High-tech RV level app -- helps in the campground, and on the road

Leveling your RV in a camp site not only makes for a more comfortable stay, if too far out of level, you can actually damage your rig's refrigerator. Some RVers have it easy: They may have a rig equipped with automatic levelers that bring the rig into plumb at the touch of a button. It's high tech all the way. For the rest of us, leveling is a matter of blocking – and using one or more levels. But we're not left out of the high-tech world – if you've got a smart phone or a tablet, well – there's an app for that.

Actually, there are several apps that help you get things on the level. One we've found and checked out to our liking is called Clinometer, a product of plaincode. With your device laid down on its back, the display shows a "bulls eye" style bubble level – with an enhancement. If you're not in perfect level, the display will indicate in degrees just how far out of level you are, and in which direction or directions.

In this view, laying your device down in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator will tell you in an instant if you're within that "close enough" range – generally accepted to be within two degrees of dead level.

But stand your device on end, the Clinometer app presents an entirely different view – this time a dial type inclinometer. Again, just how many degrees away from level you are is clearly shown. If you have a known plumb edge on the outside of your rig – say a window frame, just scootch your device up to it, and you'll know how far off you are, fore and aft, and then move to a rear or front surface and know your left and right adjustments.

But here's another trick for you information and gauge junkies: Say you're headed out on the road and you come to a grade. Say, just how steep is this grade, anyway? With a quick change you can set the inclinometer to read – not in degrees – but rather in percent grade. It could provide you with great fuel for those campfire discussions of, "And then there was the time we were in Colorado and we bucked a 15 percent grade for five miles . .  . "

After you've downloaded your own copy of Clinometer and gotten through the "ooh, ahh" phase, it's time to calibrate the device. It's easiest – and best, we think – to calibrate it using a known level surface. Don't imagine that the kitchen table at your home is "level," go out to the shop and grab your old-fashioned bubble level. We grabbed a few wood shims from the hardware store and definitively leveled our kitchen table, and within five minutes had the new app thoroughly calibrated.

Android users will find the "entry level" Clinometer (if you'll pardon the pun) is free of charge. Other users report feeling harassed by the advertisements that come with the free version – pay 99 cents for the upgrade and skip the ads. Apple users, we looked over the store and couldn't find the free version – maybe it's there and we're too old-school to locate it. Your cost is $1.99.

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