Build it once, run it every trip: RV checklists are here

Our motorhome teardown starts the night before, when the gray tank gets closed so there's water to flush with in the morning. It ends with a line that isn't a suggestion: air pressure above 100 PSI. If it never gets there, something is seriously wrong, and the coach doesn't move.

In between are forty steps in a specific order. Fridge pin in. Satellite down. A/C off before the slides come in, and slides in before the jacks come up. Skip the fridge pin and you find out at the first hard turn. That sequence is now the Motorhome Teardown template in RV Compass, nearly word for word. The lines we'd written in capitals became critical items, and the explanations became notes. Checklists are live today on web and mobile.

Build it once, run it every trip

A checklist in RV Compass is a list you keep. Check items off as you go, press All done, and it resets itself for the next departure. There's nothing to copy and nothing to rebuild. Your checklists page shows when each list was last finished, so "did we run Departure this morning?" has an answer.

Ten templates, or a blank page

Start from a template and make it yours. There are ten, grouped for everyone, for towables, and for motorhomes:

• Motorhome Setup and Motorhome Teardown
• Departure and Arrival
• Hitch up and Unhitch, for trailers and fifth wheels
• Pre-trip inspection, Dump station, Boondocking setup, and Winterize and store

Or start blank. Group items under sections like Inside, Hookups, or Final walk-around, put them in the order you actually do them, and add a note wherever a number matters. The tire line in Pre-trip inspection, for example, reminds you to use the pressure on your rig's sticker, not the one on the tire sidewall.

Flag the steps that can't be skipped

Some items matter more than others. Mark those critical and they carry a flag on every run. Press All done with items still open and RV Compass shows you what's left, critical items first, before it resets anything. Go back and finish, or reset anyway if you meant to.

One of you outside, one inside

Setup and teardown are usually a two-person job. Sign in to the same account on a phone and a tablet and the list stays in step. Check Awning in at the curb and it lands on the tablet inside a moment later. Check Fridge latched in the kitchen and it shows up on the phone at the hitch.

No signal at the dump station

Plenty of dump stations and boondocking spots have no signal. On the phone, a list works fully offline: check items, press All done, and it still resets. A banner lets you know your checks are saved, and they sync on their own once you're back in range. Changing a list's structure, like adding items or sections, needs a connection, so do your editing at camp.

Share it, print it, earn a patch

Worked out the perfect Hitch up list? Share it with a link. Anyone who opens it can read it, and anyone with an account can add a copy to their own checklists. It's their copy, so they can change it without touching yours. On the web you can also print any list for a clipboard or the inside of a cabinet door.

And because this is RV Compass, finishing lists earns a patch.

Build your Departure list once. For the next hundred mornings, just run it.