Community Forums

sealegg · 01-16-2018, 01:42 PM

We all think ...'this will never happen to me'! IF you own a single door RV, stop reading. Go out and immediately purchase a reusable emergency escape ladder.

I turned 67 on Jan.16, and there was NO WAY I was going to "drop" out of the bedroom escape window (approx. 7' down) last Friday night. I was cleaning and preparing our 2003 Condor Class A to drive my wife and 5 of her friends Saturday to the casino for a birthday "girls celebration". At 9pm, I drove away to blow off the excess water. Since I was just going around the block, I left the garage door open, and my wallet and cellphone in the house.---you all know how this ends---wife fell asleep on the couch watching TV. And we all know how effective the stock horns on any RV are.

I pulled back into the driveway, set the parking brake, turned off the engine, and was fully expecting to open the entry door, when - SMACK "that was my nose smashing into the door's window"! The door would not budge. The inferior design / material of the single-handle TRIMARK door lock had failed.

Two points to seriously consider: 1. IF you own a single door RV, get an emergency escape ladder. (Found mine at Lowe's Sunday morning - $40). 2. IF your TRIMARK lock has not failed, IT WILL. It's cheaper to purchase a replacement (c. $100 eBay), than to demolish your door to get out of your RV.

Old-Biscuit · 01-16-2018, 03:05 PM

Yes you need to FIX that entry Door Lock

As to that 'escape ladder'

FIRE is a motivator

Do NOT waste valuable/precious time trying to set up/use one of those RV Escape ladders.
An RV will be consumed within minutes by a fire......toxic fumes will be overwhelming from the materials used

GET out and RUN
Broken legs/arms can be mended.......

Escape Ladders 'sound' like a great idea.
In reality......they are difficult to deploy and then climb down unless you TRAIN by actually using. Which during the panic of a FIRE your will forget/get confused \\

Open that escape window and GET OUT...then RUN

Fire extinguishers should be strategically placed to allow one time enough to GET OUT and RUN

MSHappyCampers · 01-16-2018, 04:27 PM

Hi !

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

You might find the link below interesting!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/escap...ks-154476.html

fpresto · 01-16-2018, 05:54 PM

If you try and deploy a ladder you will probably be dead and so will anyone behind you. The smoke will kill you not the flames. In fact there may not be flames at all. To keep weight down, RV materials give off toxic fumes and that is what will kill you. In the worst case it will happen at night. When you wake, hopefully from a working smoke alarm, you will be blind, gasping for air and totally disoriented. You would probably never make the front door anyway. Your only chance in that case is to go out the emergency exit. You may be hurt but alive. Remember it is the smoke that kills.

chuckftboy · 01-16-2018, 06:31 PM

I think the OP was saying it would be nice to have an emergency ladder when you door lock fails. In that case you would have plenty of time to deploy and use the escape ladder.
He never mentioned fire.

brabono · 01-16-2018, 06:41 PM

I worry about the difficulty of getting the day-night shades out of the way to be able to climb out

CF-104 · 01-16-2018, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Yes you need to FIX that entry Door Lock

As to that 'escape ladder'

FIRE is a motivator

Do NOT waste valuable/precious time trying to set up/use one of those RV Escape ladders.
An RV will be consumed within minutes by a fire......toxic fumes will be overwhelming from the materials used

GET out and RUN
Broken legs/arms can be mended.......

Escape Ladders 'sound' like a great idea.
In reality......they are difficult to deploy and then climb down unless you TRAIN by actually using. Which during the panic of a FIRE your will forget/get confused \\

Open that escape window and GET OUT...then RUN

Fire extinguishers should be strategically placed to allow one time enough to GET OUT and RUN

Old-Biscuit · 01-16-2018, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckftboy

I think the OP was saying it would be nice to have an emergency ladder when you door lock fails. In that case you would have plenty of time to deploy and use the escape ladder.
He never mentioned fire.

You are correct.

OP did NOT mention FIRE

I Did.

And if I was locked inside my RV safe and sound due to a faulty door latch I would turn on TV sit back have a cold one and WAIT.
Go to sleep if necessary
Sooner or later SOMEBODY will come looking for me

Alot safer then trying to climb out a RV window and down a free hanging ladder

Have you ever tried one of those

No thanks.......safe inside the RV.
No dangers/no good reason to HURT myself.

WorldCat25 · 01-17-2018, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

And if I was locked inside my RV safe and sound due to a faulty door latch I would turn on TV sit back have a cold one and WAIT.
Go to sleep if necessary
Sooner or later SOMEBODY will come looking for me

I think he was worried that if it happened again and he was stuck inside with all those women in the RV.

**TonyDi** · 01-17-2018, 07:53 PM

I would rather drop a few feet to the ground, even if I broke an ankle, than to take the time to: 1 find the ladder. 2 deploy the ladder. 3 try to get out on the ladder. During a fire is not the time or place to try this all out. We're headed out the window!

TonyMac · 01-17-2018, 08:03 PM

In my venerable C-130 we had escape ropes to get from the cockpit windows or the top of the airplane to the ground. You may not be strong enough to hang on the rope, but you likely have the strength to hold on enough to slow your drop to survivable speeds. Rope burns -- if the jet is on fire, the rope burns won't hurt at all.

Isaac-1 · 01-17-2018, 09:15 PM

One alternative I have not seen mentioned is a telescoping ladder, hang it out the window by a strap around the top rung and let it drop, each of the sections should lock in place as they extend. Something like https://smile.amazon.com/Todeco-Tele.../dp/B01NBNEVBS

I have a larger more expensive brand 15.5 ft model which is probably too heavy at about 40 pounds for this sort of use, but the concept is the same.

nothermark · 01-18-2018, 02:09 AM

What I really do not understand is why they don't put the escape hatch at floor level. Best place to be in a fire, minimal drop to the ground. Can't be that hard or that expensive.

bruce91 · 01-18-2018, 07:48 AM

First make sure your emergency window will open. Often without use they get stuck. When i get both our our 5 year new to us coaches one of the first things i did was open that window, thought i was going to break it but it finally succumbed and opened. I now open that window every pre flight trip and go over with the DW if the whatever did happen.