scamp tools

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.