An RV And A Dog - Our Gear

Ya gotta keep a few important considerations in mind:

Your RV has a weight limit, never exceed it.

Your Tow Vehicle has a weight limit, never exceed it.

Your RV has an electrical power limit, if you exceed it you will have to turn some things off in order to use other things.

We don't sell any products here, we don't represent any products here, I'm not even giving you links to products here. But I'll tell you this: 85% of the stuff I've bought was from Amazon, 10% from WalMart.

It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

New RV...
New Surge Suppressor...
This one has an iPhone App to monitor power (Bluetooth)...

Pass-through Storage. It's the only exterior storage on the rig but it's very large...
Fresh water hookup, hot/cold outside water, antenna connections...

New RV - New Sewer Hose.

This rig has 2 Grey Water tanks.
One for the kitchen sink and one for the bathroom sink and shower.
And a Black Water tank (for the toilet).
The short, transparent section extends the connection so I don't have to reach under the rig and let's me monitor the outflow.
The cap handle makes twisting it off much easier.

This is the business end of the RV.
Covered battery.
Covered propane tanks.
Covered Hitch Jack.
Hitch Rack to neatly store the Chains, Electrical, and Breakaway Cable.
The rest of the Anti-Sway WDH (Weight Distribution Hitch) is stored in my truck.
I use trailer receiver and trailer coupler locks...

Security.
I have two solar-charged motion-detection outdoor lights.
Along with a Blink outdoor motion-detection camera.
And a Blink indoor motion-detection camera.

The motion-detection lights work great. They are solar charged during the day and on half-power at night, kinda like nightlights for the rig. They detect motion long before there could be a problem near the rig. The Blink cameras are WiFi-based and both send me email alerts and video clips immediately. This means that if you get close enough to steal either camera then you've already been filmed and you're already caught...

Is it really an outdoor camera? Yes.

Control Center

The Verizon WiFi router broke. It was not designed to be left plugged it all the time making entirely impractical for my needs. Glad it's gone. Replaced it with a Boost Mobile WiFi router.

Found a vibration-dampening mount for the Garmin 770. Windsheild mounts for the Furrion 7" rearview camera monitor and a Dashcam. The TireMinder sits to the left of the Garmin.

Photography & Videography

When we started this I assumed I'd use a decommissioned (no cell service) iPhone 8 for pics and videos. (I'm still assuming I'll use a decommissioned iPhone 6 as a drone monitor.) But that didn't work out...

I like iPhones. I tried a Samsung Galaxy once some years ago and I didn't like it, didn't like the OS either, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. iPhones take great pics, beautiful sharp focus, rich color, etc., but they absolutely suck at motion videography because they have no internal stabilization.

So I bought (eventually returned) several stabilizers. Balancing and re-balancing the iPhone is very annoying. Understanding instructions written in Chinglish is even more annoying. Any manual operation of the iPhone while it's clamped and balanced in the stabilizer is just about impossible and if you activate voice control on the iPhone then the little birdie you're trying to film will hear you and fly away...

The

has built-in internal stabilization. Incredible stabilization. The most current version is the GoPro Hero 8, I'm using the 7. Below are the accessories that you'll need or probably want:

Lens cover. Protect your lens.

Spare batteries and a battery charger. You can charge a battery in the GoPro but that's not so easy out on a hike. There are rumors that the GoPro 7 eats battery power waay faster than previous GoPro cameras. I can't confirm that because this is my first GoPro.

A portable battery can keep your GoPro (or smartphone, etc) running for hours. An angled USB connector helps manage that cable. (Forget the solar charging hype, it takes at least two full days of bright Florida sunshine to charge these devices.)

Something to protect and store your spare batteries in.

Memory card and card holder. GoPro has an iPhone app with which you can transfer movies to your iPhone. I prefer to transfer to a laptop and/or desktop for better editing.

I also use a Flash Drive to transfer files from the laptop to the desktop for final editing. This makes it easy to keep backup copies along the way.

Telescoping handle is better than getting your fingers in the frame or on the lens. The more fiddling around you have to do while filming the more editing you have to do later...

GoPro carrying case. A hard case, just for the GoPro.

GoPro and accessory carrying case.

This flexible tripod is awesome. You can wrap it around anything. You found someone hiking and talking constantly? Wrap it around their face! Wrap it around a tree branch. Wrap it around anything.

GoPro Hero 7 (Black) User Manual

Hiking
We like hiking, so does our dog. We like Florida State Parks. We bought an RV just so we could spend weekends visiting Florida State Parks and hiking those trails. We're casual people, not interested in how far or how fast or how high we can hike. Our approach is not casual. We study and research everything, we require high quality gear and plenty of it.

Kathy thinks these are the best hiking/walking footwear on the planet. I don't have to wear them so I don't have an opinion on them.

Rockport. Best fitting footwear, period. All the hype about ultra-technical hiking footwear is crap. Your shoes or boots must fit perfectly. Nothing is more important than the fit. You can't enjoy hiking if your feet are uncomfortable. Rockport fits me perfect, perfect. They are acceptably rugged and not heavy to wear. If you have issues finding extremely comfortable footwear try Rockport.

The 2^nd most important element is socks. Goldtoe are the best socks you can buy.

Depending on the hike and/or the weather Kathy might wear a backpack or a fanny pack.

Depending on the hike and/or the weather I might wear a backpack or a fanny pack. Most of the time I wear neither.

There are a thousand things you can carry in your pack. Probably the single most important safety-related item to carry in your pack is a snakebite kit. We also carry disposible rain ponchos, mini-first aid kit, emergency blanket, knife, dog treats, etc.

This is the best dog water bottle you can buy.

This is the best human water bottle you can buy.

If you smoke or hike with someone who smokes hook this on the beltloop and never leave cigarettes butts on the trail.

Instead of stuffing your pockets you can easily hang things off your pants with these.

Notes: Florida State Parks aren't all that big, and they aren't extremely remote. We have good cell coverage in Florida. You probably don't need a satellite telephone or an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon). (We have neither.) If you think you need a satellite telephone and/or an EPIRB then you do. What you really do need is a handgun. (And a Florida Concealed Weapons License, and training and practice.) Remember: It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it...


	This isn't all of our gear but it's most of it. We like to be comfortable, we like having all the comforts of home in our home away from home. Our RV is like the original Lunar Excursion Module and we always remember this quote from the Harrison Ford movie Six Days Seven Nights: "It's an island, babe. If you didn't bring it here, you won't find it here."