About to hit the road with a travel trailer? Well, you may think that you have everything that you need already, but you would do well to read through this list of travel trailer essentials. This is a good mixture of the things that seem obvious to bring, but most people forget, and things which you would never have thought about bringing in a million years. Shall I dive in?
1. Energy Source
Right off the bat, I need to talk about your energy source. Since you are going to be heading out on the road in a travel trailer, we are sure that you do not plan on ‘slumming’ it. Instead, you want to enjoy some of the finer things about life on the road.
For this, you are going to need to have a power source. You got plenty of options here. Generators. Solar power. Batteries etc. It is up to you to find whatever the correct option for your needs is. All you need to know is that you are going to be wanting to get your hands on some sort of power option.
2. Spare Parts
Your travel trailer is out there on the road, and there is a small (but not non-existent) chance that your travel trailer could break down in the midst of your travels. This can cause massive issues if you are in the middle of nowhere.
Some fantastic travel trailer essentials will be spare parts for your vehicle. Obviously, you can’t bring everything with you, but look into some of the most common issues with the travel trailer that you own. Buy a few spare parts to fill the needs.
Maybe some screws, clips, and bolts. That sort of thing. If you have all of that to hand, then most issues can be dealt with on the road.
3. Tool kit
Obviously, you can’t use those spare parts unless you have a tool kit to hand. Therefore, pick up a tool kit. It doesn’t need to be big.
A socket set, some wrenches, and then some hex keys and you should be fine. Although, you will want to take a little look at what the most common spare parts for your vehicle require.
Make sure that anything that you pick up matches the sizes of your travel trailer, otherwise it is going to be a bit weird carrying it around. It will be useless.
4. Spare tire
Yep. This may seem like one of the obvious travel trailer essentials, but you will be surprised at how many people fail to bring one along. Obviously, it is highly unlikely that your vehicle is going to lose a tire.
However, it can happen. You are carrying a lot of weight in your vehicle. The last thing you want is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, and then need to pay an obscene amount of cash for somebody comes and delivers you a new RV tire.
Bring one along. It is going to be worth it in the long run…even if you do not end up using it. Remember; you will need to bring along some tools to help you to change the tire too.
5. Tire Chock
You are absolutely going to need to bring one of these along. These will make sure that the travel trailer doesn’t roll off anywhere. Even if the travel trailer seems to be firmly rooted in place, you will still want to use a tire chock.
A lot of people have seen their travel trailer just roll away, and it can be very tough to recover if that happens. Do yourself a favor and pick up a cheap tire chock. You will be glad you have one. Plus; it takes up no weight at all. Well, barely any.
6. Spare cables and piping
I suppose that this could somewhat tie into the spare parts section, but I feel it deserves it’s own. If you are going to be traveling, then you will need to bring spare cables and pipes with you.
Nothing too crazy, but if your water pipes have sprung a leak, or your electrical gear doesn’t seem to be working correctly, then some spare cables and piping will go a long way. Again, this is something that is not going to take up that much in terms of weight, so it makes sense to bring it with you.
7. Dirty water hose
You need a separate hose from your clean water hose. This way you do not end up contaminating your clean water with chemicals and other contaminants.
Again, this is something that may seem obvious. However, you will be surprised at how few people forget this one of the travel trailer essentials. You need this to flush your tank. No exceptions.
8. Tire Leveler
Chances are that you will not always be setting up your camp on a flat surface. Thankfully, there are things that you can do to improve the situation. Leveling your RV. In case you need to know the full details then here is the complete guide on rv leveling.
Pick up a cheap tire leveler (well, the best quality that you can afford). Stick it under the tire when it is not level and, voila, you have a trailer that is now completely level, and it is going to be so much more comfortable for you to sleep in!
9. Rear View Camera
It can be very, very difficult to move a travel trailer about at the best of times. However, when you have an RV or another larger vehicle moving one around, things become a whole lot more difficult.
This is why a lot of people have invested in a rearview camera that they can attach to the back of their travel trailer. This will make reversing and moving around a whole lot simpler and, perhaps more importantly, a whole lot safer!
10. Outdoor Chairs
You may not think that this is one of the travel trailer essentials, but I beg to differ. A lot of people who go out in their RV end up being cooped up inside of it. It is dreadfully annoying.
They go out to explore the world, and they never really end up exploring it. They just deal with the comforts that they have at their own home. It seems pointless to us. This is why I suggest that people invest in a good few outdoor chairs. Stick them in the travel trailer.
They won’t take up that much space. Now, you suddenly have an excuse to sit outside and take in that sunshine and fresh air!
11. Hitch Lock Kit
Granted, not a lot of people are going to be in the business of stealing a travel trailer, but it certainly does happen on occasion. This is why it is suggested that you invest in a good hitch lock kit. They aren’t that expensive.
They will, however, help you to secure your travel trailer when it is not hitched up to your RV or another vehicle. Basically, you are going to be keeping everything safe.
12. Disposable Gloves
Seriously. I never thought I would have to include this on a list of travel trailer essentials, but here I are. You have no idea how useful disposable gloves can be. They help you empty your sewage.
You will need them to work on your vehicle and travel trailer. They are better than normal gloves because you can just throw them away (no, this is probably not the best thing for the environment!), but it is useful when you are out in your RV because you probably do not have that much of an opportunity to clean gloves otherwise.
13. Sewer Treatment
There are a few different sewer treatments on the market. They all do pretty much the same job, though. This is to make your sewer tank smell a little bit better, as well as liquefy some of the waste. I told you that those disposable gloves are going to come in handy, didn’t I?
14. Surge Protector
Do you really need a surge protector in your RV?. You probably do not want to fry your power source or the electronics in your RV, do you? No. Thought not. Therefore, I suggest that you bring a quality surge protector along.
I can’t stress how important it is to get one of high quality. While this, again, is something that is highly unlikely that you will ever need to use, you will be thankful that you have it in place should the worst come to the worst.
15. Cooking pots and pans
I would put this inside of your travel trailer rather than your RV. They are going to be a lot better protected there and, perhaps more importantly, it means that you are not going to need to secure them in your RV when you are zooming down the road.
Just stick them in a box inside of your travel trailer and you should pretty much be good to go. Remember; if you want to get the maximum enjoyment out of your trip, you will probably want to bring along some decent cooking equipment. Don’t get cheap camping stuff. Good quality stuff will work wonders.
16. A tent
Alright, this may not be an ‘essential’, but it still may actually be worth bringing for the vast majority of people, but I do like to have one kicking about. After all, this goes back to the idea of actually enjoying the ‘great outdoors’.
There will be some days where you wouldn’t want to be cooped up inside of your RV. You will want to go out there and enjoy nature the way it was meant to be enjoyed. A tent barely takes up any space, and you don’t need anything too drastic. Even if you do not use it ‘out and about’, you will still benefit from pitching it. You have instant storage space!
17. First Aid Kit
Yep. Again, you are out there in the wild. People will get hurt. It is likely that it will never be anything more than a few bumps and scratches. A decent first aid kit is going to go a long way here.
You are not really going to need to have anything too crazy, but just some bandages, bandaids, painkillers, that sort of thing. You can easily find small readymade kits for a travel trailer, so you may want to look into one of those.
18. Water Pressure Regulator
This is going to be incredibly beneficial when you are staying on campgrounds. You will often find that water systems have water pressure which is far too high.
While this wouldn’t be an issue in most cases, there is the small chance that you could completely destroy your system by having water pressure which is far too high. A good quality regulator will help to prevent this happening. It is going to save you a whole lot of cash!
19. Hampers
Clothes are going to get dirty. Most people are just going to throw their clothes in random piles when out on the road. Don’t do this. You are sensible. Get a few hampers.
They will be perfect for keeping your unsightly, smelly clothes out of sight. It may not seem like a lot, but you will be surprised at how much better you will feel having a dedicated place to put those filthy clothes.
20. A small vacuum
You just need to pick up a small handheld rechargeable one here (or mains powered, as that is often a lot better). It will allow you to clean up any dust and grime quickly and easily. You may want to bring along a broom or a small brush too. Basically, something that is going to allow you to keep the area clean.
21. Bedding
Yeah. I am going to wrap up with bedding. I know that it may seem obvious to bring along, but you will be surprised at how many people will forget to bring quality bedding with them. Again; you probably want to enjoy the comforts from home, some bring some sheets, duvets, and some quality pillows with you!
Remember; this is not a complete list to all of the travel trailer essentials, but I do feel that packing every item of this list in your travel trailer is going to go a long way to making sure that your trip is one that you never end up forgetting (and for the right reasons!)
