Camping Checklist – 13 Essential Items

Do a quick Google search for camping check lists and you’ll be inundated with options. The lists are endless. Everything from clothes for each season to tools for every possible mechanical malaise will be on those lists. But not this one. Consider this a list of what we overlooked. Maybe you can learn from our mistakes.

Having just returned form our first trip in the new camper, this is not just the list of stuff we forgot. It’s things we failed to plan for or talk about, but it does include things we actually needed, but didn’t have.

Kris and I didn’t search the internet for this stuff. We learned these the hard way over 3 days and 2 nights in the RV. A couple of these things became apparent as  soon as we started backing into our campsite.  Knowing that what we learned could actually make your life easier, we started a list. At the very least, you should get a laugh out of our mistakes.

The Essential Checklist For Our Next Camping Trip

Think through your storage arrangement.  Our tow vehicle is an 07 Chevy Trailblazer. The Chevy performed quite well on the maiden voyage. It also had a place for everything, or so I thought. The Chevy has this convenient storage well, just under the rear cargo area. A portion of the floor lifts like a small car trunk, reveling a handy place to stow the towing gear we need to pull our camp trailer. I stored tow mirrors, wood blocks and needed pieces of the load leveling hitch in this compartment. The plan was to load the vehicle, drive to the RV storage lot, grab the trailer and head for the campground.

Lesson One, Rethink Storage

Needless to say, as I was loading our cooler, suitcase and other items, the light bulb went off in my head.  I’m going to have to unpack all this stuff to connect trailer. All of the hitch accessories are under the floor I’ve  just covered with our gear. Although I caught this one in the driveway, it did take 15 minutes to rearrange everything.

Lesson Two, Try It On

No, not your new fleece pullover. Try all the towing gear for fit. In this case, the towing mirrors were the issue. We purchased extended mirrors that attach to the factory side mirrors. I tried one out when we bought them, but not both. I will need to do a fair amount of fine tuning to make the extended mirror work on the passenger side.

It may not have been the wisest choice, but we rolled with only the factory mirrors. I could see beside us and a small distance behind, but we certainly would have been better off with the tow mirrors in place.

Lesson Three, Do You Have Enough Water Hose?

I will start by admitting we failed on this one. We bought a 25 foot RV water hose. We reserved a site with water and electric. Although the electrical box was right where we expected it, the water was way off. The water connection was an easy 40 feet away, and on the wrong side of the campsite.

Even if we had an extra 25 feet of RV water hose, I doubt we would have connected to the faucet for the duration of the trip. It would have stretched around the fire pit and across our walking path. Good fortune prevailed, and the reserved site next to us was still unoccupied. We backed into that spot, filled our water tank and went back to our spot. Our camper is equipped with tank monitors, so it was good training for us as we checked levels regularly.

Lesson 4, Have Clear Expectations About Backing Up

I have to preface this one with a reminder of how I pay the bills. I’m a truck driver. I’ve pulled 53 foot trailers across the lower 48 and many Canadian provinces. Most would be shocked at some of the places I’ve managed to back a semi-truck and trailer. But remember, that trailer is long, and the wheels are close to the rear of the trailer. Putting those trailers into a loading dock really is easier than it looks.Our camping trailer is only 21 feet long, and the axle is a good distance forward of the rear bumper. It only takes 7 or 8 feet of backing up to do some serious damage to your equipment and your weekend.

As I would recommend for anyone, Kris and I first got out and walked our campsite, deciding exactly where we’d spot the trailer. I also told her to yell STOP if I was close to hitting anything. Being a big fan of the old get out and look philosophy, I stopped about halfway through the back-up maneuver to take another look. I was surprised to see a tree within 6 inches of the driver’s side of the trailer.

What Kris and I failed to talk about was what I could and couldn’t see. The tree was on the driver’s side, so she assumed I could see it. We nearly started our stay at the campground with a damaged RV.

Be clear on 3 things when you’re backing into a camping spot.

1. Whoever is guiding you needs to always be in sight. If they disappear behind the rig, wait until they appear in the other mirror. No line of sight equals no movement.
2. If you need to be guided, the guide directs what way the rear bumper needs to move, not the whole rig. You two should be able to do this without much verbiage. It just takes a little practice.
3. The only word that needs to be spoken clearly and loud enough to hear is STOP.

On a side note, watching other people back into their spot has always provided good quality entertainment for the two of us. It’s a task we’ve always had mastered. We’re just out of practice.

Lesson 5, Bring Along Enough Wood Blocks

Our camp sight was far from flat and level. We spotted the trailer where we knew it would level best, but it took a few wood blocks. Remember, those corner stabilizing jacks weren’t made to make big leveling adjustments. Using your wheels and tongue jack, you get things as close as you can, then dial it in when you lower the stabilizers.

It’s always best to have a piece of 2 by 6 wood under each jack. You may even have to pull 1 or 2 of your tires up on a block or two to get close. In our case, we barely had enough to level the trailer, but 2 of the stabilizers were on the ground. Had we had any rain, that jack could have easily sunk into the wet ground.

Lesson 6, That Extra Step

Seriously, we needed an extra step. Our shiny new camper was filled with water, connected to electricity and perfectly leveled on the highest point of the campsite. One of the features we love about this little RV is it’s ease of entry and exit, but not this time. When I lowered it’s single step, it was still a good 20 inches off the sloped ground.

This certainly wasn’t a big deal, but it did make getting in and out a little more difficult, especially while moving gear in and out. We’ve yet to decide exactly what to keep on hand for this issue. I doubt this site was typical in the leveling department, but we will buy or build something to keep on board.

Lesson 7, Fighting An Army Of Mosquitoes

We’ve experienced more than our share of heavy rain lately. With so much standing water around, our first fight with the pesky mosquitoes was just getting the camper out of storage. Needless to say, the campground was full of the little pests. And guess what we failed to bring?

This is why we kept our first trip so close to home. We were also only 6 or 7 miles from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. We were off like flies (pun intended) to chase down some bug spray, citronella candles or whatever else we could find. The trip would be dreadful without some kind of repellent.

Lesson 8, The Door Mat

The lack of a door mat wasn’t the end of the world, but it did make keeping dirt out of the camper a bit harder. You could kick your shoes off and climb in, but with that big second step, you’d have a tough time landing in your shoes.

We’ve yet to decide on any kind of indoor-outdoor area rug, but we will definitely have an entry mat to place right outside the door on the next trip.

Lesson 9 and 10, Navigation

We decided to combine these two because they both help with navigating forest roads, side roads and small towns. Heading into town in search of anti-mosquito paraphernalia took us down a few winding side roads. Although we both have smartphones, state forests aren’t known for their fantastic internet connections. We had one line of 1X. No 4G or 3G, but 1X. A phone call may have been possible, but Google Maps wasn’t happening.

Being lovers of anything involving a road trip, we always have a recent road atlas on board. Not this time. To add insult to injury, the Chevy has no built-in compass. Although we found our way without either the map or the compass, we realized the importance of both.

Lesson 11, A Little Privacy Please

As you can tell, we are covering these in the order of occurrence. At this point we were still on our first day. As darkness fell, we started closing the blinds. This is when we discovered the lack of window covering in the entry door. Being that the bathroom door is right across from the entry, this is not a window we’d leave uncovered all night. Kris hung a dish towel ever the screen door as a temporary measure, but a permanent solution is on it’s way.

Window coverings are a discovery process in a new RV. I had to modify the decorative window valences around the dinette after our first test drive. Using typical home improvement store curtain rods, they easily bounced off their mounts. A little squeeze of each end with pliers solved the problem.

Lesson 12, Paperwork

Being settled in for the night, I had questions about our new toy. The camper may have come from Keystone, but it was built with quite a few other brand name products. From the cook top to the water heater, each and every accessory has it’s own manual. I wanted bone up on how everything worked.

One particularly irritating little quirk is the way the stereo is mounted into the cabinet, just under the sink. We both kept bumping into it, accidentally turning it on. I also had a few questions about the awning that came installed on the camper.

Digging through the packet of instruction books, installation guides and warranties, I found no operator’s manuals for the stereo or the awning. One quick call to the dealer will get that one taken care of, but I should’ve checked when we took delivery.

Lesson 13, Gloves For Draining The Tanks

We made this discovery on our way out. Certain things require not going cheap, and that septic hose is one of them. We bought a fairly high end drain hose with quality fittings on either end. As I was sitting in line behind another RV, it hit me. I didn’t have gloves.

Needless to say, I was grateful everything was brand spanking new. And, yes, I scrubbed quite thoroughly in the public restroom before we left the parking lot. I always kept a pair of rubber gloves in a side box of any RV we’ve owned, but I sure overlooked it this time.

Doing The Glove Thing Differently This Time

Stepping out of the public restroom after scrubbing my hands, I watched the guy behind us as he completed his task of draining his tanks. After stowing the hose in the bumper and closing up the side compartment, he strolled over to the nearby garbage dumpster and tossed his disposable gloves in the trash. Needless to say, we now have a box of 100 latex gloves. I’m good for at least 50 camping trips.

Classic or Griswold, and Really Bad Ads

We might not get both into every episode, but both are still on the table.

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