rving is awesome if you know a few things about what you are doing
and if you don't know what you're doing and you don't follow a few simple procedures
it could mean the worst experience you've ever had while camping
here's where you made your critical mistake you listened to anything howie and jojo said nice
boys but they're a couple pliers short of a tool chest they're not the ones covered in fecal matter
so stay tuned because in this video we are going to give you 10 simple and easy tips to make you
a happy camper we are Charity Ben Dakota and Trinity we decided we didn't want to wait for
a life of adventure so in 2017 we bought our first rv and set off to live a life of travel in the USA
we've visited over 38 states in three years and have many more to go follow along to learn all the
best places to see rv and travel tips and much more so some things to think about before you
even leave your driveway are what we're going to cover in these 10 in easy simple tips
tip number one keep your black tank closed this was actually a mistake we made when we first
started rving thinking that if we were hooked up to the full hookups we can just leave both
of those valves open both the black and the gray tank and that was a mistake that we made so keep
that black tank valve closed until your black tank shows that it's full or three quarters full
on your indicator system that shows how full your tank is then drain your black tank while you're
at the campground
so tip number two if you are leaving your camper for the day or even just for a
couple of hours bring your awnings in even if your awning has a wind sensor or a rain sensor gusts of
wind can come up periodically very very quickly or it might not work as we have also learned the hard
way we were in Savannah Georgia and resulted in actually a bent awning arm because we got so much
rain in the top of our awning that the weight it couldn't handle the weight and it collapsed
one of the sides of the awning even though we do have sensors that are supposed to pull in that
awning automatically they don't always work so if you're leaving bring the awnings in before you go
tip number three be sure to go on a shakedown trip you know before the big maiden voyage
and we recommend that this is somewhat close to home so maybe within a two to three hour
drive away from home so if something happens on that shakedown trip you're not too far away
from kind of that realm of safety or comfort to be able to grab something if you forget something
but it's a great way to get to know your rig to get to know how to hook up
at a campground but not go too far away from those comforts of home should something arise and
one other little tip off of this is don't go and just buy everything on amazon that you
think you're going to need that's one mistake we made is we just went all out on amazon and
purchase everything we think we would need we are excited ready to go don't do that yet on your
shakedown trip you're going to find out really what you need and what you don't
need you can always go to walmart and pick up what you absolutely need if you are in a pinch
so tip number four know where your fuses are located in your rig we cannot tell you how
many times in the last four years of living the rv life that we have paid a stupid tax
by having to have somebody come out and take a look at our rig when it ended up just being a
blown fuse that we overlooked so familiarizing yourself with your rig knowing where your fuses
are located for the different components in your vehicle and then also carrying a spare fuse kit
we've learned that the hard way too where we had a blown fuse
and we didn't have a fuse to replace it with and had to go make that trip to walmart to get fuses
that we didn't have on hand so we'll put a link in the description below to the fuse kit that we
carry with us now that has a lot of different types of fuses styles of fuses and different amp
ratings on fuses so that you will most always have the fuse that you need when you need it
tip number five is do not overload your fridge with items you want to make sure you have air flow
around the sides of your fridge so you don't want to jam pack that thing the most important thing to
remember is if you have an rv style fridge that runs off of both propane and electricity which
most rvs do have some newer models will have residential type fridges and those work just like
your fridge at home but the majority are a special type of refrigerator that they install into RVs
if it is packed to the gills you're not gonna have cool food so it needs to have
some room around the items for airflow to circulate to be able to keep things chilled
so when you're packing that thing up just remember you can't jam pocketful you need
to leave some space between your items and some people even put in a fan to circulate air around
the area either a battery powered fan or plug in a fan to put in your fridge and that does help
tip number six know your height and your length of your rig and this is
something you don't want to just take from the manufacturer's spec sheet actually get a tape
measure out measure it for yourself and know exactly what your length and your height is
we did not do this we knew what our spec sheet said and we were sweating some bullets when
we went to zion national park and realized that there was a tunnel with very tight clearances yeah
and we weren't sure if we were gonna fit through yeah so I would also get a label maker and just
tape your height and your length to your dash just so when you're going under those bridges you
can look down and know what it is and you're not freaking out when you're going under the bridge
tip number seven always always always use a water pressure regulator so this is for when
you're hooking up at a campground and you're putting that water hose into a spigot or
into any sort of a city water hookup rvs do not have piping like in houses where you have a pvc
pipe or in older homes that might have had copper piping the tubing that is inside of RVs is just
that it's a tubing it is not made to withstand those higher pressures and you do run the risk
of a potential flood on the inside of your rig if those pressures are too high so you always want
to be able to make sure that you don't have high water pressure flowing through your rig and our
favorite water pressure regulator is an adjustable type where you actually have a gauge that shows
you exactly what that pressure is so that if you do feel like you don't have enough pressure
to take a shower or to wash hands you can dial it up a little bit without it being overloaded
tip number eight make sure you have a surge protector we use a progressive industries
surge protector that we absolutely love but you want to make sure you have one of these because
you don't want to fry any components inside your rv things like the inverter for your rv
or any of the circuit boards these can be very expensive components to replace should there be
an electrical malfunction because of where you're plugged in at a campground or if any type of surge
should occur so do yourself a favor get a little bit of peace of mind by ordering a surge protector
and we can put a link in the description below for the one that we like to use a couple hundred
dollars can potentially save you a couple of thousand dollars in potential repairs so it's
nice to have that peace of mind and the nice thing is right when you plug these surge protectors into
the outlet it'll let you know right away whether there's a polarity issue or some kind of issue
with the campground and when you have that peace of mind you are a happy camper
so tip number nine
make sure that you check both your tire pressure and make sure that those are set according to the
manufacturer's specifications whether you're using a drivable or towable and then also make
sure that you have checked the tire age on your vehicle this is essential if you have a used rv
that is maybe second hand to you tires should be replaced every 10 years regardless of the
condition of the tread so knowing how old that those tires are is very important to that peace of
mind being a happy camper as you're going down the road nothing is worse than having a tire blowout
or even a tire go flat while you're towing your camper trailer or driving your motor home so
that can be prevented with knowing how old your tires are and replacing them when they age up
and here for the final last tip tip number 10 how not to use a sewer hose
now i'm definitely going to have to
change
here froggy froggy froggy okay let's see if I can do this
don't look like the you're so scared I'm not scared I just you're like scared I just don't
want them to jump on me you're gonna have to touch them anyway you're gonna jump oh come here
ah they peed on me okay kiss him all right is this where the saying comes from a frog in the hand
is worth two in the bush oh wait no that's a bird or something like that