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If you’ve ever bought a RV (brand new or new-to-you) then you know that not everything comes included – especially RV niceties. Expect to be searching Google for RV accessories near me a lot! Even brand new models need customizing to fit your liking. It’s similar to buying a house or renting an apartment, you’ve got to make it feel like YOUR home. Even if you LOVE everything about your RV there are a few additional things you’ll need to purchase before you hit the road.
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Amazon has taken our shopping habits and injected them with steroids. We can buy literally anything from the comfort of our own homes. The Amazon fairies make it so simple to click on the app and start shopping; their engineers know the algorithm and know exactly what you want. There’s plenty of things recommended by the algorithm to buy for your RV; these range from accessories, necessities, RV niceties, and doo-dads. But with millions of options, what do you actually need? Glad you asked, here’s some of our favorite Amazon buys for RV life.
RV Niceties, Necessities, & Accessories on the Amazon Shopping List
Here’s the link to the Amazon wishlist that I’ll be referencing throughout this blog if you’d like to see it for yourself. You can easily purchase through this link (nope, we won’t get paid if you do), or you can click any individual item below as you’re reading to add it to your Amazon cart. Let’s jump into the RV niceties!
RV Necessities:
Water Pressure Regulator: This bad boy is a must. Occasionally when camping, you will find campgrounds that have extremely high water pressure (we’ve seen 100+ psi). This is way too high for an RV. High pressure is a death sentence for your cheaper plastic and PVC piping in your RV. It is recommended to have your water pressure around 40-50 psi. A water pressure regulator reduces the pressure down to a level that is safe for your camper.
Electrical Surge Protector: Another must-have. You can not safely hook up your camper straight to shore power. Shore power (or power pedestal, or electric box) is the in-ground power that you connect your RV to at the campground, these typically have both 30amp and 50amp hookups. If for any reason the power pedestal was to fail, that current will travel directly into your home on wheels and fry some serious bacon. Let’s not do that … okay?
Unique RV Digest-It Holding Tank Treatment: RVs go hand-in-hand with poop jokes, and for good reason. If you aren’t properly treating your black tank, you will have a (brown) mess on your hands – pun intended.
Scared of having your own holding tank mishap? Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. We have heard plenty of horror stories of people going to dump and the unfortunate things that occur at the dump station including the dreaded sewer shower. Unique’s products are literally the $h**t! pun intended.
They make everything liquid so you don’t have to worry about clogs, poop pyramids, or issues at that dump station. All you have to do is drop a pod in with some water each time after you use the dump station. Unique works its magic and you don’t have to worry.
This is a 10/10 product and works the best out of several tank treatment products we’ve tried – seriously buy some TODAY. We don’t have any affiliation with them but we would happily be a brand ambassador for them!
Sewer Hose Kit: Camco makes a LOT of great products for RVs. Make sure you keep them in mind when browsing parts because they are a reputable brand. I am in no way affiliated with them, but maybe one day they’ll hit me up too. Opting for a kit with a clear elbow will making dumping MUCH easier, allowing you to see if there are any issues and when your tank is empty. Be sure to get a second hose – sometimes the ground sewer connection is far away and sometimes your first hose may get punctured and unusable – a backup is always a good idea.
RV Sewer Hose Caps: You MUST have an extra one or two of these handy. If you’re in a class C like us, or any other rig with low clearance, it’s inevitable that you’ll hit a bump and crack or lose your cap in the process. It’s also possible that you lose one at the dump station.
You just never know; so, grab an extra for less than $10 and be prepared. Before we bought this one with the included tether, we lost our cap in a parking lot. We hopped out to grab it and before we could, we watched as someone krrrrunccched our cap with their car tires … lol, RV life.
RV Accessories:
Portable Ceiling Fans: These are a life saver, especially in spring and summer. Which is probably when you want to be camping anyway, right?! So, just go ahead and order two or three right now. You can’t go wrong with these fans as they can make it feel much cooler when temperatures outside begin to climb. This brand is USB powered which is an added bonus for times when you may be running off of house power and are conserving energy – no need to crank that noisy generator! This is one of our favorite RV accessories for the summer!
Outside Patio Rugs: Do you want to track all kinds of dirt, sand, and mud into your RV? Well you won’t have to if you have a nice outdoor rug. These will help you keep the outdoors outdoors and dramatically cut down on the amount of dirt getting tracked into your RV. They will also help keep your campsite clean for those of you that like to walk barefoot outside.
This is the one we recommend because it’s the one (even the same pattern) that we use! It’s survived almost a year on the road and is showing minimal signs of use. They also make cool ones with LED lights made into the perimeter of them if you’re feeling fancy.
Outdoor String Lights: Want your campsite to be a shining star in the night sky? Well you can with these string lights! Not only do the Edison style bulbs look awesome, but they also are outdoor and weather-rated. String these between trees at the campsite, along the ground, or from your awning to illuminate your space.
Just be sure to turn them off when you go to bed so you don’t keep anyone up with your lights. And believe me, the campground police will not be happy with you if you leave your lights on all night shining in your neighbor’s window. If you want to make sure won’t forget to turn them off, consider using a Christmas light timer like this one.
RV Vent Shades: These are great for keeping the heat out of your roof vents. In the spring and summer temperatures outside soar and you’ll feel it getting warmer inside your RV too. Block out the sun and heat coming in from your roof vents with these. They attach with velcro so they are removable and foldable if you want partial light. They are also reflective and come in a variety of colors. Grab one for each of your roof vents (we have three!) – you can’t go wrong with these RV accessories.
Wheel Chocks: You place these under your wheels when you get parked in a new camp site so that you don’t roll away – literally. You can also use a brick, a block of wood, or a freakin’ rock if you really wanted to. PLEASE please be sure to use your chocks if you’re parked on ANY type of incline – but they’re always a good idea regardless.
X-scissor jacks: For you peeps with fifth wheels and travel trailers, you’ve probably got two wheels on each side of your trailer, or maybe even three. With a scissor jack, you can anchor two neighboring tires to each other which will not allow them to roll you away. Wowzers!
RV Niceties:
Hydra Hide Gloves: Why do I recommend these bad boys? Because, they will keep your hands clean from any potential “brown problems” while also allowing you to get a good grip on your connections at the dump station. Some people like to use disposable gloves, like the doctor’s office uses, but you literally throw away money that way. Piling up disposable gloves in the trash is not good for the environment, is costly, and they are prone to tearing – ew. We highly recommend getting these affordable RV niceties.
Weboost for RV: Have you ever been camping and had no cell signal?Welcome to the club, most RVers have. Having no cell signal is a very “typical” camping experience – especially when staying in state or national parks. These parks can be extremely remote – protected lands don’t have cell phone towers on them. This baby is expensive, but it’s worth it. A Weboost takes what little amount of signal there may be available in the airwaves, converts it, and them amplifies it back out to your devices to be a usable signal. We have had great luck getting signal in remote places with zero bars up to 3 bars or so. Worth it!
RV Water Filter: This is almost a necessity, but you don’t technicallyyyyy require one. Most of all, these filters ensure the water coming into your RV is clean and safe – you never know who was camping in the space before you. Hopefully it wasn’t the guy using the city water connection to flush his tanks, yum brownwater backwash. I understand that some people think all water is water, and they’re allowed to feel that way, but I don’t.
Doo-dads & RV Niceties
Stick-on Wall Hooks: These might seem dumb at first, but you’ll thank me later. These little hooks peel and stick on just about any surface and can hold decor, baskets, fans, lights, etc. We’ve used about 20 throughout our RV and they are easily removed without causing damage. Imagine what you can hang with these RV niceties.
Fuse Assortment: RVs have complex electrical systems that include fuses and breakers. RVs have traditional house-style breakers, but they also have car-style breakers aka fuses. You never know when a 10 amp fuse will blow. Sometimes a fix is as simple as swamping out a fuse for your lights or water pump.
Sewer Hose Seal: You can place this little doo-dad down into the ground sewer connection before you hook up. Then, you place your elbow or waste connection inside this fitting. Basically, it is a cone shape that tapers down so that you guarantee your sewer hose will fit any ground connection and will stay secure. Not all ground connections are universal, this allows you to adapt to multiple sizes.
Leveling Blocks: These are must-have RV accessories. There’s a billion different colors and sizes of these things, but what matters is that you get a ton of them. We have 40 blocks total for when parked on major inclines. Since our RV doesn’t have a leveling system or jack stands we rely heavily on these. Those with leveling systems or stabilizing jacks will not require nearly as many.
Cabinet Tension Rods: After you drive down a windy road to a campsite, park, and open your cabinet doors – what happens? Everything falls out in an avalanche because it was shaken up during the drive. These tension rods can be inserted into smaller (medicine-sized cabinets) to hold everything in place from falling out. They also make large sizes for bigger cabinets.
BONUS Section!
Want to see a few bonus RV niceties for your rig? Keep reading!
Other Camping & Unique RV Accessories:
Clear Storage Bins: You’ll learn that keeping a small fridge clean is quite a task. Organizing the fridge is the best start, so grab some clear storage bins on Amazon with this link or at your local TJ Maxx. These also go great in cabinets and other small spaces.
Dish Drying Rack: In such a small place, it’s hard to find a place to dry your dishes. After washing, plop them down on this drying rack suspended over your sink to dry.
Extension Cord: You’ll need extra outlets, there’s not nearly enough within your small space. You’ll need to charge phones, laptops, video game consoles, cameras, etc.
Outlet Extender: These things are quite handy … they basically take your two normal outlets and convert them into 5 outlets + USB + LED light on there.
What Did We Miss?
Did we miss your favorite RV accessories, doo-dad or thing-a-ma-bob? If it didn’t make the list, please write our PR team and complain. Kidding, please don’t do that. I am the PR team. What other tips and tricks do you have? Please drop a comment below so we can talk about it!
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