Firedude’s RV Fire Safety

With camping season nearly underway I’d like to make a quick run over RV Fire Safety. During my 33 year career as a fire captain and fire/arson investigator I responded to and investigated many RV fires. One thing about RV fires everyone must know, no matter the cause they go up FAST. This is due to a few reasons. One being the lightweight materials used in construction, another being they “vent” very quickly meaning the fire breaches the outside quickly and fresh oxygen is introduced to the fire. I’ve responded to many RV fires on the freeway within a mile or two of my station and almost all were fully involved by our arrival in just a few very short minutes. There are some very inherent dangers in RV fires. The smoke generated by the fires is extremely toxic in nature, more so than other fires again due to materials used for construction and contents and other items Read more  Read More →

Don’t speed pass that vacant lot!

One thing I’ve done in my travels and full-timing is slow down and try and “smell the roses”. I have found so many things nearly free to do and see it’s been great. I finally got my anchor spot (seasonal site) and free to come and go. I took a deep breath and took the blinders off and it was amazing at what I saw.  I spent my whole career running red lights and sirens and 100 mph and realized it was time to slow down and enjoy the RV lifestyle and things that didn’t cost gobs of money. As I indicate in my books there is so much to do, see and enjoy for nearly nothing. One example is what a ordinary vacant lot had to offer. This vacant lot was right behind my park. Well getting away from the keyboard and emails I was able to get my eyes readjusted to the real world! I took a walk and it’s amazing what am ordinary vacant lot can provide one. A vacant lot with a little rubble pile yielded quite a bit actually. It’s amazing what one might find in life if they just slow down a bit, take a deep breath and look around. This vacant lot had a lot to give. It yielded a bit of astonishing beauty actually…… A million dollar view of the ocean to the west… An old flower planter that was revived with $2.50 worth of flowers and planting soil… They have really grown and has become very colorful and nice. I had been eying this little red (used to be, now rust) lying among some other stuff and kept wondering, what can I do with that? I’m always brainstorming... Read more

Encounters of a different kind

I found out as a camp host given the fact you’re in the campground all the time versus occasional camping trips you tend to see some “different” things. In this blog I thought I’d offer some of the interesting things I’ve ran across and seen. One is you can meet a wide variety of campers such as Melanie from Las Vegas. She was camping with her “dad” who has had her since a baby. At 33 years old she was the hit of the campground and drew quite a crowd! The kids loved her! While not your typical camper, nonetheless she enjoyed her trip to the beach. Here’s “Mel”… Read more  Read More →

The Golden Circle

Firedude’s Golden Circle Checklist. I’ve got my RVer’s Notebook, my Budget Worksheet along with my other checklists included in my books so I’m ready to go for an uneventful, safe and well planned trip. There is this one important additional checklist that is a must that I offer for the grabbing in this Blog. Download link is at the bottom of page. Read more  Read More →

Firedude’s RV software review #2

An RVer’s self compiling Budget Worksheet In my first review I gave a very extensive review of RV Notebook which I feel is the best out there for RV’ers that I have found and very comprehensive. As mentioned though it does not work on MAC’s and hopefully sometime in the future it will. In this review I’ll offer my own RV Budget Worksheet developed in Excel. I’m not sure, but I believe for the MAC users your Office version will convert it for you. If not let me know please. Obviously you must also have MS Excel installed on your computer. This particular one was done in Office 2003 and should be compatible with later versions as I’ve also used it in Office 2007. Once you download it, save as Worksheet2 or whatever you want to name it so if you make any mistakes or it gets accidentally deleted you’ll have a backup copy. While not a full blown software program the Budget Worksheet was designed to help you track your expenses and was aimed at Full-timers and extended travelers , but can be used in general RV’ing as well to track maintenance costs and other items. I left it unlocked and open so you can adjust it and rework it to suit your own specific needs. It tally’s your figures for you which makes it much easier. It’s expandable and you can really adjust it for any specific needs. Unless you are proficient in Excel don’t change anything but the titles of an item and you should be fine. As it is it is great even for planning a vacation and listing, tracking... Read more

Firedude’s RV software review #1.

I know you’ve seen me mentioned it several times, so I thought I’d do a review. It’s worth the information. Over the last 5 years it’s been a life saver for me and the great part id it’s all in one program. No longer to I have file scattered all over my hard drive, forgetting where they are. RVer’s Notebook was developed by, and was the brainchild and passion of, Mickey Ivey. First released in early 2004, the program has evolved tremendously from the first beta version, to become a highly successful tool for many RVer’s.  It is such a useful method of maintaining records for one’s recreational vehicle, tow or towed vehicle, and the travels made.  With thousands of copies sold and in the hands of RVer’s across America and Canada, it has become a valuable, reliable software tool for savvy record-keepers. Great for all RVer’s! The only downside I have found is unfortunately as of this time the software is not available to MAC users. Hopefully maybe sometime in the future they will have a MAC version. It is currently only available windows Windows 98 or higher versions. Read more  Read More →

Firedude’s Top 10 RV Safety Reminders…

My Top 10 RV Safety Reminders… Safety is always an important subject with RV’ing whether you full-time or just travel occasionally. One needs to be conscious of the many items that need to be checked and maintained. This not only provides for safe traveling and a fun RV experience, but can also save you money in the long run avoiding costly and unnecessary repairs. Taking a little time to check these and other things can go a long ways in making your RV life enjoyable and give you peace of mind… Read more  Read More →

Firedude’s Top 10 best projects

Firedude’s Top 10 best projects/mods and must have’s…. 1. RV Notebook. My RV Notebook software has to be one of the most valuable programs I have to date. I now have all my pertinent files pertaining to my RV all in one convenient location versus several files scattered all over my computer. It’s made life so much easier and efficient. All my maintenance items, upgrades/mods, costs, travel info and everything to do with your RV’ing all in one neat interactive program. You can learn more here. 2. Mobile Broadband. After trying many different types of Internet access including a few years with Direcway (Hughes) satellite I finally went with Mobile Broadband utilizing a usb aircard and broadband router thus giving me my own rolling WI-FI hotspot. No setup time, just turn on the computer and I’m on line. Much better speeds, all my on line banking and bill paying is now a breeze and not affected by weather. The Mobile Broadband has made life so much more simple and enjoyable. It’s mobile so if you have a laptop you can use your connection easily while traveling or away from your RV. I explain this more in my Mobile Broadband Guide. 3. Computer Work Station and cabinet addition. Being I do a lot of work on line I installed and mounted a computer desk in place of one of my recliners. The slides clear it when it comes in and everything is in place with Velcro for traveling. The desk and cabinet are secured in place for travel and pretty much a permanent fixture. I... Read more

RV Tech Tip. Wrap it!

Anybody use the plastic tie wraps, tape and other things to wrap cable, fasten things together, and do other such tasks? I hate those things. I needed something I could arrange all my cable and wires associated with my computer desk with. It looked like a maze of spider webs back there and very disorganized at best. My brother who is a network engineer told me of a product which is double sided Velcro. Well I went to the local hardware store and that stuff was very expensive and came in weird colors and wasn’t a true double sided Velcro like I had thought. He sent me this link here where you can buy a 25 yard roll! 25 yards, delivered got just over $20! It’s a true double sided black Velcro and you simply take a pair of scissors and cut it to the desired length. It was of such a valued item and use to me I included it in my RV Tech Tip book. I soon found many uses for this stuff. I first routed and cleaned up the wire mess behind my computer desk and the associated cords. Now you don’t see any of them and what a much cleaner and organized setup! I’ve used a ton of it so far and still have half the roll left as 25 yards goes a long ways! Once I got my computer desk straightened out as I went I found several uses for this stuff. In my basement I was able to secure a few things to the walls by simply cutting the wrap to length and screwing it into the wall and then fastening the item to the wall. This really cleaned up the clutter in my basement giving it a much cleaner,... Read more

Campsite Solar Light Tip

Well it was some time back (’06) that I did a tech tip on RV Today with Stew and Tracy about solar campsite lights. I thought I’d bring it up again. It was so well received I added it to my RV Tech Tip book. At the time I had Direcway Satellite tripod set up and it sat away from my RV a bit and wanted the thing visible for safety and other reasons. I was at Home depot one day as saw these outdoor 3 tier solar lights for $29.95 a pair. I bought a pair and used one under my tripod and put the other by my door steps. They worked so well I went back and got another pair and placed them strategically around my campsite. I had a ton of people asking me about them and where I got them. The nice thing was being a host on the beach they were made of aluminum. They came with little hard plastic stakes you drove in the ground, but being mobile and maybe wanting to move them around I came up with a better idea. Read more  Read More →

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