Forum Discussion

Never_2_late's avatar
Never_2_late
Explorer
May 21, 2013

Something I Read

I just read in The Travelers Guide to Alaskan Camping that many government camp grounds have no way of getting the water into your tank. Many have hand pumps or faucets that cannot be used with a hose. They suggest a bucket and funnel. We have no problem with using private camp grounds but sometimes a government one may better suit our needs.

Just wondering if anyone else encountered this.
Thanks.
  • I carry a collection of adaptors - some of which are to shove inside the spout rather than over the outside. Always a bit of a gamble as to whether I will end up soaked trying to hold the adaptor in place.

    In europe we carry a plastic watering can for filling the tank - and to get lots of exercise at the same time.
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    tony lee wrote:
    If you buy one of those water thief gizmos, also buy a hose clamp to keep the rubber bit on the brass bit because the slightest pressure blows them apart.
    I camp mostly in NFS campgrounds, most that I have camped in don't have screw threads for your hose. I made several adapters by cutting off 12 ins of regular garden hoses with a hose clamp for the faucet end after I saw my friends water thief blow up in Glacier NP GC. I think it is the back pressure of the water filter that causes this to happen.
  • Hey everyone thanks a mint! I will get two water thiefs and a clamp for them. Oh yes, Son of Norway, I will drop the hint about Father's Day :-). Meanwhile I will keep an eye out for gas stations where I can fill up with less effort!

    Happy Travels
  • If you buy one of those water thief gizmos, also buy a hose clamp to keep the rubber bit on the brass bit because the slightest pressure blows them apart.
  • A lot of the gas stations will have both a dump station and potable water available.
  • We usually keep our water tank topped up so we can boondock or drycamp whenever or wherever.

    On laundry & human wash day (once every 7-10 days) we'll stay at a commercial campground and fill the water tank before pulling out. If we get low for whatever reason, I will ask at the gas stations if we can use their hose bib to fill the RV water tank. Have never been told no.

    Most of the government campgrounds in Yukon have handpumps. They also have signs advising to boil the water before consuming it. Haven't ever used the pumps so don't know much about them.
  • Yu should carry a "Water Thief" with you. It is made out of rubber and slips over those faucets that have no threads. Then you hook a garden hose to the water thief and fill as usual. I carry a 6 gallon jug and strap it to a folding hand cart and haul my water back to the MH and then I use a spare 12V Shur flow pump with hoses to transfer from the jug into the gravity fill of the tank. A 6 gallon jug is to heavy to man handle so that is why I have a pump.
    Here is a link to what he water thief looks like.
    Water thief
  • In some national forest campgrounds the water is supplied by a well with a hand pump. I use 6-gallon jugs. It is a bit of a challenge to get the stream of water accurately into the spout of the jug, especially if you are pumping and holding the jug at the same time. Don't use a funnel, it just slows down the flow of the water. Some people use electric pumps to get the water from the jug into the gravity fill port, but I do it the old-fashioned way.

    Miles
  • We boondocked most of the time and filled our water at dump stations which were easy enough to find at gas stations along the way.