One of the things we did was camp a weekend in the driveway to learn about the camper. This year our 1st trip is to a campground 1/2 hour from the house. Sort of a shakedown carouse to see if we forgot anything. Every time we go out I make a list of things forgotten and things that we might do better.
Good advise Dave.. lol. I am a retired Boat Capt. turned RV tech for the last 5 years and you absolutely right.. One big thing I suggest you talk about is those cheap, (and dangerous) Chinese tires that are on every new trailer these days.. Blowouts can cause a lot of damage..
I could have sworn you were with me on my first camping trip. 😂 I suffered all you mentioned but solo.. no guidance and no advice but my intuition and looks from my canine companion 🐕. Thirty five years later, still camping and having fun on my journey called "life". Thank you for sharing 🤣👍I truly enjoyed hearing your story.
I was fortunate that my first true outing was alone, nobody to distract or see my panic. I cannot imagine what it truly is like with the screaming kids in the back seat would be like. My cousin told me about that one
We had a tow bar added this time because the trailer ( we bought a used 2017 Zinger Lite Z18BH ) sways a bit even though it's only 22 feet long and weighs 3300 lbs. empty. It was worth it. I also had to adjust the brake controller because it was over tight and grabbed my truck when I tapped the brakes. It works great now. I've been towing for years but there's always something to learn or relearn doing again. Calm down there Bucco, maybe I LIKE smelling bad ( lol ). most RV showers don't accommodate my big bear butt but I make due with Sam's club adult size pre-wet wash cloths that even smell good or I have the wife hose me down in the outdoor shower stall. Live and learn is one of my mantras. We just sold our 35 foot motor home today because we wanted to downsize without having to tow a vehicle and pulling the Zinger ( we named her Ziva DeeRV ) but through the years we went from tents to pop ups to a home built to a motor home and now back to a trailer and every stage of that evolution was interesting and each has it's own issues in use. We're committed to the camper cause and die hard git 'er done kind of people. Have a great day and carry on my good camper buddy. Besides that, in the final analysis what you mostly do is sleep in the rig.
Great info. Dave!! I needed this. So here’s a suggestion for another video for us newbies. Next time you go camping, can you videotape the set up for pulling the camper and set up when you actually get to a camp site?
Cheap items worth their weight in gold: Magnetic stick-on bubble levels, stackable leveling blocks, drill and bit to operate stabilizing scissor jacks, 90 degree elbow for the water connection, Clorox wipes and disposable gloves.
We bought a 2nd hand ginourmous pop up, got a 4 pin on car and needed 7 pin with brake controller. Got 10 minutes on highway and BAM goes the tire(shoulda checked the air b4 leaving), finally got it home...parked it in the yard and loaded it up, got the right tow hitch set up, decided on our way to campground- we'll go thru the local dump to get weighed, discovered we were 3100lbs and had a towload of 2800..pop up was 2400lbs dry🤪reality? Had to sell it to buy smaller one. Ended up buying 2 pop ups and a travel trailer in 2 months😲😆🤫but 3 try's the charm!!😍❤‼️ Got a Bobbie! Which Dave did a video of...go watch that one too!!!🤣😍👫🙋♀️👍🇨🇦🤪😲😆🤫😍❤‼️
@@davesrvchannel4717 Dave, call me curious..I just bought a trailer tongue weigh scale..you lower your trailer hitch on it and it tells you your tongue weight! A girl and her gadgets! It was around $24.
When you arrive at your RV park, go around a make sure ALL indoor water fittings are tight. I had the nut on the back of the city water connection port come loose and flooded the floor of my camper. I had a camper and an indoor swimming pool!!! LOL Not a fun ordeal!!
Great tip! Man I hate to hear that. I watched a camper next to mine once end up like that. From then on, I would go outside and turn on water when needed, and cut off when not in use or when we were away from camper.
@@davesrvchannel4717 not at all.. been researching for a year on what to get.. think I am looking at a class c for a single senior would be the safest..
Good video, but you failed to mention that you were Boondocking. If they’re hooked up in a park they’re going to have free flow and water ‘ Limited hot’ and they’re going to have plenty of electricity. Hopefully people are educated enough to get surge protectors white water hoses and water regulators.
