Unhooked for the night.

[bgum]

There is a current thread on the 5th wheel area and it got me to thinking about what travel trailer do.

So here goes. When you stop for just one night, regardless of where, do you unhitch?

[tommyznr]

Grit dog wrote:

teejaywhy wrote:


What if you are staying two nights? Three? A week?

Assumedly, you never unhitch? The odds of a disaster don't change.

The idea of driving off with your trailer to avoid a tornado or a hailstorm is just comical.

Dood...this whole thread is comical! Many of the responses land somewhere between paranoia and toomuchtimeonyourhandsitis!

Agreed, my over the top counter point of 90 MPH to go to the emergency room was intended as a fun poke at outrunning an extremely rare natural disaster. But of course don't do that because you will kill some other innocents when you could have just dialed 911 :R

[Lantley]

That's my point as well, if the location is so risky that you have to plan/prepare to leave in a hurry maybe you need to choose a safer camping location to start with.

[Grit_dog]

teejaywhy wrote:


What if you are staying two nights? Three? A week?

Assumedly, you never unhitch? The odds of a disaster don't change.

The idea of driving off with your trailer to avoid a tornado or a hailstorm is just comical.

Dood...this whole thread is comical! Many of the responses land somewhere between paranoia and toomuchtimeonyourhandsitis!

[teejaywhy]

Skibane wrote:

vakirks wrote:
So glad I read this thread. I never unhooked but neither did I consider the unforeseen emergency. And there are 2 listed here and who knows what else could happen. Medical emergency, who knows? That’s why they’re unforeseen. Unhooking from now on as standard procedure. Thanks!

The idea is to leave your RV hitched up, so that you don't waste precious time having to hitch it up during an emergency.

Quickly leaving the area with your RV is infinitely preferable to leaving your RV behind to be destroyed in the fire/flood/whatever.

OK.

What if you are staying two nights? Three? A week?

Assumedly, you never unhitch? The odds of a disaster don't change.

The idea of driving off with your trailer to avoid a tornado or a hailstorm is just comical.

[Lantley]

My though is if I need to be hooked up in case the fire comes my way or the river over flows. Or whatever calamity might be over the hill than I need to choose a camping location with fewer hazards waiting to chase me away.

[klutchdust]

Grit dog wrote:

Lantley wrote:
If we factored in all the potential emergencies and pitfalls as reasons to not unhook it becomes too dangerous to go camping at all.

Lol, right?

It falls into the "peace of mind" category. I chuckle when folks purchase costly warranties for peace of mind in case their engine grenades or tranny falls out only to find it doesn't cover grinding engines if:
it was on a Monday
there was a full moon
you actually drove the vehicle after you purchased the warranty
Your last name begins with the letter A thru Z
you consume kale
:W

[vic789]

I recently stumbled upon this article regarding 15 Helpful RV Campsite Setup Ideas
https://my-traveltips.com/rv-campsite-setup-ideas/
I believe it can give you a good idea

[kfp673]

I suppose it depends on when you call it a day and where you stay. We are both still working and have limited time, so when we have to stop for the night it is not until midnight and typically at a Walmart so I have never unhooked. If I was stopping at 5pm, staying at a campground, and leaving the next morning I probably would unhook just to make it easier to level, and because many sites are not long enough for our trailer plus truck. Never done this however so I'm just guessing.

[Grit_dog]

Lantley wrote:
If we factored in all the potential emergencies and pitfalls as reasons to not unhook it becomes too dangerous to go camping at all.

Lol, right?

[ktmrfs]

bucky wrote:
90 miles an hour down a back road will likely end in a second emergency that may involve an innocent. Don't do it.

EXACTLY.

I'll rely on my Garmin Inreach and the SOS button to put me in contact with GEOS rescue, 911, emergency extraction personal and air rescue and then
a) assess the situation
b) pinpoint my location to a radius of less than 100ft.
c) determine what rescue operation to undertake, ambulance, air transport, etc. and during the time have EMT's give guidance for first aid through a two way communcation channel on the inreach.

In one case our son was in an offroad group in dense forest and single track trails where one person suffered serious injury. GEOS did an excellent job of coordinating the remote rescue team and air extraction.

[Vintage465]

If it's an overnighter thing I don't plan to unhook unless leveling requires it. The most I may do is unplug the 7pin connector....and I usually don't even do that.

[bucky]

90 miles an hour down a back road will likely end in a second emergency that may involve an innocent. Don't do it.

[ktmrfs]

bgum wrote:
There is a current thread on the 5th wheel area and it got me to thinking about what travel trailer do.

So here goes. When you stop for just one night, regardless of where, do you unhitch?

If I can be reasonably level and within the allowable length for the spot don't unhook unless we also need to use the TV. In fact there are times when even for many days I don't unhook (except for the trailer plug to the TV) if we aren't going to use the TV.

And if is overnight or even a few days I often don't bother to hook up for water, sewer or power either. Unless it is hot enough I need the AC I pull in, get level, DW pops the slides, I put out the mat and chairs and then we relax with a cold favorite beverage.

[JRscooby]

Skibane wrote:
^Might also be used to advantage to quickly move the RV to a more sheltered spot during a hailstorm.

(My personal favorite improvised hail shelter is a self-serve car wash - Nobody's using them to wash their cars during a hailstorm anyway.):B

LOL. Many car wash/RV combinations could do much more damage than hail is likely to