Water Pressure Regulator

For water connection

Occasionally you will find very high water pressure at some campgrounds. So high in fact, that it can cause leaks in your trailer's plumbing system. To be safe, always connect a pressure regulator between the spigot and your hose.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• This product prevents plumbing leaks in the trailer caused by too much water pressure

Water Filter

At times you will also find crummy water at the campground. Even if you purchase drinking water to consume, you really don't want it getting into your trailer's plumbing system. We always attach a filter like this product between the hose and the trailer.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Allows me to brush my teeth at the bathroom sink without worrying that I'm getting bad water in my mouth!

Water Hose (safe for drinking water)

When connecting your trailer to a water source, be sure to use only a hose specifically made for drinking water. Using a standard garden hose will give you a bad taste that can possibly stay with your trailer's plumbing for a long time. With a small travel trailer, you can generally park pretty close to the water source on your site. We've found that 25' has been sufficient for everywhere we've stayed. If you know you'll need more length, or aren't sure, I'd consider getting two hoses instead of having to deal with a long one when not needed.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• The water tastes good when I brush my teeth

Hitch Lock

You certainly want to protect your investment. When your trailer is not hitched up and is accessible, you always risk that it could be stolen. The small locks used to secure the hitch to your tow vehicle can easily be cut. While there are no guarantees, a product like this hitch lock provides an additional level of security. We always use it at campgrounds when we are not hooked up, and also when our trailer is stored behind our locked fence at home...just in case!

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Quick and easy way to help prevent theft
• Takes up very little space when not being used

Tire Pressure Gauge

One of the biggest causes of tire failure with small travel trailers is not having them inflated properly. They should always be inflated to the manufacturer's recommendation, which is generally the maximum pressure indicated on the sidewall. When traveling, I try to check mine each morning before we start to drive.

In addition to your trailer, you should also check your tow vehicle tires regularly. You may also have bikes that have tires that need to be inflated occasionally.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• The extended hose on this product makes it easier to use in many cases.
• The gauge also holds the reading until you press the button to release it. This allows you to read it after you remove from the tire.

You should also read my article entitled Are Your Tires Still Safe? to learn more about trailer tires.

Trailer Leveling Blocks

Most of the campsites we've stayed at are not level. Some may be close, but others are way off. You need a way to raise one side of your trailer. The solution is to put leveling blocks under the wheel(s) on one side.

While this product works well, there is another solution that we've ended up using. If you have some scrap 2"x8" or 2"x10" wood, you can cut your own blocks to carry with you. However, if you need to purchase the wood, these specifically designed leveling blocks are a better solution, and probably not a lot expensive than the wood.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Being heavy duty plastic, these are much easier to clean than wood blocks.

Here's an article I wrote entitled My Favorite Inexpensive Camping Accessory. It's about a few ways we've ended up using scrap woodblocks as an alternative to commercial products like this.

Black Water Tank Cleaner

Toilet Master Blaster

If your small travel trailer has a toilet, you have a black water tank. This is what we use to help clean it out. It attaches to a hose that we put through our bathroom window, than stick the wand down into the toilet and spray the heck out of the tank. It really blasts the water in the tank to loosen anything that wants to stick. The wand also has a valve on the handle to conveniently turn the water on and off and adjust the pressure.

When you start out with your first small travel trailer, cleaning out the black water tank seems like the worst part. In reality, it's not really a big deal. This helps a lot and so does the next item.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• It really helps get the black water tank cleaned out well
• The valve in the handle makes it easy to control the water flow

Read my article about Two Things to Simplify Cleaning Your Sewer Tank to learn more about how we clean out the tank in our small travel trailer, and how this product really helps.

RV Water Heater Tank Cleaner

If you're small travel trailer has a water heater, it will normally have an anode rod which deteriorates and needs to be changed over time. As it does, it leaves sediment in the bottom of the water heater tank. This rinser attaches to a garden hose and allows you to rinse out the inside of your water heater to remove any particles from the deteriorating anode.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Well, it just works!

RV Sewer Hose

If you have a toilet, you'll need one of these. I always read about how well others liked this hose (at least as well as you can actually like a sewer hose). When it came time to replace our original one I decided to give it a try. It is far superior to the hose we got with the trailer. It has over 15,000 ratings with an average close to a full 5 stars on Amazon.

This is a great quality, heavy duty product, with swivel ends that make it easy to get connected. It also has caps for each end to seal it up when you are done using it. The drain adapter is removable which allows you to store the hose in standard 4" square bumpers.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Having swivel ends eliminates the hose getting tangled up
• The end caps assure that any remaining water stays within the hose and doesn't leak out causing our bumper to rust.

Small Space Heater

We have an A/C unit in our trailer that puts out heat when needed, but it's loud. This little unit has put out enough heat to keep us warm at night when there was a bit of snow on the ground outside. It's small enough to easily fit in one of our overhead storage bays above the bed when not in use. It has a thermostat to control the level of heat desired.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Puts out a lot of heat
• Much quieter than running our A/C unit on the heat cycle
• Doesn't take up much room

Jack Stands

Jack stands are used support your trailer should you want to take the wheels off, or to take some of the weight off your tires while the wheels are on. We use them for two purposes:

• When we are going to be at a campsite for more than a couple of days, I put one under each corner of the frame to add stability. It causes our trailer to feel rock solid as we walk around inside.
• When storing our trailer for an extended time (like every winter), I raise the trailer and put it on jack stands. This takes some of the weight off the tires and helps prevent them from developing flat spots.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• These are pretty heavy duty and easily support the weight of our small trailer.

Flat Screen TV Mount

For a small TV

When our Casita was made, most small TVs were still put on a shelf. After a few trips, we decided we wanted to mount a small flat screen TV under our storage cabinet above the bed. This was the mount I selected. It was pretty inexpensive yet good quality. It comes apart making it easy to mount, but is very heavy duty once installed. The TV tilts up and down, and swivels side to side, allowing us to adjust the viewing angle for either watching in bed or from other areas within our trailer.

NOTE: Having covered over 20,000 miles since I installed this, I have to say that it's done a great job. It has handled all the vibration well, and let us easily adjust the TV for viewing at our table or in bed. It was much better than the shelf we used to sit the TV on.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Eliminated a shelf we used to have for the TV
• It's great quality and has held up really well

RV Sewer Tank and Hose Rinser

I would never give this one up, although I don't think it's quite as great as they make it out to be in their advertising. It connects between the sewer hose and your trailer when you are draining, and allows you to connect your outdoor garden hose to provide rinse water. I find it much easier to get the black water tank cleaned out good than before I had this.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• I can see when the drainage is getting clear and know that the tank is pretty clean.
• It allows me to add more rinse water back into the storage tanks to further rinse and drain.
• The rinse water can be switched to aim in the other direction to rinse out the sewer hose when I'm finished with the tank.

Read my article about Two Things to Simplify Cleaning Your Sewer Tank to learn more about how we clean out the tank in our small travel trailer, and how this product really helps.

Trailer Hitch Ball Lubricant

With most hitches, lubricating the ball will reduce wear. With all hitches, a light coat will also make it easier for the hitch coupler to slip on the ball when you're hooking up and are not perfectly aligned.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Sometimes I used to have trouble getting the hitch to slide down over the ball easily when hitching up. With a light coat of this lubricant on the ball it always slides on easily.

Bungee Cords

When we first started camping many years ago, a good friend told me to get a bag of bungee cords. When I asked him why, he replied "You'll figure it out". He was right. We find so many uses for them that I can't imagine camping without them. There are many, many options, but the link here to Amazon is for a nice assortment that will help you with a lot of various needs that arise.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• It's the most flexible thing we carry with us. We use it to tie things down in the truck, string lights at our campsite, keep racoons out of our cooler, and many other things that come up all the time.

Hose "Y" Splitter

Most campgrounds have only a single spigot for each campsite. You'll need one of these if you want to connect both your drinking water hose and an outside garden hose at the same time. Be sure to get one like this where you can turn the water off for each hose when not in use. Unfortunately, in my experience, most of these seem to break after a while so I now stay away from the cheapest ones. This is not the actual product we have, but this one has very good user ratings/reviews on Amazon.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Eliminates having to switch hose connections when using outside hose

Rear Camera

You've probably already realized how helpful it would be to see behind your trailer when backing up, and also when driving down the highway. I checked out a lot of cameras & monitors, but settled on this solution because it was wireless, had good reviews, and was quite affordable. My truck didn't have a rear camera, so I even purchased a second camera (only) and installed it on the back of the truck to use when I don't have the trailer connected.

If you're handy, you should find it pretty easy to install, but will depend somewhat on your trailer. I found a really easy solution for ours. Check out the article I wrote (with lots of photos) to see how I did it.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Much better than having my wife yell at me when I'm about to back into something!
• I love being able to see traffic behind me when on the highway
• Affordable

Read my article titled "Have you ever thought about a rear camera for your trailer?" to learn more about this with details (and photos) on how I installed it

Hitch Alignment Rods

When first learning to tow a trailer, there are two things you have to get the hang of. The first is how to back up with your trailer connected. The second is how to line up your tow vehicle with your trailer when you are getting hooked up. There are a lot of solutions, but these rods are what I've used. They really work pretty well and are cheaper than most other solutions. In my case, I quit using them once I got used to hooking up, but they were a great tool to learn with.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Much better than having my wife try to guide me in getting the truck lined up with the trailer hitch.
• Inexpensive

Read my article about Four tips to simplify backing up a trailer to understand more about how these work and will help you.

National Geographic Road Atlas

Depending upon a GPS when traveling often presents problems, especially if you travel old highways and backroads like we do. Having good printed road maps is key. This Atlas has good maps of the U.S, Canada and Mexico. It also has plastic covers and spiral binding to help it hold up well.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• I like seeing the big picture and having the ability to make some choices that I can't make with the GPS
• It works regardless of where I am

Read my article entitled The problems using GPS when traveling to understand more about how printed maps help us while on the road.

JoeShade Sun Shade Umbrella

Our "poor man's" awning

Denny's opinion: GREAT FOR PORTABLE SHADE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN AWNING

I wish our trailer had an awning, but we bought it used and it didn't have one. I just can't part with the money to buy a good quality one and have it installed. This is our solution. It's portable, doesn't take up a lot of storage space in our truck, goes up quickly, and comes down quickly. Most importantly, it allows two of us to sit in the shade outside our trailer. We really do love Joe Shade!

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• It's quick and easy to setup
• I can adjust it to give us shade morning or afternoon

Here's an article I wrote all about Joe Shade and why we like it so well.

Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer

If you pull a travel trailer, you really should check your wheel bearing temperatures at each stop to be sure they are not overheating. (See the explanation under Things to Keep in Mind Throughout the Day on the On the Road page in my Beginner's Guide.) It's a rare, but huge potential problem that can leave you stranded. The most common way to check them is to put your hand on each hub to see if it's excessively hot. This works, but usually gets your hand dirty. Should you ever find you have a bearing overheating, you'll also likely burn your hand finding out!

This digital laser thermometer is a much better solution. You simply aim the laser gun at your wheel hub and pull the trigger. You'll see the red laser beam wherever you aim it, and get an immediate digital reading of temperature. Best of all, no dirty hands.

As a bonus, it's also just a cool gadget. For anyone like me, they'll find all kinds of things to point it at!

Please Note...
I can't suggest what the normal temperature of your wheel hubs should be. I've found that ours vary a lot depending upon the outside temperature and how much sun is hitting the wheels. I've had people tell me that when they had a bearing fail, the wheel hub was hot enough to burn their hand. I think the key is to keep an eye on it whenever you stop, and make sure it's not starting to rise significantly.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Keeps my hands clean when checking wheel bearing temperature

Here's an article I wrote entitled Three of my All-time Favorite Camping Accessories that has more information about this and why we like it.

Single Burner Stove

I've had one of these for 20 years and wouldn't camp without it. It puts out a lot of flame and gets very hot, much more than a traditional camp stove. When we are out with our trailer, I use it almost daily to percolate coffee each morning. It's also good for heating up a pot of water. Since ours is so old, this one is a newer version of what we have.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• Gets much hotter than our standard camp stove

Here's an article I wrote entitled Three of my All-time Favorite Camping Accessories that has more information about this and why we like it.

Stove Top Coffee Percolator

This is an old-fashioned stove-top percolator, much like what my mom had when I was a kid. It certainly takes me back to simpler times...and it makes great tasting coffee!

It works great with the one-burner stove above, sitting on the picnic, while I sit outside enjoying the start of a new day.

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• It makes great coffee outdoors
• The bubbles remind me of my mom's when I was a kid

Here's an article I wrote entitled Three of my All-time Favorite Camping Accessories that has more information about this and why we like it.

Wall File

There's not a lot of table top and counter space in our small trailer. We were constantly moving the stack of paper (park brochures, notes, magazines, etc.) we'd accumulate from our table, to the stove cover, to the bed and back. I drilled a couple of holes in a dividing wall beside the table and mounted one of these files. It's great, and now our stack stays smaller-we throw more out!

Why this product is on our travel trailer accessories list

• It frees up our limited counter space