I never think to get a photo of the chaos until it's too late. Several times over the past few months we've pulled off somewhere to grab lunch or get something out of the Airstream only to find that a cupboard has come open and there's a huge mess all over the floor.
Not that long ago we were driving along the Oregon Coast and while stopped at a scenic viewpoint, we opened up the Airstream to find that the spice cupboard over the fridge had popped open during our drive and most of the contents were now all over the floor of the Airstream. Additionally, a small bottle of lemon olive oil that we'd picked up at a farm in Paso Robles had broken and dumped itself all over the floor, mostly in the kitchen (and luckily it was a mild, pleasant smelling oil, and not something like toasted sesame oil). We quickly cleaned it up and put everything back and then thought "dangit, we should have taken a photo!"
The cupboard above the microwave has now opened twice during towing, and both times it's been a bit of a catastrophe (and still, no photos!)
So I did a little research and found the cupboard latch that we have. There are two flavors: a 5lb latch and a 10lb latch. I figured either we had a 5lb latch and we needed a 10lb latch, or our 10lb latch after three years had worn down and become a 5lb latch (or less!), so I ordered a 10lb latch and installed it as soon as it arrived.
Opening and closing the cabinet definitely requires a bit more oomph now, but I'm hoping this will hold us for a bit.
Eleven bucks well spent! (Get yours here.)
Awesome.
I need to get some of those, too. We had a few extras that came with the trailer, but I think they were actually used, because one has hardly any resistance at all. We also have issues with them become unusable, as the get “stuck” in the closed position, so don’t latch back up when you shut the drawer, so you have to remove the drawer and pry it back open (we use an oyster knife!). For the past month or so, we’ve been having to remove the top two drawers and place them on the floor before travelling. Cabinet over the microwave gets a bunjee after an unfortunate salsa incident.
I love that almost everyone I talk to has an “Unfortunate ______” incident with that cupboard. We have two: the Unfortunate Franciscan Starburst Plates Incident, and the Unfortunate Walnut Oil Incident. Tiffani has the Unfortunate Molasses Incident.
So far, our drawers have mostly stayed put…. (knocks on wood).
We have had similar issues with our pantry door. I did not get a ten pound latch. I wish I would have thought of that. I simply doubled down and installed two latches and it has worked well for us ever since. With that much bouncing, latches will need to be periodically replaced. Unfortunate incidents are unfortunately unavoidable at times. I worry more about tire blowouts as I am about to embark on a long trip soon. I should have gotten those Michelins. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for the post. We’ve replaced the latch on our under-bed cabinet once, it is broken again. May try one of these.