Insight

A compendium of hints, tips, help and some wisdom ...

How NOT to Cool White Wine in a Fast-flowing River 
When securing a baja bag filled with the only wine you have left for the remainder of your river trip ... and after tying it to a heavy shore rock using ... an assortment of carabiners, a bunch of knots, clips and 50 feet of rope, always ... check your connections, then make a second connection and then have someone else check ALL your connections one more time. 
Lesson: The Colorado River is fast. You might be able to paddle your canoe and retrieve that baja bag, but you'd never paddle back upstream. Belts and suspenders.

Shit CAN and WILL Flow Uphill 
If you're at a serviced RV site, always look down the sewer hole, to check for BLOCKAGE before opening the black water valve to dump. 
Lesson: Just because the sewer ran freely last dump, doesn't mean it will this dump.

NEVER Cause an Explosion at a Border Crossing
THIS should be obvious, shouldn't it? 
Lesson: When driving away from a border stop, never drive over or glance up against a really, sharp concrete curb ... even if you have 10+2 ply E-rated truck tires. Remember, you are hauling 4000# on those tires.

STOP Wobbling

We offload our camper from the truck if we plan on staying at one location for more than a few days. When the full camper floor is supported by the truck bed and all 4 jacks are extended the unit is quite stable. Off the truck, the camper body is suspended above the ground, held by the jacks and can 'wobble' from movement inside or from strong wind ... this can be unnerving. 

A product called the Wobble Stopper, made by Torklift International solves the problem for around $300 CDN. 

We made our own for less than $100 CDN. The axle stands are $10 each, the levelling blocks are $80 and the wood less than $5. We carry the levelling blocks anyway, so technically they shouldn't be considered part of the cost. That brings the total to around $25 CDN.