Issue 2717
Today’s thought
“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Dog Day!
On this day in history: 1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
Tip of the day
Safe towing speed—How fast is too fast for towing?
By Cheri Sicard
What is a safe towing speed? How fast is too fast to tow? The team at Keep Your Daydream wanted to cover this topic for a long time. That’s because they say they frequently get passed by all sorts of RVs, from massive Class A’s to SUVs towing single-axle trailers.
That led them to the question, “Is there a right speed to tow?”
To get the answer, they reached out to three RV experts, including JD from Big Truck Big RV, Kenny Brooks from Airstream Trippin’, and Eric Johnson from TechnoRV. Here’s what they said.
Ask Dave
Can an RV tire blow out because of its size?
Dear Dave,
I read so much about tires blowing out, but it’s never happened to me… until yesterday. Not on my camper, but on my 6X10 enclosed work trailer. It was empty at the time. I could not believe the force with which it blew and the damage it did, blowing the wheel well half off and the running light attached to it. The tire was shredded…. Continue reading Sharon’s question and Dave’s answer.
The small but mighty Reese trailer hitch coupler lock
The Reese trailer hitch coupler lock keeps your travel trailer safe! The way it’s set up, it is impossible to get bolt cutters around it and it’s incredibly sturdy and well-made. It’s inexpensive, small and ensures that the coupler stays closed while driving. It can even be used when unhitched! Learn more about it here.
Article and video
Luxury meets muscle: A look at the Airstream Rangeline on the Ram ProMaster chassis
By Cheri Sicard
The Airstream Rangeline Base brings muscle and elegance together in a compact Class B camper van built on the Ram ProMaster 3500 chassis. In the video at the end of this post, Laura, known as That RV Girl, shares her excitement for this model, calling out her personal love for Ram vehicles. At just under 21-feet long and about 9-and-a-half-feet tall (including the A/C), this van keeps travel simple and carefree. Check it out.
Featured article
The “Fasta Pasta” pasta cooker cooks pasta perfectly; minimal water and no propane use
By Nanci Dixon
This is my new favorite “As seen on TV” pasta cooker. Making pasta in an RV takes a lot of water, adds steam to the environment, and can use up a lot of propane. This quick pasta maker eliminates all of that, making it perfect for the RV. Read my review.
Reader poll
What is your favorite way to eat eggs?
Every RVer needs one of these on their dinette table. It’s classic! And fun! And you can’t help but try it several times a day! Click here.
Quick tip
“Pirate” light stealing your precious gas?
“Unless you are using your oven a lot, leave the pilot light turned off when you are not cooking. It uses a surprising amount of propane.” —From Motorhomes Made Easy
On this day last year…
- Tip: Did you know that wheel chocks expire? They do!
- RV review: 2025 Ember RV Touring Edition 28MSL—problem solver
- Ask Dave: How to get rid of mold in and around RV toilet
- Video: Super-stealth camper looks like yard waste—See it to believe it!
- Featured article: The one thing you absolutely MUST pack when RVing
Website of the day
Camp In South Dakota
Whether you’re in South Dakota to admire the beautiful Badlands, watch some adorable prairie dogs, or experience the giant jackalope at Wall Drug, this website will help you find the best place to camp.
? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ?
Do you ever wish you had a guard dog? A big, scary dog with a big, scary bark? It would surely scare off intruders, don’t you think? Well, now you can have just that… without the big, scary dog! It’s possible!
And the survey says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers close to 5,000 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 10 percent say their current RV is too big for them.
• 71 percent make their bed every morning (and 6 percent never make their bed!).
• 49 percent say they or their partner are very capable of fixing things that go wrong in the RV, and that they can fix almost everything.
Recent poll: Do you run your RV’s air conditioner when away from your rig?
Trivia
Back in 1985, Coca-Cola decided to rebrand and introduce a new formula. Coke drinkers were not happy and wanted the old formula back. Coke’s corporate hotline received about 1,500 angry calls a day from consumers requesting they switch back to the old formula. A short three months later, the old formula was reintroduced and it was such a big deal (Breaking news!) that ABC interrupted their showing of “General Hospital” to announce the news to the world.
BUMPER SNICKER: “Marriage is Grand. Divorce is 100 Grand.”
Readers’ pet of the day
“Millie (full name: Millie Lucia Di Piave) is a foster fail. We were in Italy taking care of 11 cats, and she captured our hearts. She got a passport and immigrated in 2018. She loves to be with us anywhere and comes when we call her name. She brings great joy to our lives.” —Pauline Klein
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in our Sunday RV Travel newsletter. No blurry photos, please! Please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
• RVing with Dogs group on Facebook. You’ll love it.
Leave here with a laugh
Today’s weather forecast across the nation
THIS MAP UPDATES TWICE A DAY
Visit Current National Radar Weather Map
Current fire and smoke map from AirNow
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RVtravel.com All-Star Team
Click here for information about our staff and how to contact us.
Quick tip “Pirate” light stealing your precious gas? If we are using the propane only for cooking, we will turn the propane on/off at the tank, as needed. We do this because propane leaks happen. Yes, they are rare; it’s just a little layer of protection.
Propane is dangerous. Need to pay attention when using it.
Cats needing passports? The absurdity of government on full display again.
That was a joke. She was referring to a health certificate and probably proof of vaccination.
Want to get thru the canadian crossings? Hand over a file to the border agent and tell them it has all of your dogs info and say it is in here somewhere. I got the look but told to move along. Sigh. Did have me concerned but with 3 dogs it was like ok.
Quick tip “Pirate” light stealing your precious gas? – Every other propane appliance in our trailer has either DSI (direct spark ignition) or a built-in Piezo electric sparker. My gas grill uses a battery operated sparker. So why do RV ovens still have match ignited pilot lights?
We don’t leave the pilot running. Our oven is behind an island sink, the door makes it impossible to be directly in front of the oven, the pilot is in the dark recesses below the bottom shelf. It’s bloody hard to bend over from the side, hold the pilot knob on the other side and get my head and a match down under the shelf to see and reach way back and light the pilot.
Are there actually any modern RVs that have appliances with pilot lights? I thought those disappeared decades ago.
We could leave our oven pilot light on, and suspect most Suburban 3 burner stoves could, but why? It’s some aerobic exercise to light the oven, but why waste propane and add heat to the trailer?
Our 5th wheel is a 2017, the oven has a pilot light so not quite decades ago. Pain in the behind to light tho.
Regarding today’s trivia about coke and Cracker Barrel like the old saying any publicity is good publicity plus with controversy you get it for free
RE: South Dakota Travel
Like most travelers we would scoot across I-90 to visit the Badlands & Black Hills area. Was and still is a favorite destination of ours.
But a couple years ago at an RV show we saw a booth specifically for Northeast South Dakota and picked up a brochure. We planned a trip to the area and spent three weeks there. If you like History & Art, and beautiful rural “lakes country” settings, you’ll enjoy it too!
While there, hop across the MN border to Pipestone Nat’l Monument.
https://www.sdglaciallakes.com/
Thanks for the info Mikal..
I had an “As Seen on TV” pasta cooker very similar to the one mentioned in the article many years ago. It was a cylinder. While it worked, it wasn’t very impressive and I didn’t keep it. I find I can usually cook pasta in a small amount of water (ala Hamburger Helper style), or, I assemble the dish the night before and refrigerate it until time to cook. This greatly reduces the fuel needed to cook the dish. (There are recipes for preparing pasta this way.)
For todays Reader Poll I selected scrambled, but I really like my eggs in a cake!
Thank you, Emily and Diane! Have a great day and safe travels!
I chuckle at the weather map…it often times (like today) shows the whole state of AZ in rain, as I live here, outside of Phoenix, we haven’t had a drop of rain in months!
Millie looks like a real charmer
lucky you met up
thanks for sharing