From the editors of RVtravel.com, “The RVers’ Voice of Reason.”
Thursday, August 22, 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 you.
Page Contents
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NOTICE:
We updated our server Tuesday night and encountered some technical problems. So we did not post an issue yesterday (Wednesday). Fingers crossed that we are back in action 100 percent now.
Today’s Thought
“To be alive at all is to have scars. ” —John Steinbeck
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Tooth Fairy Day.
Tip of the day
Can you leave your RV’s refrigerator running on propane while traveling?
ANSWER: While some RVers do, most RV safety experts as well as the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) recommend turning off a traditional RV absorption refrigerator at the tank when traveling. By all means, do not leave the refrigerator operating on propane at a gas station. One gas fume blown across the fridge’s pilot light could blow up your RV and everything and everybody in it, not to mention the gas station. This does happen. For many years, a gas station in Lone Pine, Calif., posted photos of such an incident — not a pretty sight.
Don’t take a break on your brakes!
Every RVer needs one of these!
Wonder what it would be like to have your brakes go out while you’re going down a long, steep grade? You might find out if your brake fluid is moisture-contaminated. Water in brake fluid boils and can wipe out your braking ability! Buy yourself a brake-fluid tester for less than $10 that warns you if there’s too much water in your fluid. Simply dip the tester into your rig’s brake fluid, and you’ll be able to see where you stand. Learn more or order.
Reader Poll
The funniest sign to hang on your camper. Click here.
The cutest dog or cat food bowl we’ve ever seen. Click here.
Helpful resources
• NATIONAL TRAFFIC AND ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION.
• ROAD AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NATION.
• WEATHER ALERTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
• CURRENT WILDFIRE REPORT.
• LATEST RV RECALLS.
Miss something?
Read our most recent articles here.
Trivia
House flies live for two to four weeks, but can hibernate in the winter. They process visual information around seven times more quickly than humans, enabling them to identify and avoid attempts to catch or swat them, since they effectively see the human’s movements in slow motion. Each female housefly can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime, in several batches of about 75 to 150. Male houseflies are sexually mature after 16 hours and females after 24.
Today’s featured category with many interesting articles:
RV awnings
Website of the day
States that require a special license to drive an RV
While you don’t need a special driver’s license to drive most kinds of RVs, there are exceptions. Here’s a rundown of state-by-state rules from Outdoorsy.com.
LED lights for RVs: Huge selection. Exceptional prices. Click.
And the survey says. . .
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 1,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• Fifty-four percent couldn’t remember ever checking beneath their RVs for loose nuts and bolts.
• Only about 6 percent of Good Sam members participate in any chapter activities.
• Just about half our readers’ RVs have either two or three slideouts.
Random RV Thought
“If you get a splinter, here’s a way to remove it without using a needle. Simply lay duct tape over the splinter, or over the sore spot if you can’t see it. Pulling the tape upward and to the side should pull the splinter out. Hey, it’s worth a try.
Leave here with a laugh
Which rock group has four guys who can’t sing or play instruments? Mount Rushmore.
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• No park Walmarts. Best directory of stores that do not allow overnight stays with RVs.
RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. 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 agree with others that have stated that the DL requirements list is inacurate, maybe even next to useless. It doesn’t seem to include any of the rules for trailers (TT or 5ers) either.
Regarding the link explaining the 2017 RV drivers license requirements. Individual states may vary but in Pa it is not what the vehicle(s) weigh but what the vehicle’s weight class it is registered at. Certainly exceeding mfg or registered max GVW or GVWC would also be a violation. The article’s frequent term “weigh” may be misleading.
Re: grills: I probably carry a ridiculous number of “cookers” at this point — RoadTrip LP grill for family cooking, mini-LP grill for just 1-2 folks, tank-top 1 burner LP stove, foldout 2 burner LP stove, tiny electric pancake and waffle makers, a pressure cooker… OK, no wonder I’m getting bigger… :-S
Re: splinter tape — heck no. Pushing duct tape on the splinter will likely drive it deeper. Besides actually carrying several proper tweezers in my medkit, *IF* I wanted to ad-hoc “peel” splinters, I’d cover it in Elmers’ Glue and let dry… just like we did as schoolkids, it peels off in a sheet of “skin” and really DOES lift any splinters it can reach, WITHOUT the push-it-deeper stage.
[v] STILL not a robot
[v] Not an alien (either type, although I am weird)
[v] Not political (for now)
[v] Not mean (unless you take my coffee away)
[v] Love RVT (fanboy!)
[v] Equal Opportunity/HUD compliant, filed with Fed in triplicate
[v] Rabies free (I think, for now, but I do bite when harrassed)
I marked as using a gas grill, but I use butane, not propane. I can use it indoors, if necessary
Combustion is toxic regardless of the fuel used. I wouldn’t use it indoors any more than I’d use a propane stove indoors (which is to say, either in moderation). Then there is the question of cooking fumes — my burgers smoke too much to cook indoors, regardless.
Re: Special license requirements. Just for kicks I opened the list and noticed that the first state (California) required a Class B NCDL if driving a vehicle over 26,000 lbs. I then clicked on “California” and read the requirements which had absolutely no listing of a Class B NCDL for driving a vehicle over 26000 lbs. It did however, stipulate if driving a “housecar” over 40 feet in length….. but that’s not listed in the initial page that has the individual state requirements.
Notice that it says any housecar over 40′ in length….does that mean that all model 40 motorhomes (that are definitely longer than 40′) need this license?
I didn’t try any of the other states, but I bet there are errors in those also.
Duplicate post
Has anyone ever tried one of the Zen Coolers? How much ice/water does it hold? They had a similar one on QVC or HSN a while ago.
I use a pellet smoker grill which doesn’t fit any of your categories, so I did not answer. Green Mountain Grills has one designed for tailgating so it fits in the basement nicely.