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How our “Water Bandit” Saved our Trip

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How our “Water Bandit” Saved our Trip

Ordinarily, we try to stay away from unsavory characters – which include bandits of any sort.  It just doesn’t seem morally right and legally appropriate to hire such thugs to perform essential tasks (even if they are legal).  However, we made an exception when we discovered the “Water Bandit”.

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No, you do not need an extra seat in your tow vehicle to take one of these bandits along.  Nor do you need to carry potential bail money with you in case your bandit is caught in the act.  This “Water Bandit” is actually a small clever rubbery device that can attach to water spigots at campgrounds – that were perhaps intentionally designed without threads (or ones with stripped or damaged threads) – making attaching a regular hose now possible.  The “Water Bandit” slides over and grips onto the spigot with the rubber side on one end and has a threaded end for your hose or water tank filler with a shutoff valve on the other end.

This inexpensive device takes up very little space and can be a true trip saver at some campgrounds!  On our most recent trip up the California coast to Coos Bay, Oregon, we stayed at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (about 50 miles north of Eureka).  We were running low on water and there are no hookups at this campground.  However, there are water spigots sprinkled throughout the campground and we found one close to our campsite (#49).  I set our water jug under the spigot and turned it on and a high pressure spray of water shot in all directions with very little going into our water container.  It was difficult to adjust the amount of water coming out (e.g. all on or off).  I realized it was going to take all day to capture water in this method without some help.  And, then, remembered our “Water Bandit”.

I screwed on our water tank filler hose onto our “Water Bandit” (since we were too far from our campsite to use our hose to reach the Scamp) and then slipped the bandit over the spigot.  I placed our dolly under the water jug so I could easily move it to the Scamp after being weighted down with water.  Note:  a gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds at room temperature (so our 6 gallon water jug weighs about 50 pounds when full)!  When I first opened the spigot and water shot through it at high pressure, the bandit flew off (as it is not intended to use under pressure).  So, I turned the water off, slipped it back on the spigot, angled the hose straight down into the water jug, and then held the bandit on the spigot with one hand while opening up the spigot with the other (some people report success using a hose clamp to hold their bandits onto the spigot).  The water now behaved and quickly shot straight down into the water jug, quickly filling it.  If we had been parked closer to the Scamp, I would have hooked up our hose and filled our Scamp’s fresh water tank directly.  In the end, the “Water Bandit” helped us tremendously in having an enjoyable trip by allowing us to fill our water tank.  We will never go camping again without our “Water Bandit”!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

10 Electric Must Haves for your Small Travel Trailer

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10 Electric Must Haves for your Small Travel Trailer

There are a few essential electrical items that will make travelling with your small travel trailer safer and more convenient.

#1  Good Surge Protector

One of the most important things to have for your campground stays is a good surge protector.  It is common to hear stories about bad wiring at campgrounds.  And, plugging your travel trailer directly into a bad circuit or getting a power surge could cause damage to your trailer’s electrical system and appliances.  To avoid the risk, it’s best to use a good surge protector every time you plug in your trailer.  We have used the Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X for almost a year and have had a really good experience with it.  The scrolling digital display shows if there are any errors with the campground wiring and provides peace of mind that the power is clean.  It has a weather shield and a secure locking bracket to prevent theft.

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#2  110V Male to 30A Female Dogbone Adapter

Another very important item that should be with your small travel trailer at all times is a 110V Male to 30A Female dogbone adapter.  This will allow you to connect your trailer’s 30A power cord into a regular household 110V outlet.  It’s essential when you want to hook up at a house or anywhere there is just a regular 110V outlet.  Since we store our Scamp travel trailer in our garage, we constantly use the adapter to keep our battery charged and also run the Scamp lights and other appliances when necessary.  We often use the adapter so we can power our Scamp’s refrigerator the day before we leave on a trip [since our Scamp has 3 modes for running the fridge – AC, 12V (when driving), and Propane (when no electricity is available at the campground)].  Lastly, it’s very common for us to stop at a relative’s house during our trips and we use the adapter for power when we driveway camp.

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#3  110V Household Extension Cord

You should always carry an outdoor 110V household extension cord in your small travel trailer so you can hookup your trailer (using your dogbone adapter) to household current.  We use ours all the time when driveway camping.

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#4  50A Male to 30A Female Dogbone Adapter 

Another adapter that might be considered but might not be essential (until you really need it) is a 50A Male to 30A Female dogbone adapter.  We have yet to use this adapter, but purchased on the advice of our friend Hugh who mentioned that there are some campgrounds and RV parks where only a 50Amp outlet will be available.  This adapter is inexpensive and light enough that we purchased one and carry it with us in the Scamp in the rare event we ever run across a campsite where this is the case.

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#5  Heavy Duty 30A Outdoor 25’ Extension Cord

One item that we have already used (which our friend Hugh also recommended) is an outdoor 30A heavy duty 25’ extension cord.  Normally, when you pull your travel trailer up to the utility pedestal at a full hookup campground, all the utilities are right there (e.g. 30A power, water, and sewer).  However, in some cases, the utilities may be separated.  We first discovered this on a visit to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  We pulled our Scamp travel trailer up to the water area (which was close to the sewer as well).  But, the electrical outlet pedestal was in a separate location, quite far from our trailer.  After a lot of maneuvering, we were able to get our Scamp in a central enough location that we could reach the water hose and electrical outlet at the same time.  But, our Scamp’s power cord was pulled completely tight and slightly in the air so there was concern it could be a tripping hazard at night (since it is very dark at the campground).  Our friend Hugh loaned us his outdoor 30A heavy duty 25’ extension cord, which solved the problem.  We ordered one as soon as we returned home from this trip and always carry it in our Scamp.

CLICK TO BUY ON AMAZON

#6  Portable Air Compressor

It’s super handy to have a portable air pump so you can keep your small travel trailer tires and car tires inflated to the proper levels.  This not only saves on fuel, but it can also be necessary for your trailer’s hitch to clear driveway bumps.  We’ve been using the 12V DC Hausbell Portable Air Compressor for a while and it performs great.  It has a nice digital display and allows you to set the desired pressure.  It can also be used to fill up air mattresses and other inflatables.  It’s small and light, so it can easily be carried in your car.

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#7  Small AC to DC Converter

A nice complement to a portable air compressor is a small AC to DC converter.  This little device allows 12V devices (like the 12V air compressor) to be plugged into it and then plugged into a regular AC 110V wall socket.  This is useful when there isn’t a cigarette socket available (e.g. your car isn’t nearby and/or your small travel trailer doesn’t have an outdoor 12V socket).  We have the RoyPow AC to DC adapter.  We use it in the garage to inflate our Scamp’s tires (we plug our 12V tire inflator into the RoyPow which is plugged into one of our garage’s 110V outlets).  Or, we plug our Scamp into 110V power and plug the RoyPow into our Scamp’s outside 110V outlet.  Use it at the campground by plugging into the 110V power pedestal and then plug in the portable air compressor into it.

CLICK TO BUY ON AMAZON

#8  Battery Power Bank

A luxury item that could be essential depending on how you travel is a large external battery power bank.  The independent power bank can power many of your essential items while reserving your travel trailer’s battery power for your super essential items like lights, fan, and pumps.  We purchased the Jackery 500 which has 518Wh of power (which can power a lot of devices for a long time).  It has a 12V cigarette socket, USB ports, and even a 110V outlet.  We use it to charge our phones, drones, cameras, and power our 12V television in our Scamp.  It can even be used to run your portable air compressor.  You can charge it in your car while driving between camping locations, with 110V power outlets at campsites, and also with a solar panel.

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#9  100W Solar Panel

A 100W solar panel is a great option to help recharge your small travel trailer batteries daily when camping without hookups.  We’ve found our solar panel can maintain our Scamp’s battery at 12.5V (a good place) for days on end as long as the sun shines. The solar panel may also be used to recharge your independent power bank.  Get a good extension cable set so you can easily position the panels into the sun.  Having this connector will make it much easier to connect your solar panels to your battery.  You will need a crimper tool and a set of connectors so you can make a dongle with wires on one side that slide into solar panel and connectors on the other which plug into the extension cables.

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#10  Multi USB Charger

A multi USB charger is great for your car and small travel trailer to charge your portable devices when travelling.  We use the Jelly Comb to charge our phones, cameras, drones and other USB devices. It has a 12V socket and a long cable so we can plug it in the Scamp’s 12V socket and position it in convenient locations for charging.  We also can plug it into our car and portable power bank.

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“There’s no wi-fi in the mountains, but you’ll find no better connection.”  Anonymous

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

My Travel Trailer Tool Kit

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My Travel Trailer Tool Kit

It only took one trip to realize having a tool kit when travelling with a small travel trailer is essential!  Even if you have no experience working on or fixing things, having some basic tools can be a real life saver.

We were staying over at a Harvest Host location on an olive tree farm in Paso Robles and had no access to electrical hookups.  We had our solar panel, so we weren’t very concerned.  Unfortunately, when I setup the panel outside, one of the two power wires slipped out of the solar panel connector.  Without the attached wire, the solar panel wouldn’t be able to keep our Scamp battery charging.  I just needed a small screw driver to secure it again, which would only take a couple of seconds.  However, such a simple task was virtually impossible without the right tool and there were no stores anywhere close by.  Fortunately, I remembered I had a micro screw driver in my drone kit and was able to use it successfully.  After this experience, I vowed to equip our Scamp travel trailer with a proper tool kit and we haven’t travelled without it ever since!

I first thought I would just buy a pre-made tool kit at Harbor Freight Tools.  They have a number of nice tool kits that are very inexpensive.  However, when I went to check them out I realized that they were all preloaded with a lot of unnecessary tools I didn’t need and, in turn, were heavy.  When one travels with a small travel trailer, it’s always a good idea to keep weight in mind.  You only want to carry the absolute essentials to keep the trailer as light as possible to make it easier for your car to tow and conserve precious space.  For example, it’s probably not necessary to have a full socket head kit for your travel trailer when you only need a few socket sizes (e.g. battery nuts, wheel lug nuts, and tongue jack nuts).  In addition, there are some specific tools (e.g. voltage meter) that are useful for the Scamp and wouldn’t necessarily be in a preloaded tool kit.  So, instead of purchasing one of the pre-made tool kits, I decided on buying specific tools individually.

After taking a lot of measurements, I found this really nice plastic box on Amazon which has plenty of room for all my tools and fits great on the floor in the Scamp’s front clothes closet!

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Tools in my Scamp travel trailer toolbox:

  1. 25’ Extension Cord (Orange) – use it whenever you overnight on the street in front of a friend’s house.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  2. Digital Multimeter – use it to check power is coming out of the solar panel extension cables.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  3. Ring Terminal 12-10 Crimp Connectors – use for connectors to the trailer battery (e.g. electric tongue jack, LEDs….) 5/16” (Home Depot)
  4. Tool & Terminal Kit – good for crimping the connectors (Home Depot)
  5. Work Gloves – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  6. Headlamp – keeps hands free when working in low light.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  7. Multi-tool – Provides a variety of options in one tool.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  8. Adjustable Grip Plyers – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  9. Micro Cutter – use to cut wires and zip ties.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  10. Swiss Army Knife – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  11. Foldable Scissors – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  12. Needle Nose Pliers – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  13. Ratched Socket Wrench:  Use for battery nuts, wheel lug nuts, and tongue jack nuts (we use a 3/8” square drive), CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  14. Socket Heads:  Get appropriate sized socket heads for your battery nuts, wheel lug nuts, and tongue jack nuts.  Note:  our 13’ Scamp sizes are 13/16” hex for wheel lug nuts, 9/16” hex for the 3 tongue jack bolts, and ½” hex for the battery terminal nuts (using 3/8” square drive).
  15. Zip Ties, Electrical Tape, Duct Tape, Velcro Tape – use for a variety of tasks.
  16. Ratchet Screw Driver Set – CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  17. Mallet – similar to hammer.  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON
  18. Pencil – used to draw graphite on zippers to make them work better.
  19. Manual Crank tool for electric tongue jack (should come with electric tongue jack)

“Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.”  Albert Einstein

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Using a Trailer Dolly to move your Trailer without a Tow Vehicle!

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Using a Trailer Dolly to move your Trailer without a Tow Vehicle!

A trailer dolly is a great product for moving small trailers (less than 3000 pounds and tongue weight less than 600 pounds) around on flat level surfaces if one has a moderate level of physical strength or help from other people.

Just before taking delivery of our 13’ Scamp travel trailer, we ordered an Aquacart trailer dolly which was advertised as being able to easily move trailers.  I had envisioned I could use this dolly to pull our 13’ Scamp travel trailer up our driveway and then perfectly position it in our garage.

The Aquacart is extremely well made – 2” welded aircraft quality aluminum with big 13” wheelbarrow tires (and weighs 25 pounds).  Indeed, this dolly is very sturdy.  It feels like it was over engineered to carry large loads.  It seems to be the Rolls Royce of trailer dollies.  It’s big though, and unless you have an SUV with fold down seats or a truck, it may be difficult to take on trips.  The wheels, however, can be removed as they have clips.  We did take it on our first trip and used it to pull our Scamp travel trailer into our campsite (since we had no experience backing up our travel trailer).  Since our first trip though, we haven’t taken the dolly on trips because we are now better at backing up our Scamp, it mostly hasn’t been necessary because most spots are easy to back into (although we could have used it getting into my cousin’s driveway on a narrow street), and the Aquacart takes up some space in our SUV.

When our 13’ Scamp travel trailer was delivered on the street in front of our house last November, we found out that unless the surface is flat and level it can take a lot of muscle to move around a 1500 – 2000 pound travel trailer!  It took three people to pull the Scamp up our driveway!  In retrospect, I don’t think I would do that again because it could potentially be dangerous if someone lost their grip and the trailer couldn’t be stopped from rolling.  A runaway trailer is not a good thing!

Aquacart recommends keeping the dolly’s tires well inflated to make it easier to move trailers around.  The dolly comes with a 1-7/8” universal ball which we easily swapped out for a 2” ball which is compatible with our Scamp travel trailer hitch.

We now use the Aquacart trailer dolly regularly to move our Scamp around in our garage to place it in perfect position after we back the Scamp into the garage.  It’s much easier to back the Scamp in the general area in the garage and use the dolly to position it than to try to back it just perfectly into its spot.  We’ve tried the latter approach and it can be very time consuming.  We highly recommend the Aquacart dolly for this purpose and all other jobs when moving around a small travel trailer on flat level surfaces.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

 

Stop Cranking Your Arm and Replace Your Manual Tongue Jack!

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Stop Cranking Your Arm and Replace Your Manual Tongue Jack!

One of the first few things we replaced on our Scamp travel trailer was our hand crank tongue jack.  The tongue jack sits on the front of the trailer and allows one to raise and lower the ball coupler so the trailer can be attached to the tow vehicle.  It didn’t take too long to understand how much cranking is required when hitching and unhitching the Scamp travel trailer!  Not only can cranking over and over be repetitively hard on your arm, shoulder and joints, but it takes a lot of time and energy.  It’s also the time when you want to be concentrating on other parts of the process and cranking the jack up and down can be distracting.

Our process typically works as follows:  once the rear stabilizing jacks on the Scamp trailer have been raised, I crank up the front of the trailer, so that the ball receptacle is higher than the ball on our SUV.  I then back up our SUV so that the ball is aligned with the receptacle.  Sometimes, I have to get out of the SUV and crank up the tongue a little more to make sure it clears above the ball.  Then, I back up the SUV so the ball is directly under the ball receptacle on the trailer.  Then, once the alignment is perfect, I crank down the trailer tongue until the ball receptacle goes down completely over the ball and the coupler latch can be completely locked into place.  When arriving at the campsite, after securing the trailer with wheel chocks, I unlock the couple latch and detach all cables connected to the SUV, and then start cranking again to raise the front of the trailer until there is plenty of room for the ball on the SUV to clear when the SUV is driven forward.  When the SUV is driven forward and away from the trailer, the trailer again needs to be cranked (usually down) until the trailer is level.  And, all of the above cranking processes are to be repeated when leaving the campsite and arriving back at home!

It didn’t take too long for us to realize that all the manual cranking wasn’t a fun way to enjoy our Scamp trips!  Fortunately, changing the tongue jack is super simple!  And, electric tongue jacks are easy to install and not too expensive!  The Scamp travel trailer has just three bolts – so, it’s just a matter of securing the Scamp onto the SUV (like you are going on a trip), raising the manual jack all the way up, removing the bottom plate on the jack, unscrewing the three screws that attach the jack to the trailer, and lifting the entire assembly up and out of the jack shaft.  It’s important to make sure that whatever electric tongue jack your order has the same screw hole pattern as your original screw hole pattern so that when you lower the jack into place, the screw holes match.  Then, it’s just a matter of screwing down the jack into position and connecting the power cord to the battery (and possibly a ground wire).  Be careful in that often Black is positive for DC power jack arrangements (and White negative) – so, it’s important to check your manual to make sure the correct color is attached to the positive battery terminal and perhaps negative terminal if required.

We ordered the Barker 32454 VIP 3500 Power Jack for our Scamp travel trailer and have been extremely satisfied with the jack and the company.  This is one of the pricier power jacks, but we feel the quality is worth it and have had really good interactions with customer service when we initially had questions.  The jack has performed really well and is fast and quiet.  We have never had an issue with it, using it regularly for almost a year.  The jack is grounded by the trailer itself by the screw plate, so only one positive wire goes to the battery.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

I also had the opportunity to install a much less expensive jack for my friend Dana who has a 16’ Scamp.  She chose the Weize Power Jack, which is also a 3500 lb. jack and meant for A-frame trailers like the Scamp.  Installation was very similar to the Barker, except there were two connector wires.   Dana reports that she has been very satisfied with this jack.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Both Barker and Weize power jacks have a manual bar which can crank the jack in case the trailer battery is depleted.

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

UnderGlow Your Travel Trailer!

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UnderGlow Your Travel Trailer!

One of the coolest purely unnecessary things we’ve done to our Scamp has been to add an underglow LED lighting kit!  It’s not necessary, but almost essential!

We installed the kit by MicTuning 4 POD RGBW LED Rock Light kit which has 4 LED pods.  Given the small size of the Scamp trailer (13’), we’ve found that 4 LED PODS are enough to underlight the entire trailer.  There are kits with more lights for larger trailers / vehicles, but this kit will work well for small trailers.

The kit comes with all the lights and cables necessary.  All that needs to be done is to attach cables to the trailer battery, test the system by installing the MicTuning phone app, and then mount the LED pods and cabling on the trailer frame.  Our friend Jon has a 3D printer and made some custom mounts that we glued strong rare earth magnets into, allowing the mounts to magnetically attach to the trailer frame.  He also made some magnetic brackets to hold the cables against the trailer frame.  As a precaution, we also secured the cable with Gorilla tape in select areas just in case a magnetic mount fails.  We’ve driven with the magnetic mounts over 2,000 miles to date and they haven’t detached or moved from their position on the trailer.  The kit does come with standard mounts and these should be satisfactory for mounting the PODS.  Or, other custom methods could be used to secure the LED PODS on the trailer.

The Scamp trailer in itself looks futuristic, with its all-white glossy finish and egg shape (along with the HD antenna on the roof).  However, lighting up the underside at night makes the Scamp look like a spaceship!  People really notice it, and often oohs and aahs can be heard at the campsite!  With the Bluetooth MicTuning app, the color of the lighting can be easily changed with just a tap on your phone screen.  There is even a music mode that will strobe the lights in sync with the music playing on your phone!  We’ve used these lights various times. On our first trip to Anza-Borrego State Park, it was so dark at night that it was really hard to find one’s way back to their trailer after dinner.  Having the lights on made our Scamp easy to find and weren’t offensive since they glow down toward the ground.  Be aware that one should not drive with the lights on as they could be distracting to other drivers and it is likely illegal in most, if not all, areas.

At a low cost and a high Wow! Factor, we highly recommend these LED ROCK lights!  Light kit, liked it!

Buy Here On Amazon

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

 

Protecting Yourself and Your RV From City Water

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Protecting Yourself and Your RV From City Water

There are several essential items you will want regarding your City water supply.  If you just hook up any hose to the City water connection at the campground and attach it to your trailer you could have serious issues.  Among these are:

  1. contaminated water from a dirty hose,
  2. chemicals in the water from using a non BPA free hose,
  3. particles and debris entering your trailers pipes / screens / pumps,
  4. excessive high pressure from the City water potentially damaging the trailer’s pipes,
  5. damage to your City water connection attachment from the weight of the hose / filter

Using the following essential products will greatly reduce the risk of a problem caused by the City water supply and enhance your enjoyment while camping.

Camco (40055) RV Brass Inline Water Pressure Regulator:  This device should be the first thing to be attached to the city water spigot.  It will limit the pressure to acceptable levels so your RV pipes don’t burst from excessive water pressure.  Additionally, it is brass so it is lead free and safe.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Camco (22783) 25ft TastePURE Drinking Water Hose – Lead and BPA Free:  RV City water hoses should be white, and lead and BPA free to ensure your trailer sink and shower water is safe to use.  I’ve found the 25’ length to be a good size.  The hose may also be used to fill your Fresh tank when not connected to City Water.  You want to make sure you use your own hose to fill your trailer with water because public hoses at campgrounds may have been used to clean septic systems and, in turn, may be contaminated.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Camco 40045 TastePURE Inline RV Water Filter:  Your white hose should be screwed into a water filter so that contaminants and sediment will be prevented from entering your trailer’s water system.  The filter may also reduce chlorine and odors from the water.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Brass 90° Lead-Free Hose Saver:  This clever brass right angle device attaches to your trailer’s city water port and allows your water filter to attach hanging down so that less weight hangs from the port.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Another great option is Camco 40043 TastePure RV/Marine Water Filter with Flexible Hose Protector:

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Camco Water Tank Filler with Shutoff Valve:  This little spout can be attached directly to the white water hose to make filling the Fresh water tank on the trailer much easier.  It can also be attached to a Water Bandit* on a water jug spout.  It has a valve so you can easily turn off the hose water without being next to the spigot.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Camco (22484) *Water Bandit:  This is a cool little product that allows you to connect a hose or water filler to a water spigot without threads (or one with stripped threads).  It probably doesn’t support a lot of pressure, but is a nice small tool to carry just in case.  I use it to attach to a jug spout to fill the Fresh water on our Scamp.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Ozark Trail Desert Patrol 6-Gal Water Jug:  This water jug is BPA free and does a great job of holding water to fill up the Fresh water tank at campgrounds not equipped with direct hookups.  Simply take the jug over to the nearest water spigot and fill it up.  I always take a collapsible dolly as well since water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon – meaning this jug will weigh almost 50 pounds when full.  I recommend using the Water Bandit on the included spout and have someone help in lifting the jug to fill the Fresh tank.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON WALMART

Vergo Industrial 275 lbs Capacity Folding Hand Truck Dolly (Model S300BT):  This dolly easily fits in the car and is great for moving heavy water jugs.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Turn Your Wet Bath into a Comfy Dry Zone

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How to Turn Your Wet Bath into a Comfy Dry Zone

One of the biggest complaints people have about small travel trailers is the Wet Bath.  Because room in a very small travel trailer is at a premium, the bathroom areas are usually combined (toilet and shower in one room) and, in turn, are often finished so that all surfaces in the entire bathroom (toilet, sink, and shower) can be wet.  The advantage of this is that one can enjoy almost all the comforts of home, including a full bathroom, within such a small space.  However, no one likes to walk into a bathroom and get their feet wet or sit on a wet toilet seat!!!

Instead of opting to buy a larger trailer just so you can have a separate shower and toilet area or spending time after each shower drying off the toilet and floor, there are some easy inexpensive solutions that will ensure that the shower area is insulated so that the toilet compartment stays dry and comfortable.  Additionally, a couple of extra items will keep the floor in the shower relatively dry after each use.

Insulating the two compartments is easy if you have the right supplies.  The first thing you will need is a simple shower curtain with holes and plastic rings.  You will also need some medium utility hooks and perhaps some 3M adhesive fastener tape (sold a home supply stores) if you are affixing the hook to headliner (furry insulating material).

August 2021 UPDATE (use Magnets instead of Hooks)

First, we used the already existing pvc rod in the Scamp (above the inside of the bathroom door used to hold the door curtain) to secure the door side of our curtain by putting our ring on it at the end.  Next, we used 3M fastener tape and stuck it onto the back of one of the hooks (instead of using the double sided tape that comes with the hooks).  We used this one hook with the 3M tape for the headliner, because the fiberglass shower wall doesn’t come up too high in the Scamp and the regular tape doesn’t stick to the insulated headliner material.  The Scamp has a rat fur type of headliner which the 3M fastener sticks to really well.  We attached the double sided tape for the other two hooks because they were going directly onto the fiberglass wall, so we could secure the shower curtain against the entire wall (see images).

The idea is that the shower curtain is used when showering and then simply unhooked and tucked on the door side when done.  You will find that this method works well for keeping the toilet area dry (along with the toilet paper / rolls placed on toilet bowl cleaner’s handle).

To keep your feet elevated off the shower floor (which can be damp or wet), we recommend using a teak “mat”.  It is a really nice way to stay elevated from the floor while also allowing water to fall between the slits into the drain.  Additionally, it may provide some anti-slip properties versus standing directly on potentially slick fiberglass flooring.  We purchased this one (measure your floor area to make sure the mat you purchase fits):

CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

If your shower floor holds some residual water after showering, like ours does, we recommend using a squeegee after showering to move water manually into the shower drain (with shower floor pump running and teak mat removed).  Once you have done your best, simply place the teak mat back over the floor.

After doing everything in this article, you should have a reasonably dry toilet compartment after each shower!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

5 Essential Items for Theft Protection

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Five Essential Items for Theft Protection

Although it may be completely impossible to prevent your small trailer from getting stolen, there are a number of inventive products which could make a thief think twice about taking your trailer.  Often criminals are opportunists and will take advantage of easy targets, so these products will raise the bar on how easy a target your trailer will be.

The first product we recommend is a heavy duty wheel clamp.  The clamp works by securing heavy duty metal arms around one trailer wheel (no need to buy two).  The adjustable arms are locked into place and prevent the wheel from rotating due to a long metal bar that comes out and rests on the ground.   Being bright orange and yellow it will be highly visible to thieves.

This is the heavy duty wheel clamp we use:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

If you want a 2 pack:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

The next recommended product is a universal coupler lock.  This is a small metal ball mechanism that fits inside your coupler after you detach your hitch ball.  You lock it into place so that a thief cannot easily hitch up to your trailer and drive away.  This red universal coupler lock is simple to use and effective at blocking access to your coupler.

This is the coupler lock we use:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Following the universal coupler lock above, this next item is also a coupler lock but involves locking the coupler latching mechanism by inserting a metal rod through the hole and then screwing down a back plate and locking the mechanism with a key.  We use this not only at the campground to make sure thieves won’t be able to raise the handle so they can get their hitch ball into the trailer’s coupler, but also as an added safety mechanism to prevent the handle from the unlikely event of it popping open while driving.

This is the coupler lock we use:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

There are a couple more theft prevention devices we employ that are designed to protect other items from theft aside from our trailer.   We employ a locking trailer hitch pin.  It’s not really oriented to protecting the trailer from theft, but is meant to prevent the ball hitch mechanism attached to your vehicle from being removed.  We always leave this item locked onto our SUV as there is no need to remove it (unless you want to remove the hitch).   Here’s the one we use:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Lastly, we use a steel cable to lock down our portable RV surge protector (you will need a lock for this).  Here’s the one we use:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

 

Indispensable Wheel Chock Leveler

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Indispensable Wheel Chock Leveler

We purchased this leveling block initially as a way to prevent our Scamp from rolling forward in our garage when parked.  It is a large curved plastic wedge that can be inserted in front of one of the wheels on the trailer and will act as a wheel chock to help prevent the trailer from moving in a forward direction.  We use it in our garage at home just as a safeguard.

We discovered, however, the primary selling point of this device on our way up to Lake Tahoe.  We stayed overnight on a residential street in Oakland in front of my sister Hilary’s house.  The street is significantly sloped side to side and our Scamp trailer sat at a pretty large angle which would have made living in the Scamp uncomfortable.  After inserting this wedge in front of the Scamp tire on the lower side, I drove the Scamp forward on the wedge until the Scamp was just about sitting level (this was at about the maximum height of 4 inches that the wedge allows).  When the Scamp tire was at the top of the wedge (don’t go too far or you will either drive off the end or the tire won’t be resting firmly on the wedge), and being satisfied of the height, we inserted the second part of the wedge on the trailing edge.  The result was a nice level trailer and comfortable place to spend the night!

Note:  The Red/Yellow Trailer Lock Wheel Clamp pictured is a separate purchase.

Only one leveler chuck is needed per axle:  CLICK HERE TO BUY ON AMAZON

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

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