ROUGHING IT SMOOTHLY
Article & Photographs by RAY WHYTE of Kelowna BC
Encouragement by my wife and priceless compamion: Jacquie
My wife Jacquie and I have been camping all our married life together, 40 years in November of 2011.
Along with Bonnie & Graham our children, we have used
every camping method to enjoying the great outdoors. Over those years I have contracted the “organization affl iction”. If there is an easier or more convenient way to camp I will fi nd it, build it or invent it. I drive Jacquie crazy with all my projects, but she always likes the end results. In this and succeeding columns, I will share ideas I have incorporated into our RV. Some are very simple and some can now be purchased commercially, some I’m sure you are already using. I am constantly talking to fellow campers and learning new ideas as well. If you are a hands-on camper, you may enjoy the satisfaction of making and designing things for your own RV using some of these suggestions. Most are very inexpensive but can add signifi cantly to your camping pleasure and comfort. If you have an idea you want to share, please email me whyterj@
shaw.ca . Here is a wee story and credit I must acknowledge about the
title. My dad Bill was an organizer and inventor extraordinaire. I know my affl iction is hereditary. As children, my sister Pam and I loved to camp with Mom and Dad. We camped for years in a leaky tent, transporting our gear in the trunk of our car; it never had enough storage space. In the mid 1960’s, Dad fi nally took the big step and purchased a 17-foot “Rocket Travel Trailer”. To this day, I remember our inaugural trip. Dad backed the trailer into the campsite and aſt er he put the windup jacks under each corner of the “Rocket”, we were set up. He went and sat back in his lawn chair and proudly announced to all the family, “Now that’s what I call ROUGHING IT SMOOTHLY.”
SETTING UP CAMP: Leveling the rig side to side As we know all too well, arriving at the campsite aſt er a long
tiring drive can be beyond hectic. T e kids are hungry, the dog needs a walk, and your wife _______________, I will let you fi ll that one in. You probably have a system you use when you arrive at a new campsite. If you don’t, you should because if you can follow the same procedure with each setup, it will speed up the process, make for a safe setup and insure you don’t forget anything. Get the family involved, it’s never too
26 RVT 144 • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 Leveling the trailer using homemade ramps.
soon to train up the wee ones and they will develop a sense of team work at an early age. Here are the steps I follow to speed up the process so I can get on with the vacation. Before connecting power, water, sanitation, you must make sure the rig is level for the sake of your fridge, bath drainage and sleeping accommodation. Nothing more annoying than standing in a puddle while having a shower, or clinging to the sheets to keep from sliding out of bed. I have fi ve ramps and they can be placed in any combination
you want to level the rig. I usually back as far back into the site as I can, place the ramps in front of the wheels and pull forward onto the ramps. Don’t look too closely at my wooden wheel chock in front of the tire as I just overshot my ramp and split it in half. Oh well, another project coming up. My ramps are made from an old prefi nished waterbed frame.
T ey are 1-1/4 inches thick, six inches wide and tapered on one end. T ey vary in length so as to give me a ramp to drive up on when they are stacked. In order to hold the ramps in place on top of each other as I drive onto them, I installed a piece of aluminum angle notched into the bottom of each board. (1). T e notched-in angle provides a fl at surface so they stack
tight for storage (2) and also gives each board a grip into the ground to keep it from sliding as I drive up onto them. Any 2x6 scrap will work just fi ne for this project. Levelilng blocks are also available at your local RV dealer if you are not inclined to make your own. Make sure the wheels are chocked before disconnecting your trailer.
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