By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Of all the gear RVers have to struggle with, some of the most unruly in terms of storage are coils of hose and electrical cords. They all seem to have a marvelous ability to unravel and get scrambled in your basement storage compartment, making it a real mess when it comes time to set up camp.
Sure, there are cord reels and hose reels – they work to a limited degree. We once tried a “flat hose” and reel combination that proved most unsatisfactory when the packaging didn’t warn users that the hose had to be completely unreeled before water pressure was applied. We had an interesting “experience” with an exploding hose reel on that occasion. Cord reels are rarely designed for the large-size cables needed for carrying lots of juice to an RV. They’re best kept around for “normal” yard tool extension cords.
We’ve finally found the ticket for keeping cords and hoses put together while they bump around in your storage area: reusable grocery bags. The kind of bags that the stores tout as an answer to paper versus plastic. Lightweight and durable, you can fit just about any size water hose or electrical cable common to RV use inside these critters. We coil our cords and hoses up first, then simply pop ’em in their respective bags. If there’s enough room, you may be able to tie the handles together in a loose knot for further security.
If a storage bag gets a bit dirty, pop it in a wash load – they’ll clean up and dry easily. If it gets completely out of hand, whistle on down to Walmart and pick up a new storage bag for a song.
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i use one of Harbor Freight’s small tool to corral my assorted cables used to connect my towd to the RV. Keeps them all together and easy to find. Also carry a spare pair of pins for the tow bar.
Dog food bags.
Like the bag idea! We use Mini size laundry basket for the fresh water hoses-. Keeps them coiled and ventilated. We also use multi size plastic containers without lids for the water filters, water softener and non-drinking water hoses and can stack vertically and not lay flat.
Relative “Newbee” to RVing. Long time camper. Love your newsletter. I’ve picked up some great tips like today’s shopping bag cord/hose storage. Another problem solved.
Very clever, particularly now that COVID-19 aware stores don’t allow their employees to use these bags for groceries.
Great idea. Years ago my first Roadmaster Falcon Tow bar came with a bag to keep all tow necessities together. The tow bar is long gone (after 70k miles) but the bag lives on. For water hoses I have a shallow compartment just big enough for two long hoses (one white and one green). I mounted big “L” hooks on the back wall to hang the coiled hoses on. Fortunately the coach came with a large “L” hook on the sidewall of the power bay for the 50 amp cord. For spares and extension cords I have a 5 gal bucket to coil cords into.
We actually use large trash bags which then sit inside disposable grocery bags. This keeps the dirt inside the trash bags and we don’t have to wash the grocery bags that often.