cover will actually fit on your stove. We bought ours and used the template on the back to measure where to install the rubber cups that stick to the burner grates. It was very easy to install and now we have extra countertop space. And the rubber cups that hold it in place prevent it from squeaking too!
We sleep great on our Tochta Mattress. Tochta makes mattresses for RVs in all shapes and sizes and they even have corner cut mattresses.
Our mattress is a dual layer foam mattress and it is incredibly comfortable. It’s more comfy than our mattress at home! No more back aches from sleeping on a cheap 4″ mattress. The only regret we have is not buying one sooner!