Tent Trailers - A Few Tips and Tricks
Now that you’ve made the jump to a tent or pop-up trailer, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed with the change from tent to camper. Have no fear! Here’s a few quick tips on maintenance, some DIY upgrades, and a few other helpful hints so you can make the most of your new setup. The best thing about campers is that you can really make them your own, so don’t be afraid to try different things to see what works best for you.
1.Regular Maintenance
A lot like a tent you’ll want to regularly check any of the canvas of your unit for wear and tear. You’ll definitely want to do this at least once every year both at the beginning and end of the season (particularly if you store your camper outside)
No Bull Tip! Keep tear packets in the camper for any larger rips that may happen, but in a quick second you can use a flexible glue for smaller frays.
If it’s metal and it moves or can otherwise deteriorate, check it regularly! Everything from jacks to ball bearings to the trailer hitch. If something doesn’t move right it can break or damage the rest of the unit. This also goes for any cables! Lube ‘em up and lube ‘em well! Cables are what move the manual parts of your pop up so if they break, you’re hooped.
No Bull Tip! You can purchase lubrication meant specifically for trailer slides.
2. Run Your Gas Lines at the Beginning of the Season
When your camper isn’t in use, air (as well as little creepy-crawlies) can get into the lines. Run your gas lines to clear out any air or bugs that may have gotten in if they weren’t properly connected or loosened while it was stored.
3. Upgrade Your Bed
Now, maybe you’ve bought used (wink wink) and the mattress is already super plush, but if you want to switch it up or even just improve the current mattress look into mattress toppers. Now, you may think this is just one more thing to pack, but it doesn’t have to be. You can measure how much space is available when your camper is folded up and discover how much space you have to add anything on top of the bed.
We can’t take credit for this (thank you Pop Up Portal and Pop Up Princess!) but give your camper the Kleenex Box test to figure out your space. Here’s a quick rundown:
Place a tissue box on top of your mattress before folding up your trailer (a great place is on top of the folded canvas towards the edge of the roof). Then close up the camper and fully fasten everything down as you would normally.
Measure any denting in the tissue box and you’ll know how much space you have between the mattress and the camper (the space is equal to the undented area. So if your tissue box is 6-inches tall and the camper squishes down 2-inches, you have 4-inches of space. Make sense?)
No Bull Tips! Move the box around a few times to different spots to get the most accurate measurement. This is also a great test if you plan on leaving any curtains or bedding in the camper during travel.
Another way to improve your bed is to use anti-fatigue matts under the mattress. You can buy interlocking sets from Amazon or Costco and they can help any sleeper who re-enact The Princess and the Pea and can feel the board under the mattress easily.
4. Keep It Minimal
Thanks to their small size, pop up campers can pretty much go anywhere, of course this also means your storage space is more limited compared to a fifth wheel or travel trailer. So, keep your bits and bobs to a minimum. You don’t need a million pots and pans, or fancy plates to have a good time. Plan ahead and only bring what you’re going to need for cooking (and remember, food prep is your friend! Store prepared meals or ingredients in a cooler instead of having to bring vegetable peelers, big cutting boards, or a ton of knives)
Other ways to save on space is to use alternates that are small, light, and can be stored stacked:
- Foil pans for cooking – avoid doing dishes, and they stack together well while being multi-use
- Board games for rainy days, bring the family favorites that don’t need a ton of space: Dutch Blitz or Uno may be easier to store than Monopoly for example.
- Pack your clothing directly into your camper! Day-to-day items are best when easily accessible, so organize them wisely – such as putting them in boxes in bench storage areas. Avoid having them in suitcases that you have to move between your tow vehicle and camper for example. This will make it both more convenient, and allow space in the vehicle for larger items like coolers.
5. Dress It Up
Let’s face it a lot of RV cushions are…something to be desired in the presentation. So, cushion covers are great because it makes your cushions easier to clean and can personalize the space.
No Bull Tip! You can get dining room seat covers (depending on cushion size) that can slip on and off easily without velcro, ties, or buttons! Just measure your cushions to figure out the size that works best for you.
6. Keep It Cool
These days you’ll rarely find any camper with an A/C unit, however if you want to try and make the use of that as efficient as possible you can insulate your pop-up yourself. A way to do this, similar to using a reflective shield in the front windshield of your car, is to get Reflectix or other reflective insulation and cut it to match the mesh windows of your camper to put between the screen and the privacy canvas. This will keep the area dark and reflect the sun, helping keep the temperature lower. You can buy these rolls for cheap online or in home hardware stores.
No Bull Tip! If you want to do even more you can get a reflective cover for the top of the bunk ends of your camper. These can be found for specific units or homemade (depending on your personal skill level or amount of preferred effort haha!)
7. Cook and Wash Dishes Outside
Now if you don’t want to do any cooking inside your pop-up, because you don’t want to deal with smell, or heat, or you want to gut the kitchen for additional storage space, look into investing in a good quality portable grill. Certain brands (like Blackstone) actually sell adaptors so your grill can be hooked up to your camper propane.
Washing dishes outside. Now this was a new one for me, but I saw someone do this at their camp with a pop-up and thought it was brilliant; get a fish cleaning table to wash your dishes outside. They have a built-in tap and sink that you hook up to a hose and a portable gray tank respectively, making for a great dishwashing station outside of your camper.
No Bull Tip! We highly recommend you get a water filter for your water hook-ups at camp. Additionally, you can get a countertop water filter or distiller for better tasting water.
8. Always Remember to Stabilize and Level!
Not every campsite is going to be level, even if it has a pad. Always check your leveling and stabilize your camper when setting up!
No Bull Tip! No pad at your site, or boondocking? Use leveling blocks under the stabilizers and tongue jack to avoid them sinking into softened ground.
And there you have it, a few ideas to make your next outing with your new rig a lot simpler. Anything you would add? Let us know in the comments below and tag us @nobullrvs on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook! We love hearing about your adventures!