Gizmos and Gadgets

For over a year and a half I’ve been following the RV discussion lists and they are such a wealth of information on all types of topics. There is information for the wannabe RV’er to financial information (investing tips) to maintenance and repair info. On the Excel Owner forum I’ve read about numerous “gizmos and gadgets” that other RV’ers have recommended. I thought that most of these musings have been by guys who love to roam the RV aisle at Walmart or their local Lowes in search of a new tool or toy that they felt they couldn’t live without for their RV. Well, they’ve made a believer out of me. One of the things that has come up on the discussion lists was to buy a Watts pressure regulator instead of the ones you find at Walmart. They cost $38 at Lowes vs. $5 for the blue ones at Walmart. Well worth the money ! The day of a forceful shower has returned!.....Before, it had gotten to the point where although water was coming out the shower head, there wasn’t enough pressure and it was causing it to dribble out of the backflow area. What a difference in pressure this new device makes. The Watts regulator is pre-set at 50 psi and is made of brass with cleanable screen, etc.
Other things worth having on hand that you’ll need for your RV: screw in stakes to tie down your awning (keeps you from experiencing a run away awning if the wind should come up), quick connectors for your water supply…. Makes it a snap to hook up your water supply.
For inside the RV we bought a shoe caddy that conceals all of our shoes and fits just inside the door. When you open it, the door drops down and reveals 3 rows of shelving where you put your shoes. A great $30 investment to organize your shoes and to keep them handy. For the closet area where the washer/dryer would go, we opted to use this as more storage and not buy a washer/dryer. We bought a 5 drawer storage unit at Lowes which is great for storing a variety of food supplies. We use one drawer for snacks, one for baking supplies, one for saran, Ziploc bags,etc, one for canned goods and the last one for misc items. It cost about $60 for the unit, optional plastic lid (that goes on top to make a useable surface)and casters. This was another worthwhile investment and lets us have ample room for food supplies.
Another couple items for inside the RV that we made was a photo gallery for the bedroom TV area. Over the opening where a TV would normally slide in, I put a large photo frame that has the Plexiglas cover that slides over a box frame. I had to cut it down to fit the area and found a damaged one at A.C Moore for $3 and taped and cut it using my circular saw. I then used industrial Velcro with 3 points of attachment so that it is “hinged”. This allowed us to store items behind the photo collage with easy access. It also gave us more room to display pictures of our kids and grandkids.
In the kitchen area, I wanted to get rid of the butcher block knife holder (and not clutter up the countertop) so I created a knife holder that I secured inside a cabinet door. I took some rigid foam board and cut it to fit within the cupboard door panel. This holds all the knives that we use, except for the big bread knife (was too long to fit down through the foam board). For this one, I made a soft sheath out of double bubble insulation that I can slide the knife into and then we store the knife under the solid surface counter that goes over the 3 burner range. It’s concealed but handy for when we need to slice up bread.