5 Must Have Items for Our Itty Bitty RV
There are so many lists about what to get and what not to get. Why you should buy this or that and where you can buy it. The internet is filled with content creators, YouTubers, and bloggers sharing their laundry list of items you need to spend your money on. Are you tired of that? Hope not – because here is OUR list of must have items! XD
Like all new RVers, we were extremely excited to begin our adventures with our very expensive rig. The use of “expensive” is not meant as a flex. It’s more a description indicating that we probably shouldn’t have spent the money on it but did anyway (no regrets here!) After bringing Our Itty Bitty RV home we realized that we haven’t hemorrhaged enough cash so we we dance with the Amazon Devil and became a frequent stop for our local Amazon delivery guy. Chuck is now on our Christmas card list and we are invited to his retirement party this summer (just kidding – we weren’t invited)
In all seriousness, RV gear doesn’t stop with just the RV itself. If you ever get involved in RVing you will quickly realize that there are some essential items that you’ll need to make your experience that much better. Detailed below is OUR list of essential items that has made all the difference in our travels with Our Itty Bitty Rv.
You’ll notice that our list below doesn’t have any links to our items. Your specific list will vary and we highly recommend during your research prior to purchasing any items. Just copy and paste the name of each item into your Google Search bar and you will find many buying options.
1. Wireless Back Up Camera
Honestly, we don’t know how this is an option and not a required piece of equipment for travel trailers. There is no way that we would feel confident navigating the highways of New York and beyond without knowing what exactly is going on behind our RV. This camera has already saved us numerous times from getting rear-ended by an impatient driver zooming up on our backside. Our RV dealer set us up with the Voyager 4.3″ Wireless RV Backup Camera System for our Airstream Basecamp 16x and we are very happy with its features.
2. RF Wireless Brake Controller
Having a travel trailer entails a proper hitch system. For RV noobs like us, we were concerned about trailer sway. We never towed anything before much less a travel trailer. Trailer sway occurs when the travel trailer is moving at a speed greater than the tow vehicle. Without an efficient trailer brake system, that can lead to horrible accidents. Our wireless brake controller enables us to also slow down the trailer when applying the brakes in our tow vehicle.
Weight distribution is also extremely important. Here is a great video which explains the effects of proper weight distribution: https://youtu.be/JeEEC5eVNCk
3. Garmin – dezl OTR700 7 inches GPS Truck Navigator
Once you are hitched up to your travel trailer, you no longer can travel on certain roads. Our Garmin GPS Truck Navigator plans our RV friendly route for us and keeps us informed of roads that we shouldn’t be on. This unit actually recognizes us as a box truck with similar dimensions and weight. That way, there will be no mistake in its guidance of our path.
4. Bump Stops
Did you know that travel trailers don’t have suspensions? Well, we didn’t know that. Let me clarify: this wasn’t explicitly obvious to us until we took Our Itty Bitty RV on the George Washington Bridge. Our trailer bounced around and gave us a bit of jostling as we made our way over the bridge. After some research, we discovered that this bumpety bump feeling can be remedied with an aftermarket suspension upgrade called bump stops. Learn more about bump stops here: https://youtu.be/HSg5QYdum20
We have since upgraded our OEM bump stops with Timbren bump stops and our ride is so much smoother.
5. Level Mate Pro
A level camper is a happy camper! Once you get to a camp site you don’t want to spend any more time than necessary setting yourself up. This begins with making sure that your trailer is level. The LevelMate Pro is a device that enables us to approach a site and determine how level Our Itty Bitty RV is by checking the phone app. We no longer have to use a leveling block on multiple points of the RV to figure out if we are balanced. Definitely a game changer.
