Boondocking Questions.

[br549redneck]

hello... Wife and I are going to the South Fork Area last of Aug for a week. I would like to get out away from the crowds and cramped rv parks. Looking at the Beaver Creek area or Big Meadows.We have been to the area a few times and stayed in a rented cabin. I have a 21 foot travel trailer That I use for for hunting and decided to get more us out of it than it just setting at hunting camp all the time. I don't run any ac items microwave tv or anything. Just refrigerator on LP lights and water pump. I have a class 31 MCST battery. Am I dreaming for thinking I can run for a week on the battery? Just running a light at night sparingly. We spend most of the time outdoors, have lanterns for light out there when needed. If I cant go for that long of time..will a solar charger keep the battery charged during the day? I don't want to have to purchase a generator or spend a fortune on solar.If a solar charger would work. What would some of you recommend?
Thank you Mark

[rick42wood]

I go hunting in my 18Ft "hunting" trailer for 12-14 days at a time and use 2 6V golf cart batteries and a 40W solar panel. Just running lights and the water pump occasionally, I'm usually good for about 6 days, but allot depends how bright and for how long the sun shines each day. A solar panel in Texas should work fine and it is way quieter than a generator. Don't skimp on the panel size and use a controller for sure.

[br549redneck]

darsben wrote:
Sad Sad day for sure...

Roy Ken

Roy I didn't know that. I haven't talked to Jimmy or Jackie I bet its been Christmas when we last talked. Sad times for sure. This leadership were under as a country well is in bad shape.

We have a great leader. It is the obstructionists in congress causing the problem. Thank god for universal health insurance otherwise known as Obamacare and for a president who has tried to get us out of the fix we were put in before he took office. The trouble is we have short memories

(Now aren't you glad you made the comment about leadership)

Damn right I am. You have your ideas on what you think is right for our country I have mine. By the way you need to see your Dr with your Obamacare they have patches to help with your memory problems, but no fix for your Yankee way of thinking....

[br549redneck]

......

[profdant139]

C'mon folks -- we know what happens when we start talking politics back and forth. There are discussion groups elsewhere for that -- let's stick to camping. I know I sound like a grumpy old fogey -- but the threads on rv.net are usually very useful, and I would hate to see them infected by unproductive acrimony. This is not censorship -- this is compartmentalization.

I happen to have very strong political views -- but I try not to reveal them here. The same is true in my "real world" neighborhood -- I have some very good friends whose political views are radically different from mine. We don't let that get in our way -- we just stay away from those sorts of controversies.

[darsben]

Sad Sad day for sure...

Roy Ken
Roy I didn't know that. I haven't talked to Jimmy or Jackie I bet its been Christmas when we last talked. Sad times for sure. This leadership were under as a country well is in bad shape.

We have a great leader. It is the obstructionists in congress causing the problem. Thank god for universal health insurance otherwise known as Obamacare and for a president who has tried to get us out of the fix we were put in before he took office. The trouble is we have short memories

(Now aren't you glad you made the comment about leadership)

[br549redneck]

RoyB wrote:
Mark - Just now hearing the Lake Kickapoo transmitter site where Jimmie and Jackie work in Archer may be closing down... Sad days for us old timers that has made those Surveillance sites our way of life over the years...

They suppose to shut down operations on 1 SEP and then do all of the required cleanup to close the doors on 1 OCT...

They other sites in the system are all affected... I'm sure folks will be let go immediately after 1 Sep and a small crew left to clean up things until 1 Oct...

I started working at that site in 1966. The South Array was built in 1962 I think it was... Been going back there working on the Electronic systems ever since then until I retired in 2010.

Sad Sad day for sure...

Roy Ken

Roy I didn't know that. I haven't talked to Jimmy or Jackie I bet its been Christmas when we last talked. Sad times for sure. This leadership were under as a country well is in bad shape.

[tmm2good]

byronlj wrote:
With 4 batteries and an inverter, and my wife in charge of electrical usage we can last about 2 hours. LOL
Dave

LOL, sounds like my wife.

[Eurocamper]

garyhaupt wrote:

br549redneck wrote:

Gary I looked at our Lowes website and didn't find the solar panels.
http://www.lowes.com/

And you are right...I was on the Canadian site, without realizing that and the US does not stock this item.

It looks like the same solar panel that Amazon is selling.
Coleman 36 Watt Folding Solar Panel

[RoyB]

Mark - Just now hearing the Lake Kickapoo transmitter site where Jimmie and Jackie work in Archer may be closing down... Sad days for us old timers that has made those Surveillance sites our way of life over the years...

They suppose to shut down operations on 1 SEP and then do all of the required cleanup to close the doors on 1 OCT...

They other sites in the system are all affected... I'm sure folks will be let go immediately after 1 Sep and a small crew left to clean up things until 1 Oct...

I started working at that site in 1966. The South Array was built in 1962 I think it was... Been going back there working on the Electronic systems ever since then until I retired in 2010.

Sad Sad day for sure...

Roy Ken

[Roy_Lynne]

What about just not using your refrigerator and plan for meals accordingly. Eggs don't need refrigeration if you buy them fresh so scrambled eggs with toast. That pre-cooked bacon doesn't come refrigerated. Lunch could be PB&J or tuna fish and tomato sands.
Dinners, right out of a can, beans and fresh corn cooked over the grill. Those packaged meals you find on a shelf might make a good dinners, Mac and Cheese. There is nothing better than baked potatoes or onions or veggies cooked in foil in the fire. Everything tastes better outside anyway. I'll bet if you go to the cooking section you would get tons of ideas. Even if you took a cooler with ice and used that food first.
You have to be careful and if you don't eat it you need to toss it as in the summer heat food spoils quickly but it could be done.

[Monaco_Montclai]

We have a lantern that has two or four d cells, and lasts us for months, happy-c,ping

[JiminDenver]

After using the Champ to charge us up for a year I can tell you that solar is much more preferable. That said, most of the time we ran ours, we were in the trailer. We can't here it in there with the AC running or if we are cooking breakfast with the radio or TV going. Being out side while it's running is obnoxious.

As far as being able to hear things from long distances goes, I feel if you are close enough to hear my generator, you are toooooo close.

There is the concept of reasonable expectations. I've hear others generators. The farthest away was a open frame at a half mile. IF you had your head turned just the right way and IF the wind stopped you could just pick it up for a minute here and there.
The last time we were out I could hear one nearer to us. It didn't have the same tone as the champ so the next time I was out I walked the dogs that way. Sure enough it wasn't a Champ, it was two Honda 2000's. Yep that noise carries too in the silence of nature.

Other than that we here much more ATV use, target practice, music, yelling and would some one please turn off the thunder and lightening. it scares the dogs.

[profdant139]

darsben, you mention that if you use a loud generator while boondocking, it's no problem because everyone is so spread out. There are two problems, actually. First, if I have a loud generator, I have to listen to it, and I don't want to. Second, especially out West, we have wide canyons and rocky hills and relatively thin forest cover, so that a loud generator can be heard for a very long way, thus spoiling things for other folks. It is inconsiderate.

I would advise a newbie boondocker not to waste money on a cheap generator. If you try boondocking and you like it, it makes a lot of sense, in my opinion, to get a really good generator, or to install solar, or both. Again, I understand that reasonable minds disagree on this issue, but I hope that my comments are persuasive and useful to those who are just starting out.

[JiminDenver]

I read of people using the HF sized set ups not to keep their battery charged up but to keep it from becoming so discharged that it's not usable. To them it has done the job if it stretches the battery out and they are not at 50% before the trip ends.
Personally I would go for at least 100w and maybe get a LED or two for the fixtures you use the most. Then again for a one time trip I still think a set of heavy jumper cables will do. If you like it THEN start beefing up your systems. (and do it right too)