Recently on our Facebook page someone asked me to name a great “bang for the buck” RV camping gadget. For the money, it’s tough to beat the Camco Leveling Scissor Jack Drill Socket. Anyone with scissor jacks (we sometimes call ’em stabilizer jacks) on their RV can benefit from this brilliant little $5 part.
I know my wife loves this gadget. Now she can forget about working up a sweat the old fashioned way, twisting an awkward manual crank to raise and lower our RV scissor jacks. Using this adapter is better, faster, and easier on her back.
What kind of primitive caveman sends his wife out to lower the scissor jacks with a hand crank?
Of course, she also needed a cordless electric drill
One benefit of the old approach is that it gave her a pretty good workout. It was also more fun to watch.
The real upside here is effort. It’s fast, easy, and effective. She can slap the socket on her drill, pull the trigger a few times, and she’s done – allowing me to get on with the important business of enjoying my day.
When she first started talking about this thing, I have to admit I was skeptical. I didn’t like the idea of forking over the cost of a ham sandwich just to save her an extensive amount of repetitive manual labor.
“Why not use a 3/8″ hex adapter and a 3/4″ socket?” I asked. “Are you just trying to waste money on these fancy toys?”
“The main advantage of the Camco socket adapter,” she replied, “versus using a regular 3/4-inch socket is that it’s one solid piece – no 3/8″ hex adapter is required.”
This one piece solution costs about $5 and saves your wife a ridiculous amount of work. Get it!
“So what?” I said. “What’s wrong with a two-piece solution?”
“The problem,” she explained, “is that when using two pieces, often the socket separates from the hex adapter and stays stuck on the scissor jack when pulled away. This Camco socket permanently eliminates that annoyance from my list.”
She went on to explain that if you total the cost of a 3/8-inch adapter plus a 3/4-inch socket, any price difference is moot (in fact, the one piece solution is arguably cheaper than going the two piece route). After thinking it over, I had to reluctantly admit that her logic was sound.
When we first started RV camping, it took my wife forever to establish camp. Now she does it with the speed of a NASCAR pit crew, and little “bang for the buck” gadgets like this socket adapter are one reason why. She always has her drill ready to go.
Men, it's the right thing to do. Equip your wife with the best tools.
She didn’t need a fancy drill either. For our first camping season, she used a cheap Black & Decker drill and it handled the task just fine.
My wife is thrilled at this time saver (now she can get on with other chores like chopping wood and building the campfire). Does this mean she's lazy? Not in my book!
Then Valentine’s Day rolled around, and I surprised her with a much nicer DEWALT drill. It works even better!
She says the DEWALT generates much more torque, so the scissor jacks extend and retract with lightning speed.
“The batteries last longer in the DEWALT,” she told me. “And the canary yellow color is much more romantic. I love it!”
My wife was thrilled with her Valentine's gift. For Christmas, I'm thinking she might enjoy a matching chainsaw.
You know, at first I thought my wife was being a little lazy, wanting a scissor jack drill socket and all. But she makes no apologies for owning this sort of effort-saving little gadget.
As anyone who has ever watched a family member set up an RV campsite knows – it looks like a lot of work.
And if my wife’s having a bad day, it certainly affects my fun.
I figure that the faster she can finish those chores, the sooner I will be sipping wine and relaxing by the campfire.
Guys, don’t wait for Valentine’s Day.
If you have manual scissor jacks on your RV, your wife needs one of these scissor jack drill socket gadgets – end of story.