Well, we have been RV and camping now for over 18 years ( nearly 2 years full-time) and we have seen 1000s of products hawked by online RVers, vendors at camping & RV shows, and even by RVing friends in the field. Each one, of course is always marketed as a “Must Have”!
Experience teaches us that all that is gold is not golden! Along the way we decided against purchasing some things, we purchased some things and wished now we hadn’t, and then again- we have made some purchases of things we LOVE and are so glad we did buy them.
Now these short lists below may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Each RVer has their own preferences of lifestyle, camping style, recreation style.
For what its worth…here are our short lists (there are more we could add!):
4 THINGS WE ARE GLAD WE NEVER BOUGHT- BUT THOUGHT WE WOULD WANT!
CLAM (or Gazelle) Screen Tent we thought for sure we would need one of these. Absolutely not! It would have been bulky to store, weigh too much and unless you are in a spot for seasonal stay, not worth the setup. Bugs have honestly never been an issue.
Blackstone Grill Not only does this weigh a ton compared to our Weber Q grill but it is messy to store. Fine if you have a 5th wheel or Class A with big storage but not for Avion’s or Airstreams!
Catalytic Heater (run off LP) we have found that a simple pedestal electric heater works fine and why not use free electricity at a site?
MorRyde Fold Up Steps we came so close on these, but so glad we did not. We like not having wet, muddy stairs folded into the trailer, or having to remove and store this heavy set up in our truck bed. We love our horse mounting block extra step when needed. It also serves as a quick step stool, extra seat, foot rest too! We got ours from TC Tractor Supply.
4 THINGS WE PURCHASED AND NOW HAVE GOTTEN RID OF*:
RAD Mini E-Bikes- this one was a hard one for us but after carrying them literally over 20K miles and using them hardly at all we felt the less weight on the trailer rear end (over 220 lbs) was worth parting with them. We found staying only a few days in one spot, it was not worth the time to unlock & remove from our rack. We actually prefer walking to riding. We thought we would use them to go to the local stores, etc. instead of taking the truck, but more times than not, the campgrounds we were at were too remote for this to work. And when we did do grocery shopping the load was too large or bulky to carry on the bikes anyway. Honestly, We are more couch potatoes anyway!
Milwaukee 12V Portable Vacuum- bought it, never used it. We use our Dyson portable that comes all apart. Works great in the RV, truck, etc.
Refrigerator Storage Bins- disaster! Thought this would be great. Turns out they actually take up more room and provide less real, flexible storage. I had to stack un-binned foods on top of them and then constantly felt like I was just moving bins around when lots of stuff did not fit in them well either. I no longer have ANY bins in our 6 cubic foot fridge. Maybe would work in larger RV fridges.
Plastic Potable Water Hoses– We switched all these types/brands out for ZERO brand hoses that are more flexible, can roll up and fit into 1/4 of the space these full size plastic hoses take up. These white hoses kink too easily, are a bear if become frozen and simply weigh too much and take up too much room. Our ZERO hose fits in our outside wet bay too! We had one go bad, they honored the lifetime warranty and sent us a coupon for a new one!
LASTLY—ITEMS WE HAVE BOUGHT AND LOVE! THINGS WE ROUTINELY USE:
Solar Powered Fairy Lights (Warm White)– We love the subtle and magical light that these provide in and around our campsite. We also bought retractable tent/awning poles so we can string the lights even when our campsite has no trees! A single daylight charge and ours run often till 2-3 AM. No need to take up a plug and can be put anywhere-even hanging from your rock guard or awning edge. We use them at least at 65-75% of our campsites every time!
Weber Q 1200 LP Grill– We don’t use this quite as much as we thought we would but when we do, we love it! It keeps trailer cooler by cooking outdoors, is flexible, large enough to cook for 4 people, cleans easily. Many campgrounds no longer have grills (or when they do are in disrepair, tilted, etc. Perfect when boondocking!
15 GAL Rhino Sewer Tote– we opted for the smaller 15 gal and glad we did. It is way more manageable to pack (fits perfect on our Rhino roof rack) and when full- is way easier to manage, tilt and clean out. We may need to do a few more trips, but worth it to not break your back!
DeWalt Battery Powered Portable Leaf Blower– We use this to blow off debris from our awnings, blow off our patio rugs, and sometimes our campsite before or during our stay. Also doubles as bellows to get a firepit going too!
Collapsible Rake (Camping World has a nice hefty one now). These are handy! clearing off campsites and patio rugs, reaching for things that blow under your RV or vehicle too! Take up very little space and weigh very little too.
Rhino Roof Rack- WOW, gamechanger!!! we honestly do not know what we would have done without this! We store bulky things like folding lounge chairs, extra large patio rug (we only use occasionally at longer stays), our (2) 6Gal spare empty water jugs, and most importantly our 15 Gal Rhino Sewer Tote up there. We purchased heavy black zipper canvas bags for each item to keep them clean and secure. After all, who wants a sewer tote in their enclosed truck bed??
75L Dometic Cooler/Freezer Chest- Runs on 120 or 12V. Both sides can be refrig, or freezer or one of each! Has saved us grocery $$ being able to stock up at larger, cheaper stores versus local small grocers. Doubles as a bench seat and perch for Nutmeg’s bed.
*There are many more things large and small that we have purged as we get more into full time RV life on the road. Things we used to have to decorate our rig and campsite for weekend vintage trailer rallies have pretty much been sold or given away due to lack of storage space. We have purged many non essential kitchen tools, plates, bowls and coffee mugs that were extra and taking up valuable space.
HOW TO FIND SOME OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS WE LOVE AND USE? EASY!!
We have created a “FAVS” list for RV and Camping related items that we have purchased or would suggest as something worth having. That list is accessible via our Links & Resources blog webpage. Not all of the items listed above may be available via our shared FAVs list on Amazon, so please do not hesitate to reach out to use for where you may be able to buy an item or what specific brand we have purchased if not listed above. BTW- we do not have enough subscribers yet to get an Amazon storefront, so our list is purely for your reference and ease- we make no money off any purchases.
We sincerely hope this article has helped you with our RV travels. Please subscribe to our blog, our YouTube Channel and our facebook page! This helps others find us too!
Till we meet again, hopefully on the road! – Kevin, Luise and Nutmeg
ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions 
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