Must-have gear opinions??

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johnshenry

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Posts
62
Picking up the new TT next week, and thinking about what gear I will want to get.  Did a 6 week family trip in 2006 with a 28 ft class B motorhome, so I have some idea of the "mandatories".  I am thinking:

Chairs: must fold narrow, not flat, to go into the small basement hatch/door.  I'm 6' 3" 200 lbs.
Grill:  I have a department store tabletop with screw on cylinder, but I do like to grill a lot and would like something with more even heat.  Small, lightweight and easily stored.  Will like just be me and my wife at most.
Dinnerware:  I am going to get something to LEAVE in the trailer and I am not feeding the masses.  Want a 4 pc place setting that is unbreakable, but looks decent.  I saw some glazed resin sets doing some quick net searches.
A folding table of some sort: for under the awning.  This can be tricky, but in 6 weeks of travel in our 2006 trip, we ate ONE meal inside (because of flies in TX).  I do not like to lap feed, but also realize that you have to pack and store this stuff.  Assuming we have good folding chairs, looking for a nice collapsing 2 person table.  I would have no problem storing it in the SUV tow vehicle when on the road, but don't want something big.

Opinions/experiences?  Other must-haves?  Lots of stuff on line, but I always value the opinions of the "veteran" RV'ers out there.  Not afraid to spend the $$ if it is the right thing.....

Thanks...

JH
 
Corelle dinnerware comes in many styles and colors.  Their standard "set" is service for 4.  Lots of open stock extras are usually available.  I am fairly certain they are "unbreakable" and they feel like china.  They are also reasonably priced.

TV Trays can serve as a side table or a place to eat outside.  Get the nicer wooden style, not bent tube legs and masonite top models.
 
Chairs - What works for one person won't necessarily work for another due to your shape. We prefer director chairs rather than the umbrella styles, but they aren't narrow. Go to a camping store and try them all out. Look in the stores like REI too, not just RV stores.
Dishes - Another fan of Corelle. Easy to store, easy to wash, stands up to shape knives. They are breakable, but it takes a lot!
Table - We have two types: one is a metal roll a table that gets the outdoor stoves, and the other is a fold up one from Costco (but they are available at other big box stores). Plastic top, and it works great as a prep or dining table.
 
Several 'roll up' tables on the market that fold down to about the size of one of those folding bag chars that are so ubiquitous.  They're generally NOT heavy duty but will hold up a couple of plates and beers (or soda pops if that's how you roll :) ) just fine.

Honestly I think all the small super portable gas grills are underpowered.  Honestly, for campgrounds without a grill, I'd much rather have something like a smokey joe or even a lodge sportsman if you can stand the weight (32# but that thing *is* cast iron...). 

I've been on a hunt for the perfect camp chair for a long time.  Unlimited budget and willing to exceed that if I find the right one:  it has to quickly fold up small, carry simply, hold my heavy butt (220 lbs), and sit high enough off the ground to be a chair and not a slightly elevated off ground seating surface.  I'm still looking.  Until I find one, I use the $15 chairs from academy (the Harbor Freight of sporting goods) and can't seem to break them (and neither can the 13 year old).
 
Here's the table we use. Works well for us.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-5-Center-Folding-Table/14119034
 
Here is our table. It folds up like a folding chair and takes up minimal space and is sturdy and light. A little pricey.
http://www.amazon.com/ALPS-Mountaineering-8353011-Dining-Table/dp/B0038Q2ME0/ref=sr_1_10?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1460127031&sr=1-10&keywords=folding+table+camping
Here is our Weber. You will see these everywhere. They work great. About 149.00.
http://www.weber.com/grills/series/weber-q-series/1000
If I use charcoal, a Smoky Joe by Weber will work.
And, our Dish Network Tailgater to watch my sporting events or the local news. Works great and only 7.00 a month if you use it. Must have Dish at home. Will work anywhere in the lower 48.
http://www.tailgatersatellite.com

Off to Bodega Bay for some Dungeness crab fishing Tuesday. ;D

Stan

 
Unlike everyone else, we use Corelle.  ;D
We do have paper plates and cups, and they do get used.  But we are not doing much boondocking, so the extra water to wash the dishes is not a problem.
We also use a foldup Costco table. If the picnic table is nice, eat on the picnic table and the plastic table is the prep area.  If the picnic table is deteriorating from staying wet, we use the plastic table to eat.

Other must have?  My evening scotch and cigar!
 
The extras depend on several things: Your family's camping style, Items that you simply cannot live without are extras too, but then again every family /person has their own ideas about what to carry.  Being an old long distance backpacker I go by the idea, twice carried  and not used it is taken out, I also like for most items to have two uses. Of course you will need the water hoses, extension cords, pressure regulator, sewage hoses etc. There are list that you can copy and make your own from these.
 
Since I enjoy using cast iron at a fire pit... the folding table I got is half plastic, half metal grate. I can set hot Dutch Ovens on the metal side and finish meal prep on the other.

For lounging I deal with stowing an extra wide "zero gravity" folding recliner that is rated for 350 lbs. (yeah, I'm fat)

I'm  planning on expanding the "dining room" with one of the metal roll tables, and some folding stools.


As for what YOU should take...  pencil/pen and paper.
Make a list and stop at Walmart. ::D
 
If you have room in your TV to store it, a professionally installed screen room is very nice to have.  You mentioned flies, but often mosquitoes and wasps can interrupt a nice meal or nap.  The screen room we had was easy to put up:  lower the awning, snap and twist nut on the sides and across the bottom of the TT, fog a little YardGuard inside, and open the beers.  The screen room traveled in two bags in our TV up vertically and used about foot and half width space. 

Haven't bought one yet for our new to us 5th, but will do so soon.
 
As far as grills go, for a while everyone had a bright red Coleman Road Trip. I had one too. But to be honest, I was never really impressed with how it cooked anything other than hot dogs. Burgers, chicken and steak came out dry no matter what I tried. It was a pretty hard to keep clean, so it naturally rusted out. Now I mostly see the Weber Q series grills. I received one for fathers day a few years ago and haven't looked back. I got the one with a built in thermometer. I don't vouch for its accuracy, but at least I kinda know how hot the grill is. Now the foods are no longer dry and over cooked.

The Weber is a little pricey. Some people like to save money and get the cheap supermarket/drug store models. That's fine. And for hot dogs they are fine. But our family is lucky enough to go out for a few weeks at a time. At home I really enjoy grilling and the Weber Q is a pretty fair compact model that does a decent job on chicken, pork and steak. It's not a good as my home grill, but it is pretty good at what it does.
 
So many good opinions in this thread so far.

Weber Q
Corelle dishes
Beer
Folding Walmart tables

We have them all on our RV and use them (especially the beer) quite often.
 
Bought a Brinkman portable table top grille from Home Depot. Runs off a 20# cylinder and was @ $100. I love it. the legs fold and it fits right in our pass through on our new Jayco 212 QBW. As for chairs, We used some bagged Coleman chairs for years, but found them to be hard to get out of and the seating was more laid back than I prefer. We ran across these from Gander Mountain that were bagged and set straighter. We've used them for 2 seasons and like them. They are fine for someone close to 300#...naming no names...and have held up well...(all right, I m a big-un')
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Champion-Deluxe-Hard-Arm-Chair&i=785199
Plates-for now a plastic set we found at the Dollar Tree for $12. OK for now but we will likely upgrade to Correlle.
Outside tables:
We have 3. The largest is all wood with a 2-1/2' x 4' roll top and folds into a nice bag. Our next small table also has a wooden roll top but has tubular legs much like the bagged chairs. It is about 30"square.
The third one was purchased from Bass Pro and is @18' square and end table height, just perfect for the folding chairs. We like all three. I haven't seen the first tow available anywhere. We've had them for 15 years or more.

BEAR
 
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