Safety and a new Camper.

If you are like us, you are wishing for spring right now; ok, dying for it might be a better term, at least in my house. I think for us cabin fever sets in about 2 or 3 weeks after Christmas. So what can you do while you wait for snow to melt and the spring flood to be over? Why you can dream of a new camper. In fact, we just got ours paid off, so I am practically foaming at the mouth to start looking. The road to the future starts with that great shining Dream called “The RV SHOW”! That should be in great big letters with fireworks, at least in my mind. That is the Disney World for fathers . . . “I am too excited to sleep” as the kid in the commercials says…

But before you go, I want you to keep a few things in mind. I want you to take a step back and look at some things before you even think of signing on the dotted line. Everyone knows that Campers are required to have some safety devices installed before you can get them, chiefly the smoke detector, propane detector and a smoke alarm. Now you think you are all set, Right? As my grandfather used to say “Not so fast buckaroo!” I want you to think about some things that might not be as easily seen and aren’t as flashy or at least as noisy.

Let’s start on the outside (this is going to be one of those two part articles as they say). Have you ever broken a window in your house? What about in your car? They break differently if you haven’t noticed; a house window breaks and leaves large, sharp edged pieces of glass. A car window breaks into small, square pieces, which are much less likely to hurt you badly. Which does your dream camper have?

Another simple place to look at is the door; does it have rounded edges at the top or square pointy ones? If the awning is over it, the rounded edges win in my book, much less chance of poking a hole in that nice, new awning. That goes the same for windows. What about the awning? Is it easy to put up and take down? If it is electric, does it have a manual back up?

And something that really bothers me is push outs or slide outs. I know they make a lot of room inside, but have you ever looked at them on the outside? A large number of them have very, very sharp pointy edges just about head high to a little kid or small adult. Even if you are just going to a compartment under the slide, what will happen to your head? As clumsy as my family and friends are, we will be spending time in the emergency room for stitches. If they don’t round them off, at least get something to hang from them as a warning, sun catchers, whirly gigs or similar and hang them up every time you open the slide up!

Where are things located at? How easy is it to get to the spare tire? Could you get to it on the side of a highway in the snow? I don’t like it under the tongue of the trailer, but the one we are looking at has it there. So you either learn to live with it or move it somewhere else. What about the propane tanks, are they easy to reach and work on? The battery is the same; does it have a shut off switch? To change the battery, when you are boonedocking do you have to be Mr. Goodwrench to get to it?

And what about the most unmentionable of all, the black water and grey water tanks. Can you get at the valves and do they have enough height to empty them easily? That is one area I don’t want anything to be hard to get to, or operate . . . Yuck barely begins to describe any mistakes with this!

What about tail lights, are they large, bright and easily seen? Does the back have any reflective tape on it? That is one very easily added safety measure if your lights ever go out.

Now if you are happy with the outside of the camper that you really want to be yours. Spend a few minutes daydreaming of sitting outside it. The awning is up, and you are sitting around the campfire enjoying the warm yellow glow glinting off that new camper. And maybe, most important, you know that you and your family will be safer because you looked at a few little things before you jumped in with both feet.

Your obedient servant

Gary Smith, Jr.