Things that come to mind are:
Extra propane tank(s) - this way if you run out in the middle of the night
and/or it’s just not convenient to run to the store to have it refilled
you have a backup or two to use until you can get to the store
(pro-tip
Tractor Supply often has the cheapest propane prices)
Furnace mesh protectors and all the other mesh protectors you can find - I
wrote a blog post on this one and how not having one on our furnace
nearly cost us a new furnace…at $1500!
Command hooks - Having a place for everything (including your towel) that’s not on the floor is a wonderful thing
Stick on motion detector lights - coming home to a RV door in the complete
dark (because you forgot to turn on the porch light) is not fun.
Autoformer, surge protector - A surge protector will protect your unit from too
high electric but an autoformer from too low. With too low it’s
miserable as your AC etc will keep cutting off. An autoformer is
expensive (over $500) but well worth it when you consider the damage
that can be done by the constant disruption that too low can cause. Here's the company's website that had a lot of information about how they work (but Amazon is sometimes cheaper...)
Chalk board or white board to put your current address on every time you
move. Having your address in the same place every time is comforting in
itself, but knowing in an emergency where to look for it could save
minutes, which could save a life. Bonus - you can then take a picture of
it and text to your family, so someone always knows where you are.
LoJack
- On your vehicle or on the RV itself. Give your relatives the
information on it. If suddenly you stop returning phone calls it’s nice
to know, they will know how to find you. If you come home and your rig
is missing it’s comforting to know how quickly things with LoJack are
found. (The quicker things are found the less damage they typically have
done to them).
Here's a DIY version I found on Amazon.
A lock - don’t make it easy for someone to back up and tow away your RV.
They sell locks for 5th wheel as well as trailers and yes, every once
and a while we get a message to be on the look out for this or that rig
because someone stole it.
Washer/Dryer - going to the laundry mat does get old after a while. Just be sure to not only measure the space where you'll put it, but also all the door ways to get to that space...We ended up having to take the trim off our bedroom door to get the thing in there... (not a nice surprise to have on the day we went to install it.)
RV GPS - These allow you to enter your height and weight so (hopefully)
they never take you on a road that can’t handle your weight or under a
bridge that’s too low for your height (Google “the can opener bridge”)
Warm
shoes/socks - even with good heaters the floors always seem cold in the
winter. Keeping your
feet warm makes all the difference in feeling
comfortable
Black out curtains (or the
fabric for them) - There are often
a lot of windows and the amount of light and heat they let in can be
unwanted at times. Being able to close black out curtains for complete
privacy and heat/light protection is game changing.
Facebook
- There are a few groups you can join for RV newbies where you can ask
questions and get several answers within seconds. It’s been a back up
support to us whenever we couldn’t quite figure things out on our own
and an invaluable tool. Facebook even has RV brand specific groups too.
Those
flexible thin plastic cutting boards. I lined my freezer walls with them.
Now when it’s time to defrost I just pull them down, clean up the ice
they pulled out with them and done in 5 minutes or so. I also put a few at the bottom of the freezer to catch the ice.
I mention it in my about section (but of course) some of these links are affiliate links and I will get a percentage of the sale if you purchase via my link (thank you!) but I wrote this article before I became an affiliate and do really have all these items myself.
