Handy Gizmos and Gadgets

Check out any RV or camping oriented store, catalog, trade show, or website and you will find dozens of clever gizmos and gadgets. Some are actually useful and may enhance your camping experience. Many are simply cute and clever and their greatest function is to make the seller rich -- to transfer your hard earned money into their pockets!  No matter how many neat gizmos and gadgets you buy, there will always be new ones competing for your attention -- and your $$$!   The 2012 Camping World Catalog had 5 pages of kitchen gadgets and 9 pages of grill accessories alone.  There are hundreds of other items which claim to enhance your RVing or camping experience.   Here are some of the things we've found actually useful:

Navigational aids. I like having a large, Roadmaster compass mounted on the dash of my motorhome. It is quite helpful when navigating unfamiliar roads. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any current retailers who sell them but you might find one on ebay.  There are other compasses you can get to use in your vehicle.  Many vehicles these days have built in compasses if not sophisticated navigation systems.  Of course these days, a GPS is even better but they cost a LOT more. I also found an altimeter useful on trips to higher elevations and have tried various forms of "clinometers" (devices that show the vehicle orientation side to side and front to back).  They are something like the artificial horizon used in aircraft.  They are usually not sensitive enough for final leveling but are very useful in finding the most nearly level spot in a remote camp site and I find them easier to read than bubble levels at a glance. Bubble levels are, of course, good for final leveling. Clinometers are sometimes used in Jeeps and other larger off-highway vehicles to measure roll-over potential when crossing side-hills.  They show both front to back and side to side degree of level.

Trash bag holders. These are plastic gadgets that attach to a wall or the inside of a cabinet door and hold a standard plastic grocery bag. Since most RVs are sadly lacking in providing any space for trash, these can be quite helpful. Since they use standard grocery bags, they are economical to use and even provide a way to recycle those pesky grocery bags that tend to accumulate under the sink. These have been one of the best additions we've made to our RVs.  For larger trash bags in camp, I modified a standard bag style (quad) camp chair into a trash bag holder.  I removed the seat and the backrest leaving a 4-post frame.  It takes up little room in an outside cabinet while traveling but can hold a large, heavy duty trash bag for use in camp.  You can buy "leaf baggers" intended for yard use to hold large contractor sized bags too.

Paper towel holders. As essential and useful as paper towels are in and around an RV or campsite, I am surprised that RV manufacturers don't include them as standard equipment.  I guess they might leave for consumer installation because people may prefer to have them in different locations.  Fortunately, they are inexpensive and easy to install. Ordinary residential holders can be made to work in an RV, but there are some that are especially made for RVs that will help keep the paper towels from unwinding due to the motion and air movement when traveling. There are tricks that can be used with ordinary holders, such as attaching a mini-bungee cord or ordinary rubber band across the roll or using an empty 2-liter soda bottle to confine the roll. We had an entire roll of paper towels pile up on the counter and the floor on more than one occasion while traveling before we learned some of the tricks.  To use a soda bottle, rinse it out and let it dry thoroughly, then cut off both the top and bottom and split it down one side.  You can now open it up and clip it over your paper towel roll.  Then simply open it at the cut when you need to pull off some towels or keep the edge of the roll sticking out through the cut.  The see-through plastic lets you monitor paper towel usage without having to remove the cover.  I prefer using a clear bottle because it is easier to see how much of the roll remains.

"Pop-it" Products: These are a series of plastic holders designed to hold various commonly used paper camping products. Pop-a-plate holds paper plates; Pop-a-napkin holds paper napkins; Pop-a-bag stores standard grocery bags for easy use. The plate and napkin holders are typically installed beneath kitchen cabinets for convenient access and to avoid taking up valuable space inside the cabinet.  Pop-a-bag makes it convenient to stuff new bags into the top and to pull out what you need from a slot in the bottom.  The retrieval slot is designed to deliver one bag at time.

Bathroom organizers. The limited space in most RV bathrooms dictates that you make the best possible use of every bit of it. The most convenient bathroom organizer I've found combines toothbrush storage with a paper cup dispenser. The hinged top keeps dust out of the paper cups and off the toothbrushes. The mounting bracket attaches easily with screws or double-sticky tape, then the unit slides onto the mounting bracket. At first I was skeptical about the slide on mount staying in place on bumpy roads, but it is very long and well designed and I've never had the holder fall off, even on washboard desert roads.

Blender bottles. Light weight, break resistant, and require no electric power, these are plastic bottles with a kind of a spring ball inside. Fill with water or milk and add your favorite flavoring and shake about 40 times. Most useful for car or tent camping where you don't have power, but can be a convenient way to make single serving beverages in your RV without an electric blender.  Shake up a serving of Tang for breakfast without the need to fire up the generator to run the blender.

Awning clamps. Awnings tend to be quite susceptible to wind. Consider the design and function of sails on sailing ships. Awnings, if caught by the wind, quickly become rather efficient sails if they are not properly secured. Awning deflapper clamps dampen the annoying flapping noise and help reduce the potential of having your expensive awning damaged by reasonable winds. You will still want to roll up your awning prior to any strong winds, but awning clamps, properly securing both ends of the awning fabric to the rafters, will help prevent damage by unexpected lesser winds. And they reduce the annoying flapping noise that often accompanies even light breezes. I have tried out two different styles: one that clamps rigidly to the awning arms and one attaches via velcro straps. The rigid clamps seem to be a little better at reducing flapping but the velcro strops are much easier to put on and take off. Another type of awning clamp is used for additional security while the vehicle is in motion. They attach to the side of the RV and clamp around the rolled up awning. You open and close them with your regular awning wand. They are not needed on awnings that roll up into a metal box. Having personally experienced having an awning unroll on the freeway in high winds, I can attest to their value.  It is always a good idea to listen for unusual noises (like an awning flapping against the side of your RV) and to keep an eye in the rear view mirror so you can detect an awning coming loose when it first starts and before it causes any serious damage.  Left uncontrolled, it can destroy the fabric and the hardware, damage the sides of the RV, break windows, and possibly damage other vehicle on the road, all of which tend to be rather expensive to deal with.

Awnbrella awning rafters.  Another really useful awning accessory is the "Awnbrella" awning rafter.  They fit between the roller and the wall of the RV and bow up, giving the awning a shape that sheds water instead of sinking down and collecting it when it rains.  They also give you a little more head room, in case your awning is low, like they sometimes are on smaller RVs.

Awning lights.  You can buy both 120 volt ant 12 volt lighting systems for your RV awning.  The ones I find most appealing are still kind of pricey (over $100):  they are multicolored LED rope lights.  They usually come with a remote control so you can select the color and flash pattern from the comfort of y our favorite chair.   However, I have found solar powered LED rope lights (just in white, and no flash patterns) on sale at Harbor Freight for around $10 and they do a good job of proving even and comfortable illumination under your awning.   Both are designed to fit in the accessory slot on your awning roller.  You can also attach regular patio light  strings using clips that slide into the accessory slot, giving you a lot of choices to match your mood or party theme.  Whenever you use awning lights, be considerate of your fellow campers.  If your light intrudes into their space you should turn it off.

"Multi-tools". There are many different types of "multi-tools" or multi-function tools on the market. One of the most common is the Leatherman brand. The original leatherman is a cross between pliers and a Swiss army knife. Some have more than a dozen functions. They take up little space and can be used for many common tasks around your RV and OHV. I found that "fencing pliers" is a good multi-use tool that can be used as a hammer, pliers, and wire cutters. I have seen 8" pliers with screwdriver tips on the ends of the handles (flat on one, #2 phillips on the other), and a hammer-like disk on one of side of the working end of the pliers. Tools like this take up little room and can reduce clutter and weight in your RV or camp tool box without sacrificing functionality. Another tool I have found convenient, though not usually advertised as a "multi-tool" is a roofer's or framer's hatchet-style hammer. The heads of these tools have a hammer on one side and an axe-blade on the other. Rather than carrying a large hammer AND an axe or hatchet, one of these covers both functions in a single tool. It is surprising how many times you need a fairly heavy hammer when camping. Driving tent pegs or stakes to hold down your awning mat or awning strap are among the most common.

Kitchen gadgets. There must be literally hundreds if not thousands of RV kitchen gadgets out there (at least 5 pages in the 2012 Camping World catalog alone). Before buying one, think through whether or not you will actually use it. The last thing you need is to fill up your precious drawer space with useless junk. If you have a taste for peeled apples, a tricky apple-peeler might be appropriate for you and fun to use, but for most of us, a simple paring knife or hand peeler will suffice -- for this and many other tasks -- and is light weight, takes up little room, and is versatile and inexpensive. Powered kitchen tools, like blenders and mixers are common in our homes and can be nice additions to your RV kitchen -- if you have room for them. For the most convenience and least impact on space and weight, choose compact appliances. Unless you do a lot of baking, a hand mixer is probably adequate for most RV cooking tasks. We found a single beater plastic mixer that operates like a push drill at our local Dollar Tree. It is light weight, takes up little more space than a manual whisk, and is not only fun to use it is quite effective for light mixing. And look in to the hand-held "Ninja" blenders. They are small and light weight and very effective. A pop-up toaster is a nice addition, unless you LIKE burning your toast over a campfire.  You might even re-purpose and old toaster you retired when you upgraded at home.  There are also campfire toasters which consist of little metal frames that hold the bread over a camp stove burner or campfire that will do the job, but lack the convenience and precision of an electric toaster (if you have power available to operate them). Another option is toasting bread in your RV oven. I sometimes resort to that if I'm making breakfast for a large number of people and need lots of toast in a hurry, but for regular family breakfasts, it takes a long time and wastes a lot of propane compared to using a toaster but it can get a lot of toast ready at the same time. By the way, the campfire toasters work really well on RV and camp stoves and they're really inexpensive, less that $5.00.  You may need to experiment and practice with them to get proficient at getting your toast just the way you and/or your family members like it.  Built-in blenders are popular in some of the more expensive luxury RVs.  We've had Nutone systems in several of our RVs.  There are many different attachments available for them.  Some of the options include blenders, mixers, ice crushers, and knife sharpeners.  Of course you need 120 volt power to run them (shore power, generator, or inverter).

Table cloth clamps.   Table cloths on picnic tables tend to flap and curl up or blow away with the slightest breeze.  These springy clamps slip over the edge of most picnic tables and keep your table cloth from becoming a kite.

Cleaning appliances are another category to be considered. Hand-held, 12-volt "car vacuums" simplify many cleaning tasks in your RV. For more heavy-duty applications, a compact canister vacuum is a good option (assuming you have a generator or shore power to run it). Look for one that will fit in one of the cabinets under the dinette so it doesn't take up valuable closet space. Some larger RVs have central vacuum cleaner systems. If you are so lucky, take advantage of it. If not, look for an appropriate canister vacuum. Uprights clean well, but take up a lot of room in an RV and don't fit in limited cabinet space like a canister model. Canisters will usually fit in the small spaces under dinettes or beds.  Adding a central vacuum is sometimes a possibility, albeit a fairly expensive one. The difficulty in running pipes and wiring combined with needing to sacrifice cabinet space often makes after market installation less than appealing.

Leveling blocks. Unless your RV is equipped with a leveling system, you are probably going to need leveling blocks sooner or later. Even if you only camp in developed campgrounds, the sites aren't always perfectly level. And if you prefer boondocking, you will almost never find a level site. There are many commercial leveling block systems or you can make your own from 2x6 or 2x8 lumber. Homemade wooden leveling blocks tend to be heavy and cumbersome, but are fairly inexpensive, especially if you have scrap lumber lying around and they are very sturdy. Some of the fancier commercial leveling blocks fit together much like giant Legos and allow you to easily create various heights as needed for the occasion. There are also chock kits available to prevent you from driving past the blocks when positioning your RV. When choosing leveling blocks, consider the weight of your vehicle versus the capacity of the blocks, the size and weight of the system and whether you have an appropriate place to carry it, and the expense. Purchasing low-cost blocks only to find out the hard way that they can't support the weight of your vehicle can be a lot more expensive than buying proper blocks in the first place. For one thing, inadequate blocks will probably be crushed if you vehicle exceeds their rated capacity and you have to replace them right away. For another, your vehicle may be damaged or you or someone else nearby may be injured when they fail.

Battery Chargers: the charger circuits on most RV converters are woefully inadequate. Converters are primarily designed to convert 120-volt AC current in to 12-volt DC current. Charger circuits are an afterthought, and usually not a very good one. Over the years I've upgrade the converters in several motorhomes to Intellicharger converters with the Charge Wizard option. This configuration monitors battery condition and adjusts the charge rate to more effectively charge and maintain RV batteries. This is a convenient and effective, but relatively expensive option. A cheaper alternative is to install a separate battery charger. This option was, in fact, suggested to me by an engineer at on of the converter companies when I called with some technical questions about upgrading the battery charger circuit on my convert. If you choose this option you have a couple of choices. One is a "maintenance" charger that supplies a constant low charge to compensate for normal loss during storage. These are usually fairly inexpensive. A better option is a good multi-stage charger that will sense the state of the batter and adjust the charge accordingly. Multi-stage chargers usually include a mode that supplies a high voltage to "de-sulfate" the plates in the battery periodically. If you are going to leave your RV in storage for more than a week or so at a time without using it, it is a good idea to add a multi-stage battery charger to maintain the batteries. Allowing batteries to become fully discharged shortens battery life and diminishes performance. Exercise caution when connecting multiple battery chargers as they may tend to cancel each other out and you won't get the benefits you expect.

Auxiliary heaters may be a necessary option if you camp in colder weather. Some RV furnaces are not adequate to keep up with the demands of colder outside temperatures. I think many RVs are designed primarily for fair weather camping and fall short when used in cold, winter weather.  One of the simplest ways to add more heat, if you have a generator or shore power, is via electric heaters. They are small, lightweight, and can be easily moved around to warm cold spots as needed. We have a small "electric fireplace" that delivers 1500 watts of heat and adds a nice cabin-like ambiance. Another option, that is especially good for camping off the grid, are catalytic heaters. They run on propane, and unlike a furnace, do not require 12-volt power since there are no fans. You can choose from wall-mounted units that attach permanently to your RV propane system or portable units that run off standard propane bottles. There are also catalytic heaters that run on white gas. White gas is less convenient and can be more more hazardous to store and messy to transfer. When using any catalytic heater be sure to read and follow the manufacturer's instructions for lighting, clearances, and ventilation. They don't usually give off toxic fumes but they do consume oxygen and you can suffocate if you don't have an adequate supply of fresh air. I read of an experienced camper and professional camping writer who died when he forgot to leave sufficient ventilation using a catalytic heater. It is tempting to skimp on ventilation when you're trying to get warm and want to keep the cold out, but DON'T!  It can be a fatal mistake.

Campfire accessories. Most of us have burned a few marshmallows on sticks or wire coat-hanger cookers but there are lots of other tools to enhance your campfire experience. You might want to try out some of the fancy marshmallow and wiener cookers that have nice wood handles. Some even have the tines pointed back toward the handle to reduce the chance of injuring your fellow campers.  Telescoping versions are easy to store and yet let you maintain a safe distance from the fire.  Pie cookers are a handy way to fix a tasty, hot desert. Just put in a couple of slices of white bread, add your favorite pie filling, and in a few minutes in the fire you'll have fresh, not, individual pies.  Wire pop-corn poppers let you pop corn over your stove or campfire. Wire grills, both with and without attached legs make campfire cooking easier. A "potdangler" suspends your coffee pot or dutch oven over your campfire at whatever height you chose. Cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, and griddles are great for campfire cooking.  Portable fire rings help confine and control campfires.  We us a portable fire pit we call R2D2. It is an old washing machine tub.  One without a center tube makes adding firewood easier but one with a center tube can provide a place to insert a cut-down RV table leg in the bottom to put a base on it and a place to fasten a grill on top to use it for cooking.  Raising R2D2 a few inches off the ground gives room to warm cold toes on especially chilly evenings.

Instruments and Electronics.   There are dozens of electronic gadgets to enhance your RV experience.  Many RVs include entertainments systems (radios and/or TVs).  One of most popular, fun to use, and useful add-ons, is a GPS or a computer with a GPS app.  Great maps and vocal turn-by-turn instructions make navigating easy.  The only down side is they're a little pricey, but getting more affordable all the time.  Electronic compasses are not as expensive but can assist navigating with a paper map.  Some other useful instruments are an altimeter and a clinometer. The altimeter displays your elevation above sea level. useful when negotiating mountain passes and a clinometer, which shows the orientation of your vehicle relative to level, which is helpful in finding the most level spot in a remote campsite.  Electronic thermometers are a handy way to find out both indoor and outdoor temperatures.  You can even get one with up to 3 remote transmitters so you monitor the temperature in your fridge and/or in outside compartments as well as normal indoor/outdoor temps.  Knowing the temperature inside your RV, in the outside storage cabinets, and outside your RV can be critical in protecting your investment during winter camping and a useful aide to summer comfort.   A clear plastic thermometer that sticks to the outside of a window is inexpensive way of easily monitoring outside temperature.  Barometers measure air pressure and if you learn to recognize trends can be a fairly good predictor of impending weather changes.   Fancier weather stations are available if you're really into weather details.  Some even connect to your computer to record trends and provide data for future analysis.  LED rope lights are a neat way to light up your awning for patio parties.  Some even have multiple colors and a variety of patterns that put on quite a light show.

Modern smart phones provide wonderful technology for communication, navigation, and picture taking.  Apps are available for nearly any recreational activity you may want to try.

Shopping for and experimenting with various gizmos and gadgets can add an extra measure of fun to your RV or tent camping experience. Just checking them out at trade shows, RV stores, camp stores, and in catalogs and sharing them with fellow campers can be fun. Using them is the ultimate test of their value. If you don't like using or get bored with certain items or find a better solution, leave them home or put them in your next garage sale.  I like to take advantages of year end sales to check out new gadgets so I don't have a lot of money tied up in them if they don't work out.

Gadgets designed particularly for RV use will be found in RV stores and catalogs, but you may find useful items in other places, ranging from Internet web sites to your local grocery store and even travel stores. I frequently scan the wall of kitchen utensils when I visit our local dollar store. If I see something interesting, we try it. If is doesn't work out, we haven't lost much if we just throw it out, donate it to charity, or toss it into our next garage sale. I also like to check out the bargain and closeout tools at my local hardware and home stores. You never know what you'll find there.

Watch for sales.   Most of us like to get bargains, and I am certainly no exception.  In fact, I almost hate it when I have to pay full retail price for something.  I especially hate it if it is an unproven gadget that I'm not sure I am going to like or use regularly.  I'm OK with paying full retail for something I have either personally tried and like, have seen it used and like, or has been recommended by a trusted associate.  Picking up gadgets on clearance to try them out is a good way to explore your options without breaking your budget.  If it turns out you don't like them, you're not out so much and have a better chance of recouping part of your cost if you resell the item on ebay or at your garage sale.

More to come...there are always new gizmos and gadgets popping up.