A number of years ago, FMCA published an article written by Gary Bunzer, the RV Doctor, about our coiling system entitled "Coiling Woes Begone". It was aptly titled as that is exactly what the Coil n' Wrap® coiling system does. It eliminates twisting, kinking and fighting with the hoses, cords and cables that we deal with on a regular basis.

The coiling system is comprised of two pieces - a rubber "coilit" and a Hook & Loop strap. The rubber "coilit" for the water hose and TV coax cable is a soft stretchy material that will stretch over the male end of the hose or the end of the TV cable. There are six different products that deal with the various things we have to wrap up.

First, cinch the Hook & Loop strap to the female end of the hose. Then take the rubber "coilit" which looks like a figure 8 and stretch the small hole over the male end of the hose, and slide it down about 2-3 feet. The "coilit" stays permanently attached to the hose as does the Hook & Loop strap that attaches to the other end of the hose.

Take the male end of the hose and form your first coil. Slip the end of the hose through the large side of the "coilit" just so it grips to the end of the hose. Keeping both hands inside the loop, roll the hose hand under hand and coil it up as you see in the 3rd picture on the package. Don't reach for the hose! Just roll it up. This eliminates any twisting or kinking because you are no longer using the lariat action when you roll them up. You may have noticed they are allergic to that action. They fight you all the time. With our coiling system you will no longer have a fight on your hands. When you get the hose rolled up, wrap the Hook & Loop cord around it to secure the bundle. The strap will handle any hose up to 50'.

For those of you that like to join the ends of your hose together, simply adjust the position of the "coilit" a few inches and reroll the hose. You will soon find out exactly where the rubber "coilit" needs to be positioned to ensure the ends come together every time. A video of how to roll up a hose, use quick connects with your hose and how to join the ends of the hose together easily, is available on the website.

There are also video links available for the TV cable and electrical cords. Cords are rolled the same way but the "coilit" is a little different. Because the ends of the cords are too big to stretch the "coilit" over the rubber is stiffer and sides of the "figure 8" have a slit in them so they can clip onto the side of the cord. The rubber grips onto the hoses, cords and cables and stays securely attached which saves the coil size you set and ensures that they will roll up the same size each time you coil them. This allows you to 'nest' them one inside the other which saves a ton of space! (See picture in Readers Forum) You will be amazed at how much space this will save you and how manageable it leaves everything. Nothing becomes entangled or comes undone! Once you start using this system you will want it on every cord and cable you have in the rig or at home.

Over the years many people have told me they wanted to connect things to their compartment doors and asked how they could do that. I developed two systems to solve this problem. The first one is a strap we call the "Grommet Strap". It is a strap with a buckle and Hook & Loop closure, similar to an Awning Cinch Strap that many of you use around your awning arms. However, we added a grommet at the end of the strap so it could be screwed to the door of the rig.
In the picture you will see a 25 foot 30 amp cord attached to the compartment door using two straps, one at the top and one at the bottom. In this case I borrowed a bolt from the door handle assembly to attach the top strap and then in the bottom one I drilled a hole in the hollow core door and inserted a plastic wall anchor, like you use for drywall. I then screwed the strap to the door.
I have the 30 amp on this door, a 75' 12 gauge on another and a 50' air hose on another door and a 25' water hose on another. They have been riding around now for almost 2 years on the rig and have never come loose.

One question that comes up is "Are the struts on the door strong enough to handle the weight or will this weaken them?" Most of us don't open the compartment doors that often and they usually are open for just a few minutes. They are closed for the majority of the time and in the closed position there is no stress.
Another question is "How much weight can the strut handle?" Open the door halfway and put the cable in question on top of the door and see if it will support it or if the door will close. If it closes, the weight is too much. Try another door and or a different hose or cable on that door. On some doors the struts don't open the door vertical enough. Take the struts off the coach and move them up. This will allow the door to open higher.

Attaching items to the water compartment door can be easily done using the Hook & Loop Hangers we developed for this purpose. The hanger is comprised of a piece of hook and a piece of loop that are welded together so when you fold them in half they stick together, securing whatever is between the fold.
The items in the picture are lightweight and don't need a heavy strap like a grommet strap to secure them. I just screw the Hook & Loop Hanger to the compartment door and the job is done. I have since removed the plug adapter at the bottom right of the picture and attached a 25' water hose to the door using two grommet straps. The TV Cabe is secured by I secure only a few coils of the cable.

These ideas in tandem can save you a lot of space, create some organization and make it easy to find things. It doesn't matter whether you have a pop-up or a Prevost, space is always an issue.

Thanks to Tom in Nebraska who emailed me about how he likes the way the hoses cords and cables will nest together and take up less room. That helped me decide what I was going to write about in this month's issue. Your reader comments and suggestions are most welcome. Email your questions or suggestions to kwilton@coilnwrap.com.
Thanks to those of you that
have been emailing the newsletter to their RVing friends. We have had many people write and tell us they were glad to have been referred to the newsletter and website as they were unfamiliar with our products. They really liked the ideas in the newsletter.

Many of our readers have purchased the High Temp Sticky Back Hook & Loop product and have been coming back again and again to order more. Please pass along your ideas. Here is a good one!

"I was tired of removing the screws from the screen in the Fantastic Vent to clean it. There are about 8 screws and it was a pain so I used some of your Hi-Temp Hook & Loop to attach the screen and solved the issue. Thanks for the great product!"

Another reader wrote of how their sun screens on the windshield kept coming off until they changed the Hook & Loop to our product and now they stay where they are supposed to.