Camping Stuff

So we bought a travel trailer. What other stuff do you need when you buy one? I don't mean linens, towels, dishware, soaps, etc. I mean the mechanical "stuff" you need for basics like hooking up water, electricity, leveling, etc. It's a lot, most of which is available fairly cheap on Amazon, but you sort of have to have it. Admittedly, our unit, being our first, is a scaled down model, as far as features go. And, should we decide we're all in and want an upgraded unit in the future, most of this stuff will fairly easily transfer over.

2-5/8" hitch ball with sway and load leveling controls. A couple of hundred bucks and then some.

Towing mirrors for adequate safe rear view visibility. Forty bucks for cheap temporary attach ones. $500-800, maybe $1000 to replace existing mirrors with extension mirrors with all the features of the original factory mirrors. One the cheap to start out for us.

Leveling scissor jack socket. So I don't have to hand crank the leveling jacks twice every day, coming and going. Five bucks.

Trailer jack foot. Otherwise the 2" metal pipe at the bottom is just open. This will give the tongue jack proper footing. Less than ten bucks.

50 amp to 30 amp dogbone adapter and 15 amp to 30 amp dogbone adapter. The trailer takes 30 amps. If the power available is 50 or 15, without these adapters, no juice. Fifteen bucks each.

30 amp surge protection, a bare bones minimum one. Fifty bucks.

Leveling blocks. Use these under the wheels when camping on uneven ground, and under the leveling jacks so the jacks don't sink into sand or mud.  10 pack, under thirty bucks.

Plastic wheel chocks. Ten bucks.

20' Sewer hose with all the attachments and hose support that will pitch the hose downward from the trailer to the poop chute. Seventy-five bucks.

Water filter to filter water from campsite into trailer. Apparently some campsite water can be pretty nasty. Under twenty bucks.

Screen covers that fit the water heater, furnace, and refrigerator vents and outside panels to prevent insect or critter (geckos!) infestations. Thirty-five bucks.

Vinyl tire/wheel covers to help prevent tire dry rot while camper is in storage here in hot, humid Florida. Thirty bucks or so.

Did I mention camper insurance and storage costs?

It adds up. And we're just getting started. Only the first few trips will tell us which we didn't need,. what we didn't know we needed, and what I regret going for on the cheap. In the end, I know it will be worth it. That's the real bottom line!

Have a great day, friends! God bless.