We are Nathan and Fabiola, and we live full-time in a Brinkley Model Z 3515 fifth wheel, towing it around the country behind a Ford F-350. When your rig is also your house, small problems get expensive fast. A slow water leak, a propane fitting that is not quite sealed, a pedestal wired wrong at a campground, any of those can ruin a lot more than a weekend.
We have learned most of this the uncomfortable way. We have had a leak in the passthrough, a midnight toilet leak that soaked our basement storage, and one memorable ant invasion. If you have watched our Nomads Amor channel, you have probably seen some of these moments play out on camera.
So this list is the safety and monitoring gear that actually lives in our rig right now. Nothing here is exotic. Most of it just sits quietly until the day it earns its keep.
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Watching the campsite
Blink Outdoor 4 security cameras
Early on we had a few nights where we kept hearing noises outside and could not see a thing through the windows, while feeling like anyone out there could see straight in. That feeling gets old quickly. We installed a Blink Outdoor 4 camera system around the RV, and now our phones alert us when anything moves near the rig, whether that is a person, a raccoon, or a neighbor's dog.
The cameras are wireless and battery powered, so mounting them around a fifth wheel is not a big project. We covered the whole install, including figuring out where to place each camera, in our security camera episode. You can find the system on Amazon.
Propane and shore power
GasStop propane gauge with emergency shut-off
Propane scares us more than anything else on this list, honestly. The GasStop screws on between the tank and the pigtail, shows you tank pressure at a glance, and shuts the flow off automatically if there is a major leak. It also lets you run a simple leak-down test whenever you reconnect a tank, which we do every time we swap or refill.
We put one on each of our two tanks when we were setting up the rig, and you can see them in our full-time RV tour. They are on Amazon here.
Power Watchdog 50A smart surge protector
Campground pedestals are a gamble. Some are wired well, some are ancient, and you usually cannot tell by looking. The Power Watchdog plugs in between the pedestal and our 50 amp cord and checks the power before it ever reaches the RV. If the voltage sags or spikes, it cuts the connection instead of letting our electronics take the hit.
The Bluetooth app is the part we actually use day to day. It shows voltage, amperage, and wattage on a phone, so we can see how close we are to the limit before turning on one more appliance. It is on Amazon.
Water leaks and humidity
Govee WiFi water leak detectors
We got religious about leak detectors after a toilet paper mishap turned into a midnight water leak that flooded our basement. We tell that whole story in our Blu Tech water filter post, and we had already dealt with a surprise leak from the passthrough months earlier. In an RV, water finds its way into places you will not check for weeks.
Now we keep Govee WiFi leak detectors anywhere water can escape: under the sinks, near the toilet, by the water heater. When one gets wet, it sounds an alarm and sends an alert to our phones. They are small, cheap compared to a water damage repair, and available on Amazon.
TempPro hygrometer and thermometer
Humidity is the slow version of a water leak. Cooking, showering, and just breathing in a sealed fiberglass box adds up, and too much moisture means condensation and eventually mold. We keep a TempPro hygrometer inside so we always know the temperature and humidity, and it connects over Bluetooth so we can check the rig from outside too.
It also tells us when to run the dehumidifier or crack a vent, and in winter it helps us keep an eye on how cold the rig is getting overnight. You can grab one on Amazon.
Tires
ETENWOLF T300 digital tire pressure gauge
Our fifth wheel is heavy, and tire pressure on a heavy rig is not something to guess at. The ETENWOLF T300 is a digital gauge that reads up to 200 PSI, which matters because plenty of cheap gauges top out below what trailer tires actually run. It is calibrated to an ANSI standard and takes regular AAA batteries, so we are not throwing it away when it dies.
We check every tire on the truck and the RV before every travel day, and you can see the routine in our undercarriage maintenance video. The gauge is on Amazon.
Our RV tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS)
The gauge tells us where the tires stand before we leave. A tire pressure monitoring system, or TPMS, tells us what they're doing while we drive: sensors on the trailer wheels send pressure and temperature to a small wireless display in the truck.
We didn't buy ours. It came with the Brinkley. Brinkley's current Model Z feature list includes a "Banded Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) w/ Wireless Display" (on its Model Z 3515 page, checked October 2026). Banded means each sensor is strapped around the wheel, inside the tire, and Brinkley's own photo of it shows exactly that.
Getting it working took a little figuring out. The day we first hitched up, we expected to install a sensor on each tire ourselves, but the only thing in the drawer was the display. The sensors were already in the wheels. We plugged the display into the truck and it found all four trailer tires, then showed 1 PSI, which couldn't be right. It turned out the display's own battery needed charging. After it had been plugged in for a while, real pressure and temperature numbers started coming in. The sensors seem to check in every so often rather than constantly. You can watch the whole fumble in our first-hitch post.
On travel days the display plugs into the truck. When we remember, we check it before we leave, and if a tire is a little low we top it up with our VIAIR 400P, which we clamp onto the 12-volt battery in the RV's front bay. Its cable reaches every tire from there. On the day we filmed our AUTO-VOX CampSync install, we forgot. We were already pulling out when we saw that two tires were low, so we hopped out, plugged in the compressor, filled them quickly and got back on the road.
We've never had it give us an alert, for temperature or pressure. We top up whenever a tire is even a tiny bit low. We've also seen people on YouTube with what looks like the same system get alerts, so either their tires were closer to the danger zone than ours have been, or ours isn't configured quite right. Ours is still on the default settings it came with, and we believe it has alerts built in.
In March 2025, when a TPMS brand offered to send us one to review, we turned it down because the system that came with the rig was working well for us.
The TPMS doesn't replace the gauge: a TPMS reading and a gauge can disagree by several PSI, and at trailer weights that matters.
The trailer TPMS only covers the four trailer tires. For the truck, we watch the F-350's own tire pressure readings on the Ford dash. We believe ours run about 60 PSI in the front and 80 in the rear, but use the numbers on your own door sticker or your tire maker's load table, not ours.
The other thing we watch from the driver's seat is the road around the trailer. The factory backup camera pointed almost straight down, so we replaced it with an AUTO-VOX CampSync four-camera system, and our install story covers how it has gone. AUTO-VOX sent us the kit for free and paid us to feature it in a video. Our deal: code NOMADA88 for an extra discount at Amazon checkout. AUTO-VOX sets the amount and how long it runs. Get it on Amazon.
Keeping bugs out
Bugs do not sound like a safety topic until ants find your kitchen or wasps build a nest inside your furnace exhaust. We fight this battle on three fronts.
Zevo flying insect traps
These plug into an outlet and use UV light and a sticky cartridge to pull in flies, gnats, and mosquitoes. No zapping, no spray, no smell. We keep one plugged in near the kitchen and it quietly fills up, which is gross and satisfying at the same time. They are on Amazon.
Home barrier bug spray
When ants invaded the rig, Fabiola went on a full mission to end them, which you can watch in the same episode as the camera install. Part of the fix was spraying a barrier around the tires, jacks, and anything else touching the ground, plus the entry points on the rig itself. Reapplying after rain or a move keeps most crawling bugs from ever getting inside. The spray we use is on Amazon.
RV furnace bug screens
Mud daubers and wasps love RV furnace vents. A nest in the wrong spot can block airflow and put the furnace out of commission right when you need heat. The fix costs almost nothing: stainless mesh screens that snap over the furnace and water heater vents. We installed ours in the same afternoon as the cameras, and they have stayed put through every travel day since. You can find them on Amazon.
Everything in one place
We keep all of this gear, plus a few extras, on our RV Utility & Safety Essentials idea list on Amazon. Our full Amazon storefront has the rest of what we carry.
If you are building out a rig, these articles cover the other systems we depend on:
- The RV gear we actually use full-time
- Our boondocking setup: water, power and waste off-grid
- Our RV water filtration and water gear
And if you want to follow along as we break things and fix them in real time, our newsletter is the easiest way to keep up.
RV tire pressure monitoring FAQ
What is an RV tire pressure monitoring system?
A TPMS puts a sensor on each tire that reports pressure and temperature to a display you can see while driving. Ours came with our Brinkley and covers the four trailer tires, with a wireless display that rides in the truck.
Does the Brinkley Model Z come with a TPMS?
Brinkley's current Model Z feature list includes a "Banded Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) w/ Wireless Display" (checked October 2026). Ours, a 2025 Model Z 3515, came with the sensors already in the wheels and the display in a drawer.
Does your RV TPMS give alerts?
We've never had an alert from ours, for temperature or pressure. We top up whenever a tire is even a little low, and the system is still on its default settings. We believe it has alerts built in, and we've seen people with what looks like the same system get them.
What is a banded TPMS?
The sensor is strapped around the wheel inside the tire instead of screwing onto the valve stem. On our rig that meant there was nothing to install on the tires ourselves.
Why does my TPMS display show 1 PSI?
Ours did that on day one, and the cause was the display's own battery. Once it had been plugged in and charging for a while, the sensors started reporting real numbers. If yours still reads wrong after that, check the manual or ask your dealer.
Do you still need a tire gauge if you have a TPMS?
We still use one. We check every tire on the truck and trailer with a digital gauge before each travel day, because a TPMS reading and a gauge can disagree by several PSI.