There are so many lists available out there, this one will have the RV gear you need to hit the road running and no more. We’re keeping this list to must-have to functionally camp without any extras.
You’ve seen it, must have lists to start RV’ing and they start with items like camping chairs or a Blackstone, or even something fancy like cameras. Not here! Here you’ll find the bare bones list to get you out of your parking spot and out camping – that’s just THREE categories: Water & Power & Safety.
What we can’t go over are very rig specific items like load levelers, sway controls, pin boxes, etc. These will all depend on the type of rig you use. These are definitely necessary to tow your rig safely. This part you will need to make sure is in place before you even leave the sales lot.
What we will cover are the very basics to get you using your rig at a campsite with full hook-ups, as this is how most new RV’ers use their rigs at the start.
If you’re simply wanting to look through all the things we use, check out our storefront for all the items, sorted into categories.
So let’s dive in!
Safety
Chocks
While this is a very important category, we are simply covering the basics. You will need chocks. No matter what type of rig you have, you need to chock your tires when it’s parked. Even if you have a motorhome, you need to chock. Even if motorhome has two tires off the ground from auto-leveling, you need to chock those tires on the ground.
Chocks are the ONLY thing stopping your rig from rolling away. There are many different types of chocks on the market, but we suggest a good rubber one to ensure your investment stays where you put it.
Nice To Have
There are many safety items that should be added to your camper as you can. These are items that could potentially save a life – please take the time to invest in these:
- Fire extinguisher
- Premium first aid kit
- Gas Stop (listed below)
- Trailer brake controller
- TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system)
- Roadside safety kit
- Air Compressor
Water
Every camper needs a way to drink and use water. Almost all RVs in this current age have fresh holding tanks, water heater, water pump and grey holding tanks. But how are we going to get water from outside to inside and from inside to outside? You’ll need two items at the very least.
Drinking water hose
These hoses are specialized for drinking from. There are no metals or particles inside. These hoses are always in a white or light blue color to distinguish them from regular garden hoses. They will come in varying lengths, but the average is 25ft. This is enough to get fresh water into your rig.
Nice To Have
There are more accessories you can add like:
Sewer Hose
Oh yes, the poop tube. What goes in must come out, right? This is probably one of the most important items you need. These sewer hose sets, by Camco, come with two hoses as there are many times you need 20ft, not just 10ft. They also come with the “donut” connection into the waste tanks at the campground. All your waste from the holding tanks come out of this sewer connection – your grey(s) and your black (waste).
In many, RVs, these will store in the hollow bumper on the back of your rig or in a tube underneath. If you don’t have a separate storage location in your rig already provided, you *will* need somewhere to store these pieces to keep any waste materials from getting elsewhere. You can even just use a sealing tote like this.
Nice To Have
Some other add ons that are handy but not needed for your sewer and waste connection are:
- hose support system
- extra elbow and donut
- disposable gloves
- extra dedicated hose for black tank flush
- sewer hose cleaner
- second gate
- honey wagon for those locations without a personal connection.
Power
What’s camping without being able to keep your food cold, power your electronics, cook and have light when it’s dark. There are also two categories of power – electric and propane.
Propane
This category is quite simple and should come ready to go from your dealership. Make sure your propane tanks are full and ready to cook or provide heat and keep your fridge cold and water hot! Please make sure you’re aware of the laws and safety that you do not drive with your propane on – this must be turned off as it’s considered an open fuel source.
Nice To Haves
There’s not a whole lot to the propane source of power. You could get:
- leak detector (gas stop)
- fill gauge
- extra tank for other things like
Electrical/Hydro
This is what many in the RV community call our free source of power, as most locations don’t require electric to be billed separately, it’s included in your site rental (typically under 1mth). Electric (or as the Canadians call it: hydro) is the simplest and safest way to power your rig.
Electric set up, all you will need is the power cord that comes with your rig. Plug and play. That said, you will really want to protect that investment you just made and not fry your electrical system. So we say that a must have is a surge protector. With storms, old campgrounds or tampered power post, you won’t want to risk one simple move of plugging in and losing all your electrical to a surge or faulty ground.
There are many different surge protectors on the market and we recommend two: a starter one to get you going and an investment one. You will want the starter one to just get you out the door if your bank has already been drained from other expenses involved in purchasing an RV. However, please do save and purchase the investment one as soon as you can to make sure your investment is protected. (We currently use their middle stage one)
Nice To Have
There are SO many nice to haves in this category! From generators to solar to lithium batteries. These are all very much nice-to-have and far from necessary. A few things that can be added to help your experience during extended camping depending on budget. These are things like:
- portable charging blocks
- portable solar charger
- solar panel & power bank
- small generator
- a few extension cords for outdoor lighting or to power devices from the 20amp on your power post (just be mindful of total power draw from the post).
That’s it!
Pretty simple to get you out the door and exploring. There are so many more accessories you can add to your camping experience to make it the best for you. One suggestion we would love to make is to only purchase items you know you have room for. With such a specific way to store things and only so many spaces, you’ll want to know there’s a dedicated spot for your new treasure.
If you’re looking for a full list of all the items we use on the road, check out our Amazon Storefront for more.
If you can think of any other items you think RV’ers MUST-HAVE to get out camping from the sales lot, please add it in the comments below so we can help each other out.
See You On The Road!
4 Responses
Thank you! This was so simple and way less scary than some of the lists out there. But you still provided some other things we could add if we wanted/had the extra money. Thanks for breaking it wayyyyy down