12 near essentials for when you pick up your travel trailer

Outdoors Made Simple
Feb 1, 2022
7 min read

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Once you’ve decided which travel trailer you are going to buy and have made your purchase it seems like the hard part should be behind you, But wait! You now have to pick up your trailer and figure out how to actually use it! Today we are going to focus on a few nice to have things that will help you get to a campground and get set up. If you want to know the must have things, see our blog post on the 11 things you must have.

We picked up our camper many miles from home and headed directly to a campground. We bought our trailer from a Canadian manufacturer (you can read about it here) and because the US/Canadian boarder was closed, they had to bring it to us and basically drop it off in a parking lot!

Just like the basics, you can think about these in 5 categories: Driving, Stability, Water, Power, and Sewer. You can just skip to the list here or read on to see more detail about each.

Or watch the video:

Driving

We will assume that you have your hitch figured out (but we will do a post on that in the future). There are 2 things you might want in the driving category: weight distribution or sway bars and a backup camera.

Weight distribution and sway control

Many trailers require weight distribution and some would argue that this belongs on the must have list, it does for us. However, like all things associated with towing, this is complicated and depends on both your trailer and your tow vehicle. Some trailers don't allow weight distribution, see our post on the Rove Lite for an example. We have towed with and without our weight distribution set up and we found if we are going over 50mph they make a big difference in the amount of sway so we don't tow without them if we are going on the freeway. Some tow vehicles say don’t use them, some say you must - that is a discussion for another day. Suffice it to say, the larger your trailer the more likely it is you will need some kind of weight distribution set up and sway control but each set up is unique so you will have to do your research to figure out what works for you.

Weight distribution systems are 2 solid bars that connect between your trailer and your tow vehicle and distribute the weight of the trailer across all of the axels. Contrary to popular opinion, some weight distribution systems also include sway control and some do not. I found this video to be particularly helpful in explaining the different systems and how they work:

We have the fastaway e2 hitch for our weight distribution. This model also provides some sway control. We will not link to a particular model or brand here because you need to figure out what works for your trailer and tow vehicle.

Backup camera

We almost didn't get a back up camera and you would definitely be fine without one. However, it is very nice to have. Not only does it help you see where you are parking (with parking lines like your car backup cam) it also can help you see behind the trailer while you are driving and ours have a microphone so you can hear your parking partner shouting that you are going the wrong way. This isn't going to save you from the inevitable arguments that happen while you are backing up a trailer.

They make and sell a lot of these for a reason:

But it might make your life a little easier. We have this one by Furrion.

Stability

For many of you there may be nothing else in the near essential category for stability after covering your essentials. We store our camper in a storage lot and we also live on a busy street in a city and have to park our trailer in front of our house when we are getting ready to camp. Because of this, we have 2 security devices that you may or may not need to consider.

Wheel lock

The Alto is very light, we can move it by hand and because of that we have a minor paranoia that someone could come and pull it down the street by hand before trying to move it with a vehicle. Therefore, we have a boot style clamp on our wheel. We chose this one after doing a bunch of research on these style of locks. While none are tamper proof, this one seems to have the most features that deter thieves from being able to remove the lock (or the wheel which is common with these).

Hitch lock

We also have a hitch lock so that someone can’t come and connect the trailer to a hitch and drive away with it. Similar to the wheel lock, we chose this one after researching failures and theft deterrent features of this kind of lock. Hopefully these are an overkill but better safe than sorry in our situation.

Beefy front wheel

You do need something for your tongue jack to sit on - this is essential. We use a block of wood or the leveling blocks we talked about in the essentials post. Not essential but helpful is a front wheel. Depending on how heavy your trailer is this may or may not make sense. We bought a dual air filled front wheel which we put on when we are going to have to move the Alto by hand . The smaller plastic wheels can dig into the dirt if you are on soft ground and make your hand moving job much harder. If you think you might adjust the position of your trailer slightly by hand having an air filled or dual front wheel will make your life easier. Unfortunately, we can't find a US source for the one we have. It was purchased with our trailer. Those who are ordering an Alto, it is the double front tongue jack wheel that usually comes with the caravan mover, you will see it on the order sheet.

You might try a dual hard wheel like this one but we can't speak for this because we have not used it personally.

Power

Hey you made it to the campsite, you are level and stable! Good job! That is the hard part. The rest of this is easy. Assuming you have the 2 essentials - power cord and a surge protector - you may not need anything else. We do have 2 more essential-to-us tools, a 15A to 30A power adapter and a bag to hold your power cord.

Power adapter

If you plan to plug your trailer in at home you will need a 15A to 30A or 50A adapter unless you have a 30 or 50 amp plug (you would have intentionally installed this so if that doesn't sound right, you do not have one). You connect this between your normal power outlet or extension cord to your trailer and your trailer power cord.

Here is what the 15 amp to 30 amp looks like (this is what we have). It has 3 prongs.

Here is what the 15 amp to 50 amp looks like. It has 4 prongs.

Storage Bag

We have these handy storage bags for our electrical and water hoses. They keep them contained nicely so we can easily grab them out of the storage bin we keep them in. Not essential but sure handy!

Water

Power done! Water is next (again assuming you are at a campground with water hookups). This is also pretty easy, you already have 2 things: a RV grade water hose, a pressure regulator. You might want a water filter and a bag for your water hose.

Water filter

This is not essential but can make your water taste a little better. We have this one.

Storage Bag

This is the exact same bag listed above. We just bought 2!

Sewer

Everyone's favorite part of their RV! Assuming you have your sewer hose and gloves, there are 3 things you might (probably yes for 1 at least) want to have.

Toilet Paper

Why on earth would we put toilet paper as close to essential but not essential? Not because we are anti-toilet paper but because depending on what you do with your toilet paper you may or may not need something specific for an RV. If you are putting it down the toilet, then you will need RV quality toilet paper so that it dissolves better. We have an only #1 and no TP in the toilet rule so we don't HAVE to have the special RV toilet paper. There is a surprising amount of disagreement in the world about whether this is essential, which kinds are truly are considered appropriate for RV toilets etc (bet you never thought this post with go this way!).

Black Tank Treatment

Happy Camper or some kind of black tank treatment is nice to have. Some people don't use this, some people do. it can help to brake down waste and keep oder away. We usually put some into a gallon of water and dump it into the toilet when we start camping.

Sewer Elbow

This can be handy for helping to keep your sewer hose pointed in the right direction when you empty your tanks. Sometimes they want to move all over the place and you really don't want to spew sewage all over yourself or someone else!

That's it! Those are the 12 things you probably want to consider in order to get to and set up your new trailer at a campsite. Check out our 11 essentials and stay tuned for a fun-to-have but in no way essential post coming soon.