Product Highlight - McKesh Towing Mirrors, Still #1

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminTowing mirrors aren’t just a good idea, they’re the law. In fact, if you check the laws in 50 different states, you’ll find that they all have little variations. Be sure to check your own state laws before buying your trailer or next set of mirrors. There are websites with the regs for all 50 states listed, but it’s best to check directly with your own department of motor vehicles. Often, the “one stop” information on the web is outdated. A good rule of thumb is: If you can see a car that’s 125′ (about 7 car lengths) directly behind your trailer, you’re in good shape. But also make sure your mirrors are stable, meaning they don’t vibrate at highway speeds. McKesh Portable Towing Mirrors are designed to accommodate all state and Canadian province regulations. Extending out to 20″, with large 6″ x 9″ mirrors, McKesh mirrors offer more visibility than any towing mirror on the market. Add the optional convex mirrors and increase your range of vision even more, especially in those toll booth... Read more

Safe Holiday Travel Tips

Forty thousand people in the United States die each year on the road! With the peak RV travel season here I thought this would be a good time to discuss getting to your RV travel destination safely. Getting there can be half the fun, as the saying goes, if you take a few precautions to make your trip safe. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

2009 Stella Award Winner (It isn’t Winnebago)

If you think it’s been a bad year for the RV industry, and especially motorhome manufacturers, this year’s first place Stella Award must have those at Winnebago shaking their heads and asking, “What next”? In case you don’t recognize the Stella Awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck, who spilled hot coffee in her lap after she took the lid off the coffee, placed it between her legs, and drove off. It didn’t occur to her that it might spill and burn her, which it did. The kicker is, of course, that she successfully sued the McDonald’s in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee and won. The annual awards are for the most ridiculous law suits–not for being filed, but for actually being won! This year’s runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home and on her first trip home from an Oklahoma U football game, she drove onto the freeway, set the cruise control at 70 mph. Then she calmly left the driver’s seat to go back to the Winnebago’s kitchen to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner’s manual that she couldn’t actually leave the driver’s seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her–are you sitting down–$1,750,000 PLUS a new motor... Read more

Unavoidable Accidents: Would Your Pet Survive?

One of our partners, Christina Selter, founder of Bark Buckle UP, reported the following information that tells some real life stories of pet travelers. Bark Buckle UP is a pet travel safety advocacy organization and Selter works with police, fire and hospital first responders to advise them on rescue techniques for pets. She also travels the around country to speak to pet owners about the dangers of traveling with unsecured pets. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Quick RV Safety Refresher Course

I have always been a safety advocate. When you mention the words “RV safety” lots of things come to mind; towing safety, driving safety, personal safety, operating the RV safely and safety related equipment that can be found on most RV’s. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Hyper Mileage Tips

By Bob Difley If you don’t think that adopting conservative driving habits can increase your mileage, consider a test that Ford recently conducted. They put a team together consisting of a NASCAR driver, an engineer, and a hyper-mileage record breaker to see how many miles they could wring out of a tank of gas in a stock Ford Fusion Hybrid. Driving on open roads they got–are your ready–1,445.7 miles out of one tank of gas. That works out to 81.5 mpg. Now don’t expect to get those kinds of results driving your 40-foot diesel pusher or pulling your Grrand Teton fiver with four slides. But, they proved that you can stretch your mileage. And you can too, by taking a few tips from the team and applying some version of them to your driving. Slow down and maintain even pressure on the throttle Accelerate gradually, both from a stop and when entering a freeway Brake smoothly, avoiding fast stops Keep a safe distance between the vehicle in front of you Look ahead and anticipate traffic conditions. Slow down well before you need to Coast up to red lights and stop signs to avoid wasting fuel waste and wear on the brakes Minimize using heater and dash air conditioning to reduce the load on the engine Run roof air and close windows at high speeds to reduce aerodynamic drag Minimize excessive engine workload by using the vehicle’s kinetic forward motion to climb hills Use downhill momentum, rather than applying accelerator, to build speed back up On a recent... Read more

VIDEO: Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy - Eton’s NOAA Radios

If “April Showers bring May Flowers” then “The Heat of Summer brings more than Thunder.” Summer brings violent weather. Period. Thunderstorms, lightning strikes, hailstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, heat waves and flash flooding are the prices we pay for warm, sunny days. What turns violent weather deadly, most times, is when it catches us unexpectedly. When we are unaware of a forecasted storm, our chances of weathering that storm diminish greatly. Unfortunately, summertime is, most likely, the time we will be out and about, vacationing, traveling, RVing, boating, cycling and away from our normal shelters and weather media outlets. Getting caught off guard while your on the road is never smart. Away and unaware is the perfect recipe for misfortune. One of the pieces of gear I always carry with with me is either my Solarlink FR360 or the Microlink FR150 from the Eton Corporation. These portable, powerful AM/FM/NOAA Weather radios are the perfect solution to getting caught with your guard down. It’s the “smartest” radio I know. My “bad-weather-crystal-ball” I like to say. In this short video you will learn why it is one of my Top Ten pieces of gear and how to never again worry about the impromptu characteristics of Mother Nature. For more information on the products highlighted in this video, visit EtonCorp.com or CampingWorld.com ______ To learn more about summer survival tips, visit BuriedLogic.com Tell a Friend Read More →

Tow Dollies & Towing Tips

After my article on towing a vehicle with four wheels on the ground I received several requests for more information on towing a vehicle with a tow dolly. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Sitting Stretches

Lynn Difley While I am not a fan of prolonged sitting, I know all too well that many times those of us who live and travel in an RV are destined to spend more than our share of time in a sitting position. So are those who work at a desk or computer, and so I’d like to offer a few stretches to at least help alleviate some of the stiffness and soreness that comes from spending too many hours seated. The most efficient way to do these exercises is on a frequent basis; don’t wait till you are so stiff you are aching to do your stretching. I recommend every hour or two, especially if the drive is stressful. Naturally, these moves are not for the driver, unless you pull over to the side of the road to do them. Do each stretch gently and smoothly, breathing deeply, holding for 15-30 seconds while continuing to breathe deeply and slowly. Neck stretch: sit up tall with shoulders relaxed, back lifted and straight. Let your left ear drop toward your left shoulder and hold. Allow the weight of your head to carry the stretch deeper as you inhale and exhale. Roll your head toward the chest and hold it down, again breathing slowly and deeply as you feel the neck muscles stretch. Then roll your head back up toward the right and bring the right ear to the right shoulder, hold and relax. Chest stretch: Bring your hands behind your back and interlace your fingers, straighten your arms. Tighten the muscles of the shoulder and upper back and gently lift the hands up and away from your body. Keep... Read more

RV Tire Tips for Safer RV Trips

 It seems as though I talk about tire safety all of the time. The reason I do is because tires are an important safety topic concerning RVers that are often times overlooked. Just recently I read a newspaper article that summed up just how overlooked tires, in general, are. The article stated, “The Rubber Manufacturers Association found that 29 million drivers believe that tires require no regular maintenance.” This number might be considered small when compared to our current deficit, but it is quite large when you consider 29 million people are driving around the country on tires they don’t know the condition of. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Next Page »