Brian and I often compare what life is like living in an RV versus a boat.  For many years, we considered living on a sailboat as our long-term goal.  Obviously, that changed. But over our five or six years of boat ownership, we completed an annual vessel safety check with the U.S. Coast Guard.  While not required in any way, the safety check ensured that we had all of the required (and recommended) safety equipment on board. 

As far as we can tell, not only are there no safety requirements for Recreational Vehicles (aside from seatbelts), it’s not easy to find an RV essentials checklist for what you should have on board.  This blog intends to provide a list of must have RV accessories for you to consider to travel, live, and, most importantly, stay safe in an RV.

Road Safety Roadside Gear:

How many times have you seen an RV, car, or truck pulled over on the side of the road with a flat tire or some other mechanical issue?  I don’t know about you, but we see vehicles on the side of the road a lot!  For many of us, the biggest fear of traveling with an RV is having a problem along the way.  Every time I drive our 45-foot motorhome with the F-150 towed behind it, I think about this possibility.  While I know that nothing will fully prepare us for an actual emergency, I take comfort in knowing that if we have an issue, we have all the items needed to make ourselves as visible as possible while fixing whatever has malfunctioned.  In both our motorhome and in our towed vehicle, we keep these safety essentials:

• First Aid Kit
• Reflective Safety Vest
• Collapsible Safety Cones
• Hokena Road Flare Kit (includes battery-operated flares, glass-breaking and seatbelt-cutting tool, thermal blankets, and an emergency whistle)
• Tire Pressure Monitor
• Dashcam

First Aid Kit:

According to the American Red Cross, a first aid kit for a family of four should include the following:

• 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches)
• 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes), also found within our Family First Aid Kit
• 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)
• 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately 1 gram)
• 5 antiseptic wipe packets 
• 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
• 1 emergency blanket
• 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
• 1 instant cold compress
• 2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)
• 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets (approximately 1 gram each)
• 1 3 in. gauze roll (roller) bandage
• 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide) 
• 5 3 in. x 3 in. sterile gauze pads
• 5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches) 
• Oral thermometer (non-mercury/nonglass)
• 2 triangular bandages
• Tweezers
• Emergency First Aid guide

You can make your own first aid kit or purchase a pre-assembled first aid kit just be sure that you have all of the items listed above as not all kits come with all of these items.

Reflective Safety Vest:

You’ll find reflective safety vests for sale at truck stops, or you can buy some like what we have on Amazon. Be sure that you have one that fits each person you travel with if you need to get out of your vehicle to stay safe. They make them in all sizes, including for your children! And don’t forget that you may need to wear it over a coat or jacket, so be sure you have one that will accommodate you and your outerwear!

Collapsible Safety Cones:

Hopefully, in an emergency, you can turn on your vehicle(s) hazards. But as we all know, life isn’t always ideal, and things don’t always work. Having a set of collapsible safety cones or safety triangles will raise awareness for other drivers. Where should you place cones if your rig or car is broken down? Generally, it would be best to put the first warning triangle 10 feet directly behind your car on the side closest to the road. Then place the second warning triangle 100 feet behind your vehicle, lining it up directly in the middle of your car’s position.

Road Flare Kit:

We love the compact size of the Hokena Road Flare Kit enough that we have one for our motorhome and our tow vehicle. Not only does each kit come with three LED beacons, but each kit includes a 2-in-1 tool to cut your seatbelt and break glass and an emergency whistle. Each beacon is also waterproof, crushproof, and magnetic, making them ideal for use in any roadside conditions.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System :

Blowouts are probably the most common roadside emergency for RVers. If you haven’t invested in a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), watch a couple of YouTube videos of what it’s like to have a blowout on the road and then come back here to buy one. We have been pleased with our TST Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

Dash Cam:

No, this won’t protect you from harm’s way, but we appreciate having a dashcam recording our travels. Should we ever have a traffic accident or other issue, we know that we will have documentation. We’ve even shared our recordings with companies whose drivers are dangerous!

Lifestyle Safety:

Whether you live in a house on wheels, a floating home, or one constructed of sticks and bricks, you should have the following items:

• First Aid Kit
• Smoke Detector
• Carbon Monoxide Detector
• Fire Extinguishers
• List of Emergency Numbers
• Ditch Bag – money, keys, photo IDs, etc.

First Aid Kit:

See my notes from above about what should be included in your first aid kit.

Smoke Detector:

As frustrating as it can be to have the smoke detector go off frequently while cooking (fellow RVers know what I mean 😉), it’s imperative to have a smoke detector with the batteries in it! The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that 20,000 RV fires occur annually. With fire as one of the leading causes of RV loss today, why would you take a chance with having an inoperable smoke detector?

Carbon Monoxide/Propane Detector:

Many RVs come with a carbon monoxide/propane detector. Ours did. But did you know that they have a life expectancy of under seven years? If your rig is over seven years old and you haven’t replaced it yet, order one now! Otherwise, make sure you are testing yours monthly and be prepared to replace it as soon as you start having an issue.

Fire Extinguishers:

Did you ever wonder how many and what type of fire extinguishers you need to have in your RV? In an article on fire safety for RVs, the National Park System recommends having three. One in your kitchen, one in your bedroom, and one outside in an unlocked compartment or your tow vehicle. Oddly, rules established by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) require that RVs must have a B:C rated fire extinguisher by the exit.

Combining the information and “rules,” we have four fire extinguishers for our 45-foot motorhome. These include three universal ABC (typically red) fire extinguishers (one by the entrance/exit, one in the bedroom, and outside in the bay closest to where we cook outdoors) and one kitchen extinguisher (usually white) in the cabinet under the kitchen sink.

Don’t forget that these need to be inspected for expiration dates and ensure that the gauge reads in the green “good” section. Do yourself a favor, take time to read the instructions on how to use these before you are in an emergency! Also, make sure the fire extinguishers that you have are operable! We discovered a plastic fastener installed on the fire extinguisher that our motorhome came with had never been removed. This small plastic cord could prevent you from pulling the pin and extinguishing a fire, so check your fire extinguishers for this.

List of Emergency Numbers:

When we arrive in a new location, I take a few minutes to send an email to Brian and myself with the following information:

• Name of the Park / Area Where We Are
• Address including site number / GPS Co-ordinates
• Fire Department Phone Number
• Police Department Phone Number
• Name, Address, and Phone Number for Closest 24-hour Emergency Room
• Name, Address, and Phone Number for Closest 24-hour Veterinary Hospital
• Poison Control Phone Number
• Animal Poison Control Number: 888-4ANI-HELP (888-426-4435)

While the email works for us, you might consider having this information printed on paper or on an erasable whiteboard that will cling to glass/stainless steel or a magnet.

Ditch Bag:

We learned about ditch bags from our days of living on a sailboat, and I’ll be honest that my ditch bag is my purse. Always in my purse are my money, keys, and a photo ID. If you don’t carry a purse, consider having these things in a single location that you could pick up quickly if you ever need to evacuate for any reason.

Pet Safety:

With so many of us sharing our travels with our furbabies, I thought it important to include a section about safety gear to ensure that you have what you need for them too. Here’s

First Aid Kit for Pets

You can put your own together with the following or you can buy a pre-packed first aid kit for your dog or cat.

• Blunt-End Scissors
• Tweezers
• Gauze (for wrapping wounds or making a muzzle)
• Vet Wrap
• Hydrogen Peroxide (to induce vomiting)
• Fever thermometer (regular thermometers don’t go high enough for pets)
• Eyedropper or syringe without a needle

Pet Monitor/Temperature Monitor:

If you plan to leave your cat(s) or dog(s) home while you are out for dinner, running errands, or any other adventure, especially when it is hot outside, you need to have a way to monitor the temperature of your RV. Unfortunately, the solutions for this require that you have either wifi or a cell signal. You never know when the RV Park you are in will lose power turning off the air conditioning. We always have our Auto Generator set to turn on if this happens. We recommend adding a monitor like Ideal Science Temperature Monitor to your home, which you can monitor through your cell phone when you are gone.

Emergency Decal

Since emergencies do happen when we are away from home, we recommend adding an emergency decal somewhere to your home. On this, you can identify that you are traveling with pets, what their name(s) is, and your phone number to contact you in case of an emergency.

Safety Tasks for Ongoing Maintenance of Safety Equipment

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of regular maintenance for your RV. Rather, it is a list of maintenance for the safety equipment and things you may not have considered for your checklists.

Travel Days Checklist for Departure:

Each of us has different things we need to do to prepare our RVs for travel days. Below are a few things from our checklist of things to do before departure that help ensure we arrive at our destination safely.

• Route planning
• Check fluid levels
• Check and adjust tire pressures
• Jacks up, doors locked, stuff is stowed
• Walk around to check that jacks went up, slides went in, and that everything looks good to go.
• Turn off propane
• After you pull out, be sure to check for unusual fluid that may have come from your parked rig.
• After we’ve connected our toad, we check running lights, headlights, brake lights, and turn signals on both vehicles and confirm that all wheels are spinning when we are in drive.
• Update emergency numbers

Monthly:

• Test Carbon Monoxide, Propane, and Smoke Alarms. Replace if not functioning.

Semi-Annually:

• Replace batteries in smoke detector, carbon monoxide, and propane detectors.

Annually:

• Weigh In — we don’t see huge swings in our weight, but we feel that it’s important to keep tabs on how much we are lugging around, so at least once a year, we head to a CAT scale to make sure that we are not overweight and that our load is dispersed across our axles.
• Check all fire extinguishers for fill level and expiration date. Replace any that need to be replaced.
• Replace used or expired items in the first aid kit.

Did we overlook something? Please leave a comment so others will see it too!