What are RV Camping Essentials?

Congratulations! You’re now a member of the RV camping community! When we joined this community, I was wondering what gear is a must-have. More importantly, what are the RV camping essentials…the must-haves compared to nice to-haves.

Every hobby has essential items. RV Camping is no different! So, all you Gear Heads out there, you’re in luck…You get to go buy stuff! Like really important stuff. I felt like I was on a mission to get all the stuff right away. After all, we had to look the part!

Let’s get to our RV camping essentials gear guide!

RV Camping Essential Gear Guide

RV camping offers tremendous fun for the entire family. Being in nature is calming and relaxing from our daily lives filled with endless running to practices and appointments. Showing up to the campsite without the proper gear is stressful and kills the calm and relaxing trip!

Intangibles! Setting the Right Priorities

A positive can-do Attitude is super important. It’s rather boring and tired to say attitude controls everything, but it does. Things are going to go wrong. You will wake up in the middle of the night with water dripping on your face…in an RV. True story. It was March 2021. Okay, story for another day. Suffice it to say, that keeping a positive attitude is vital.

Keeping a positive attitude is super easy for me. I’m always smiling. Right, Sara!?! Okay, I struggle at times too. But, I always manage to rally and pull myself together. In my bad moments, I remember being out in nature is a blessing and I’m fortunate to be here.

Keep your chin up and smile!

Now for the Gear: Getting Stuff!

So my list and thoughts are outlined by how I think about our camper and we set up our site and enjoy our spaces inside and outside. We found this works for us and some of these things may not be important to you. For instance, TV is not super important to us. We have a TV, but rarely turn it on. Other RV campers have their TV outside showing the sports game of the day all day. That’s awesome. It works for their family! The cool thing about RV Camping is the flexibility.

Outdoor Stuff

I’m not sure these are in order, but I believe these are essential pieces of equipment to protect you, your family, your fellow campers, and your RV! Also, FWIW I am generally writing from the perspective of a towable RV camper!

1. Wheel chocks – Wheel chocks prevent your RV from rolling front to back or back to front after you unhook your camper from your tow vehicle at your campsite. Waking up in the middle of the night because the camper rolled down a hill and hit a tree would really test the positive attitude I mentioned above. So take an out of prevention here with good, high-quality wheel chocks. We use MaxHuul which we bought on Amazon.
2. Level and Leveling Blocks – A level RV camper is safer and more comfortable. In fact, some RV fridges must be level to work. Our current one is always level and barely works…here’s to you Dometic! You probably have a level at home, if you don’t use it much toss it in your camper and then you don’t have to buy a new one. Leveling blocks can be made at home as a DIY project or you can purchase leveling blocks from any number of RV suppliers. We have the yellow ones from Camco and they are great. They are plastic squares that level the RV. N’uff said. You will find RV campspots range from perfectly level to perfectly unlevel in every possible way. Sites like the latter all I can say is “good luck” and do your best.

Utility Must Have’s

Electric Must Have’s

1. RV Surge Protector – These range from 20 bucks to over $200. Obviously, you need one rated to match the Amps used by your camper (e.g., 30 or 50 amp). Our first camper was 30 amp and our new one is 50 amp. Do you have to have this, no. Should you have this, yes. Why? Well, apparently power at campgrounds can be sketchy. That’s the technical term. Ask an electrician if you don’t believe me. I have no idea why. Maybe I’ll research and write more about it. Stay tuned. That’s sure to be a cure for insomnia. I forget the brand of our first surge protector. I hated it. It was an absolute nightmare to unplug from the RV’s power cord. It literally took every puny muscle in my body to pull the two apart. We now use a Hughes Power Watchdog and I like it much better! Seems more high quality. It has an app that tells the quality of the power and even alerted me to get the campground manager before plugging in at one site. It probably saved me thousands of dollars in damage and repairs!

Water Must Have’s

1. Drinking Water Hose – Unless you are bringing lots of bottled water or are part camel, a drinking water hose is essential. At the campground I often see tons of white “RV” drinking water hoses. These hoses are stiff, don’t roll-up worth a damn, and generally look like they suck. We invested in a Zero G drinking water hose and it’s awesome! It is super high quality and folds up nicely for storage. I love the hose; well really like it. It’s that good. If you go with the crummy white plastic job it’s your own damn fault. You have been warned!
2. Water Pressure Regulator – Controlling the pressure on water coming into the camper is important. The Water Pressure Regulator allows you to do this. Again, these range in prices from really cheap to crazy expensive. I have a really simple one from Camco that I picked up for less than $15. It’s been fine. I had one with a gauge on it, but the gauge was always in the green and I left it at a campground on a trip, so I no longer have it. Recently, I read where a guy put his regulator after his water filtering system so he had maximum pressure (40 to 50psi) coming into the camper and not something lower because the filters cut the pressure down. I’m trying the approach, so I’ll report more later.
3. Water Filter – I like filtering my water several times. The water coming off the tap is probably fine, but my taste buds are sensitive! We have several filters…The Blue Camco TastePURE water filter, the Beech Lane External RV Dual water filter, and most recently the under the sink Waterdrop 10UA Under Sink Water Filter System. In our set up, the Camco TastePURE is connected at the campground water source, then our drinking water hose, the Beech Lane system before the “City” water connection of our camper, and the Waterdrop is under the kitchen sink. Is all this necessary, NO. But, we like consistent water taste from location to location.
4. Sewer Hose – If you’re gonna fill the tank, you have to empty it…this is how! We have two sets of two hoses. One hasn’t been used, yet. Why? Well, I look this like two is one and one is none. Seriously, who wants to clean up poop at the campsite. YUCK! And the first hose set we bought is getting older. We have the space, so it’s worth it to me. We have one set like this Camco Revolution. In a pinch I had to buy one hose from a campground store and I had to feed a wire through it to attach the end bayonets. Wow that sucked! I recommend some latex gloves because well you are dealing with POOP.

Outdoor Living Must Have’s

1. Many of these items are optional, but enhance your experience. And the more fun you have the more often you want to go camping again!
2. Chairs – Everyone has his or her own preference on a comfy chair. We have several varieties of chairs. With an important feature being the chair folds up relatively small…the bag chairs have evolved tremendously from the flimsy jobs 20 years ago! We have a Zero Gravity chair (everyone loves this chair with the downside it doesn’t fold real small), Outdoor Comfort Pro Rocker Collapsible Rocking Chair (definitely a fan favorite at our site as well), and Hammock Camping Chair Swinging Recliner Chair (my least favorite in part because they are a pain to fold up and they swing constantly, but the kids love them).
3. Outdoor Rug – These help prevent dirt from getting tracked inside. Not all campgrounds let you use these. We find that to be the case where you are camping on a grass site (we encountered this in Michigan). Is this a must have? No, but definitely a highly recommended nice to have.
4. Outdoor Grill – Some campers come equipped with a grill or griddle. Flattop griddles are the rage at the campground. In particular the Blackstone. I don’t know if others are equally good, but the Blackstone is well designed, portable, and cooks well. We picked our 22″ model up at Walmart for under $200 with a stand and a hood. We added on a low pressure gas line to take advantage of a propane quick connect on our camper. All in all it’s been a good add to our outdoor experience. Checkout our video and post about storing our Blackstone in the backbay of our Keystone Cougar 364bhl fifth wheel.

Indoor Must Have Items

1. This list is probably long and Sara could likely share many more ideas. These are the bare essentials
2. Sheets and blankets for your bed(s) – These can be basic like home sheets or extravagant like the bunkbed sheets that use zippers to easily go on and stay put. We could not justify $200+ for bunk bed sheets so we made do with remaking the beds. It’s easy for me b/c I rarely make the beds. Sara would beg to differ.
3. Pots and pans – The raging debate of cast iron or not is overrated. Just buy a couple of pots/pans or grab a few from home and see what you need. Space is limited and chances are high you won’t cook 5-course meals at the campground.
4. Audio / Visual – Maybe your camper came with a TV and some speakers. The TV is probably okay and no need to replace it. The speakers in all likelihood are terrible. I find a portable Bluetooth speaker is best for our needs. We use it inside and outside. With Bluetooth, we have the flexibility to play the music we like! Who came up with the name Bluetooth and why did it stick? Just sounds silly!
5. Broom and Trash-cans – The camper is going to get dirty and the broom lets you clean up in a flash. You could go big with a Dyson. But, space is limited. And a broom stores nicely in a storage bay.
6. RV Toilet Paper – RV toilet paper is essential because well you’re going to use the bathroom in your RV right? We conducted an extensive test on the best RV toilet paper. In our view that is Thetford Aqua-soft RV toilet paper. Take a read through our post here.

Other Really Nice to Have’s

1. USB Charging Cords – A set of charging cords to leave at the camper is great. If your family is like ours, someone always forgets the cord. This makes sure our Unplugged Camper keeps the essentials plugged in and everyone happy!
2. TV Wall Mount – Trust me you need to mount your TV. Bouncing down the highway is NOT good for TV stability. RV walls are thin and mounting can be a challenge. I had a TV bounce off the wall. Thank you I-40 eastbound in Arkansas.
3. Tool Set including Cordless Drill / Driver – Hauling tools to and from your home shop is a sure way to lose tools and never have the right tool where you need it. If you don’t have an electric or hydraulic leveling system, the cordless driver helps you lower the stabilizers. Otherwise, you will be hand cranking those puppies on a 90 degree day in July. It sucks. While you’re at it don’t forget the 3/4″ socket that fits the stabilizer. The Driver comes in handy when changing a flat tire as well. It happens. It sucks. It gets better!
4. Ladder – Our first camper did not have a ladder. Cost savings for the company I guess. I bought a folding ladder on Amazon. The concept is good and it’s fairly compact. I find folding it and carrying it to be a pain. Unlike the Little Giant type ladder this one wants to extend when I carry it. I don’t think I would buy it again. I use it so infrequently I can’t justify wasting money on a new one.
5. Trailer Hitch Lock – Again, these range in price from cheap Master Locks to really expensive Proven Industries locks. We researched and found a really amazing company called Fort Knox Lock. Sounds secure, right? After watching their videos, I was sold. We had one for our bumper pull camper and one for our Fifth Wheel kingpin. These are very substantial locks and the system seems really solid. If someone wants to break it, I’m sure he will find a way, but I think my Fort Knox Lock will encourage a thief to move an easier target. This is kinda like encountering a bear on a trail…you just have to out run the slowest person with you. That’s why it’s recommended you never hike alone. Now, if you’re slow, well you better speed your butt up or you might become dinner. Just sayin!

Happy Trials!

There you have it! My list of What are RV Camping Essentials. What’s missing from my list? Tell me below in the comments.