By Cheri Sicard
The YouTube shorts video below from RV Tips & Travels may be very short on time, but it shares a BRILLIANT RV screen door tip that’s especially useful if you have pets or small children. It costs nothing and needs no installation, assuming your RV already has this accessory (and most do).
The screen door has to be the cheapest and flimsiest part of any rig. And that’s saying a lot, especially considering the subpar construction in many of today’s new RVs. After a while, the plastic latches get worn and you could easily just push the door open with very little pressure.
I learned this the hard way when one day my beloved Chihuahua mix Budley was able to push my RV’s screen door open to chase after a woman walking her Rottweiler down the street (I never said he had common sense).
Too bad I learned this hack AFTER that incident. Although I was able to get him safely back.
So what is this brilliant hack? Simply close your grab handle over the screen door.
It takes seconds and you can do this from either the inside or the outside of the RV.
With the grab handle blocking the screen door, your pet or child will not be able to simply push through the latch and open the door. YES!
##RVT1091
I’m looking for the video on fixing the flimsy screen door handle. Might as well be closed with rubber bands
There are videos that debunk being unable to open an RV door with the grab bar put over the door. A small child or pet may lack the strength, but a teen or adult can fairly easily ‘pop’ the door and the grab bar will swing out to the open position.
What the grab bar hack won’t do is prevent a pet from clawing its way through the thin screening material. Either add a grate inside the lower screen, or replace the material with pet resistant screen available from most hardware stores.
Our grab handle was designed not to close over the door. If it can close over the door it can also be used by a thief to lock you into the RV while he pilfers your truck or outside belongings. I first heard of that happening during a campfire chat with fellow RV’ers. One had that happen to them while boonddocking. They had to use the emergency exit window to get out of the RV. Someone else said that kids had done that to them as a prank. So be mindful that a grab handle that can close over the door can be used against you as well.
I have never seen one that couldn’t be mounted on either side of the door depending on which way the door opens.
I would be concerned about the safety issues of blocking the operation of the screen door with the handle. If I needed to get out in a hurry, that could slow down my exit.
Wow what a neat trick