Essential RV tools for StressLess Camping
What are the most important tools to have in an RV? This is a list of the most important tools you might want to put in your RV to keep things in top shape.
An RV is a hand-built vehicle made in small batches that is subjected to the equivalent of a magnitude 4.5 earthquake while going through a hurricane. As such it’s very likely that you’re going to need to fix something in your RV. Writing this as someone who isn’t all that handy in practice, but can build incredible things in my mind, I’ve collected a series of items that are must haves in my tool box for covering most RV repairs.
Keeping things screwed together
One of the first things I bought for our RV was a multi tool. There are a lot of people who make these including Leatherman, Gerber, Winchester and there’s the Swiss Army knife, of course. My goal with an RV is to have things that do more than one thing so the multi tool that lives in my RV is a Gerber Center-Drive multi-tool. I like this tool because it offers all the usual things you expect in a multi-tool including a knife and pliers but there is also a bit/driver set that comes with it and you’re going to be driving screws. Trust me.
Speaking of driving screws I have a video about some power tools that get to join me on the journey in the travel trailer.
While on the subject of screws, you’re going to want some extras. Literally on my first trip out in the trailer the stove came apart, a recurring theme for this stove since our inaugural trip. In fact, there’s almost not a single trip we go on where I don’t have to screw something back together with the stove and, yes, I’ve tried Loc-Tite.
On that first trip I noticed that the cover handle of the stove only had one screw in it and, for the life of me, I couldn’t find the missing screw on the ground or anywhere. So I went to a local hardware store and bought a package of various screws and bolts. Four years later about a third of these have found a home somewhere in the camper after the screw put in by the factory somehow disappeared. It’s good to have this little collection of screws and nuts.
I’m not done screwing yet as I also have a set of nut drivers and the ones I bought came with a 90° driver. This helps to get things screwed back together in the oddest spots, which is where they’re going to come undone. Trust me on this.
Other ways to fasten things in an RV
I also have a roll of Velcro fasteners. Not all the items in the tool box are for those “oh no” moments, some are all about convenience. For example, I can use these to Velcro the electric lantern to a tree or keep our Thermacell mosquito repellant lantern from blowing off the stand. This roll of Velcro has come in handy plenty of times.
There are some campers who also Velcro your awning closed as they roll down the road, though certainly not necessary. I’m a big believer in doing things more permanently and this hasn’t proven to be a problem. However, you’ll want to make sure that you have a signal to whomever is camping with you to be absolutely sure that the awning is ready to be deployed or you could cause damage if you try to extend it while it’s held closed with Velcro. That’s where the next item comes in.
In addition to Velcro fasteners, I also use these Nite Ize gear ties quite a bit. They have proven to be very handy.
The kinds of tape we keep in our RV tool box
There are all kinds of tape in my tool kit but one of the things I have is a roll of Post-It tape. This has proven to be such an incredibly useful thing. We started using it in the commercial kitchen environment of our bed & breakfast so we would know what was in a container and when it was first prepared as a health code requirement. We still use it for this but you can temporarily label all sorts of things or even cover annoying little LEDs that keep you up at night.
The beauty of this product is that it’s PostIt so it sticks well, but then comes off when you’re done with it without leaving sticky residue. You can use it for reminders, labels, covers and more. We cover the awning switch with a strip of this when the Velcro is around the awning arm so we don’t forget to remove the Velcro before deploying the awning.
Of course Duct tape is in this collection as well. Duct tape is the force that holds the universe together and I particularly like the Gorilla brand of tape because that stuff is just amazing. I’ve had a piece of my power tongue jack covered with Gorilla tape for over a year now.
I’ve also had to temporarily attach things and, for this reason, I also bring painter’s tape. It’s different than duct tape as it is designed to be there temporarily and you don’t feel bad about using a ton of it when something stupid happens, like something comes off the outside of the trailer but hasn’t broken off enough that you want to detach it. Painter’s tape is also good for holding screws and hinges and such while you’re re-attaching something.
The last thing in the tape department is the pipe tape that you put on threads of pipe when attaching things so they don’t leak. I’ve used this when attaching gas lines (though I realize there is also tape specifically for this purpose but, again, we’re multitasking here). I’ve also used it on park hose bibs that have seen better days and don’t want to waste tons of water just spraying it on me.
Forcing the issue - hammers and more
I also have a rubber mallet. I’ve used this for everything from trying to loosen a sewer cap at a campground to making sure my wheel chocks are firmly seated.
Oh, and a unitasker that I like is the Camco sewer cap wrench. I don’t need this thing often but it’s great when I do and it’s there.
Also from Camco is a sewer hose wrench. That darned thing always wants to stick together when you’re in a hurry and this plastic accessory has proven itself useful on more than one occasion.
Surprisingly a tape measure has come in handy, too. We have just a tiny one that was a promotional giveaway at some RV show but we’ve used it to figure out what kind of rug to get at an RV show or how long a hose we need to reach from the camper to the gas fire pit.
As a pro tip, if you’re using an iPhone with newer software on it it also comes with a tape measure feature but I haven’t had great success with this. Still, it’s there.
Lastly, I have a bunch of lag bolts and washers in the tool box. This might seem odd but I use them instead of tent stakes to keep the RV carpet down. It’s really easy to drive a lag bolt into the ground with my electric drill.
It’s also easy to pound a tent stake into the ground with a rubber mallet. But you can easily remove the lag bolt from the ground with the drill whereas pulling up tent stakes is a hernia surgeon’s dream come true.
Lastly, I love having a roll of twine and a roll of fishing line in the toolbox. You just never know when you need to hold something down and the Velcro won’t do the trick.
Essentially those are the tools in my toolbox. This small tool box of goodies has made my camping life much easier and barely takes up any space in the storage cabinet of my 19’ travel trailer.
Do you have anything that I neglected? I’m always happy to add it here!
