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rvshrinker's avatar
rvshrinker
Explorer III
Sep 07, 2018

First time boondocking report

Took family for four days and three nights of dry camping. Really happy with how it went. Everyone got one shower, and we were able to carefully do our dishes and dump that in the black tank. At the end of the weekend we'd barely touched the propane, had used 1/3 of fresh, 1/3 of grey, 1/3 of black, and 1/3 of battery, all according to sensors which of course are just guesstimates. We only ran the heat a few minutes every morning as we had highs in 60s and lows in 40s. Now we feel confident we could go five to six days in a pinch, and certainly 2-3 days of skiing this winter.
  • RedRocket204's avatar
    RedRocket204
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2018
    So nice to get away from the confinement and crowding of a RV park and be in nature with all the luxury. Limiting water usage is really not a difficult thing to do and seems you got that under control right away.

    Consider adding a minimum of 200W solar for quiet battery recharging in the future. One caveat there is that you'll need to find areas to park your RV that get sun most or all of the day or use portable solar panels positioned in the sun.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Sep 07, 2018
    That sounds like survival camping but you'll get better at it. Lows in the 40s would have me running the furnace a lot longer than a few minutes. Skiing means much colder weather where you'll need more battery power.
  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Sep 07, 2018
    Sounds great! I love camping in those temps. I sleep so much better than when it's warmer. And it's perfect weather to be energetic.

    Now that you have your basic usage down, you can fine tune things. I found for me, that I will run out of fresh water long before I run out of battery so I don't worry about solar or a generator. The Mr. Heater helps as I use that instead of the clipper furnace.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Sep 07, 2018
    Boondocking is great! Some of the "fun" of boondocking for me is living very well self-contained.

    "had used 1/3 of fresh, 1/3 of grey, 1/3 of black, and 1/3 of battery,"
    Consider eliminating any battery issue most days with a solar system.
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2018
    Yep! That's the secret to the success. Camp in the trailer, but pretend everything about it is tent camping. The success to boondocking is camping like you would in a tent, with the excepting of having a bathroom on board instead of using a spot in the weeds.

    It's great when plans are successful!
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Sep 07, 2018
    DutchmenSport wrote:
    The success to boondocking is camping like you would in a tent,
    Yah, that's one way of looking at it. Another is to expend some effort to get water and electricity.
  • Old_Days's avatar
    Old_Days
    Explorer II
    Sep 07, 2018
    I make a pot of coffee on the stove in the morning with the roof vent open a little and it will warm my TC up about 8 degrees. Every time you go boondocking you will learn new things.
  • discovery4us's avatar
    discovery4us
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2018
    DutchmenSport wrote:
    Yep! That's the secret to the success. Camp in the trailer, but pretend everything about it is tent camping.


    This was our thought process when we first started boondocking. Then one trip we came to our senses and thought what are we doing spending all this money for a trailer but doing without like we did in a tent.

    Now when we come home we are low on water, low on propane and big on smiles because we had all the luxuries and a beautiful view. We reasoned that we were better to use everything up and enjoy and worst case scenario we would end the trip like we were in a tent and not spend the whole trip like we were in a tent.
  • rvshrinker's avatar
    rvshrinker
    Explorer III
    Sep 07, 2018
    discovery4us wrote:
    DutchmenSport wrote:
    Yep! That's the secret to the success. Camp in the trailer, but pretend everything about it is tent camping.


    This was our thought process when we first started boondocking. Then one trip we came to our senses and thought what are we doing spending all this money for a trailer but doing without like we did in a tent.

    Now when we come home we are low on water, low on propane and big on smiles because we had all the luxuries and a beautiful view. We reasoned that we were better to use everything up and enjoy and worst case scenario we would end the trip like we were in a tent and not spend the whole trip like we were in a tent.

    had that thought too but on this trip our goal was to find out how long we could go. other trips will be about how nice we can go.

    someone mentioned the colder temps will draw more battery power, why is that? i’d think only the propane would be different.maybe because we’ll spend 5 pm onward in the trailer, running lights and the tv, instead of hanging out by the campfire?

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