What to Pack in Your Trailer for: Parking & Hooking Up

Parking. Whether you're camping solo or attending a group event, you'll need a number of items to safely park your trailer and be comfortable living in it. Be sure you have:

* Two chocks for each trailer tire (see above). You can get by with rocks or chunks of wood, but a set of heavy-duty plastic wheel chocks isn't that expensive, doesn't weigh much, and is kinder to your tires.
* A tongue-jack stabilizer--blocks of wood if your trailer jack has no wheel, or a wheel holder if it does. The latter prevents your jack wheel from sinking into soft ground or from rolling on a hard surface. (Tip: Always turn the jack wheel sideways before unhooking, to prevent rolling.)
* Corner jacks--one for each corner of the trailer. These will stabilize the trailer and keep the floor steady as you or guests are moving from end to end/corner to corner.
* Several short pieces of scrap lumber. These come in handy for such purposes as raising a trailer tire on uneven ground or for making corner-jack platforms on soft ground.
* A level. Invaluable for getting your trailer level enough for a good night's sleep!
* Step, for getting in and out of the trailer.

Hooking up. When camping at a site with power and water available, you'll have an easier time using them if you have the following:
* Heavy-duty outdoor extension cord. I carry a selection of lengths; if I only need a few feet to get to the power outlet, there's no need to use a 50-footer. There also are times when a longer cord is necessary.
* 30-amp adapter. Most vintage trailers are wired for 110 power; however, many modern campgrounds only offer 30- or 50-amp receivers for today's big rigs. The adapter will allow you to get power into your smaller trailer.

30-amp adapter--you plug this end into the power pole, and your trailer's power cord into the other end.

* Hose with valve shut-off. You'll need this to get water into your trailer's tanks, if you intend to use them instead of bottled water. A hose also comes in handy in general. A coil hose, toted in a small bucket (also useful for lots of things), is a good way to go.