First camper season, decoded
The Best RV Accessoriesfor Your First Camper Season
Leveling and chocks, surge protectors, sewer and water gear, hitch locks and backup cameras — explained for someone who bought a travel trailer last month, not for the forums.
- Guides
- 51
- Products covered
- 58
- How-to guides
- 18
- Products we claim to have tested
- 0
Our top picks
What we would buy, by category
One winner per roundup. Tap the category to read why it won and what the runners-up do better.
Best Starter Kit
Camco RV Starter Kit
One box so nothing is missing on night one. Every item in it is the basic version, and that is a fair trade for week one.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best RV Toilet Paper
Scott Rapid-Dissolving Toilet Paper
Dissolves fast enough for a holding tank, costs supermarket money, and you can restock it in any town.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best Dehumidifier
DampRid Hanging Moisture Absorber
The cheapest storage insurance there is: hang two or three through the trailer in October and forget about them.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best RV Gifts
Camco Wrap-Around RV Step Rug
The cheapest way to stop tracking the campsite through the trailer. It clips over the entry step in seconds.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best Gifts Under $50
Rechargeable LED Headlamp
You will hook up in the dark more often than you expect, and every one of those jobs needs both hands.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best Leveling Blocks
Camco FasTen Leveling Blocks (10-pack)
The default first purchase for a travel trailer: interlocking blocks you stack into a ramp, cheap enough to buy two sets.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best Wheel Chocks
Camco Heavy-Duty Wheel Chocks (pair)
The chock that stops the trailer rolling. Not the one that stops it rocking, which is a different product, and you need both.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Best Surge Protector
Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X Portable EMS (30 amp)
A full electrical management system rather than a surge protector: it watches voltage and wiring and cuts power before a bad pedestal reaches your rig.
Check price on Amazon#ad we may earn a commission
Browse by category
Five categories, in the order you meet them
8 guides
First-Season Starter Kit
Everything a new travel trailer owner needs, ordered by when you need it: leaving the dealer lot, pulling into the site, hooking up, the first night, the first dump.
10 guides
Leveling & Chocks
Getting the trailer level and getting it to stop moving are two different jobs needing two different products. This is which is which, and what to buy for each.
9 guides
Power & Surge Protection
A campground pedestal is an unknown piece of wiring you plug your home into. This is how to check it, what protects you, and what a cheap device will not catch.
13 guides
Sewer & Water
The part of RVing nobody demonstrates at the dealership. Done right it takes ten minutes and you never think about it. Done wrong it is the story you tell for years.
11 guides
Towing & Security
The gear that matters between the dealer lot and the campsite: seeing behind you, keeping the trailer attached, knowing about a tire before it fails, and still owning it in the morning.
Why trust this site
What we do, and what we refuse to do
We do not claim to test
There is no test lab here and we will never pretend otherwise. Picks come from published manufacturer specifications and from watching new rigs get set up at a lodge that hosts RV sites every weekend.
No prices we cannot verify
We publish no price figures at all. They change constantly and a stale number is worse than none, so every button goes to the current listing where you see today's price.
No invented reviews or ratings
You will not find a star rating, a review count or a score out of ten anywhere on this site, because we have no honest data to build one from. Published criteria in words instead.
Beginner-first, on purpose
Every page is written for a first or second season, which means we say when something is a year-three problem you can skip rather than selling it to you now.
The full version is on how we choose and our editorial policy.
Read these first
The four pages that carry the argument
First-Season Starter Kit
RV Must-Haves for Beginners
The first-season shortlist, ordered by when you need each item: leaving the lot, arriving, hooking up, the first night, the first dump.
Sewer & Water
Best RV Sewer Hose for a First Travel Trailer
Complete sewer hose kits compared on length, wall thickness, fittings and storage, for someone doing this for the first time.
Power & Surge Protection
Best RV Surge Protector for a First Travel Trailer
Surge protectors and full electrical management systems compared, with the low-voltage problem explained properly.
Leveling & Chocks
Best RV Leveling Blocks for a First Travel Trailer
Interlocking blocks, curved levelers and jack pads compared for someone leveling a trailer for the first time.
Latest guides
- Towing & SecurityRV Towing Safety Checklist
- Towing & SecurityHow to Hitch a Travel Trailer (Step by Step)
- Towing & SecurityHow to Install a Wireless RV Backup Camera
- Towing & SecurityHitch Lock vs Coupler Lock: What Each One Protects
- Towing & SecurityFurrion Vision S Review: Check for the Plate First
- Towing & SecurityBest Weight Distribution Hitch for a Travel Trailer
- Towing & SecurityBest RV Tire Pressure Monitoring System
- Towing & SecurityBest Trailer Coupler Lock
How this site is funded
Affiliate links, stated plainly
Camp & Chock is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you buy through a link here we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which product we put first, and it does not buy a place on a list — if the cheaper option is the better one, that is the one we recommend.
Published by Janet Media Group. Questions or a correction? Get in touch.