Dry camping

Hi all. New to RV'ing and had some questions about dry camping.
I have a 22' TT and we have so far booked 4 nights at a non serviced site.
What are some of the time frames some of you have dry camped? Some of the precautions you take (IE Water, battery life etc).
I am not sure yet how long I can expect my battery to last and if I should get an extra? Not sure if I should fill up with water but conserve how much? I do have 2 young kids who will probably like to shower at least twice....
I would love to hear as much advice as you can offer no matter how little!
Thanks!
-Chuck

If you plan on boondocking a lot then I would invest in a small generator. The battery will be the first thing to go out. I don't know how large your holding tanks are so I can't advise how long they will last. I have 32 gallon grey and black tanks and they fill up in about 10 days. My 40 gallon water tank would also go 10 days.

Do you understand that when you are boondocking you should run the water for a shower no longer than one minute? I get in the shower and turn it on (no waiting for the hot water) and get myself wet in about 10 seconds. Then I take a shower sponge full of soap and wipe down my body. Then I run the water for about 30 seconds to rinse the soap off.

How big is the fresh water tank? My wife and I can go about 10 days on 100 gallon of water by really being Conservative. Is there a shower house there to use in place of using you're water? With only 1 Battery you will need to save you're power to ignite the refer and water heater.
Spend you're time outside around the campfire and you can do it.

Two of us go about a week on 70 gallons of water.  Short showers, as Tom described.  You do get used to it, and you can get perfectly clean using only three or four gallons of water.  A small generator for charging the battery and running the microwave is a good idea.  We go about a week at most dry camping and then are ready to dump the tanks.  Most of the time it's more like five days or so.

The two most important systems to manage while boondocking are the water system, and the electrical system. 

On the electric side there are three important parts;

The battery bank
Monitoring the battery bank
Charging the battery bank

If you are planning on doing much boondocking the first thing I would do is get a battery monitoring system.

The second thing I would do is if I didnt have enough battery storage, I would add or replace the battery bank.

The third thing I would do if I didnt already have a good charging system, I would get one.

Paul

My wife and I boondock quite often, and our last mh had one 12 volt battery (actually two sixes), a 75 gallon water tank, and 40 Gallon gray and black tanks. We found that we could easily boondock for 4 days without running the generator and still have battery life left, if we paid attention to a few things. In the evening, only use one light (the one where you are), do not run the furnace (big electric hog), but use comforters and blankets, don't let water run (it not only eats up your water supply, but battery also), and use paper plates at least part of the time (saves on dishwashing). If you have the resources to buy a small generator as Tom suggested, it's a great idea. I would also check and see if your tow vehicle will charge your trailer battery, and if not, consider having it set up that way.

Here is the specs for my TT.

Total Fresh Water Tank Capacity (gal/l) 52 / 196.8
Total Gray Water Tank Capacity (gal/l) 39 / 147.6
Total Black Water Tank Capacity (gal/l) 22 / 83.3

As for the showering, the wife and I would just skip and let the kids shower...

The battery will be the big concern. If you need to run your furnace, it  will be tough to get more than one day.

When my wife and I dry camp we can go a week or 10  days on our water and holding tanks.  We reduce water consumption by using paper plates and thus avoiding washing dishes. You imply that you will be at an established campground, but one without hookups. Most will have vault or pit toilets. When available, we use them except occasionally in the middle of a chilly night.

Joel

Where your planning going is there water available?
When we first started boon docking we had two 5 gallon plastic water jugs that we filled and dumped into the holding tank as necessary.  Next is gray water.  A blue tote, or even a 5 gallon bucket in a pinch will allow you to dump the gray water in most NF camp grounds.  Last is black water.  Using out houses reduces the amount of black water.
Battery?  One battery is no where enough.  Two batteries and a small generator will get you by for long periods of time easily.

If you are serious about boondocking, you're going to need a solar setup for the battery.  Not having it will cause many complications.  Also, be sure to have a reserve of water.

2 years ago we spent 2 night on a single battery. not a deep cycle just a regular car starting 12 volt battery.  we did not use the furnace even though it was only 11c on the first morning. we used the camp ground (fundy national park) showers and for the most part wash rooms. I would suspect that you have a deep cycle battery in your rig. and unless you want to try and watch movies and pop popcorn all the time should be able to get a few days out of the battery. it really depends on what you expect to be able to use in the TT.

seeing as you have done back pack camping you know how to be a minimalist. Most of the lights in your rig are 12 volt. you need a tiny bit of 12 volt to run the fridge on propane and maybe the control board for the water heater. (depends on the model of heater) that would be it. again if you want to watch a movie using the converter... you won't get more then one night in.

we used flash lights or those little stick on puck lights you get from the dollar store. our kids like to read with those on.

I personally don't see the need for solar, might be a nice added option if you do find your self spending most of your camping without services. then again so would a nice little honda generator. charging the battery from the truck is not a good idea it will take most of the day for that.

We always fill the water tank. figure no sense having it if you don't use it. most of these rigs were meant to be self contained anyway. and if you don't have water with you and there is no water at the site how you going to flush the toilet?

Agree with 1275gtsport. Four days on a fully charged deep cell 12 volt is not a big deal if you conserve a little. We usually carry bottled water to drink and use the water tank for washing and cooking. If you go much longer than that, you would need a way to recharge, whether it be solar or generator.

As pointed out, solar is not "needed" to dry camp. I would definitely buy a small genset such as a 1000 or 2000 Honda with my dry camping funds first. Second I would get a 3 stage charger, and third I would get an inverter.

Am seeing more and more that go to a small genset first - and a lot that stop there vs. spending more on batteries, inverters, and such. When they need power, they turn it on. They plug the rig power cord into the genset vs. shore power so the genset is supplying power to the converter/charger. I have an EU2000 Honda that gets 4 to six hours per gallon - whereas those with a 1000 get much more. The 1000's are "very" quiet.

You might consider renting a small Honda 1000 on this trip to see how it goes.

I solved the problem of the furnace running all night by buying a 12V electric heating pad for my bed. It takes about 4-6 amps for about 20 minutes to get the bed warm, then my bod takes over. They can be had on line or at most any truck stop. I purchased mine at a Petro for about $65. It came with large safety pins to connect to the mattress. After discovering how well it works, I had 2 12V plugs installed by the bed that connect directly to the battery bank (I use 3 12V's). So I can keep my cell phone charged plus any other charging I might want overnight.

As to water usage, there are a lot of tricks posted already. The main thing for me is that if the tap is on, I am using the water that comes out. If not, I turn it off -- e.g. ON to wet the tooth brush, then OFF while brushing, and so forth. As to wetting down on a cold AM before the warm water makes it to the shower head -- my hats off to anyone that can do that . . .    Yikes!!! I will save that initial cold water in a container to do other things with -- e.g., if someone has plants to water.

Have often wished it possible to send that cold water back to the freshwater tank by on/off valve until the hot shows up. Not sure if that has been done by anyone or any vendor.

Bob Buchanan said:

As to wetting down on a cold AM before the warm water makes it to the shower head -- my hats off to anyone that can do that . . .   

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I used to surf in the 60s in southern California before wetsuits were widely available. So I can handle a bit of cold water. But I was talking about taking a shower in the late afternoon on a warm day. Then the cold water isn't really all that cold and it actually feels good.

Personally, I don't like generators; would rather go solar. Little environmental impact and way better conditioning of your batteries. Whatever your choice, read about solar; you'll come away with a better understanding of battery use and maintenance.
As to water usage and children.... Good luck.

Van.

I was asking some of the same questions from the service department recently but mostly in regards to my battery.  The service manager gave general answers as a guideline and also suggest that I could dry camp for a couple of days in the driveway to see how the battery would hold up.

My wife and I have gone better than a week on our storage batteries 1 - 12 in parallel with 2 - 6 volts in series and a water storage tank that is about 18W X 14D X 52L so whatever that holds in water. I will be adding solar to this as soon as they arrive as they are back ordered at the CTC store I deal at. 2 40 watt units and controller is what I will be adding.

At Easter every tear we go camping with a big gang of people and we use the furnace for the whole time Thursday to Monday while in the bush. I do carry a generator but so far have managed to not have to use it more than a couple of times.

Terier said:

I was asking some of the same questions from the service department recently but mostly in regards to my battery.  The service manager gave general answers as a guideline and also suggest that I could dry camp for a couple of days in the driveway to see how the battery would hold up.

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If you don't use the battery to run the microwave, brew coffee, or run the furnace, a couple of days should be no trouble at all. If you do any of those things you will probably not get more than a day.

Joel

Solar panels are a dream come true if you boondock often then you really should get one.

I would tell the kids they are not allowed to touch ANY faucet or anything electrical without permission. Kids can waste tons of resources in short order.

You can buy identical LED  lightbulbs now that fit the old sockets and then your battery will go much longer. Plan to do lots of nature things by day that don't require 12 volt or 110 electricity. Ditto for night. Playing card and board games with the kids at night, rather than burning up batteries on TV's and computers.

Also, get up with the sun, that way you are sleepy when it's dark and use less electricity because you're in bed etc. If you sleep away the daylight, you could be out and about doing things, planning on an earlier bed time.

I do mostly 4 and 5 day weekends at bluegrass festivals, most always without hookups, or sometimes only 20 amp electric. I've found my limitation to almost always be the black water tank. My single battery electric lasts the weekend because lights are used only very briefly at night, and the water pump only occasionally. I use mostly paper plates and refrain from doing dishes inside, which is what I found filled my tank. We carry two solar bags for dish washing. I always run my refrigerator and water heater on propane.  I drink bottled water, but use the tank water for showers and toilet flushing. I carry two gallons of fresh water for making coffee and cooking. Keeping children from wasting water might be challenge if they're new to camping. Winter camping running the furnace blower will really impact your battery life. You'll get a feel for it after you've been out a few times.