Safety, locks, and keys.
I’ve been putting off doing this next improvement to the trailer, but it can be put off no longer! I ordered the parts (from ILH in California) and completed the project a few weeks ago. Here’s what I did … I changed all of the lock sets on the exterior storage doors of the trailer so the key code is unique to my trailer, so no one else will ever have a key to my storage doors unless I give them a key.
The photo above shows the right side, rear, storage door … closed and locked.
The photo below shows the same door … unlocked and open.
The little latch thingy on the left of the open door is the lock. The little latch thingy on the right of the open door is simply a swivel toggle, no lock.
Photo below is a close-up of the exterior keyed lock on that same door, with the door closed and locked.
Photo below is the INTERIOR part of the keyed lock on that same door, with the door open so that I could get a photo of the interior part of it.
Each of the three storage doors on my trailer has that same lock mechanism. But (and here’s the rub) … two doors had one key … the third door had a different key … all from Escape Trailer, the original trailer folks who built this trailer. Now, I ask you, why not install all three doors and locks so they all use the same key? I don’t know. But for two years now I’ve been fumbling around with two different keys that are almost identical, but not quite. I was not a happy camper.
So I ordered three brand new lock mechanisms with new lock sets, and I ordered locks/keys with a unique “cut” such that my trailer would be the only trailer in the universe with that particular “cut/code”.
Photo below is the three brand new lock mechanisms.
Aren’t they pretty?
Ordering them took some thinking and figuring. I had to remove all of the original lock mechanisms and measure all manner of measurements. The photo below is just one page of the order form for the new locking mechanisms. Depth, length, diameter, length of “throw”, offset angle of the locking arm, etc, etc, are all options/dimensions that you must specify.
And then, you still have to make a choice about the “cut/code” which, of course, influences the price. I chose to have a “cut/code” for the keys that would result in my having a lock/key/code that was unique in all galaxies that ever existed or ever will exist.
Ok, I’m kidding about the galaxies thing, but the “cut/code” of my new locks is now unique as far as anyone on earth knows.
I did this because I don’t want my stuff stolen out of my storage compartments … and because one of my storage doors is large enough that a child or small adult could crawl in and thereby gain access to the entire interior of my trailer, including getting inside and then opening the regular main door from the inside and letting in all of that small adult’s dastardly cohorts.
You might think that certainly a trailer manufacturer would provide different lock/key sets for each trailer they sell. Well no they don’t. By far the most common (and it’s really very common) lock/key set installed in all trailers/RVs on earth is CH751. If the key to your storage compartments says CH751, then about a billion other people who own a trailer/RV have your same key and can easily get into your storage compartments. If you have that key, then I have a key to your storage compartments … and, before I changed my locks, you had a key to MY storage compartments.
Below is a photo of my original key from Escape Trailer Industries.
Did I keep one of my original CH751 keys? Good question. The answer is “no, I did not!”.
That project is now done, my storage doors are more secure, and I feel safer. Someone with a hefty pry bar can certainly break into my trailer’s exterior storage compartments, as they can into most RV’s, but at least the folks who try to gain entry with a CH751 key are thwarted.
Ok, enough about safety stuff … let’s get into the interior of my trailer and see what’s what.
How I stow things in the trailer.
I’ve owned and used this Escape Trailer Industries travel trailer for two seasons now. I loved the interior storage from the get-go. And yet there are tips and tricks to use. I’ve borrowed ideas from other people, but I’m also figuring out my own ways to stow stuff.
First up is drawers, and all of the little bitty stuff that goes in them. Take a look at your kitchen drawers at home. Imagine them jangling and banging down the highway, or being bashed around on a rougher side road, or an even rougher off-road. The result might not be very pretty. Here’s what I did …
I put kitchen towels and red napkins and a small pot holder on top of the silverware, such that the soft material would hold down the silverware underneath.
No jangling here. Those sharp knives could be dangerous.
And then I moved over to the kitchen utensil drawer and put large, heavy potholders on top of the kitchen cooking utensils.
No jangling now here either. Who would want an entire box of toothpicks spread from one end of the trailer to the other?
There are all manner of remedies for where to put your garbage container in an RV. Some folks strap their garbage can to the inside of their main door. That didn’t seem attractive to me. My trailer doesn’t have a tall compartment that would house a standard garbage container, but then I don’t live aboard so I don’t need a large garbage container.
My solution for my trailer and my need was to put a small container in the compartment under the sink … a container that was perfectly sized to use a standard plastic grocery bag as a liner. It’s handy right under the sink; it can be accessed by opening only the left side door; and I usually empty it every day as I head out for an adventure.
Other storage solutions are figuring themselves out as I use the trailer. Admittedly, I’m still using a few cardboard boxes instead of something maybe a bit nicer. On the other hand, cardboard boxes do cushion what’s in them a bit so the ones in the photo below (under the 2-burner stovetop) may be there for quite a while yet.
Last up here (below) are the storage cubby-holes right next to the main door of the trailer, inside the trailer.
In the photo below, the door at the very left of the photo (the door with the little brown latch) is the door to the bathroom. The “cubbies” are in the middle of the photo. And the main exterior door of the trailer is on the right side of the photo.
This tall “cubby” compartment was an option when I bought my trailer. I love it and am very glad I bought it. I use the cubbies for … from bottom to top …
Bottom cubby … household stuff … whisk broom for cleaning shoes before entering the trailer, a few rags, a small level for leveling the trailer when I’m first parking the trailer, a flashlight, etc.
Second cubby up from the bottom … electronics (and a hat) … portable inverter (12V to 110V), my cell phone, my camera, spare batteries, my Verizon internet box, charging cords, etc.
Third cubby up from the bottom … keys (truck and trailer), wallet, another flashlight.
Top cubby … more rags, and the dreaded wolf urine! Yes I bought some of that wolf urine that blog reader Tim in Montana here recommended. More online research showed that a whole lot of other folks agree with Tim that wolf urine is a much better bear repellent that bear spray. [And it repels cougars and wildcats and all manner of other predators, which bear spray does not repel.] Whenever I head out for a hike on my own, I carry the spray bottle of wolf urine that’s in the photo above. I keep that spray bottle and a LOUD whistle always immediately accessible. Have I smelled what’s in that bottle of wolf urine? Hmmm, well yes, how could you resist? What did it smell like? Well, it wouldn’t be my first choice to smell it again! On the other hand, if it ever saved my life, it would smell like heaven to me, heaven on earth.
Other folks in their trailers have keys hanging on hooks, and open shelves for other items, but I like putting things in these cubbies so they can’t be seen from outside the trailer. And I like that I can’t much see them from inside the trailer too … everything is just so tidy and accessible and yet out of sight.
This entire floor-to-ceiling cubby structure actually has room to house a fifth cubby, but only if it had been designed/built a bit better. I have often thought about removing it and rebuilding it. But that’s a project for another day. 🙂
I thought you were kidding us Ann when you talked about the common key used on RVs by the builders but I just looked online and found that its true they are installed by the manufacturer on most RVs and trailers. And I can buy a CH751 key online and have it mailed to me, just the key! Now why would anyone want to buy just a key?! Ok, maybe you’ve lost yours and need replacements, but I was amazed at the number of companies selling these keys online to anyone who wants them. Boy I would change my locks too! Thanks for the nod about the wolf urine information and I’m glad you carry it, we want you writing this blog for a long time.
I mentioned the key thing to some acquaintances of mine who didn’t believe me at first either. [My friends of course believe everything I say.] I was stunned to learn that RV/trailer manufacturers knowingly do this.
Thank YOU for that initial info about wolf urine and its bear repellent properties, Tim. I hope to be writing this blog for a long time too. 🙂
When I was younger and hiked a lot of back country, I carried wolf urine. Never needed to use it thank god, but I sure felt better having it. yep I smelled it too, didn’t think it was too bad, but it sure wasn’t exactly perfume! hahaha!
Coincidentally, just talked with a fellow today, Steve, who used to hike the “high country” as he called it. I didn’t ask him about wolf urine. But I agree, actually the “stuff” didn’t really smell too awful. The idea is that it smells awful to a bear!
I bet you have stories to tell about your adventures.
Ann, I was in process of writing a small complimentary comment about this blog post when I realized what Jim and I are doing. Jim is outside in the trailer fussing with the kitchen drawers in order to add towels and such to our drawers, just as you do, since we have had problems with what we call “jumble” in the drawers when we arrive at a destination. He’s out there in the trailer tending to the kitchen. And I’m in the house online ordering wolf urine to fight off bears! aargg! Talk about role reversal! We love your blog. Thank you.
Janey
Oh that’s funny! 🙂 Thanks Janey. Maybe some day we won’t think of those things as “reversals” but just natural things in life. Those bears better watch out for you!
Wish my hubby and I had known HALF what you have figured out Ann. You are so smart and clever. And the wolf urine thing is so funny. I know it’s important too, but it’s so funny just makes me chuckl.e Thank you!
You are so welcome JudyBee. Yep, the wolf urine thing makes me chuckle too, even though it might save my life one day.
Hey, Ann, I might be late in asking but maybe you’re online tonight. I was wondering if you know whether wolf urine might repel deer. We have lots of problems with deer in our yard eating our plants. Since wolf urine repels bear and other mammals, maybe it would be a deterrent for deer? Has anyone here sprayed wolf urine on the ground? Does it make the area smell bad for humans?
Hi Marge, yes I’m online. 🙂 In fact I’m sitting here at my computer working on my next blog post. Good timing!
Maybe other readers here will add info from their experiences, but I sure can tell you that wolf urine repels domesticated dogs! Where I used to live, I had trouble with neighbors walking their dog/s in front of my house and allowing the dogs to pee on my front lawn … not just pee on the grass near the street, but right up in my front lawn. And that, of course, resulted in small, or great big, areas of dead grass. What could I do? I didn’t want to build a fence. So when this whole “wolf urine” thing came along as advised by reader Tim in Montana, I got to thinking. I bought a jug of wolf urine, put some of it in a spray bottle (same one in the photo above), and sprayed a line of it right along the sidewalk in front of my house. And then I sat inside my house by my front window and waited … and waited. I knew about what time the dog walkers usually came by. Oh goody, here comes one. YIP, YIP, YIP!!! That dog JUMPED away from my yard clear into the street. That dog wanted nothing to do with my yard or even the sidewalk. Thirty minutes or so later, a second dog walker came by … same result. The dog, a large one this time, couldn’t get away from my yard fast enough.
After the second dog (and its owner) left the area, I went outside and sniffed around my yard and the sidewalk. I couldn’t smell a thing … and I didn’t jump into the street either. 🙂 So my scientific experiment tells me that humans won’t smell the urine after it’s sprayed on the ground, but that other mammals will. Try it on your yard and let us know how the deer react ok? I bet other folks have the same deer problems and would love to know if wolf urine might work for them too.
Thanks for asking. Questions from readers are the best!