A Newbie's Basic RV Needs

Are you thinking of buying an RV?  That's great because taking journeys in an RV is one of the best ways of discovering the beauty of our nation.  But before you take it off the lot, be sure you have the other basic gear that you'll need. Although some dealers may supply you with a beginners kit, they're usually the cheapest items to have and may not have all you'll truly need. With that in mind, below is a list of what we consider the top five basic RV needs.
​Before we begin though we think its fair to tell you that if you purchase these items from the links below, we earn a commission from those items. At the time of this writing, we've earned a total of $12 after a year of "influencing." Yes, we're rolling in the dough!!! All of the items mentioned are available through our Amazon shop. Just click on the link at the top of our page. ^

1. STINKY TANK STUFF - A decent, well made sewer hose that is smooth inside and can hold its shape, yet still collapse to easily fit in your RV bumper is a definite must have. We recommend the Camco RV Sanitation Kit. The kit has everything you'll need: a 15' hose, gloves, a hose support, caps, black tank treatment drops. It even has a rinse cap to flush out the effluent from your hose. You can purchase these items separately, but it's nice to know you have everything you'll need while camping. You may want to consider an extra sewer hose for those rare occasions when your connection is more than 15'.

2. H2O - Clean water is essential for everything from washing dishes, showering, and drinking. However, unless you are sure of the cleanliness of your fresh water tank or the campground water, we don't recommend drinking from your RV's tap. That said, we do use our tap for showering and washing our utensils. For those reasons you'll need a drinking hose, filter, a water pressure regulator, and a hose elbow to take the pressure off of your RV's city water connection. Once again, Camco's RV Water Filtration Kit will have everything you'll need, except for the hose elbow (you'll have to get that separately).

​3. ELECTRIFICATION - When it comes to powering your RV, a surge protector is a must, and for that we rely on a Progressive Industries Portable Surge Protector. Their EMS version can protect against over/under voltage, open ground/neutral, reverse polarity, mis-wired pedestal, accidental 240V, and surge failure; as well as A/C frequency protection. They also have a version without EMS. 
You may also want an adapter that converts a male 15amp plug into a female 30amp so that you can power your RV at home while preparing for your camping adventures.

4. LEVELING & STABILIZATION - If you've ever tried sleeping in an unlevel and shaky environment then you'll understand the importance of having a means of leveling and stabilizing your RV. We use several items for this purpose: a Camco Curved Leveler, Lynx levelers, and rubber chocks.
The curved levelers are easy to use to roll your RV's tire onto for side to side leveling. It works for anywhere between 1 to 4 inches.  Remember, if you have a dual axle travel trailer you'll need two of these levelers.
Although you can also use the Lynx levelers for side to side leveling, we use them to put underneath our stabilizing jacks so that they don't need to be fully extended. This reduces the amount of shaking inside your RV.
The rubber chocks are good, heavy chocks that keep your tires from rolling and they last a long time.
Some people use plastic chocks, but they are light-weight, slide around easily and have an expiration date on them.

These four areas of Sewer, Water, Electric, and Leveling/Stabilization are necessary items for a safe, enjoyable time while camping in your new RV. We hope this information is helpful to you as you begin your RVing Journeys!