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July 2, 2019
Welcome to another edition of RV Travel’s Daily Tips newsletter. Here you’ll find helpful RV-related and small-space living tips from the pros, travel advice, a handy website of the day, our favorite RVing-related products and, of course, a good laugh. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate your readership.
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FEATURED TIP
What’s better than a carabiner? Well, an S-Biner, of course!
By veteran RVer Mike Sokol
I had just about given up on carabiners altogether to clip my ever-increasing bunch of keys to my belt loop. The cheap aluminum ones just fall apart, and the carabiner loop can disconnect itself from the keys, and what good is that? So, wandering around in the key section of Lowe’s the other day I found a new style of carabiner key hanger that’s not a carabiner at all.
Called an S-Biner, it has two separate S-sections that can be individually locked to hang the keys on your belt loop or backpack or wherever. Made out of stainless steel, it feels tough as nails. Best part is, it’s only $3.99 at your big box store or on Amazon.
*****
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MORE QUICK TIPS
Have the kids, but keep summer dirt out
Taking the kids or grandkids to the beach? An RV park with a swimming pool? You know what comes with them when they run inside to dry off – dirt, dirt, dirt! Here’s a trick to eliminate at least some of the track-off. Assign an outside towel hook so the towels stay off the ground, and the kids don’t need to come in for every splash. Suction cup hooks stick to the side of many slick-sided RVs (think about temporarily mounting them near the outside shower). Here are some on Amazon. —Idea and photo from decoretoo.com.
Careful with that fresh water hose
Keep your hoses and your health safe. Never allow anything other than potable water in your fresh water tank. NEVER EVER use the hose at the dump station to refill your water tank – borrowing from the song, “Nobody knows the trouble it’s seen,” or the bacteria count it carries. Keep your own fresh water hose carefully isolated from anything that could contaminate it. We keep ours wrapped up carefully in plastic, separated from sewer hoses. And if purchasing a fresh water hose, make sure it’s made for drinking water. Get ’em at your nearby big box store or RV supplier.
Do you have a tip? Send it to Russ (at) rvtravel.com
BONUS TIP
BONUS TIPWe love any tip that helps us stay organized at the campsite – life is so easy when things are in place! Here’s a good way to keep your utensils or cooking supplies organized: Keep them in an old 6-pack beer carrier. You can find more tips like this one right here. (Oh, and click on the image to make it bigger.)
WEBSITE OF THE DAY
The best RV park in every state
Boy, talk about wanderlust! If these 50 parks don’t make you want to book a campsite and get travelin’, something is wrong!
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
What’s the difference between a well-dressed man on a bike and a poorly-dressed man on a unicycle?
Attire.
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Mike Sokol, Greg Illes, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising director: Emily Woodbury. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
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Everything in this newsletter is true to the best of our knowledge. But we occasionally get something wrong. We’re just human! So don’t go spending $10,000 on something we said was good simply because we said so, or fixing something according to what we suggested (check with your own technician first). Maybe we made a mistake. Tips and/or comments in this newsletter are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of RVtravel.com or this newsletter.
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This newsletter is copyright 2019 by RVtravel.com
I was not afraid of heights until I fell from a 50 foot ladder. Luckily I was on the bottom rung!
Ouch! 😉 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
It is not that I am afraid of heights , I am just much more careful then when I was 40 years younger. And about the feature tip from Mike Sokol about the S-biner. I used to use one of those a few years ago but what I use now is a convert stainless steel quick link that my belt goes thru,to that I use a Nite Ize locking D-shaped wire carabiner with mini S-biner that the keys are on.
When I was a child, I climbed tall trees and crawled along narrow ledges. As I got older, I worked on roofs — as long as I was concentrating on the job. The older I got, the lower I was willing to climb. Eventually, i joined the crew of a tall ship, but only with the proviso that I didn’t have to go aloft. Nowadays, I will not climb any higher than I am willing to fall. I guess I could justify all this by saying that with age comes wisdom.
I don’t actually have acrophobia but I have gained a very healthy level of respect for heights… I was happily shoveling snow off my roof when I stepped backward off the roof and completely destroyed one leg. Knee still doesn’t work right, so i “ratchet” my legs up and down ladders in case it folds unexpectedly.
A bigger phobia for me is being under a car, after spending an afternoon pinned following a jack failure. Jackstand saved me from compartment syndrome, but too stuck to pull myself out.
Not as long as I have a solid surface under my feet or am strapped in really well on an amusement park ride. But flimsy surfaces or hanging by a rope from the side of a rock face…NO WAY!
Heights don’t bother me much. When I was younger (40+ years ago) I did a lot of climbing. When you’ve hung off the edge of El Capitan in Yosemite on a piece of 3/8″ rope and looked at the valley floor 3000 feet below you can’t have a fear of heights! ?
The comment Police are out in full today. Didn’t get my comment printed about the dangers lurking around those potable water hydrants at RV parks and such. Oh well just tried to say something that might help folks stay on the road out of the hospital along their travels. Probably worded to strongly offending someone who sees themselves among those who don’t respect others right to cleanliness, and good health.
Can walk OUTSIDE the CN Tower in Toronto, 1168 feet, 116 stories, high, but more timid about 2 stories. A great experience and worth the $275. Google CN Tower Edge Walk
I’m not afraid of heights…..I can stand and look up at a tall building with no problem. It’s depths that scare the hell out of me.
Good one!
😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Chose not afraid of heights, but after 30 years of window washing on ladders and roofs I will qualify that answer. My reply when asked when I’m at the top of a tall ladder is “just enough”
I hate heights but can override it. For instance a stack boot started leaking on my house. Roofing company wanted $500 to fix it. My cheapo attitude ($15 worth of parts) beat out the fear of being on a second story roof.
Never have been afraid of heights. Even rode the Sky Rider zip line at Royal Gorge at the ripe old age of 71!
I can stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon but will never get on a plane again.
Thanks Mike, have had the same problems as you had. Will give that “clip” a try next time I see it for sale.
Not afraid of heights, just falling
Not afraid of falling…,
Just hitting the ground 🙂
The survey hasn’t worked right the last couple times I used it. After I click on my answer, it goes to a blank page.
I’ll add to that. This survey doesn’t work in the area of “ save my data”. I have to enter my info every time…,
Including now. Again 🙁
The Survey on Fear of Heights: Never used to be afraid of heights in my younger days. But, I guess it has to do with Age and balance now days. I really hate climbing ladders anymore, unless I absolutely have to get up on the roof or something else.
I don’t have a problem climbing the ladder. It’s what I climbed up there to do that scares me . . .
I climb the ladder to get up on the roof and forget why I went up there! 🙂