10 Holiday Gift Ideas for Full-Time RVers

RV Owners

The holidays are here! And no matter which of them you personally celebrate, it’s pretty much a guarantee you’ll be doing a little shopping this season.

Perhaps you have an RVer in your life, and you have no idea what to buy them? Makes sense! Living in a super small space makes us especially picky about what we allow into our home. After all, there’s only so much room.

If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place! After talking to RVers in rigs of all different sizes, this list has a bit of something for every type of RVer out there. Some of these items I have and use often, some are on my own personal wish list (hint, hint, Mom and Dad), and some were recommended to me by other RVers.

So let’s get this list of gift ideas for full-time RVers started!

Woman leans against the open hatch of her car holding a warm drink and looking towards the sunset

For the RVers Who Enjoy Staying Caffeinated:

Moka Cafe Stove Top Espresso Maker & Handheld Milk Frother

Since caffeine is usually what gets most of us up and ready for the day, it also felt like a great place to start this list.

At some point during our first year of RV life, I started noticing we were buying a lot of coffee shop lattes. I saw the cost adding up and questioned if there was a cheaper way to be getting our fix. After all, we were rarely staying in the coffee shop to enjoy the ambiance. Every once in a while, we do stick around and enjoy their free WiFi, but otherwise, we are just grabbing our drinks and heading to our next adventure.

Another caffeine-themed pickle we sometimes find ourselves in is being in the middle of nowhere when a latte craving hits, with no coffee shops to be found.

I realized there had to be a cheaper way to get a latte, whenever we desired. That’s when the Moka Cafe Stove Top Espresso Maker & Handheld Milk Frother came into play! These two tiny devices became our lifesavers! 

To use the Stove Top Espresso Maker, simply heat up the water, add espresso, and wait. When using the Hand Pump Milk Frother, warm up whatever milk you want in your mug and froth with the handheld frother. Combine with your delicious coffee and you have the perfect morning beverage right in your very own home!

For the RVers Always in Search of Their Next Hike:

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter System

Whether the person you are gifting is an avid multi-day backpacker or a more casual hiker, the Sawyer Squeeze is a great thing for them to have in their pack.

For someone more like us who wants to go on a 5 to 15-mile hike while also making sure they have enough water for the entire day, this can function as a “just in case” backup plan to have in their pack.

The Sawyer Squeeze kit includes the filter, two 32-ounce pouches, a drinking straw, hydration pack adapters, and a mesh carrying bag.

To use it, fill one of the pouches with the water you find out in the wilderness. Attach the filter, then either squeeze the water out into a new clean bottle or drink it right from the pouch.

The filter itself is super light, weighing in at only 3 ounces. So with it being lightweight and long-lasting, there’s really no reason not to carry one along on any upcoming hike.

the view from Half Dome Trail

America the Beautiful – The National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Pass

If the person you are gift hunting for is an outdoor lover, then you can’t go wrong with an annual National Parks pass! This is one of the best presents we’ve ever received. We have visited countless parks, monuments, battlefields, and hiking trails that have all been covered by this card. This year alone, it’s paid for itself multiple times over. Thanks, Uncle Howard!

For the RVers Constantly Fleeing the Cold:

Bedsure Heated Blanket Electric Twin

Odds are, if the person you are gifting is like us and follows the good weather, then nights that are 30 degrees or below can really catch them off guard. When it’s cold outside, this blanket and I become one.

The main reasons I love this particular heated blanket are:

  • It has six heat settings, so there’s a wide range of heat levels.
  • It heats up fast! If I turn it on and then go and brush my teeth, it’s already warm when I walk back to bed.
  • It has an eight-hour safety shut-off, so it’ll keep you warm all night, and still shut itself off in the morning if you forget to do so.
  • It can go in the washing machine.

If your friend or family member gets cold often and those reasons didn’t sell you, I don’t know what will, because this blanket is basically perfect.

RV tires

For the RVers Always on the Move:

VIAIR 300P Portable Air Compressor

It can be tricky to pull a big rig up to an air compressor. They are commonly found in awkward spots at small gas stations. So, you know what‘s a lot easier? Being able to fill your tires from anywhere!

Tire pressure maintenance is something we did not take seriously enough during our first year of RVing. I have no idea how we’ve made it this far without any crazy tire incidents! We are changing that mentality in our second year on the road by purchasing this handy device.

The VIAIR 300P-RVS is easy to use. You simply clamp in a 12-volt battery, which in our situation would be either the battery in our RV or truck, then connect the chuck to the valve stem on your tire. Next, walk far away (in case something crazy goes down, they give you 30 feet of coiled tube for your safety), and let it rip!

For RVers in Small Spaces:

Cooler Insert

I did not understand the need for this product until I met some full-timers who live out of a teardrop trailer. Living out of a small rig means living with a tiny fridge and, more than likely, a cooler as well!

Anyone who’s ever used a cooler before knows that ice can cause a few problems. First off, it melts, leaving a layer of water on the bottom of the cooler. That layer can often ruin your food. Also, to cool off the entire cooler, you often need to layer ice throughout the cooler, as well as on top. Having so much ice throughout the cooler often makes it difficult to remember what items you even have in there.

The cooler insert fixes all of these problems! The convection process created by this insert keeps air and water circulating inside the cooler, making it operate more like a refrigerator than a cooler. It keeps everything organized, cold, and dry, for up to 5 days, all while taking up less space than a 20 lb bag of ice.

When the 5 days are up, the person you are gifting simply uses the built-in tube to drain out some of the water and then adds in more ice.

The Cooler Insert’s dimensions are 19-1/2″ long x 10″ wide x 11-3/4″ high. So as long as their cooler is this size or larger, it will work for them!

For the RVers Thinking About Delving Into Off-Grid Camping:

Go Power! 120W Portable Folding Solar Kit

We’re considering spending more time off-grid camping, and we’ve heard these panels can be a great way to get introduced to the world of solar power.

In a fifth-wheel such as ours, this kit can be used to keep our RV battery charged or as a trickle charger for our truck. The panels are slim, easy to store, and have adjustable legs to help with getting the best possible sun exposure. The panels also come with multiple different battery connection options.

If the RVer you’re gifting wants to detach from the power pole a little more often but isn’t quite ready for a full-on solar panel roof installation, this gift could be a great introduction to solar.

travel trailer set up in the woods

For Those Who Are Not Full-Time RVing Yet, But Considering Switching Over to RV Life:

A Beginner’s Guide to Living in an RV: Everything I Wish I Knew Before Full-Time RVing Across America by Alyssa Padgett

This book was an incredibly helpful resource for us when we were just starting to consider the option of RV life. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and how to adjust basics such as getting the internet and receiving mail. If you know someone considering switching over to full-time RV life, this book will help them transform those dreams into their reality!

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