List of necessities?

Se RVing FAQ above. Makes for good reading, and several different posts on your question.

Beer n toilet paper are necessities. Everything else is a luxury.....

There's tons upon tons of 'nice to have'.

The NEED TO HAVE list is shorter.

The best advice is 1) Camp one night in your own driveway, and 2) Then go and actually camp where you will have reasonable access to a Wal Mart or something- they generally have a good selection of basics.

We've been camping 20 years and still don't have some of the things that are on the typical 'need to get lists'.

The necessities are a weight distribution hitch, sway control, and wheel chocks. After that; things like leveling blocks, surge protector, water filter, etc.; well one mans' necessity is another mans' frivolous waste. My advice would be go camping and over time figure out what you need and what you can do without. There's no hurry, you'll have lots of time and opportunity to spend your money.

Welcome to the world of RVing. Its not complicated and you will learn as you go. As far as necessities go, get a GOOD sewer hose like a Rhino Flex and a clear fitting to use to see if the tanks are emptying adequately. If you have a tank rinse connection get a dedicated grey colored hose to use with the tank rinser. A white colored hose for your fresh water connection and NEVER mix the two for contamination concerns. Emptying the tanks does not have to be messy, just never open a valve if not connected to a dump point.

Chocks, get adequate and proper chocks and never unhitch without first having placed them under the tires. The first time you unhook on an unlevel surface...even if it looks fairly level, and the trailer moves you will learn your lesson. Been there, done that, won't happen again.

Good advice on camping in the driveway a few nights at first, then find a state park or campground fairly close to home for the first couple of outings. Its better to find out if things are working properly close to home than be half way accross the country if you need to take it back to your dealer. Getting warranty work done is a whole other experience.

Remember to give yourself more following distance when towing. Be defensive and slow down and enjoy your travels.

K3WE wrote:
There's tons upon tons of 'nice to have'.

The NEED TO HAVE list is shorter.

The best advice is 1) Camp one night in your own driveway, and 2) Then go and actually camp where you will have reasonable access to a Wal Mart or something- they generally have a good selection of basics.

We've been camping 20 years and still don't have some of the things that are on the typical 'need to get lists'.

Agree with K3WE. I would suggest, after a night or two in your driveway, to find a campground that is within 30 minutes of your house, and hopefully near a Walmart.

Camping chairs... you will probably be buying the standard cloth folding type. Don't skimp for yourself! Go to Walmart and other stores, Open up the chairs in the store, and SIT in them! Think about sitting in that chair for a couple hours, you want it to be comfortable. My wife's favorite chair is a Coleman MAX from Walmart, rated for like 400lbs... she is a little thing, but the big chair is really comfortable for her. My favorite is a Cabela's chair... a bit pricier than others, but I can fall asleep in it.

Now kid's chairs? Whatever is cheapest, as they will probably destroy a couple as they spill on them and play gorilla with them, it's camping!

Try not to buy TOO much right away... if you do what myself and many here have done, you fill up your camper the first summer with "essentials", then spend the next 10 years getting rid of 90 percent of that stuff! lol, have fun camping!

There are several camping lists or checklists online. Pick one and check off what you pack! While camping make another check of the things you used an add things you needed. When you get home unpack the things not checked and add the things you needed. This keeps the things you pack to a minimum.

There are necessities to operate your camper and then there are personal necessities that no one but you can figure out. There are lists of things you'll need to operate your camper, then there is food, clothes, bug spray, entertainment, etc are all things you'll figure out after a trip or 2. I can tell you I have 4 can openers and 6 corkscrews because darned if I don't forget one every single time we go camping and have to buy one. After years of camping I still occasionally forget the coffee maker but remember coffee or vice versa. I have a list I check off, sometimes I forget the list and "think" I know what I am doing. But fuel, food, water, food, beer, toiletries, the rest I can get by if I forget. the awesome thing about RVing vs other forms of travel, is that it's easy to take something along just in case. My motto; "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it".

You will need a fresh water hose for city water connection. It would be a good idea to get a water filter as well, if you camper doesn't have one built in. Our last two campers had inline filters inside the camper. Our Motorhome only filtered the cold line on the kitchen faucet, so we added a filter to the fresh water hose.

Our last two campers came with a sewer hose with a fitting on only one end. We do have a rubber donut for the ground port, but I don't really like to use it unless I have no other option. It was a cheap sewer hose and we didn't use them. I really like the RhinoFlex system. On our last camper, 15' of hose was sufficient so we just bought the 15' complete kit from Walmart for less than $30. You can also piece it together to get exactly what you need.

I would follow K3WE's advise and spend a night in the driveway or backyard if possible, then camp near a Walmart or at campground with camping supplies. Every Walmart stocks different camping/RV supplies. Some have more than others, but most carry the basics.

-Michael

The best purchase I have made is a book titled "Idiot's Guide to RVing" Third Edition. You can buy it on Amazon for less than $10. This book gives instructions for every type of travel trailer, fifth wheel, truck camper and class A, B, C. The book has checklists you could print out and use like a pilot in a cockpit. It lists everything you will need including lists for bathroom, sleeping,cooking,clothing,outside gear, etc. It also has a step by step checklist for hitching and unhitching and also for hooking up at the campground and unhooking. The book covers everything you need to know about your propane, plumbing, electrical and troubleshooting. I don't leave home without this book.