pnichols wrote:
korbe wrote:
Many people nowadays, associate dry camping with the use of a generator, so they can make coffee in the morning and watch tv in the afternoon. Another direction we are headed that I'm not happy with.
We associate generators with unrestricted-by-weather drycamping. We paid hard earned money for an RV that is self-contained and we use it as such to be comfortable. We do not "tent camp" inside a cold, or hot, or dark, box just to stay on battery power day after day - even though we do have a good AGM battery system.
We use our quiet well-built-in (by Winnebago) generator to be comfortable without hookups. We rockhound in the Western deserts and we do run the Onan generator for air conditioning as needed (sometimes all day of it's too scorching outside to be out there) in the middle of nowhere so we don't have to restrict our camping to only spots with comfortable weather. The DW doesn't care for high altitudes and we can't see sitting around the S&B house all summer not camping - life is too short for that.
Above 90 degrees our A/C will get used any time of day whether in low humidity (Western U.S.) or (and especially) in high humidity (Southeastern U.S.). For example, we toured the Southeastern U.S. in 2009 in July-August and were doing general sight-seeing. As such we had to camp at low altitudes in 90+ degree temperatures and 80+ % humidities - sometimes with no hookups. We would never have been able to make this trip and sight-see if we would have had to do it only in cooler weather, or only at higher altitudes, and/or while trying to weave in between the tornado and hurricane seasons.
There is no substitute for an RV than can be used for comfortable camping anytime of the year and in any (U.S.) place. IMHO, you can't have this kind of freedom without a generator ... we bring two along: The built-in Onan for high power and a small Honda EX650 for battery charging with a loudness that is only 54dB when at full power. For "virtual zero noise" special situations, we charge batteries by idling the ultra-quiet Ford main engine (NOT diesel) that cannot be heard a few feet from it. Solar is OK of course for what it's practical for - but you cannot run A/C off it for comfortable all-temperature all-weather flexibility.
X2
I'll follow all the rules in whatever campground I happen to be in. If that means I can run my generator until 11:00 PM, then I will if I choose to. If it bothers you, I would suggest that you're the one in the wrong campground.
