Keeping an RV Stocked and Ready for Travel

[Isaac-1]

I'm just curious, do you keep your RV provisioned and ready for travel year round, or do you move stuff back and forth from your house.

I ask because we have traditionally kept ours mostly loaded and ready to go as a hurricane bug out vehicle, but over this last winter have ended up borrowing various things (tools, appliances, clothing, etc.) out of the RV which I am now trying to restock as I noticed the other day while working on the motorhome at the storage shed that I had 9 pairs of pants in the motorhome, but only 2 shirts, and no socks. Also somehow the blender and a few other kitchen appliances had somehow migrated into the kitchen at home.

 

[Seilerbird]

My RV is my house

 

[Utclmjmpr]

I keep mine with empty waste tanks,, full fresh water,, some food both dry and fresh.. You never know what type of emergency may arise..>>>Dan

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

We use our RV 5 times a year or more. We still empty it while at home. I often contemplate leaving stuff in for the next trip, but never do that.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

I also always keep the fuel tank full when parked,, its diesel so sitting is not harmful..>>>Dan

 

[John From Detroit]

Perishables you load and go
Non Perishables, tools clothing you load and store just in cuss.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I keep towels, bath washcloths, bath floor mats, several changes of underwear, socks and some T shirts plus a light jacket and a heavy coat.

I was keeping a good bit of long life non-perishable foods but went thru them a while back and either threw out or moved to the house, much of the items I had stored in there. I'm not traveling enough to justify keeping much food in there. Rotate your stock if at all possible.

kitchen utensils and other hard items stay in the trailer. I have way too much in the house already.

In LA and Lower Alabama, and the rest of the Gulf Coast, yes, you should get it ready before hurricane season starts.

Charles

 

[Larry N.]

We kept our MH winterized from mid-late fall until probably May, except for trips during that period when we'd de-winterize to start the trip then winterize again when we got back so that we didn't have to keep the furnace running all winter.

But from roughly May to October we kept the fridge running, kept the water tank full, and kept much that the heat wouldn't hurt (it gets up to 100º here on occasion) in the coach.

We kept some canned food and some other stuff in boxes, etc. (cereal, et al) in the coach year 'round, as well as all the kitchen stuff and much else that freezing wouldn't hurt, even some tools, cleaning supplies, etc., even some clothing.

So during the warm months we would load up food and clothing, plus cameras, books, etc, at trip time, but during the colder months we had to go through winterize/undo and we had a bit more to load.

And, like Dan, we kept the fuel tank full, though the water tank might not be completely full -- in fact, we used the on-board water when we cleaned the coach after a trip, which might be a week or two after we got back, depending on what was going on.

Of course we didn't have hurricanes to escape from.

 

[Derby6]

5ver stored in Lower 48 we leave as much as we can clothing wise. All dishes, cookwares, bedding, etc stays in camper. All tanks empty/winterized and obviously only non-perishable foods stored.

Toy hauler at house all food comes out. Most dishes, cookwares, bedding, etc stays in camper. Some clothing stays, but not much. All tanks empty/winterized. In summer, I sometimes will leave water in fresh tamk between trips.

 

[8Muddypaws]

We have a rotating supply of canned and dry goods in the RV as well as in the sticks & bricks house. Perishables get loaded per trip. We normally have a supply of bottled water, 1/2 full fresh tank, more bottled water in the house.

Being involved in disaster preparedness at the American Red Cross, as well as the having a wife raised as a Mormon may have had an effect on me.

 

[DonTom]

, or do you move stuff back and forth from your house.

In my case, a little of everything, between two houses as well as two RVs. Each trip I look at notes on my computer to make sure what to take. Stuff such as clothes, razers, hair driers I have in each of the four at all times. so I do not have to bother with that type of stuff.

On my last trip, I got stuff out of here at my Auburn house and Y2k RV and then stopped at my Reno house to get more stuff. By then, I had my four door Class A RV refrigerator and freezer cramped full with goodies and everything else I needed, so there were no more stops until I got down in Tonopah, NV after a couple of weeks boondocked in eastern and central NV.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[House Husband]

Our MH sits beside our house with full hook ups. Other than food and tooth brushes, we keep the MH stocked.

Richard

 

[bigbAZ]

Ours is in the garage, we keep it stocked with dishes & utensils, bedding and towels, toiletries like soap, shampoo & toothpaste, paper goods, tools and a full tank of fuel. I have a rule where nothing gets borrowed out of the RV as if you allow this, eventually things will not get put back.

If we need to go on a trip it doesn't take much to pack some clothes, start the fridge and throw in some food.

 

[Firstime RVer]

With the exception of the food we add to the fridge before a trip, we basically keep enough clothes for a week or so, onboard including bath towels and all necessary utensils such as plates, pots, pans, paper towels and silverware. We store our own on board set of toiletries. We cover the bed with freshly washed bed clothes prior to leaving. Canned and dried goods get replaced as used. Ice maker and Mr Coffee are permanent fixtures. Propane gets topped off as needed. Fresh water is loaded before we get underway, as well as topping off our liquor cabinet. Just need to turn on the fridge the day before we leave. Can't think of us needing anything more..
Safe travels and all the best.

 

[TheBar]

Ours is in the garage, we keep it stocked with dishes & utensils, bedding and towels, toiletries like soap, shampoo & toothpaste, paper goods, tools and a full tank of fuel. I have a rule where nothing gets borrowed out of the RV as if you allow this, eventually things will not get put back.

If we need to go on a trip it doesn't take much to pack some clothes, start the fridge and throw in some food.

Same here except I keep less than a half tank of gas to keep it from getting too old. We also keep duplicate RV clothing and jackets in the RV.

We have always kept everything else needed except for perishable foods. That was needed to get home from work every Friday at 4:55, load the perishable foods, and leave at 5:00 ahead of the 5 PM rush hour.

After retirement we still keep some stocked out of habit. But we are getting away from that since we camp on weekdays earlier in the day. And we have all the time in the world. At our age we need a checklist of what to take or it will be forgotten.

 

[Wasillaguy]

We fly to/from the RV so it stays stocked. One suitcase of mostly her stuff and favorite clothes she must bring home, and now the Starlink, is all we take out.
Perishables are either given away or tossed in the trash, which I hate, so I put some effort into figuring out how to donate them. Other campers, campground hosts, homeless guy holding a sign, and storage lot employees have all been recipients of our pickles and mustard, eggs, sticks of butter, etc.
We have friends up here who are also long time snowbirds and they carry their condiments back/forth in a small cooler as checked luggage.
I'm frugal but not that frugal.

 

[Kirk]

Over the years, our practice has changed with the location and family. We began our RV experience with a popup in WY and 3 boys. It was usually prepped for use in May and things like cleaning items, dry groceries, and camping supplies were kept in it for the season, emptied in late fall when it was winterized. When we got our first self-contained RV we began keeping some items all of the time since it was occasionally used in winter, but it still required winterization. Dishes and cooking ware stayed and duplicated rather than moved. When we moved to TX, winterization was blowing out the water and we kept a little heat in the RV because we used it several times each winter and we also left many things in it all winter. Clothing was changed seasonally but some stayed in it between trips. Food stuff that wouldn't freeze stayed in, as did tools and camping equipment. Again, dishes and cooking ware stayed and duplicated rather than moved. In warm weather we did keep some water but not full. That was our first motorized RV and I would use fuel stabilizer and kept the fuel tank full. We did keep some clothing in the RV, returning it there after laundering. We got rain wear to keep in the RV and also light jackets and sweatshirts. Some clothing stayed in between trips but other was changed as we sometimes went to dance festivals and other times fishing, hiking, or other outdoor activities. The limited space for clothing prevented keeping any but needed clothing onboard.

 

[RVMan22]

I'm just curious, do you keep your RV provisioned and ready for travel year round, or do you move stuff back and forth from your house.

I ask because we have traditionally kept ours mostly loaded and ready to go as a hurricane bug out vehicle, but over this last winter have ended up borrowing various things (tools, appliances, clothing, etc.) out of the RV which I am now trying to restock as I noticed the other day while working on the motorhome at the storage shed that I had 9 pairs of pants in the motorhome, but only 2 shirts, and no socks. Also somehow the blender and a few other kitchen appliances had somehow migrated into the kitchen at home.

We keep ours about 80% ready year round for that exact reason. Quick weekend trips and potential emergency backup if required. Somehow things will temporarily migrate back to the house and never make it back lol but we do our best to keep the RV stocked

Things like flashlights, coffee mugs, blankets etc seem to always find their way into our home...

Your 9 pairs of pants but 2 shirts and no socks is all too relatable

One thing that's helped us is a checklist on the phone that is in categories:

- Clothing
- Kitchen
- Tools
- Bathroom supplies
- Emergency gear

Now before every trip I can do a quick inventory check and stock up on the random items that have found new homes

 

[Excalibur1]

We keep the camper stocked year round with everything except food and appropriate seasonal clothing. We remove all food except the spice rack every time we come home and put it into our rotation so that we don't end up with something that is three years past its best by date. Rotating the clothing is self explanatory. When winterizing I do remove anything that could freeze, but that stays in one box that doesn't get opened until spring.

 

[UTTransplant]

We also started with a pop up 40 years ago, and removed everything except cooking gear each trip (we had cooking gear from our tent camping days). We kept all the gear in tubs so it was easy to move in and out. We had one gear tub, one food tub, and then each person had one duffle bag for clothes. After 20 years that way, we moved to a trailer, and we kept food and gear inside. The only things that were removed were clothes (trip specific) and things that would freeze over the winter. With the motorhome we still do about the same thing, though the quantities of gear and food have definitely increased! We keep a couple of light jackets and some standard clothes in the MH year around, adding to it for warm or cold weather, depending.