Things you don't need

[ALJO]

Sundancer330: Ex Wife or Wife, LOL

Bring them both..........the more the merrier! No loneliness with camping...

[Lake Huron]

I agree on the "games". We got a bunch and they almost never come out and when they do they only get played a time or two and then its a pia to pack it all up and put it away.
One of the things I took out is my sewer hose expandable ladder support. Thought it was a good idea when I bought it, but I haven't used it in a few years. I connect the sewer hose up and let it lay on the ground. The little bit of waste water that's in there ain't gonna hurt anything. It's grey water anyway.
Satellite dish and tripod,... Gone. PIA to set up, most places the trees are in the way anyway.
Tools, I've condensed those down too. I still take enough tools to get most any job done, but they are all in a kit now instead of taking most of my toolbox.
Never NOT take a gun. One in the trailer and one in the cab of the truck.
Now I have to convince the wife to lighten the load on her end. She takes WAY too much crap.

[Midnightmoon]

We used to carry lots of games and activities for the kids. That's been replaced with an I-pad for each and something stupid like some crayons and a coloring book. You would be surprised, even older kids will still sit and color if they are bored enough. 90% of the time, those don't even get used. If it's not pouring down rain, they are out doing something.

Myself personally, If I have to be stuck inside, I listen to the radio or take a nap. I'm pretty easily entertained.

[norty1]

Well this should encourage us to clean out our camper and see what we have been toting all over for a year and have not used, except safety equipment.

In my case it's a folding table that is plastic and is 2' x 48" with variable height. It seemed like something I really needed but it is coming out because it's to difficult and time consuming to put up and take down.

Garage sale time.

[North of 49°]

The games like ladder ball or badminton only come out when we're entertaining, to give our guests something to do. But on a more serious note, I stopped carrying the hatchet, axe and wood saw because we don't use them anymore. DW is allergic to smoke, so for me to enjoy a campfire, and for her to join me, we bought a propane fire pit, eliminating the need for firewood. That made the wood cutting tools pretty much unnecessary. Converting it to run off the trailer's propane supply is an extra bonus.

In our old hybrid, we bungee'd some reflective thermal blankets over the bunk ends to either reflect the heat away, or to keep the heat in, depending when we were camping. In a TT, those aren't necessary anymore, so they were taken out.

On a similar note, with the RV queen bed in our current trailer, we went to a more traditional sheet-and-blanket setup for the bed, so we didn't need sleeping bags anymore.

We always camp at sites that at least have power, so items like the Coleman lantern and stovetop coffee percolator (sacrilege! I know) aren't necessary anymore.

So yeah, I have to agree that the list will differ from person to person, depending on their camping style, but every year or so I take an inventory of what's in the trailer and I usually end up removing stuff that's no longer used or needed.

[Bassdogs]

There is no universal best list on this one. It is totally personal and based on your own needs and wants. In our case, I have a policy of empting the outside storage at the end of each winter camping season. If you wait until next spring it won't get done. Policy is if you havn't used an item in the last 2 years, it gets removed. If it is a seasonal item, it gets removed and only reloaded for that season. Tool kit is purged for duplicates and speciality items that were used for a project and ended up in the TT kit [pex tool]. Try to get DW to do the same thing inside the TT. Do we need a dozen drink glasses, 700 different spices, and clothes clothes and more clothes..

As to the personal preferences, I am particularily sensitive to those who proudly target the TV. I get it and I know people who don't watch TV at home so why take one camping. If I were to remove the TV from my whitehawk I would have a 36x20" hole in the wall over the fireplace. But that will never happen because I am a Tv fanatic with an auto mobile sat antanee, separate sat input/receiver for the main salon and the bedroom, DVR on both, and a Blueray just in case. I'm considering NOT taking the back up dish/tripod in a box that I carry in case the auto mobile unit fails. I have had Dish service at my campsite on more than one occasion, the last time to replace the LNB on the dish so I could watch the Daytona 500 a few days later. If I were to remove something it would be the radio that I have not used more than 3 or 4 times total in 2 TT's over a 12 year period, but like the tv I would have a hole in that cabinet so I just installed a toggle switch so I could turn off that annoying blue light. My most recent mod was to add a sound bar for the TV.

[curver900]

This is a tough one for just starting out... My wife went on a 10 day motorcycle ride with me.. she had one saddle bag I had the other and we shared a tank bag... let's just say that she was quite the trooper and went with the bare minimum.. all her clothes plus rain gear left her without much room for stuff she might want but didn't need....

You will take more than you need... which is fine... because it is easier to deal with an extra jacket or extra tools or extra something than to not have it... if you have the room and can handle the weight.. take it...

We camped 5 state parks two years ago in a tent over a 2 week period... and all of our stuff loaded in the back of the pickup truck.. we had extra towels and other stuff we ended up not using, we over bought food... not much other stuff though... the extra towels came in handy on the first night it rained and rained and rained... and we ended up wet... the next morning we dried up everything and headed into town to the laundromat yep 30 miles one way.. it was cold and miserable so it worked out.. we weren't going hiking anyway... it beat having to go back to the tent all still wet... my wife was fine with it as our two 9 year olds... but we all got tired of trudging our food in and out of the truck every day 2 times a day... so we bought a TT...

now a trailer.. do I need a camp stove? how about a lantern? fire starters IMO are a must they sell little ones here at Menard's that are perfect or get the big logs and cut off pieces.
Tin Foil - buy the heavy duty stuff
Paper towels, Kleenex, TP (you only forget that once... and if you have it on your hike you are a hero)
krups coffee maker - I still like the perk coffee but my wife doesn't like to wait...

matches, lighters, folding knife, small hatchet, hammer, assorted tools, bleach mixture, flashlight (2), batteries, tire pressure gauge, voltmeter, assorted fuses, small shovel, level, 2-6' 2x6 if dirt pads and rain, cast iron fry pan, travel mugs, hammocks, bottled water, soap, dish scratch pad, traveling food (sandwiches and such), sun screen, insect repellent, compass, road maps of area, weather radio, rain coats, extra boots, extra socks, breakdown clothes, gloves, hiking headlight, rope, first aid kit (make your own) prescription drugs, baby wipes, camera, extra memory cards, etc...

out west hiking? bear mace, bells on the back packs, topo maps (trail maps), compass, in addition to regular required food/water...

check everything before you go.. Propane, batteries,tires,brakes, grease those bearing in the last 2 years? check spare tire pressure, etc... long distance? set of bearings greased, bottle jack, etc...

then depending on the weather for where you are going and the time of year pack accordingly.

even if you forget something you are only 2 hours (usually) from a place to pay extra for what you forgot.. then at least you know you needed it

[DonaandDon]

I too use totes. Eight years full timing now. I have 11 totes in my sons garage and 5 totes in the 5r. Every years I spring clean and then have to tell my son why there's more totes in his garage.

[Aquapoolman]

would of liked a cat tree option in the living room, or even a litter box drawer in the bathroom. We are tring to make mods for it now to make it fit.

Anyone have suggestions?

[Redslider]

Outside speakers!

[tdk2765]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

This is going to vary from person to person depending on how you camp. What we "needed" 10 years ago is different from what we "need" now. Every so often we purge things we no longer use. Conversely every so often we add something we think we can't live without.

I agree! Some people are more minimalist, seeing how little they can get by with. Others like to maximize and see just how much they can cram in. Part has to do with difference between what to take just for a weekend vs longer trips.

[GrumpyDad]

I've never yet seen someone with a trailer that wasn't totally full.

[RayPayne]

There are two things I do to try to avoid things I don’t need. First, if you didn’t know you needed it before you saw it, don’t buy it. Second, put a blanket over the middle of the storage area items. (Or back if single side access. ) When you put things away for the season leave the blanket as a divider to all things not used for the season. Come end of the season anything left under the blanket should be tossed into the garage at home unless it’s emergency gear.

[Duke4857]

We used to have a camper full of stuff. We took out the extra blankets, sleeping bags, and white gas lanterns and extra pup tents. We also got rid of all the tupperware, we use zip lock bags now. We keep less canned goods in the trailer and less extra food. We only take enough for the trip and a extra day. Now under the bed holds cases of wine when we go on our winery trip every couple of years. Under the bed is empty when we go on weekend trips. We do not even take a extra cooler for beer on weekend trips. (Whiskey) Getting rid of a lot of stuff has also cut down on setup time. With just the two of us I do not even get out the propane lantern unless we are hunting and I will be back after dark. The gen-set (charge batteries) and LED outside lights are what we use. We are guilty of a few DVDs for the TV.

My point is if you have too much stuff you always can take it out. Be a happy camper, tread lightly and leave the parking spot better than when you arrived.

[koko]

In our house we have a whole basement wall-of-shelves filled with things we thought we needed. Our children have gone down there and "shopped" for their RVs. Last fall, friends of ours purchased a motorhome, and we told them to come on down and take what they needed. They came out with over-door towel racks, suction cup soap dishes, several canvas storage cartons, extra shower hoses, canvas chairs...they thought they found a gold mine. With each camper we've purchased, we thought we needed this or that and ended up with a whole array of "more stuff". To us, all those extras get in the way of the reason we go camping in the first place - to get away from the complications of everyday life. We've learned the hard way. These days, it seems after each trip we find something else to take out of our RV and put on our basement shelf.

[TxTwoSome]

Radio!

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by TxTwoSome

Radio!

It's amazing how different all of us are. I couldn't go a day without a radio. I need the background noise to be able to sleep. In fact, I pretty much have music on 24/7/365.