RV Winterization Gear Guide With Scott and Noah from Camco Outdoors

Winterization is not always a fun topic for RV owners–because it can mean that camping season is coming to an end. But learning the ins and outs of winterizing your rig is very important. Here at the RV Atlas we think it is essential for each RV owner to learn how to winterize their rigs and have the right winterization gear to get the job done correctly. Why do we think that RV owners should be able to winterize their own rigs? Because cold weather can sneak up on us and getting an appointment for winterization at your RV dealer can sometimes be a bit harder than you think. 

During our first three years of RV ownership we had our dealer winterize our rig. But during that third year it got cold faster than we anticipated and we ended up running our RV's heat for several nights before the appointment date at our dealer. We did this to protect our rig from the cold weather.  At that point we decided that it was time to learn how to winterize our rig so that we could take care of it ourselves anytime the weather got unexpectedly cold.

During those next few years when we started winterizing our own rig we quickly discovered that Camco made just about all of the products that we used to get the job done. We liked the fact that these products were readily available, easy to use, and quite affordable.

Winterization Gear Guide

This RV winterization gear guide features great products from Camco for bypassing your water heater, for blowing out your lines, and for protecting your rig from bad weather, bad odors, moisture, flying insects, and much more. You might not need all of the products on this list (because winterization is a very personalized process) but all of the products that you do decide you need are probably here.

Camco products are widely available at big box stores, hardware stores, Camping World Stores, RV dealers, and more. You can also buy many of them directly from Camco at camcooutdoors.com. If you do purchase them directly from Camco please use coupon code RVATLAS10 to get 10 percent off your entire order.

To listen to Jeremy interview Scott and Noah from Camco please click on the media player above or subscribe to the RV Atlas wherever you get your favorite shows. Click on the video player below to get a fun intro to Scott and Noah and all of the fun stuff that Camco makes--and make sure that you check out their complete library of user-friendly videos on Camco's YouTube channel which you can find right here.

Now that you have met Scott and Noah, let's take a look at the wide variety of products that Camco makes for winterization and winter storage.

By-Pass Kits 

Before adding antifreeze into your RVs plumbing systems you want to make sure that you bypass your water heater (by using a by-pass kit) so you don’t waste 6-10 gallons of antifreeze. Getting a good by-pass kit to avoid dumping antifreeze into your water heater is an absolute must. Thankfully, Camco has got us covered here with a few different options. We use the Permanent Quick Turn By-Pass Kit and it has worked incredibly well. See below for other options.

Permanent Quick Turn By-Pass Kit (#35983)

Camco Supreme Permanent RV Water Heater By-Pass Kit With Brass Valves (#35953)

Bypass Kit for 10 Gallon Tanks (#35963)

Blow Out Plugs

Some RV owners like to blow out their lines with compressed air before adding antifreeze—and some RV owners in milder climates may only blow out their lines with compressed air and skip the antifreeze entirely. That’s a personal decision for each RV owner. We like to do both here at the RV Atlas. Thankfully, when it comes to blow out plugs, Camco has the winterization gear that we need. We use Camco's "Quick Connect Brass Blow Out Plug" but are considering upgrading to the "Blow Out Hose Kit with Ball Valve" to have a little bit more control a...