After years of saving and waiting, you finally bought a new travel trailer. Congratulations! Now, you’re probably asking, “What do you need to outfit a travel trailer?”
Here is a list of items that you need to have an excellent camping trip in your new trailer:
- Septic Hose
- Disposable Gloves
- Toilet Chemicals
- RV Toilet Paper
- Electrical Adapter
- Surge Protector
- Freshwater Hose
- Water Filter
- Water Pressure Regulator
- Wheel Chocks
- RV Levelers
- RV Levels
- RV Mat
- Emergency Roadside Kit
- First Aid Kit
- Damp Rid
- Picnic Table Cover
- Camping Chairs
- Camping Table
- Set of Tools
- Spare Tire and Jack
- Sway Control
- Tongue Jack Stabilizer
- Extra Fuses
1. Sewer Hose
You’ll need a sewer hose for your new trailer. The sewer hose is the delivery mechanism to evacuate your black (toilet) and grey (sink and shower) tanks. We had a situation on one of our trailers where the black tank overflowed into the vent and onto the ground of the campground. You don’t want this to happen to you. Try the Camco Black 39551 Complete Rv Sewer Kit. This hose is pretty short, so you may need a sewer hose extension. If your hose has to travel a fair distance to the sewer connection, try the Camco Sidewinder RV Sewer Support. That way, you won’t be directing your poop toward the sewer connection when you end your trip.
Don’t want to empty black tanks? Read about other toilet options.
2. Disposable Gloves
Believe me, you don’t want poop on your hands. Disposable gloves will keep your situation sanitary. These Venom Steel Nitrile Gloves will keep your hands clean. I can’t guarantee that they will keep the vipers off, but they will keep your hands from getting poop contamination.
3. Toilet Chemicals
There is nothing worse than a stinky trailer. We’ve had smells coming from both the black and grey water tanks. We like the Camco TST Ultra-Concentrated Orange Citrus Scent RV Toilet Treatment Drop-Ins for the toilet and Camco TST Lemon Scent RV Grey Water Odor Control for the grey water tank. There is nothing worse than having a smelly trailer, and these chemicals will make your trailer smell clean.
4. RV Toilet Paper
You can’t use your bathroom toilet paper in your trailer toilet. Well, you can, but you’ll regret it. Septic system toilet paper has to break down very quickly to make it through your septic hose. We like the Thetford Aquasoft toilet paper. It’s reasonably priced and won’t give you road rash.
5. Electrical Adapter
Your trailer will come with either a 30 amp or 50 amp plug. If the campground that you are camping at has either a 30 amp plug or a 50 amp plug, you’ll need an adapter because each adapter has a different shape. The 30 amp plug has three prongs and the 50 amp plug has a four-prong plug. We recommend a “dog bone” adapter because adapters can come loose. When switching from 30 to 50 amp, try the RVGUARD 30 Amp to 50 Amp RV Adapter Cord. If you’d like to plug your 30 amp plug into your home 15 amp, we use the Camco (55165) Heavy Duty RV Dogbone Electrical Adapter. If you need a 50 to 30 amp adapter, try the Kohree 50 Amp to 30 Amp RV Adapter.
6. Surge Protector
Protect your electrical equipment, like your refrigerator, TV, and laptops with a surge protector. Surge protectors are expensive but less expensive than replacing your important electrical devices. There are 30-amp and 50-amp surge protectors. For smaller trailers, a surge protector like the Portable RV Surge Protector 30 Amp – RV Circuit Analyzer with Integrated Surge Protection is adequate, while the RV Power Defender works for 50 amps.
7. Freshwater Hose
You’ll need a water hose to get water into your RV. Unlike your garden hose, the water in an RV fresh water hose is safe to drink. We have the Camco 50′ 22793 Tastepure Freshwater Hose, which we like. If you are planning to camp in the off-season, you may consider a heated hose, like the Camco 25 Ft TASTEPure Heated Drinking Water Hose with Energy Saving Thermostat. This hose is purported to be down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Water Filter
We don’t have a lot of confidence in the water purity at most campgrounds, so we use a water filter. We like the Camco Taste Pure water filter.
9. Water Pressure Regulator
A water pressure regulator will protect your plumbing against excessive water pressure when you are hooked up to a water source. Campground water faucets are notorious for having excessive water pressure and you don’t want to blow your RV pipes and end up with a leak. We use the Twinkle Star RV Water Pressure Regulator. It has a funny name, but it works great! It has a gauge and an adjustment screw so you can make sure the pressure is adjusted to 40 to 50 psi. Some of the regulators without a gauge or adjustment screw can have fairly low pressures and you won’t be able to adjust the pressure.
10. Wheel Chocks
It’s important to chock your wheels so your trailer doesn’t roll down the hill once you disconnect it from the tow vehicle. We were camping with friends who bought a new trailer. They forgot to chock the wheels and were about to disconnect the trailer when my husband ran over to the campsite, waving his hands. Please don’t forget to chock your wheels. We like the Maxx Haul chocks.
We used to have plastic wheel chocks. They don’t hold the trailer if you are on a smooth surface and they disintegrate over time. Maxx Haul chocks are rubber. They hold well and hold up over time. Depending on what type of RV leveler you are using, you may need one pair. I’ll explain in a minute.
If you have duel axles, we like this chock better.
11. RV Levelers
We love the Anderson Levelers. If you have two axles, you’ll need a pair of these levelers. We used to use the “Leggo” style levelers, which were a pain to use because you have to guess how many you’ll need. If you’re wrong, you have to move your trailer off of them and re-stack by either pulling one-off or putting one on. This is time-consuming. With the Anderson levelers, you simply back your trailer until it is level. It comes with its own chock. If you get the Anderson leveler, you’ll only need wheel chocks for the other side of the trailer.
12. RV Levels
Some trailers come with RV levels and some don’t. If your trailer doesn’t have any, then you’ll want to get some. You need one for front-to-back leveling and one for side-to-side leveling. It’s important that your trailer be level for two reasons. First, you’ll be more comfortable, especially when you are sleeping. Second, your trailer needs to be level for the refrigerator to work properly. If you are camping alone, and you don’t have someone to help you level from side to side (left to right), get a large level that you can see out of your rear window, like this one.
13. RV Mat
RV Mats are convenient for keeping the dirt out of your trailer. They come in different sizes and colors. Most are made of plastic and some have a special weave that sand will fall through. I also like having a mat so that I can take my shoes off while I’m still outside so I don’t get the inside of the trailer dirty if I have mud on my feet. I bought this one because I liked the color and pattern, but you might find something that you like better or matches your trailer better. I ordered the 5’x7′ because the one we had before was huge – we didn’t need one that big and we didn’t have anywhere to store it. Now I wish that I would have bought one size larger. We like to put our chairs on it and sit under the trailer awning, but with the 5×7, we barely have enough room to get through the door with our chairs and a small table on top of it.
14. Emergency Roadside Kit
You’ll need an emergency roadside kit in the event that you have a flat tire or breakdown. If you already have one in your tow vehicle, you won’t need another one. There is nothing special that you need for your trailer that you wouldn’t already need for your tow vehicle. There are kits that you can buy. We just purchased the items that we thought were important. Here is our list:
- Reflective vest
- Reflectors to put on the road (triangles)
- Flashlight
- Flat repair in a can
- Portable battery jumper
- Folding shovel
15. First Aid Kit
Again, you should already have one in your tow vehicle, but it’s good to get one if you don’t. We have used ours quite a bit. The thing we use the most, of course, is bandaids, but we keep it stocked with things like laxatives, Benedryl, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, anti-diarrhea medication, and several other items. The Mayo Clinic has a good list of items that you should have. We bought a pre-stocked kit, but it didn’t have many of these items and so I added them.
16. Damp Rid
If you live in a humid environment, you’ll want to have Damp Rid on hand. Trailers are a great environment for mold and mildew collection because it’s an enclosed space. Plus, some trailers don’t have that great of insulation, so they sweat. It’s especially important to have Damp Rid in your trailer when you are storing it and not using it to prevent mold and mildew. We live and travel in the West, which is very dry, so we don’t have a reason to use it. But you might live in a humid climate or you might travel to a humid climate.
17. Picnic Table Cover
I’ve seen some pretty disgusting picnic tables. Some have bird poop or food stuck to them. The wooden tables are the worst. If you enjoy eating outside as we do, do yourself a favor and get a picnic table cover. There are two kinds of picnic table covers, vinyl, and fabric. We have both types. I like the vinyl tablecloth for longer trips because it’s easy to clean and use again. For short trips, I like the cloth picnic table cover because I can toss it in the washer when I’m done with it. Our cloth cover has built-in weights. This helps keep the cover on the table when it’s windy. Or, you can get a fitted cover. Some people like the ones that come with the bench seat covers as well. The benches can be pretty gross too.
18. Camping Chairs
The hard picnic table is comfortable for about 15 minutes. After that, you’ll want a camping chair. My husband is obsessed with camping chairs, so we have had just about every kind. To start out, I recommend that you get an inexpensive camping chair with a drink holder, like this one.
19. Camping Table
We have a couple of different sizes of collapsible camping tables. The one that we use the most is akin to an end table. We have the GCI table. It folds up nicely and doesn’t take up much room. The second one we have is a dining-style table. We just bought the King Camp folding table. It also doesn’t take up much space. We have some of the metal roll-up tables, but we never used them. If you always camp at a campground, you don’t need a dining table, but the end table is really nice.
20. Set of Tools
It’s a good idea to have a set of tools in case you get in a bind. Here are the items that we recommend:
- A lug wrench or torque wrench specific to the size of your trailer lug nuts
- Philips, flat head, and square-tipped screwdrivers
- Pliers
- Diagonal cutters
- Crescent wrench
- Zip ties
- Duct tape and/or electrical tape
21. Spare Tire and Jack
Most trailers come with a spare tire. If your trailer doesn’t come with a spare tire, you’ll need to get one. If you buy a used trailer, check the date code and the condition of the spare tire. For more information about that, see Common Problems with Travel Trailers. Along with a spare tire, you’ll need a jack that is appropriate for your trailer.
22. Sway Control/Weight Distribution
Depending on your vehicle size and the size of your trailer, you may need sway control and/or a weight distribution apparatus. We won’t go into the specifics about when you will or won’t need sway control/weight distribution in this article. You’ll have to do your research to figure out if you need it.
23. Tongue Jack Stabilizer
The tongue jack stabilizer fits under your tongue jack. There are many different types of tongue jack stabilizers. Some people even use wood blocks. We use the Andersen Jack Block and like it.
24. Extra Fuses
Check the common fuse sizes on your trailer and bring extras. Often, when something in the trailer malfunctions, a fuse might be a simple fix.
Conclusion
Having a travel trailer is a great way to connect you and your family with the outdoors. Making sure that you have the things that you need for that travel trailer is a way to ensure that you have a fabulous time.