Greetings!
We’re Tony & Peggy Barthel and we’re working to help you be a StressLess Camper.
We’re Tony & Peggy Barthel and we’re working to help you be a StressLess Camper.
Explanation of commonly-used RV terms and phrases to help you learn more about the RV lifestyle.
Boondocking is finding places to camp that aren’t developed campgrounds. You use your RV’s features to camp off the grid.
Sometimes this can include remote places but some people boondock in others’ homes or at businesses. In fact Boondockers Welcome is a business specifically designed to match campers with places to camp.
We have a boondocking reference page here.
Moochdocking is camping in friends driveways or otherwise relying on the good will of people in your life who allow you to stay.
For example, we moochdock at several of our own relatives’ homes. It’s a great way to see friends or relatives without having to sleep in their houses.
Many newer RVs have a “black tank flush.” Essentially this is like a little sprinkler inside the RV’s black tank. This is designed to help keep the tank cleaner and help make sure the sensors work properly.
The idea is to attach a hose to a fitting outside the RV and then run pressurized water into the tank via this little sprinkler head contraption. We have this in our own travel trailer and use it frequently. When we dump the black tank we will flush the tank with clean water via the black tank flush and, thus far, our sensors still work properly.
A cartridge toilet uses a cartridge assembly which you can remove and dump. These can be dumped in an outhouse, pit toilet or even any proper toilet.
You can find a review of the Camco Travel Toilet here.
The unkind term China Bomb refers to very inexpensive tires built primarily for travel trailers and used by manufacturers. These tires can often fail catastrophically, even as spare tires. The frequency of these failures is surprisingly common.
This very unkind and politically-incorrect term is nonetheless rather common. It refers to the price-focused tires that are equipped on many travel trailers.
These tires are often made in China to very low standards and we’ve seen them pop even on the spare tire carrier under a cover.
Unfortunately this myth is real and we do not recommend riding on these tires further than the distance between the RV dealership and a tire store where you can get something like Goodyear Endurance travel trailer tires.
This is less the case on motorized RVs where the chassis manufacturer tends to favor better brands of tires.
Tony has a cross-section of a laminated RV wall showing the various layers inside.
Many RVs are built of multiple layers of material that are glued together either in a vacuum or pinch roller process. Delamination can occur when something in this process fails for some reason, sometimes due to water intrusion.
Often water intrusion is the reason. Many RVs use a wood material as part of the lamination process. When water gets into the wall is can cause the wood to deteriorate which then causes a failure of the laminated walls. This can appear as ripples or bubbles in the wall.
When this happens it can be a fairly costly repair to make depending on the extent and cause of the issue. The best way to avoid delamination is to make sure water doesn’t get into the walls of your RV. Did you know that almost all RV manufacturers recommend inspecting all the seals around your RV every 90 days?
We have a podcast episode about maintaining the seals on your RV to avoid delamination here.
We also have an article with a detailed explanation of RV construction types and why they matter here.
Azdel is a composite panel used in the lamination of RV walls. It has been used in RV exterior and interior sidewall, ceilings, and more since 2006. They are produced using a patented blend of polypropylene and fiberglass to create a strong, lightweight, quiet, weather and temperature resistant, odorless and environmentally friendly wall that will increase the life of your RV.
With over three times the insulation value, excellent strength, superior sound reduction, and half the weight of wood, our composite material increases durability, comfort and lightens your adventure. The reduced weight helps keep fuel costs down, and the interior noise reduction helps provide a quieter and more peaceful stay.
Further, being a composite, it is not subject to deterioration in the event there is water intrusion in the wall of an RV lowering the likelihood of delamination.
What is overlanding? Essentially it’s finding a place to camp in remote locations. The practice became popular in Australia and is now spreading all over the world.
Some of the newer campers like the Lance Evolution, Palomino Pause and Ember Overland campers are specifically designed to be able to fit into this style.
Essentially overlanding also means taking whatever you’re going to need with you and finding a place that’s remote, often requiring vehicles capable of navigating challenging off-road routes.
