Is Rethinking RV-ing possible?

[BlueWaterSUX]

For a few years now we have observed, accessed, enjoyed and been abused by all things RV. Interestingly, there seem to be some commonality in what could be done better. Be it RV parks or public camp areas to dealers, insurers, service folks or even simple fueling, I tend to suspect that simple entrenchment is the reason the culture of RV seems fixated as the same experience from the mid 1970s. Can anything be done to move to the current age?

Perhaps you have a solution for things that could be done better across the board?

I'll start out with the typical RV park public use washroom and shower facility:

Why does the typical public toilet installer mount those huge dual industrial toilet paper dispensers so low that they require you to reach down near the floor level to find the dispense location? Why are so few showers designed with a simple dry area that offers shelves and hooks? Most times if there are shelves and hooks they are in the same area that tends to get wet. Yet there is often a dry area between the door and the actual shower that offers no storage for stuff you'd like to keep dry while you shower.

[BlueWaterSUX]

I personally love the time I spend using YouTube for education and entertainment. It's a great place to solidify your understanding of RVing. For a while I watched everything vLoggers "Tim and Fin" put out.

They've given up RVing for more permanent living. In one particular episode, Tim's frustrations with the RV campground check in procedure dominated the entire video. His point was valid. Why do RV parks think they need all of the information you need to give to simply make payment, plug in for the night and leave in the morning? Some of us enjoy memberships to chain and affiliated RV camping conglomerates, which helps to streamline the checkin process, but wouldn't it be cool if RV camping (especially one night stays) worked more like charging an electric car?

Maybe a realtime app that could offer distance to and number of available sites?

[Spdracr39]

The single item with the largest impact rv parks could provide in my opinion is reliable fast wifi internet service.

[riverforest]

why are you even using a Public washroom/toilet when you have a Private one in your RV ???

[BlueWaterSUX]

Originally Posted by riverforest

why are you even using a Public washroom/toilet when you have a Private one in your RV ???

shower size? while on a long walk around the campground? because I am paying for it? after having emptied/flushed tanks the day of travel, especially when planning to boondock next? to avoid disturbing my sleeping/working spouse?

just to name a few.

No offense intended, but it's hard to say this without it coming off as offensive. Your comment is a perfect example of the typical refusal to think outside of the box, or maybe I should say a great illustration of how one viewpoint becomes the rule rather than just one facet. This is why I ask if we/the RV industry is too entrenched to ever change. What can I do to convince people like you that only see one way when it comes to RVing that there may be other ways that work for users too?

[BlueWaterSUX]

Is there a valid reason for sewer hook up pipes being higher than the discharge point of the typical RV drain point? For less than one nights stay most of these could be set in a concrete basin which would keep sites cleaner and decrease any chance of spillage that seems so common.

[FlyingDiver]

Originally Posted by BlueWaterSUX

Is there a valid reason for sewer hook up pipes being higher than the discharge point of the typical RV drain point? For less than one nights stay most of these could be set in a concrete basin which would keep sites cleaner and decrease any chance of spillage that seems so common.

Possible flooding. They need to make sure that rainwater doesn't enter the sanitary sewer.

[BlueWaterSUX]

Originally Posted by FlyingDiver

Possible flooding. They need to make sure that rainwater doesn't enter the sanitary sewer.

Valid point.

I was going to offer the Colorado Welcome's Center public free dump site in Fruita, as the single best example of how dump sites should be installed, but it hardly ever rains there.

Yet I contend that with proper grade engineering, how much rain could possibly fall into a 6 square foot basin? Low curbing could easily prevent rain water intrusion.

[puttin]

I take it all in stride...life isn't perfect. Personally I'd take the rv life any day over the sticks and bricks. I HAVE seen the deal with the hanger problems in showers but never the low tissue dispensers- that's a weird one. Try to enjoy all the great things about the mobile life. If something truly ruins your day bring it to the campground management. Enjoy this lifestyle...it's a treasure for sure.

[Cloud Dancer]

I love RVing. There's never a shortage of things to complain about.

[Funengineer]

Unfortunately many contractors install them at the lowest required height for access. Grab rails sometimes dictate whether they are installed low or high.

[twogypsies]

I don't look for things that I could complain about. Not much I could do about it so why get the blood pressure up?

[Sandy Swede]

So you are saying that all things RV could be improved? You asked for suggestions. Why not conduct a survey? Call a few dozen RV parks and ask them. Then offer your suggestions. Please let us know the results. You would be doing us all a big favor.

As a general response, one main reason is that many (not sure of the percentage) of RV parks are decades old. Also, many are privately owned non-franchise vs, say, KOA.

Remember Andy Rooney? "Did you ever wonder why . . . ?"

[Isaac-1]

Simply put, government code regulations dictate a lot of this, when it comes to restrooms it is all about ADA code requirements. The problem with the ADA code is it says exactly where things must be in relationship to other things, like door swing radius, or height for grab rails, with very little room for error. About 20 years ago a local public building a couple of blocks from my house had its opening delayed by almost two months due to the urinals in the men's room being half an inch too high, requiring the entire wall to be ripped out and redone.

I have ran into it in myself while managing a family business, where at one point we added a small 2400 sq ft retail building next to our distribution warehouse, this was basically one big open room with a restroom in the corner, even this simple building took months to be approved by the state fire marshals office, requiring 3 rounds of updates to the floor plans, and even then the restroom wall had to be torn out and redone because there was window at the end of the hallway leading to the restroom, and apparently there is some regulation that changes the distance offset for a doorway if there is a window at the end of a hall.


On top of this there are regulations about how smooth / rough a restroom floor has to be, and then there are competing regulations between governing the same aspect of the building, but covered by two different inspectors.



Let me give you an example, still on the topic of restrooms, since we were in the food distribution business our buildings were under the state department of health and hospitals oversight, one of their requirements was that all restroom floors slope towards a central drain at a specific slope. The problem is that the ADA handicap accessibility laws require a restroom floor to be level too a lower angle than is required for the drain.



The inspectors will not tell you how to address this, they will only say that what you are doing does not comply, and they don't care that any solution that complies, violates the other inspectors code requirements.