GIZMOS FOR YOUR ROADTREK #1

Every so often I come across something that has a good use for the Roadtrek - either inside or outside. I will be sharing these with you in articles as we go along. I have no connection to the companies that make these and I am receiving nothing to endorse them or write about them.

Two things that I have found recently is something called a GoBand Seat Organizer and related to use with the Roadtrek, the Kord Manager. Let's look at the GoBand first.

Our 190 Popular has three front seats - the passenger seat, the driver's seat, and a third seat. Other models have an additional fourth seat up front. We find that third seat very useful to keep things on while we are driving - in the winter our coats go here. In the summer, we start collecting small packages that get placed on the seat. With small packages, things do start to move and fall while driving and we have used the seat belt to hold them in place. We have also  We also tend to drop magazines there that we want to read during the trip (instead of screwing a rack on the wall inside the bathroom cabinet). Since getting the Roadtrek we have been looking for a better way to carry magazines, books, and all of the brochures that are picked up for attractions along the way. There are seat organizers that go on the back of seats, but until now we have not seen one that goes on the FRONT of a vehicle seat. While walking through the auto section in KMart I came across the GoBand.

It just happens that the GoBand has a video and I will share that with you here -

In the Roadtrek this slips over the seat back cushion (after taking it out of its lock on the wall behind) and moves down to the bottom of the seat.

 

You get a nice expandable pocket on the seat back and if someone is going to sit there, you just push it down to the bottom as shown in the video. Here it is with a stack of magazines -

Of course, as you are moving the magazines will slide down a bit - and expand the pouch, but they are held in place and that is what is important.







This can be found at KMart Stores in the auto section. It costs $8.19. Here is what the packaging looks like.

 

The other item I want to share with you now is not directly for the Roadtrek but for a 30 amp extension cord that you may have for your Roadtrek. We keep ours in our porch and once this nice small bundle of electric cable is removed from its packaging it never gets small and easy to store again. It is heavy and rolling it up can become unwieldy especially in the cold which is when we most use the cord to charge the Roadtrek batteries in the winter. Up until now it just gets rolled as best we can get it and plopped down on a shelf on the porch. Then I found the Kord Manager in Walmart in the Electric section.  Here is the Kord Manager -

It is a reel with a handle that when combined with a sliding center becomes a crank that rolls the cord up onto the reel in your hands. The plug and socket are large on a 30 amp cord and they will just fit through the holes on the side.

 To use you put either the socket or the plug into one of the holes. There are two holes with smaller holes on the sides in two sizes. While the larger hole looks like it should fit the large 30 amp cord
gauge it does not. This is not that important as the size of the plug or socket will keep it in the hole.  Once the plug or socket is through the hole, you hold the black sleeve in the middle with one hand and crank the knob with the other hand. The cord will roll up onto the reel very easily.

Our extension cord is 30 feet. You can see here hoe that fits. A longer 30 amp cord may not fit.

  The Kord Manager costs about $10 in Walmart. It has made rolling, unrolling, and storing our 30 amp extension cord much less of a chore.