Me using some of my favorite RV supplies

Ever since I started RVing, people have asked me for tips on which  RV supplies I like the best.

I am not an RVing expert, but after RVing full time for nearly three months and being responsible for:

RV maintenance

RV security

RV sewer duty

RV trash duty

RV setup and RV breakdown duty

….and just about any other RVing duty my mom and dad can think of…

I feel I am somewhat qualified to give at least a few good RV supply tips!

When you are RVing full time there are certain RV supplies that you have to get the for the RV to work properly. If the RV doesn’t work properly, your neighbors might think you’re stinky, smelly or loud…but that doesn’t have much to do with this blog post!

After all I am 10 and I get a little bit silly sometimes!

So I have listed 13 absolutely essential RV accessories (my Dad helped me with that word )that you must have when RVing full time like us.

Here they are:

1. Chocks

Good RV chalks are very important so the RV doesn’t start rolling down a hill. If that happens, then your very expensive RV is wrecked and you don’t have a place to sleep.

Wheel Chocks are also used to stabilize the RV so it doesn’t sway when you walk in it. They are important needless to say!

2. Level

To get the RV level, one of the most important things in your tool box is a good level.

Also, if you need to move the RV in a certain spot you use a leveler. If you don’t have one all sorts of bad thing happen. For example your refrigerator many not work right and may get broken.

The one that we use is the Stanley FatMax Magnetic Level because you can put it on the back bumper and its magnetic so it sticks there!

3. Sewer Hose 

The sewer hose you get with your new RV really stinks! I guarantee you it will crack and leak as soon as you start using it. And you will step on it and break it just like I did (but I didn’t mean to).

To drain the sewer you don’t want to have a full black water tank spill out on you! To prevent this from happening, you want the hose to reach so you can you don’t bother your neighbors.

I recommend RhinoFLEX 5′ Extension Hose with Swivel Fittings, because it is so tough it won’t break. It is really tough. I have stepped on it many times and it has never broken. My dad has stepped on it too and he is heavier than me and it STILL hasn’t broken.

4. Disposable Gloves 

When you are dumping out the black water it is really gross! So you need really good RV Sanitation Gloves that won’t break but you can throw away after. These gloves are really tight on your hands so they keep out poop and all kinds of gross stuff.

This is what they look like:

The are the best kinds of disposable gloves I have found.

5. Extra Water Hose

You need to get an extra water hose because it really stinks when the town water hookup is too far from your RV. If it doesn’t reach, then you might have to re-park the RV. This is where you could use a garden hose.

To prevent this, always have an extra water hose on board!

6. 30 or 50 Amp Extension Cord

When you arrive at the RV park, set up and then try to plug in your electric cord but the electric box is too far away, this is a pain too. What can you do?

You could re-park the RV. Or you could have and extra extension cord just in case.

If you cannot get the electric into your RV, you would have to use your battery, but this gets drained quickly. So have an extension cord, they come in either 30 or 50 amps.

The one we use because its really tough is the Heavy Duty 30-amp 10 Electrical Cord with Handle.

7. In- line Water Filter

So you don’t spend a fortune on bottled water, you should always have an in-line water filter to get the water clean.

Its easy to hook up, just add it to the end of your water hose at the town water hookup.

We use the TastePURE CX90 Ceramic Water Filter because the filter lasts a long time and the water tastes great!

8. Inside Fan

If you need to dry something inside the RV, its good to have a fan. Also, think of a hot day and you do not have air conditioning, you need a really good fan.

I would recommend the Lasko 42-Inch Wind Curve Fan with Remote because it kept me cool all summer and it helps to dry my clothes sometimes.

9. Good Tool Box

You must have a good toolbox to fix stuff with. Stuff always breaks in an RV. Many people have a tool box back at home, but its good to get a tool box just for your RV.

You need the following tools:

• Wrench

• Hammer

• A really good 18-Volt Li-ion Drill

• A good knife

• Pliers Set

• Hatchet (for chopping up firewood)

• All-in-One Screwdriver

There are probably more tools you need, but those are the most important.

10. Lighter

When you’re RVing full time, you make lots of fires both to cook dinner and to keep away the bugs, so you need a good lighter to light all this with. Sometimes I use my flint, but when its wet it doesn’t work too well. You can also cook s’mores on an open fire too!

Plus you may need a lighter to light the stove in the RV too. I really like the Comfort Grip Lighter, it rocks!

11. Stool

In most RVs, the cabinets in them that are really high. I am almost five feet tall, but I still have a hard time getting stuff down from the higher shelves.

Get a Collapsable Stool to get stuff in cabinets. Also make it folds up so it can be portable and can fit in a closet.

12. RV Spare Tire

If you get a flat in your RV tire, make sure you have an extra wheel just in case! We nearly popped a wheel and were glad we had a spare tire just in case.

13. Jack

If you pop an RV tire, you need a heavy jack so you can lift the RV if you have a flat tire. I would recommend at least a 30 Ton Jack if you have a fifth wheel RV.

It would really stink to be on the side of the road with a flat but no way to fix the flat!

Just check the jack specs to make sure it is powerful enough to lift your RV.

We have the Torin T93007 30 Ton Hydraulic Bottle Jack. We haven’t had to use it yet, but it lifts 30 tons so we’re in good shape!

So that is my list of RV supplies you definitely need. Please feel free to click on any of the links or images on this page to get any of them for yourself.

And when you do click on any of the links or pictures on this page and you buy anything, I make a small amount of money!

Any money I make goes to my college fund…so I can’t spend it on Nerf guns though

Oh well!

Also, please hit the “Share” button on the side of this post and share this with your friends on Facebook. It can help them get good RV supplies too!

Before you hit the road and go rving to cool places like Chicago, its good to folow our 4 tips on how to pick a good RV campsite first!

So you’ve decided to go rving full time and you’ve already decided on your RV itinerary.

Your next step is to now start booking your RV campsites.

So get out the pen and paper or bookmark this post for later use because we’re going to give you 4 things you must know when picking out your RV campsites when full time RVing.

1. Know Your RV Specs

It seems kind of obvious, but you do need to know the dimensions of your RV. In our case its a 37 foot Chapparal Fifth Wheel. This means a lot of RV campsites are way too small for us; a good thing to know before calling around or looking online. Making sure the RV campsite will fit your RV is always a good thing.

Make sure you have the specifications of your RV you haven’t already bought, borrowed, or rented your travel rig, do it prior to making reservations. When booking your RV campsite you may need to know: type, length, number of pullouts, and the type of hookups that your vehicle requires.

2. Know What Amenities You’ll Need

A major thing to consider is whether you’ll require an RV park with certain amenities. We already told you about the importance of WI-FI when RVing full time or just plain RVing. Since my wife and I work from the road, this is absolutely essential for us.

As we discussed in that post, we do use and highly recommend getting either a laptop wireless stick like the AT&T GSM USB aircard or the Verizon USB AirCard. In addition to that, having the WI-FI at the RV campsite is a big plus as well.

We have really started to use the Samsung 4G Mobile Hotspot through Verizon and it works super well.

As far as other amenitities go, if you need cable tv and dont have a DISH or DirecTV, then cable hookup is definitely something to ask for.

Although in most new RVs, the antennae gets surprisingly good local TV signals. Its all high definition now so its high quality.

We actually watched the entire Bruins Canucks Stanley Cup final using local, air antennae signal, so for a guy who insists on a good picture when watching sports, that should give you an idea as to how good the signal is!

3. To Pull Through or Not To Pull Through

If you have a massive RV like us and are don’t have a background in 18-wheeler trucking, then “pull-throughs” at RV parks are a big plus.

A “pull through” is exactly what it sounds like; they enable you to “pull through” the RV parking space so you don’t have back in and risk taking out your neighbors brand new Ford Explorer that was parked just a bit too close to your full time rving campsite.

If the question is to pull through or not to pull through, take the pull through any day of the week. Even if it costs you $10 more per day, its worth it.

4. Check Out The RV Campsite Photos

Many campgrounds have photo sections on their websites. We found this a huge benefit when scouting out campsites on the web. Check out the RV campsite photos, or even better if they have a live web cam, this will give you a really good feel for RV campground in no time flat.

With photos or webcams, you can instantly see if the RV spots are spacious or cramped, if the site has is shaded by trees or if its clear cut or if the RV campsite just looks nice or dumpy.

You can also tell if there is a general store, maybe even a restaurant, along with essential RV amenities like laundry facilities or even a pool.

Photos will tell you a lot about the RV campsite very quickly…after all a picture IS worth a thousand words when RVing.

Before you go pick your next RV campsite, make sure you consider all these four factors first.

In future posts we’ll tell you even more secrets to getting the best deals on RV campsites all throughout the United States.

In the meantime, please Share this post with your friends on Facebook so more people can learn how to RV full time.

Friends we made RVing full time in Iowa at a museum. It was easy!

Some people think that when you are RVing full time that it’s hard to make friends. We used to think that too, but now we don’t.

As a kid, you may miss your friends at home too. But to solve the problem, all you need to do is just write postcards, e-mail, Skype or call your friends. When you do that, it makes it a lot easier when full time RVing.

So for all those kids who are worried when they go live in an RV full time, that they might be lonely or they may not be able to make friends, me and my brother Alex put this list together to show you that it is actually easy to make friends when RVing full time.

1. Go to Where Other Kids Are

Usually, you can find friends in swimming pools and fun places at the RV parks.

I would recommend KOAs as the funnest campgrounds and best places to meet kids.

They have pools, playgrounds and other stuff. Although my mom and dad say they are more expensive, it makes it easier for us to make full time RV friends.

Me, Alex and Nick at the KOA in Springfield, IL in the pool!

2. Don’t Be Shy

Please don’t be shy! The butterflies won’t  fly if you don’t make friends (that means that you will be lonely if you don’t at least try).

But always be yourself! If that means being a little bit goofy, then that’s OK. But don’t try too hard, just be you.

One time in Jackson Hole there were kids playing soccer. We asked them if we could play with them and they said yes.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask the other kids to play and they will say yes!

So be brave and be friendly.

Us 3 swamis in Wisconsin (Dyllan, me and Alex)

3. Tips if You Are Shy

If you are extremely shy and you have a brother then ask him to ask the other kids to play for you. If you don’t have a sibling, then just wait for them to come as a last option.

But the best thing to do is just go over and start playing. You don’t even have to ask them sometimes!

Plus, with kids in RV parks, they all miss their friends like you so don’t worry, they are missing their friends and want to make new ones too.

Alex playing old time baseball with a bunch of kids at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit

4. Share

After you make the acquaintance, make sure to be kind and share things with them. If there are people that want to play, let them play!

More acquaintances for you and more friends!

Alex and Dyllan trading baseball cards in Minneapolis

5. Be Mindful of the Little Kids

If there are little kids, make sure to include them too. Also, if your playing a game, make sure not to always win. Do your best, but don’t make it like you have to win everything.

However, if you are playing for a team of kids and its a really competitive game, its ok if you play your best and try to win.

Me, Alex, Ridge and Maren rock climbing in Jackson Hole, WY

6. Always Say Goodbye

When you are leaving the place you met your friends try to see them again and remember to say bye. If you can get your mom and dad to exchange their emails or if they live close to you, their addresses so you can see them again.

We met some kids in Idaho that actually live only 30 miles from us back home! I can’t wait to see them when we get home.

Alex and Spencer in Great Falls Idaho. Spencer and his sister Ella only live 30 miles from us at home!

Me, Ella and Ella's mom Carla in a museum in Idaho

So in conclusion, it is easy to make friends when you are full time RVing. If you are worried about being lonely, then don’t be. We were at first when we went in our RV full time, but we have met so many good friends, now we no longer worry about it at all.

So as long as you take the first step, you will be fine. Plus meeting new friends makes your full time RV trip a lot more fun!

Please “Share” this post with your friends on Facebook by clicking the “Share” button to the left – so other kids who want to RV full time can learn what we have learned!

And as always, please comment on our blog below as well. Alex and I interested to see if you have any tips on how to make friends we may have missed!

Thank you!

In this series, we will be sharing some guidelines so that you can envision, plan and then implement your own full time RVing trip.

But before we get to the RV full time guidelines, here is the most crucial rule:

Be flexible…it’s for your own good!

At every turn in your full time RV adventure, you will have obstacles, but the key is to be flexible and roll with the punches.

How we started turning our full time RV dream into reality is by using one big map and over the dinner table, and methodically planning a geographically wishful route from the east coast to the west coast and back again. This was just the first step of course, but an important one to get the creative juices flowing.

We then looked at RVing books and all sorts of Internet resources to the places within the United States and Canada that we wanted to go to.

If there is one single book you MUST get to help you with this part of your full time RV planning it’s Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways, an absolute must read!

We then gave the kids colored pencils and allowed them to gleefully color the map to where they wanted to go. It looked fantastic! We then propped the map on the mantle and admired it every day.

This rough map then became our very own full time RVing “vision board”.  It was a great idea…a rough draft…but we knew it needed to be refined.

We then started the real planning…and the entire route changed for the first of MANY times.

So this comes to our second full time RVing rule:

Be prepared to make changes! 

Your full time RVing route can and will be “tweaked”; which in turn may change the next destination. So just be flexible (remember “the most crucial rule?”)

Once your route is “set in stone” and you embark on your journey, certain points of interest may change again.

(In fact we just changed our route to South Dakota and North Dakota today as of this writing in order to see our good friend and honorary Hell’s Angel, Dale Gorman).

Apart from Hell’s Angels and other such distractions, there are all sorts of reasons that may change your route and itinerary and the biggest one of them is Mother Nature.

Mother Nature is a significant force to reckon with.  For us, it was re-routing much of our trip around the flooded mid-west.  We had no choice, National Park Campgrounds that we had booked months in advance literally closed due to flooding, so we had to sit down, look at a map and figure out “where to next?”.

If you set off knowing in your head that plans may change then this isn’t monumental, it is just a dip in the road, like many other things that may occur while RVing full time.  However, if you can’t handle bending the route a tad, this may feel catastrophic for you.

Telling yourself that plans could change will prepare you for when they do, so now you can start planning it out.

Here is the first in our RVing full time guidelines:

Step #1: Yes, you can RV full time!

For us, the full time RV trip began as an “imagine if we could ever….” kind of  free association. We sat around the dinner table, with US road maps and site books, and talked about things like:

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could…”

“Wouldn’t  it be so cool for the family to have this experience together…”

“I want to cherish this time while the kids are young, and plan it while they are excited about hitting the road…”

“I’d love to give my family the opportunity to really see the country…”

“I think that it would be a tremendous learning experience for my kids…”

“Wouldn’t it be refreshing to do something different; to break away from our everyday routines and spice things up…”

So free associate.

Then, tally up all your answers and then really think about what you want to do and what you want to accomplish.

Keep The Full Time RV Payoff in Mind

Each family has their own “pay off” for hitting the full time RV road. For us, it was a mixture of fabulous “pay offs”. We also decided that the timing was ripe for the pickin’, and we made it our mission.

If a full time RV trip is something that you and your family decide to embark on, our first advice is to talk about  the ways that it will and can happen, and shut out all of the talk in your head (and your well-intentioned acquaintances) about how it “can’t” happen.

Shut out these negative emotions:

“We could probably never afford it and my boss wouldn’t let me work from the road”

“We can only go if the baby was just a little older”

“Our family of 5 would probably feel so trapped in a tin can all summer”

“How would I ever home school? – I’m not a teacher”

“I could never do it, I don’t even know where to start!”

Stop all the negative self-talk. Then take road blocks one by one, and come up with some solutions on how you can make it work.

And then DECIDE to get on the road full time RVing. Our next step will cover your RV full time Mission and Time Frame.

Tell us what you think? What is holding you back from RVing full time? Add a comment below, we would love to know what you think.

This is me and Eli in our old baseball uniforms before we went RVing full time

One of the things my Mom and Dad really wanted when we first started RVing full time is some kind of checklist that listed all the steps you need to do when you set up your RV at the RV campsite.

We went online and we couldn’t find a good RV setup checklist anywhere!

So Eli and I decided to make one of our own. We made this checklist for anyone who is RVing for the first time, wants to RV full time or is just thinking about RVing full time.

It will let you know that although we are not RV experts, anyone can set up an RV, so don’t be afraid of RVing full time. It’s not that hard.

In fact, if we can do it then you can do it too!

Keep in mind that this checklist is for our RV which is a Chaparral fifth wheel RV and your setup might be a little bit different.

Even so, when you first arrive at the RV park, most of the steps will be pretty much the same.

So here goes!

1. Park the RV

• This might seem kind of obvious, but you should park the RV so that the electric, water and sewer hookups are on the same side as their hookups. Its kind of like pulling up to fill the diesel tank and making sure the gas cap is on the right side!

2. Level the RV

• Go inside your RV and take out your level and measure how level the RV is.  If the RV is level then proceed to step 3.

• If it is not level, then get some 2×10 lumber cut to about 12 inches long and place them behind the wheels on the side of the RV that is lower than the other.

• Then just back up the RV so it lands on the 2x10s. It helps to have a spotter next to the wheels with a walkie talkie.

• If you don’t have a walkie talkie, then yelling works too! Just be careful of this if its late at night because RV people go to bed earlier than kids…

• If needed, add and adjust the 2x10s until the RV is level.

You can also get some RV Leveling Blocks, lots of people in the RV parks have these and they say they work really well too.

3.  Chock the RV Wheels

• Put something in front of and behind the RV wheels that can keep the 5th wheel from moving. We recommend the Camco RV Super Wheel Chock because they work so well.

• Blocks of wood and bricks work too, but you really don’t want to worry about the RV moving so get some good chocks because they don’t cost much.

4. Put Down the Front Stabilizers

• First loosen the JT Strongarms Short Jack Stabilizer on your stabilizers. I talked bout how good JT Strongarms are in one of my first videos.

• Then place extra 2×10 pieces cut at 12 inches directly under the stabilizers and extend the stabilizers half way.

• Next pull and drop the RV stabilizer feet over the 2×10 blocks, replace the pins then press the extend button until the RV starts to lift off the back of the truck hitch slightly.

• Watch for a sliver of light between the RV hitch and the RV itself. Then tighten the JT Strongarms Short Jack Stabilizer* and make sure everything is stable and secure.

*We really recommend JT Strongarms Short Jack Stabilizer because when we RV’d for the first time without them, the RV felt like it was swimming and rocking. My brother and I move fast and the RV would move around making me and my Dad seasick.

After Majors RV installed the JT Strongarms for us, its been smooth sailing!

5. Put Down the Rear Stabilizers

• Like the front stabilizers, put down the back stabilizers until they nearly reach the ground. Place extra 2x10s under the feet and then fully extend the stabilizers.

• The more 2x10s you use under the rear stabilizers, the more stable and less rocky the RV will be. Sometimes I put seven or eight of them under the feet to make it really tight. If you do this in combination with the JT Strongarms Short Jack Stabilizer, your RV will be as rock solid as home!

• Once the feet are all the way down, tighten up the JT Strongarms until the whole stabilizer assembly is secure.

6. Detach the Truck from the RV

• Make sure you see daylight between the hitch on the truck and the hitch plate on your fifth wheel RV, then pull out hitch pin.

• Here’s a BIG tip: If the pin is stuck, shift the truck into Neutral. This lessens the pressure on the hitch pin so you can release it way more easily. Dad started doing this after some guy came up to him in Pennsylvania on our first RVing trip. He saw my Dad sweating and pulling on the pin until he was blue in the face. This friendly guy put Dad out of his misery. It was funny!

• Once the pin is released, unhook your electrical line as well as the emergency brake stop.

7. Hook Up the Electric

• Withdraw the electric cord from the electric hole. If the electric cable does not reach you should have 30-Amp RV Extension Cord as a backup. It really stinks to park your RV and the cord won’t reach the outlet!

• Next, open up the electric box, make sure that the breaker switch is in the off position then hook up the electrical cord.

• Lastly, flip the breaker switch to the on position.

8. Slide Out the Slideouts 

• This is easy! Just press the switches in each room for each slideout and the slideout will go out.

9. Let Mom In!

• Open the door for her and let her into the RV. She will be happy!

10. Hook Up the Water

• Pull out the water hose and screw it into the water input valve on the RV.

• Put the water levers in the “on” or “town water” position.

• Then turn on the water from the RV campsite.

11. Hook Up the Sewer

• Attach your RV Sewer Hose Kit with Swivel Fittings to the gray water tank output drain. Then attach to the campsite sewer drain.

12. Roll out the Awning ( if needed)

• Press the awning button until the awning is all the way out. Then grab one side of the awning and pull it down roughly 6 inches lower than the other side of the awning*.

• Tighten the screws on the awning post until its tight. Then tighten the awning screws on the other side so both sides are secure.

*We recommend you do this so that when it rains, the rainwater will drain off the awning and not gather on the awning itself. This prevents rainwater from splitting the awning!

13. Lay Down the RV Patio Mat

• To keep dirt and bugs and stuff put of the RV, put down a big carpet, artificial turf or what we recommend is the RV Patio Mat like the one we have. It folds up and is good to do whittling on too.

• Place this on the ground right outside the RV and spread it out in front of the RV door.

14. Put Up the Antenna

• Go inside the RV and crank up the TV antennae so you can get watch Phineas and Ferb while RVing full time!

15. Get Organized

• Organize and put away any stuff hat fell off shelves and drawers while you were RVing.

• Pick up all your dirty clothes on your bedroom floor and put them in the hamper (in our full time RV the hamper is under the bathroom sink through a cool secret trap door). If you do this without being asked, Mom and Dad will be so happy!

Oh yes, one more thing: when you are full time RVing, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you’re in the RV park. RV people are very friendly and love to help you – so ask them for help.

And that is how you set up your RV at the campground when RVing full time cross country!

Tell us what you think? Was this step by step guide helpful? My brother Eli and I would really like to know what you think so please put in a comment below.