Your Favorite Boondocking Pics
Forum Discussion
953 Replies
Eurocamper wrote:
Dry camping at City of Rocks National Reserve in southern Idaho.
Wow, that looks cool! And only 3 hours away from us in SLC -- looks like we have another place to put on our list to visit this year. Did you boondock in that area, or were you required to use one of the designated campsites? I've been on their website and can't find anything except information about the campsite. I guess I'd be surprised if you could just camp anywhere in a National Reserve, but ...
Thanks to all for the great pictures!- Thank you Moderator for helping with my pictures.
I appreciate all the work you do to keep this Forum in top shape! - It has been so long since I posted a photo, hope this works.
This shows our TT - we have just gotten our new 5th wheel and can't wait for Spring.
Labor day in the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming
Sign we saw in Custer National Park, South Dakota
Pathfinder Reservior
Well, that didn't work......heavy sigh - The longest we have gone boondocking (due to schedule) with out shore power and strictly using the solar is nine days.
- No solar on the 5th wheel. Reason is, it stays at home and is always plugged in (I live in it about 9 months out of the year there). I would love to set it up for off-grid solar but due to its location (in the forest) I doubt it would be worth the investment. Too many trees and mountains, too much shade. If I ever took it anywhere I would rig something up, but it never moves. I have the truck camper for that.
Is your 50-watt panel helping? I used to have one 50-watt panel on the Truck Camper, and two batteries. That wasn't a problem when I first installed it because, like MonaK, my boondocking trips were weekenders, and the batteries always would last at least that long. But after I retired and started boondocking for 5 and 6 weeks at a time, it became a big issue. I'd be good for the first 5 days but thereafter was constantly fighting with low batteries (no generator either, for a variety of reasons). This year I finally got serious and bought the three new panels and a good charge controller, plus upgraded the solar system wiring. It's working great now. - Simplygib - Do you have solar panels on your 5th wheel? If so how many and what is yout battery supply. I have a 50w panel with (3) 12 volt deep cycle batteries.
Simplygib wrote:
Hi MonaK,
That's actually just 200 watts worth of panels, 4x50.
I am able to do everything I need or want to do with electricity, and the batteries are back to where they were the day before by 10am the following morning. One day it took until noon, but it was very hazy and overcast that day, and the night before I used my laptop for about 5 hours, surfing online and watching a movie. The laptop with inverter uses roughly 5 amps.
It's somewhat overkill for my needs - which is the way I wanted it, in case of long stretches of cloudy days. I have 2-220ah 6v golf cart batteries, but typically use less than 30ah from the batteries daily. Sometimes I spend a couple of hours online mid-day, but on sunny days that power comes from the excess electricity the panels are producing.
I supplement the solar system with conservation. I have LED and Cold Cathode lights, and only need electricity for the lights, water pump, a small inverter for powering the laptop, and charging cell phone and remote control airplane batteries. Cooking is propane and heat with a portable Mr. Heater that needs no electricity. Also my fridge is one of those old ones that doesn't need any 12v power - strictly propane (or 110v when plugged in, which is almost never).
Sounds like you have a great set up there.
The DH & I purchased last summer a very small solar panel to help make our battery last longer last summer. We boon-dock mostly on weekenders.....so we only want to make sure that we have batteries to run the fan on our PUP's heater. Refrig/hotwater heater can both be runned with the propane. It still gets pretty cold up in the mountains where we live during the summer nights.- Hi MonaK,
That's actually just 200 watts worth of panels, 4x50.
I am able to do everything I need or want to do with electricity, and the batteries are back to where they were the day before by 10am the following morning. One day it took until noon, but it was very hazy and overcast that day, and the night before I used my laptop for about 5 hours, surfing online and watching a movie. The laptop with inverter uses roughly 5 amps.
It's somewhat overkill for my needs - which is the way I wanted it, in case of long stretches of cloudy days. I have 2-220ah 6v golf cart batteries, but typically use less than 30ah from the batteries daily. Sometimes I spend a couple of hours online mid-day, but on sunny days that power comes from the excess electricity the panels are producing.
I supplement the solar system with conservation. I have LED and Cold Cathode lights, and only need electricity for the lights, water pump, a small inverter for powering the laptop, and charging cell phone and remote control airplane batteries. Cooking is propane and heat with a portable Mr. Heater that needs no electricity. Also my fridge is one of those old ones that doesn't need any 12v power - strictly propane (or 110v when plugged in, which is almost never). Simplygib wrote:
Boondocking at Anza Borrego State Park, San Diego County, California
WOW!!! You've got a heck of a solar panel on there. So how long will it make your batteries last? Thanks for sharing the photo.- Boondocking at Anza Borrego State Park, San Diego County, California
