Every year, more people join the ranks as new RVers, and with this comes the multitude of questions that most new RVers will have. We field a good number of these questions each week and the main question we get asked is, “What are the top products an RVer should consider?” We sell many different products and several of them are convenience products like Wi-Fi boosters. Some products, however, are must-haves. So here are my top 3 products every RVer should have:

1. Electrical Protection System

RVs are not cheap, and the electrical components in a RV can be finicky. The first item I bought when I got into RVing was an electrical protection system. I was not going to spend all of this money on a RV and leave it to chance that I would always have good voltage coming to my RV from the the park pedestal. The truth is, there are a lot of parks out there with poor electrical quality, and this affects our RV electrical systems greatly. Sometimes I hear people say they have been RVing for 10 years and have never had a problem, and that is great, but sometimes you can have a problem and not know it, especially with low voltage. If you experience voltage below 103V, your RVs components will likely still operate, but this is horrible for the component and will certainly reduce the life of the device. A Surge Guard Electrical Protection System is easy to use, and it will protect you from high and low voltage and surges. It will also make sure the pedestal has proper ground and neutral wiring, and that there are no reverse polarity issues. The Surge Guard brand is the only electrical protection system that can detect open neutral and elevated ground currents within the RV. These systems are easy to use! All you have to do is plug the Surge Guard into the pedestal and then plug your power cord into the Surge Guard. In addition, Surge Guard offers more protection than any other system on the market when you do a side by side comparison of the specifications. Lastly, the Surge Guard has the best warranty on the market with limited lifetime coverage and connected equipment coverage.

2. Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) 

A Tire Pressure Monitoring System is the second item all RVers should invest in.  We hear all of the horror stories of tire blowouts because RVers will call us after they have already had tire issues and then decide it is time to purchase a TPMS. Everything is riding on your tires, so it makes sense to have a monitoring system that alerts you if you start to have pressure or temperature issues, which are the leading indicators of an impending tire failure. We sell the TST TPMS and the Tireminder TPMS.

The TST 507 and the new TST 770 Tire Pressure Monitoring System are easily the best systems on the market. This system uses high quality internal GE components, and it will give you the most accurate pressure and temperature readings for each tire that you are monitoring. With other systems, you have to push buttons and scroll to see the data -- not something I want to be doing while I am navigating a 30,000 pound RV down the road. 

3. RV GPS

The 3rd item that I always recommend is a dedicated GPS unit that is designed for your RV. Not all roads are designed for RVs, and not all GPS systems are designed for RVs. An RV GPS will take into consideration your height, weight, how much propane you carry and a host of other specifications, and then it will route you accordingly. If your RV is 13 feet tall, the GPS will make sure to route you around bridges that are lower than 13 feet. It is peace of mind for me when I am driving. I always know that at least I don’t have to worry about going down a road that my RV will not fit on. Of course, no GPS is perfect all the time, and everyone has their stories of the time their GPS sent them 10 miles out of the way. My thought on that is that most of the time I don’t know where I am, so I don’t have a better route idea anyway. If left to my own geographical prowess, I am sure I would end up at the dead end of a dirt road somewhere.

We offer Garmin RV GPS units, and they are an industry standard in the GPS space. The Garmin systems are very popular, especially the Garmin 890 RV GPS that features an 8-inch screen. If you do not already have a dedicated RV GPS, you should check it out.