What Belongs in Every Rig? The Top RV and Camper Gear Right Now

Ratings below come from the linked retail listings, verified October 25, 2026, and we read owner threads and reviews for every pick. We do not use Amazon customer reviews, so Amazon-linked picks are scored on our read of the owner threads and reviews - the analysis still says what owners elsewhere actually report.

First purchase for any rig: protect the electrical system. Campground pedestals are old, shared and sometimes miswired, and one bad hookup can fry a converter, an air-conditioner control board and a microwave in a single pop. The EMS-PT30X is an electrical management system, not a dollar-store surge strip - Progressive Industries builds it to watch for voltage swings, open grounds and reverse polarity, per the listing.

Owners treat it as cheap insurance. One r/rvlife owner found plastic melted around a plug prong after a four-day stay - the thread's diagnosis was a worn 30-amp pedestal plus a loose plug fit causing heat, which no EMS can fix, and the practical advice was to inspect the pedestal and plug fit before trusting them. That is the right mental model: the EMS guards against the park's electricity, and you still eyeball the connection.

Ten interlocking blocks that stack to the height you need, in a yellow you will never lose in the grass, per the listing.

The linked Walmart listing sits at 4.7 stars across 331 ratings. The honest complaint about stackable blocks surfaced in an r/VanLife thread: one owner calls yellow Camco blocks 'terrifying,' saying they can shoot out from under a tire - they did not name the model, so treat that as a stackable-blocks caveat, not a verdict on this one. Owners' fixes: roll on slowly with a spotter, or step up to a tri-leveler if you level a heavy van solo. For most rigs, this 10-pack is the right amount of insurance for the fridge and your back.

The filter every rig ends up with: granular activated carbon inline at the spigot, with a flexible hose protector in the box, per the listing.

The linked Walmart listing carries 4.6 stars across about 1,250 ratings. Long-form owner discussion is thinner than that pool - one multi-season user in an r/RVLiving thread puts it plainly: the water 'is fine coming out of them, in all types of campgrounds.' It does one job, and the rating pool says it does it. Drain it before a freeze and replace it on a schedule - carbon filters are consumables.

The default sewer hose: 20 feet of 23-mil polyolefin that compresses for storage, with fittings that lock instead of pop off, per the listing.

The linked Walmart listing carries 4.5 stars across 714 ratings, and owner threads add useful texture. One r/RVLiving family had two of three new hoses leak at the coupling joint within a month - replies pointed out the plastic ends thread onto the internal steel coil and can be tightened. Full-timers report the same pattern: one Gulf coast owner replaces a sun-exposed hose every couple of months, while owners who store theirs report a year or more - one got 3.5 seasons - out of the same model.

Blowouts end trips, and a trailer gives no warning from the driver's seat. The i10's four cap transmitters report pressure and temperature to a dash display - no phone required, per the listing.

Owner reports run dramatic both ways. One r/GoRVing owner got a low-pressure alert an hour into a trip - a real flat - and then found the cap sensor had cracked both valve stems; another credits the unit with saving a 2,600-mile trip by catching an inner-dual flat. The setup detail that decides which story you get comes from TireMinder's own support page: its transmitters may go on quality rubber stems, but it recommends brass or stainless stems, with regular inspection if you keep rubber. Follow the manufacturer - metal stems - and this is the pick that watches your tires so you do not have to.

Solar without a drill: the 100W suitcase unfolds on a kickstand, clips to the battery with alligator clamps, and runs through a waterproof 20A controller in the box, per the listing.

A full-time RV family gave it a 10/10 after it kept them charged while boondocking (they disclose Renogy supplied their review unit); an Aliner owner reports eight years of service; another uses it to supplement rooftop solar and maintain batteries in storage. The complaints are physical, not electrical: at 27 pounds it is a real carry, and there is no paper manual in the box. For boondockers who will not wire a roof panel, this is the easy yes.

The grill built for RV quick-connect propane: 180 square inches of cooking surface - enough for about four, per a long-term RV.com hands-on - a smoker plate that tames grease flare-ups, and a stainless tabletop body, per the listing.

That hands-on praised the even heat and the removable grease tray; the gripes were a fragile gasket at the control valve and a finicky igniter gap. Size-check: 180 square inches is a couples grill, not a rally grill. One buyer-critical detail: it is designed for the RV's low-pressure quick-connect - running it on disposable bottles takes an additional adapter. The linked Walmart listing carries 4.2 stars from 38 ratings, a small sample, so we score it cautiously.

Endless hot water is the pitch, and owners confirm it is real: the Gen 2 is tankless with a small mixing tank to smooth temperature swings, and it ships with the remote and door, per the listing. The 20-minute safety timeout is real across tankless units - the owner workaround is turning the water off and back on.

Reliability is the honest gamble. In one 38-comment r/RVLiving thread, an owner's heat exchanger started leaking after about a year and warranty help was slow, while another reports no issues at all; a tech who services RV water heaters says he works on Girard and FOGATTI often and rarely touches a Truma. Cold-climate note from the same thread: tankless units raise water temperature roughly 60 degrees, so 50-degree supply water can mean half-flow showers. Buy it for the upgrade - and if the old unit still works, keep it as a spare.

The case for a dedicated RV GPS: custom routing by your rig's height, weight and length - settings one owner confirmed actually work - plus a directory of RV parks and services and live traffic via the companion app, per the listing. Phone apps fail exactly where there is no cell service; this does not.

The learning curve is real. A new owner on iRV2 called route programming 'extremely difficult,' with saved routes vanishing at power-up; veterans advise planning legs as separate trips or shaping routes with via points added in order. Another owner reports fairly good luck overall. Buy it for the rig-size routing, budget an evening to learn the trip planner, and it becomes the navigator a phone cannot be.

A fixed 50-60 PSI regulator in stainless, inline at the spigot - the simplest possible answer to unpredictable park pressure, per the listing.

The 40054 itself has no owner reviews on the linked Target listing yet, so its score here is judgment, not a rating conversion. The case for it comes from owners of everything else: one r/RVLiving owner's plastic Camco regulator lasted about nine months; another fought an adjustable - a different Camco model - that stuck at 80-100 PSI; a Brinkley owners' forum sums it up: 'get a simple regulator with set pressure - adjustable is more of a gimmick.'

Before you buy

Sequence beats selection. Protect first - surge protection matched to your rig's amperage, a pressure regulator and a water filter at the spigot, TPMS on the tires - then level and hookup hardware, then comfort upgrades like the tankless heater, solar and the grill. Every disaster-prevention item here exists to avoid a repair.

Match specs to your actual rig: 30-amp versus 50-amp electrical service, cutout dimensions and propane plumbing for the water heater, valve-stem type for TPMS transmitters, and realistic solar expectations for your battery bank. Listings spell out compatibility - measure and read before ordering, because return windows close faster than install weekends arrive.