I am writing this post to let new owners of a Jayco Jayfeather X213 or similar recreational vehicle what they need to bring along with them on their camping trips. The camper comes well equipped from the factory but several items are required to make your vehicle completely usable and enjoyable on a camping trip.
Bare necessities
- Utilitiy Connections
- 30A to 20A Adapter – You might not be able to run everything but you will at least have power if you need it and there isn’t a 30A Socket
- Also handy when you are setting up at home since more often than not you will not have a 30A exterior socket on your home.
- A heavy-duty extension cord would also be good. If using a cable over 25 feet get a 10 Guage one instead.
- Sewer Hose and Clear Elbow – If you are going to make a sewer connection or clean out you black and grey tanks
- The clear elbow makes it easy to tell when your black tank is clean
- You will also need black tank deodorizer. I prefer the Porta-Pak portioned tablets but there are many options out there
- Rapid dissolving toilet tissue is also highly recommended, the last thing you want to do while camping is unclog your sewer line
- A hose support is also good to have to keep sewer moving in the right direction
- Fresh Water Hose – to connect to the city water connection
- Optionally a fresh water filter will remove some of the bad odors that can be found in some campground water
- Sometimes water pressure can be amazingly high at campgrounds and as such can damage some of the plumbing in your camper. This makes a water pressure regulator also good to have and is cheap insurance against over pressure damage.
- If you are dry-camping but have access to a spigot you can fill your freshwater tank with this water bandit.
- Important: Never use your freshwater hose to connect to anything other than city water and never use it near a dump station!
- 30A to 20A Adapter – You might not be able to run everything but you will at least have power if you need it and there isn’t a 30A Socket
- Site Setup
- Wheel chocks such as these light weight ones for lots of travel or these heavy duty X-Chocks when you are going to be around for longer
- I have these One-step chocks and they lock the wheels nearly as well as X-chocks but setup way faster
- Leveling blocks like the Tri-Lynx to level your camper side to side
- You could use wood, however you don’t want to carry wet or insect laden wood between campsites.
- Some campgrounds may prohibit any wood from being used
- Stabilizer Jack Pads – to protect your landing gear from rusting on the ground
- A Tongue Jack Stand or something hard like the stabilizer jack pads for the tongue jack
- A tongue or coupler lock – nothing can shorten a trip like a missing camper
- Wheel chocks such as these light weight ones for lots of travel or these heavy duty X-Chocks when you are going to be around for longer
Once you have the basic supplies for your site setup you can prepare your camper for the road. I always go-through my pre-travel checklist to make sure I am ready to go.