Product Review: The Sewer Saddle Bag
This product review is our opinion. We do not get any perks or compensation for this review. All links in this post are non-affiliate.
When our friend Roberto came to visit us when we were in Maryland, we had a few laughs teaching him about the ins and outs of wastewater management in an RV. It didn't help that we had asked him if we could have a package delivered to his apartment so we could grab it when we got together. In that package was the Sewer Saddle Bag. Trying to explain to a non-RVer what it was, well, let's just say it's a topic of conversation that brings out our inner children.
The Sewer Saddle Bag is a bag that you put weights in on each side, and then you straddle the bag over your sewer hose to weigh it down. This prevents the connection from the sewer hose into the ground from coming loose and therefore spilling your waste all over your site - and possibly, you. It's more necessary than you might think; many campgrounds have ill-fitting connections, and your sewer hose just doesn't fit snug enough. We even ran into this issue at our DC Campground, which is one of the most highly rated campgrounds in the area. At first, it might seem like the hose connection is resting just fine, but when that wastewater valve is released and the water goes rushing through the sewer hose, it's pretty forceful. The rush can even lift the hose right off its fitting! Eww! So it's important to be extra diligent and make sure the hose is fitting as snugly as possible.
There are several hacks and products that RVers use to make sure there will be no "Hoses Gone Wild" situations. Many campgrounds leave large rocks or bricks near your sewer to help weigh the hose down, or you can sometimes scrounge around for a rock on your own. You can buy products such as donuts, seals, and adapters that are supposed to create a more snug fit and also prevent odors from escaping. Or, you can go the whimsical route and buy yourself a Sewie Pig or Retro Camper! When you're a team of two, though, you can work together to form a solution that may be rather risky, if your feet aren't trustworthy.
Yes, that is me, perching myself upon the sewer hose while Anthony pulls the valve lever to flush our waste. Posh, I know.
We knew when we eventually got around to purchasing a sewer hose weight that we would buy the Sewer Saddle Bag. It's a new product that hasn't been on the market long, but it's made its rounds in the RV community. You can find the makers of this product, JD Solutions, at RV rallies and see their ads on RV-specific videos and publications. What's funny, though, is that outside the RV world, these products are incredibly tough to track down if you don't know what they're called. I spent quite a long time searching terms like "RV sewer bean bag" and "RV sewer weigh-down bag" and kept coming up empty-handed. I ultimately had to deep dive into an old YouTube video that I had seen about the Tampa RV rally, where JD Solutions had set up a vendor tent. Finally I learned the product name, typed it into Google, and there popped up the website for the Sewer Saddle Bag. As far as I can tell, the only way to buy this bag online is directly from their website, which is cool with me. The product is only $24.99 (at my time of purchase) and the company donates some of the profits to help Veterans.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a variety of design options to choose from. The makers have created a blank design, as well as some that have different RV manufacturer logos. However, scrolling through the options, it was very obvious which design was right for us.
Once we retrieved our package from Roberto, we gathered up some rocks and went to give this baby a whirl.
The cool part about the product is, we can add as much weight as needed for the current campsite connection. No need to overfill if the connection is just a little loose. However, ours was a little more than a little loose, so we made sure to give the bag a decent amount of weight. Another plus is that, unlike the Sewie Pig or similar products, the saddle bag's weight can be redistributed over the sewer hose, adjusting the shape of the bag to better weigh down the connection where it's needed. At this particular campsite, we made sure most of the weight was toward the very end, right on top of our clear elbow connector. We never had to worry that our saddle bag wouldn't fit right.
Another significant advantage of the saddle bag over Sewie Pig et al. is that it's extremely easy to pack up! Sewie Pig may look cute in the photos, but we saw one in real life at a campground store and those things are huge! They have to be in order for the pig legs to straddle a sewer hose. Packing those into a sewer storage bin must be extremely awkward, but for our saddle bag, we simply fold it up and plop it in the bin. If it doesn't fit, we take our weights out, and suddenly we have a canvas bag that lays basically flat and takes up no space!
So, ready to see this thing in action?! (Don't worry, we're only dumping the gray tank, aka sink water, in the video).
Well, it looks like my work here is done, and now I can leave it up to my foot!
The Sewer Saddle Bag
Pros:
- Reasonably priced
- Small-business/USA made
- Support veterans with your purchase
- Design options
- Sturdy quality
- Adjustable center of gravity and weight distribution around your sewer hose
- You can use whatever amount of weight you need
- Easy to pack away
Cons:
- Must have your own materials to use as weights
- Small online presence makes the product difficult to find; not available on big name shopping platforms
- Every saddle bag has an "advertisement" on it, with the name, slogan, and phone number. I personally don't mind this, but a design with just the name, or even a totally blank design, would be a nice option.
- Only ships within the USA
This little bag has given me my freedom back! Dumping tanks no longer needs to be a two-person job, and I no longer put myself at risk of a messy spill all over my real feet. When you show up to a new campground, you just never know what the connections will be like. The Sewer Saddle Bag gives us peace of mind that our hose will stay where it should. It's a simple solution to a big problem.