dry camping (dos and don'ts)

[Lou Schneider]

On 5/21/2021 at 10:44 AM, fpmtngal said:

Interesting discussion. My tanks are 45 gallons each, and my limiting factor is my fresh tank. I’m not big or strong enough to heft a 5 gallon container up high enough to add water to my tank. With careful use of my water, I can easily go 2 weeks, but then I’m solo.

Get a small water transfer pump - here's a 12 volt one from Harbor Freight. You can directly attach a pair of garden hoses to it.  Run one from the inlet into your 5 gallon container, take the other from the outlet to your trailer's fill port, clip the pump onto a 12 volt battery and you're in business. 

Back in 2000 I had a truck and trailer and I decided to take a mid-life break.  Part of it was spending 3 months in several of the Southwest LTVAs.  I decided I wouldn't go overboard on conservation but instead live fairly normally, taking a shower every morning, etc.  So instead of having to break camp frequently to dump and fill, I used one of these pumps along with my two water hoses to transfer water from a 50 gallon barrel in the truck bed into the trailer's tank.  A Macerator pump going into another 50 gallon barrel with a dump valve installed on it took care of my sewage.  Just fill the sewage barrel and take it to the dump station.  Then fill the water barrel before going back to camp.

Later I got a motorhome where the only way to fill the fresh water tank was via the pressurized city water inlet and it worked great pumping water from 5 gallon containers into the motorhome's tank. 

Or you can do the same thing with a conventional RV water pump and have a spare on hand when your present one goes out.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-dc-transfer-pump-290-gph-63324.html

Edited October 14, 2022 by Lou Schneider

[Ray,IN]

Lou Schneider I have one of those, it works very well. The pump is all SST except the rotor, which is neophrene = drinking water safe.

 

 

On 5/20/2021 at 10:08 PM, sandsys said:

Another reason I'm glad I don't like coffee. You can be glad I never ran a generator to provide for my late night activities.  

(We once parked in the desert next to a guy who ran his generator at any time of day or night when he decided to watch TV. Not fun.)

Our site at Sigsbee Island was 40' from anyone else and I had asked my neighbors when we arrived if they minded if I ran my onboard genset, both said they had portable gensets that were likely louder than mine, so we ran them at the same time each day to recharge everything that needed recharged.

You were in a desert, why park next to anyone?

Edited May 22, 2021 by Ray,IN

[fpmtngal]

8 hours ago, Lou Schneider said:

Get a small water transfer pump - here's a 12 volt one from Harbor Freight. You can directly attach a pair of garden hoses to it.  Run one from the inlet into your 5 gallon container, take the other from the outlet to your trailer's fill port, clip the pump onto a 12 volt battery and you're in business. 

Back in 2000 I had a truck and trailer and I decided to take a mid-life break.  Part of it was spending 3 months in several of the Southwest LTVAs.  I decided I wouldn't go overboard on conservation but instead live fairly normally, taking a shower every morning, etc.  So instead of having to break camp frequently to dump and fill, I used one of these pumps along with my two water hoses to transfer water from a 50 gallon barrel in the truck bed into the trailer's tank.  A Macerator pump going into another 50 gallon barrel with a dump valve installed on it took care of my sewage.  Just fill the sewage barrel and take it to the dump station.  Then fill the water barrel before going back to camp.

Later I got a motorhome where the only way to fill the fresh water tank was via the pressurized city water inlet and it worked great pumping water from 5 gallon containers into the motorhome's tank. 

Or you can do the same thing with a conventional RV water pump and have a spare on hand when your present one goes out.

https://www.harborfreight.com/merchandising-promotions/hot-buys/12v-dc-transfer-pump-290-gph-63324.html

That’s a cool pump!  I just looked at Harbor Freight’s website and while this pump would work great right now, once I upgrade my 12v system, my batteries will be inside, with access on the other side of the trailer from the fresh water fill.  However, there’s a different pump (same manufacturer and looks almost the same) that runs on 120v, and I’m planning on wiring all of my outlets to an inverter - there’s a 120v outlet not far from the fill.  What a neat idea!

[sandsys]

11 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

Our site at Sigsbee Island was 40' from anyone else and I had asked my neighbors when we arrived if they minded if I ran my onboard genset, both said they had portable gensets that were likely louder than mine, so we ran them at the same time each day to recharge everything that needed recharged.

You were in a desert, why park next to anyone?

We were there for a meetup with new people. But, I like what your neighbors did.

Linda

[bobsallyh]

We do like Lou posted about a 12v. pump. We fill our 5 gal. jugs and hook hoses up between the jug-pump-trailer. I either plug it into the truck or trailer. I refuse to hold any water container to refill the tank.

[Vladimir]

In some ways....a pretty funny discussion.

I started boondocking, before trying any other form of camping.  So to me it was a progression of learning how to deal with campgrounds and in particular RV campgrounds.

Just do it....and see if you like it.  You won't die.  You won't freeze. 

The worst that can happen is you will run out of water and have to go a day without a shower.

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, Vladimir said:

n some ways....a pretty funny discussion.

I started boondocking, before trying any other form of camping.  So to me it was a progression of learning how to deal with campgrounds and in particular RV campgrounds.

I hadn't thought of it this way but those of us who started in tents then moved up to tent trailers were actually boondocking all those years. It wasn't until we bought a VW Vanagon that we had any "amenities" at all. (Sort of--our tent trailer had a furnace which we used when traveling through the mountains.)

Linda

[Kirk W]

12 hours ago, Vladimir said:

I started boondocking, before trying any other form of camping.

My first camping experience was really primitive with my Boy Scout Troop in a surplus Army tent, carrying all of our water, a hand dug latrine, and the only stove a wood fire. I considered it luxury when I started tenting with our family having a large tent with an outside aluminum frame, a Coleman cook stove & lantern, and we even had a catalytic heater! We didn't have a bathroom with us until our third RV and we traveled for 10 years with 3 boys in a popup, very seldom staying in a campground that had anything more than a hand pump and an outhouse. We only claimed to be boondocking if we traveled in on foot with our gear in a backpack! 

EDIT:  As I posted this, it crossed my mind that this discussion is really about budget camping, in an RV, with an electric pump to refill the water tank, and solar for electricity, and ..........................  When we were in that luxury tent we probably didn't have more than $100 in equipment. Using current inflation that would be less than $1000 today. How our minimum standard of living has changed. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Kirk W

[packnrat]

i forget my tank cap's. (with a extra bladder of 60 gal fresh).  but just me, it is no problem doing two weeks, only short coming, is i had to go back to work. no solar, just a genny. no tv, little radio. 8-9K feet up so no real need for the ac.

in the forest i camped in, dumping grey water was encouraged. but not black. or trash.

now with the drought, all forests and most any place with plants might just say dump your "clean" grey.  pending not like qurtsite in jan.

[jamtracy]

On 5/19/2021 at 8:14 AM, Tim and Peggy said:

as suggested about trying it out in an RV campground is that I don;t imagine people like the sound of the generator running, but great idea, conceptually.

Totally agree. I notice a lot of generators are forward on the port side of Motorhomes. We were at nice campground awhile back and the guy next to me kept running his generator. Not only was the sound annoying so was the exhaust which was pointed at our rig. I finally had to have the park take care of it. Turns out his pedestal was acting up and his generator was automatically firing up.

[aknavy]

We use 10-15 gallons of water a day.  Have a 100 gallon fresh water tank, but do not fill it due to high pin weight and stress on the fifth wheel frame.  Travel with 40-50 gallons, which we can stretch to last about 5 days if need be.  Have solar for most of our power, but also have a inverter generator for power if need be.  We both work, and we are water conscious but not overly conservative.

We run the generator an hour or two at night during dinner/high power draw time just because.  We could probably get away with not running it, but why?  Shower every 2-3 days, dishes every other day.  I bought a 60 gallon bladder and transfer pump, as fresh water is always our limiting factor.  Fresh water is pretty easy to find, but I may do a 100 gallon bladder for convenience.  We have a 60 gallon black tank,  can go two weeks on it.  I'll admit, I'm not opposed to trickling a little grey on the ground if I'm in a national forest or BLM land, so grey isn't an issue for us.  We also carry a 48 gallon Blue Boy and macerator transfer pump, so we can deal with waste as needed.  Bottom line, as you may have gathered from this thread is that everyone is different.  Only way to know is to try it out. 

With that being said, once you master it and get out of RV parking lots (resorts), you will be ruined for them.  We are currently at least a hundred yards from our closes neighbors, separated by trees, great views, and it's free.  And we're 20 miles from Yellowstone, and this particular spot is considered crowded.  The RV parks around us are full, expensive, and a 20 foot wide spot is considered big.  In the last month we've spent three days in a park, and it sucked.   Unfortunately, circumstances forced it on us.  The only time I look for full hookups is when the temp is going to be over 90 degrees and I'm going to need all three AC's to be comfortable.  First world problems.

[pjstough]

1 hour ago, Findabayr said:

We've been travelling for two years, and I've realized that dry camping is not for me. I'm not willing to sacrifice my comfort for the economy or anything else.

What comforts do you want that you dont have dry camping?

[Kirk W]

13 hours ago, Findabayr said:

I'm not willing to sacrifice my comfort for the economy or anything else.

We did a lot of that in our earlier years of RV use but when we were on the road fulltime we rarely stayed where we didn't have at least partial hook-ups and never spent more than 2 nights without them. We had full hook-ups for all of our stays of a week or longer. We never minimized our use of power or water and always had air conditioning if needed and we kept heat on at night in cool weather. 

EDIT: In the past 10 years we only stayed where we don't have full hook-ups when visiting a family farm where we stay for a week with only electic and water but we also spend most of our daylight hours in the farmhouse, visiting relatives in the area, or somewhere out and about the farm. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Kirk W

[Randyretired]

We have been boondocking sort of on our mountain property all summer.  We installed a septic system a couple of years ago and a well but we are off grid.  Solar for power.  

[fpmtngal]

16 hours ago, Findabayr said:

We've been travelling for two years, and I've realized that dry camping is not for me. I'm not willing to sacrifice my comfort for the economy or anything else.

I would also like to know what comfort you are sacrificing.  I admit that I don’t particularly like to dry camp when the temps get high enough to need AC - when temps get up to 90° I look for power hookups.  I’m not crazy about running a generator for all day to keep cool enough to live, but don’t mind firing it up to cool off the trailer in the early evening, if I’m overnighting somewhere that’s in the high 80s or very low 90s, and want to cool off the trailer before the outside temp goes down.

It does take more thought and equipment to dry camp comfortably, so it takes more money up front.  It does take more attention to detail than camping with full hookups - I keep an eye on my batteries and my fresh water tank more than if I have hookups (black and grey tank monitoring is the same).  That does introduce a certain amount of stress to life in a way.  Not everyone will be interested in that stress and paying attention to their systems or want to do the modifications that make life comfortable.

This thread was fun to read through again - I enjoyed reading my comment from last year, when I was getting ready to install lithium batteries, a big inverter and another solar panel.  18 months later with that equipment and I’m once again thinking about an upgrade, though this time it’s only adding a solar panel - I recently bought Starlink and am using more battery power to power it - I’ve been spending a few days in Kaibab National Forest as a systems test.  It appears that I have enough battery power, but would like to have more solar power to keep them charged, rather than depending on having to run a generator on a frequent basis.

My fresh tank is still my limiting factor, I’ve got pretty much everything else figured out.  I’ve been full-time now for 3 years and while I would be willing to spend another winter in an LTVA near Quartzsite again, I ended up getting an annual site in Apache Junction.  Instead, my dry camping has been occasional, a few days to 10 days.  I still enjoy it and don’t find that I’m giving up any comfort.  Granted, I don’t own a hair dryer, but I do use the microwave and a single cup coffee maker.

 

[sandsys]

Is this an ad for the flashlight? My van had a comfortable bed, a real office chair, and a good microwave. What other comforts does a person need?

Linda

[mptjelgin]

2 hours ago, sandsys said:

Is this an ad for the flashlight? My van had a comfortable bed, a real office chair, and a good microwave. What other comforts does a person need?

Linda

This is typical behavior for a spammer on this forum. The behavior is: First time poster bumps an old thread, and then edits it a few days later to add a commercial link. 

Interesting that I was dressed down by one of the "Weekend Moderators" for pointing this out on a previous post. 

[fpmtngal]

I missed the edit - made the assumption the new person was legit.  Oh well, it was still fun to read my thoughts from a year ago and how my situation has changed.  

[Steven@146]

My comments on this subject, even though old, would be for anyone that happens to read through this thread, not just the OP. Whether you have a motor home or travel trailer, I would advise everyone to try boondocking with your rig for a few days just so you get practice and understand your limitations. So that when you have to boondock, or are forced to, it is not so difficult a learning curve. The Texas winter storm of a couple years ago taught a lot of RVers a lesson, including us. Even those located in RV parks at the time, Or surviving any natural disaster or occurrence for that matter.

Understand your resources, limitations, and reserve capacity and your weakest link. Understand how you can limit using up your resources and how you can generate more capacity, or recharge your resources. Start by listing what your resources are based on your current rig configuration.

Power - Solar, RV Battery Bank, Generator, Tow vehicle engine power & batteries.

Water - Fresh and Waste tanks + reserves in jugs.

Propane Capacity - to run RV, water heater, furnace, fridge, stove

Gasoline/Diesel - RV Generator, motor home or Tow vehicle

Now in the normal course of RVing the Wife and I will boondock a few nights while in transit from one place to another. We will stay at FHU sites. We don't boondock for weeks. We know our capacities and limitations base on how our rig is set up. Given our rig configuration and resources we could boondock up to two weeks if needs be.

 

Oh, boondocking making coffee, we use a french press. Lol's

Edited October 14, 2022 by Steven@146

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, Steven@146 said:

My comments on this subject, even though old, would be for anyone that happens to read through this thread, not just the OP. Whether you have a motor home or travel trailer, I would advise everyone to try boondocking with your rig for a few days just so you get practice and understand your limitations. So that when you have to boondock, or are forced to, it is not so difficult a learning curve. The Texas winter storm of a couple years ago taught a lot of RVers a lesson, including us. Even those located in RV parks at the time, Or surviving any natural disaster or occurrence for that matter.

Understand your resources, limitations, and reserve capacity and your weakest link. Understand how you can limit using up your resources and how you can generate more capacity, or recharge your resources. Start by listing what your resources are based on your current rig configuration.

Power - Solar, RV Battery Bank, Generator, Tow vehicle engine power & batteries.

Water - Fresh and Waste tanks + reserves in jugs.

Propane Capacity - to run RV, water heater, furnace, fridge, stove

Gasoline/Diesel - RV Generator, motor home or Tow vehicle

Now in the normal course of RVing the Wife and I will boondock a few nights while in transit from one place to another. We will stay at FHU sites. We don't boondock for weeks. We know our capacities and limitations base on how our rig is set up. Given our rig configuration and resources we could boondock up to two weeks if needs be.

 

Oh, boondocking making coffee, we use a french press. Lol's

The easiest way to learn your limitations is to pull into a full hookup site but don't hook up. Pay attention to your usages. When something becomes critical, hook up just that item, (water, electrical, whatever) Keep notes.

If you'd like to do so, fill and dump then try again to see if you can last longer this time. I think that's the least painful way to learn your own limits so, in case of future emergency, you'll know precisely what YOU need to do.

Yes, emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime. We were in a full hookup site when a water main broke. We knew we could live off our fresh water tank until the estimated repair time so we didn't feel a need to move to another park like so many others did.

Linda Sand

[Ray,IN]

Excellent advice Linda!