After five years of RV ownership and a lot of traveling, camping, research, and trial-and-error, I am sharing my recommendations that are sized specifically for RVs and make life on the road more convenient. This is the first of several posts and focuses on basic necessities for outside use. You will likely notice that I am recommending a lot of Camco products. This is true because they are a well known brand, widely available, and I have had good luck with them. There is also one necessity that is not listed here — power — but this will be covered in another post. In the meantime, however, this should get you started.
Primary Necessities
Camco 50' Premium Drinking Water Hose. This is a great hose, is well made, lasts a long time, and is reasonably priced. And you have to have a hose. 50FT may seem long, but I experimented with several shorter hoses previously and have found that this one is long enough to work almost everywhere and it is more convenient to use a single hose whenever possible. This hose is drinking water safe, lead-free, BPA free, phthalate free and leaves no strong plastic taste in your drinking water. It is 20% thicker than cheaper hoses, has an anti-kink design, machined fittings, and strain relief for longer life. It is also available in 4', 10', 25' and 25' lengths if you are looking for something shorter.
Camco Brass Inline Water Pressure Regulator. Many RVs have built-in pressure regulators. Mine does. But I still use an external pressure regulator between my drinking water hose before connecting it to the inlet. Better safe than sorry! Especially with some of the high pressure water sources out there. This is a simple, well made regulator that will reduce the water pressure to a safe and consistent 40-50 pounds to protect your RV's water systems. If you prefer a regulator with a gauge, then you can select Camco Brass Water Pressure Regulator w/Gauge. I have had good luck with both of these and never had a water pressure issue. To make it easy, I just leave it on the hose so it's ready to go when hooking up.
Camco TastePure Water Filter. Some RVs have built-in water filters. (Mine did, but I took it off to free up space in the cabinet since I use this “whole RV” filter outside.) Much like built-in pressure regulators, though, it is more convenient to filter water before it ever enters your pipes or tank. This filter is economical and is advertised to protect against bacteria and reduce bad taste, odors, chlorine, and sediment. Although I have not sent any samples away to a lab to prove this, water does seem to taste better since I started using it. I've not had sediment clog the faucet filters or need to be cleaned out since and it includes a useful flexible hose protector, too.
Camco RhinoFLEX 15' Sewer Hose. Comes with everything you need to make dumping your tanks as pleasant a job as that could ever be. Depending on your needs, this hose comes in 10' and 20' lengths, too. There is also a 5' extension hose available. It also comes with some other useful items, including a swiveling translucent elbow (so you can see what you’re doing … uh, yuck!), a screw-in adapter for various sewer inlet sizes, and caps for the hose during storage. I have had the RhinoFLEX hoses and they have been great, surviving five years of use and abuse including extreme cold and heat, travel, being collapsed and extended repeatedly, and being stepped on. However, there is also a more expensive and durable option in the Camco Deluxe Sewer Hose Kit if you are looking for something even sturdier.
Camco Plastic Wheel Chocks. I have used several brands similar to these inexpensive chocks and consider them consumable. (I've driven over them and misplaced a few over the years.). These simple and inexpensive accessories keep the RV secure from rolling when parking on inclines or otherwise uneven ground. There are also several interesting options if you have a heavier unit or prefer something more substantial, including chocks from ROBLOCK, AFA Tooling, and SECURITYMAN.
Camco FasTen Leveling Blocks. There are several versions of these and all are multi-purpose including leveling, for use with the tongue jack, or as pads for the leveling/stabilizing jacks. There are two primary styles to consider: single axle and dual. The single axle are useful for leveling a single axle trailer and flexible enough to be used as pads for the tongue or stabilizer jacks. Even if you have two axles to level, I still recommend these as they are so useful. There are other brands to choose from, including OxGord and Homeon Wheels.
Other Accessories
Camco 90° Brass Hose Elbow. Depending on your water hook-up, this simple accessory is made of solid brass and helps prevent hose crimping and eliminate strain. They also offer a 45° version if that works better for your use.
Camco Reusable Sanitation Gloves. This accessory reduces two kinds of waste: the plastic waste from one-time-use disposable gloves and the kind that may get on your hands during RV waste dumps. Of course if you don't want to or are not really set up to clean up these gloves, there are always disposable options like the Camco Durable All-Purpose Disposable Sanitation Gloves.
Camco 20' SideWinder RV Sewer Hose Support. If you were going to be in one location for a while and will be leaving your sewer hose connected, then this might be useful. Or if you were connecting to an elevated sewer connection. I'm sure there are those that will disagree, but it still seems like more trouble than it's worth to store, haul around, take in and out, and use these. Although it was a consideration when I first bought my RV and was accessorizing it, I have never missed having these or seen a situation where they may have been useful and missed having them. If you can't live without them, there are also models from other vendors like Valterra.
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