Sprinter motorhome boondocking

I have a 40 gallon fresh water, 20 gallon grey, and 30 gallon black. I have a group 31 Optima blue top AGM battery. I have a 40lb propane tank. It's me, two large dogs (65+ lbs)who are both black furred so get hot easily , and a parrot.

I fill the fresh water tank full before I leave.

I use real dishes and glasses (plastic) and pots and pans, cook simple meals (spaghetti, burgers, eggs, tacos, pancakes, etc.), use the fresh water for drinking, cooking, hygiene, cleaning, dogs' water bowl, and parrot's water bowl.

I normally camp for 4 days at a time (it's Bat-dog's current "crankiness breaking point"). During that 4 days, I do not shower, but I may wash my hair in the sink. I do have baby wipes throughout the RV for additional cleaning resources (mostly wiping off grease, oil, etc, before washing hands, etc.).

I use my toilet whenever I need it. I will use the campground facilities if it's closer than my RV at the moment. I cook and wash my dishes three times per day (usually one pan, one dish, one glass, several cooking/eating utensils each meal). I wash my hands a LOT. I drink at least 56 ounces of water per day. I do not make any conscious effort to "conserve" water during this time - but I don't waste it.

I cook on my stove top and in my oven using propane. My fridge is 40 years old and runs on propane (no mother board needing electrical). My water pump is on the entire time (12v). My water heater is on the entire time (propane). I have fluorescent and LED bulbs in my lights and use them sparingly. I have additional battery operated puck lights and lanterns that I use as filler. I charge my cell phone daily, my kindle and/or laptop if needed, and play my mp3 player with computer speakers and docking station about 1-3 hours daily - I have a Wagan power pack that I normally use to do these things but have done them using the house battery only.

With all that, at the end of 4 days, I have at least 1/2 of the fresh water left; 1/2 of each the grey and black water tanks filled; my battery is not even dented, my propane will last about 30-40 days. So, I could reasonably go 8 days on the same routine. Showering would be the biggest draw and as long as there is a nice lake or river and it's not too cold out, I will take my biodegradable soap/shampoo and "bathe" in the lake or river.

Beginning to sound more like survival camping on this thread....I would never go camping if I told my wife we needed to do half of what was said here. With that said, we have a 40 gall fresh 29 black and 30 gray. 3 of us can go easily several days. But I do add another 12 gallons or so of water to the fresh in between. The only thing we really do differently is that when taking showers, we use the cut off switch and do the get wet, turn off, lather, turn on and rinse. That's a big savings in itself.

We also added a water reducer for the kitchen sink that flows at .5 gallon per minute. It helps out in the kitchen as well. As others stated, it all depends on what you want or are willing to do. You can go in survival mode as others have mentioned and probably easily go a week or two. Or you can just do a couple simple things and extend your stay out for longer than normal.

4 days for 'normal' living. 4 weeks for the kind of spartan living mentioned above. Not my style; I'd rather dump and fill.

I wash dishes (including pots and pans) with babywipes, rinse with about 2 tablespoons of water and a paper towel.

I don't have water tanks at all. I drink about 1/2 gallon a day, from jugs.

Camp as if you are in a tent and you will conserve resources and tank capacity. On my RV I can fill the main water tank using the winterizing system. Set the valves to the desired position, turn on the pump and I can suck water from a collapsable 5 gallon jug into the tank. As far as electricity, it depends on what you feel you need. We don't watch TV or movies in the RV so our power requirements are pretty low.

When dry camping we use these baby washcloths

In the shower we run water over ourselves, use the wet washcloths, rinse.

We use very little water with this method. Works for us.

Hi dave,

Thanks--but these are just ideas I've gleaned from various web sites--and my own personal experiences.

The other essential for boondocking is lots and lots of power. I have a modest solar system and would encourage you to have 600 to 1000 watts, a large battery bank, and a large pure sine wave inverter. That will run everything including the roof air (but not very long on air).

I have a much smaller inverter that I use for running my laptop computer--or sometimes a heating pad.

Holy cow Pianotuna! I never thought of any of that. Genius.

Paper plates and minimal water use. Take every opportunity to use bathrooms at public locations such as Walmart and gas stations.

I don't drink water from the tank. I use 1 gallon jugs for all my potable water needs.

Wipe down silverware with paper towels. Don't fill the sink with water for dish washing. I sanitize by using 1/8 cup of water and a frying pan with a tight fitting lid.

For cooking I use a small George Foreman grill. That is cleaned with paper towels. I sanitize it with a web paper towel plugging it in until I hear the hiss of the steam. Then I wipe it clear of grease. Finally I plug it in again until it cycles to kill any bugs.

I heat and cook in the microwave using paper towels to prevent spatters.

For bathing I place a wet wash cloth in the microwave and use that for my ablutions. I rinse it out, and then sanitize it in the microwave.

I should buy stock in a paper towel company!

Dave,

Your question is kind of like "How deep is a river?"

It really all comes down to how good you are at conserving your resources. And that is the end story.

We have about the same capacity you do and we can always go 3+ days (about 7 person/days). We have gone as long as 5 days and had some reserve, but we end up dry camping at music festivals where re-supply is not simple and the available facilities are overwhelmed. We have hit the home port with no potable remaining. So, you might do 10 if you are careful. DW likes to cook in the coach and that uses more water than not doing so.

Matt