Step Up or Sit Down

The title of this article is an attempt to be cute - not so sure it works... Anyway. I have been asked at times by readers and I have also seen in some RV forums about what to do to get down low on the ground when for whatever reason you just can't bend or get down easily to sit on the ground. I solved that problem a long time ago with a very inexpensive and relatively easy to find item that fits easily into several places in most Roadtreks and certainly fits easily into larger RVs or Travel Trailers. It is a small folding step stool.

I first got one before I had the Roadtrek for a new car that we had purchased. With the car this was not needed as much for getting low to the ground but as a step up - as the access to the engine under the hood was much higher than other cars we had owned and surprisingly to me, I could not reach in to get to the oil stick, etc. just standing on the ground and leaning in. The step enabled me to get up high enough to get to where I needed to get. This also applies to our Chevy Roadtrek - and perhaps would apply to other vans as well - though my older passenger Chevy van does not have this problem. So, this is the "step up".

The "sit down" is much more the case now for the use of this stool. Here are a few photos of the stool so that you will see why this is not just any folding step stool -

 This stool is made of a thick, molded plastic with metal rods inside the hinges. The stool folds flat. The size of this stool folded is 12.5" across at its widest point and 13.5" up and down. When unfolded as shown in the first photo it is 9" off the ground. It flips open and flips back closed with pull up of the seat through the handle holes and a press in of the side of the legs. The step is designed so that it will not close while you are on it.  The stool has held my weight either standing or sitting.

The name of this stool - very hard to remember... "Folding Step Stool". This one was purchased at Walmart. I have seen two different sizes of the stool in Walmart - this one and a larger one. This one gets one closer to the ground. It comes in a variety of colors - black, white, and colors (depending on what is in stock at the time). I have also seen this and similar stools in other stores. There should be no need to have to purchase it from a website. There are other variations of this stool  in design - if it looks sturdy, folds flat, is a good size, and brings you down to the level you need to be near the ground, one is just as good as the other. Home Depot has one.

Both of us use this stool when we have to do things down near the ground around the Roadtrek. It is a good height for getting into the side exterior storage compartment, getting into the battery compartment, getting to the electric cord to hook up, getting to the outside shower handles or to attach the shower hose, getting to the city water connection, dumping the tanks to get to the dump hole, getting to the waste valve pull handles, and getting to the tire stems to check and/or fill the air in the tires.

So don't worry about not getting down to do what you need to do on your Roadtrek - this little stool makes it easy.