How long can you realistically dry camp?

A week is not unrealistic if you learn to conserve just a bit. Battery power is the big one, how many batteries do you have? Next is potable water capacity followed by waste water capacity?

We do some dry camping each year - ie away from any type of hook ups
and out in the boonies. I fill up my water tanks (I think it's 40 gallons)
and take a bunch of milk jugs filled with water.

we are limited by how much water we can take with us - 4 days is about the max
when we have had to search out more water. Use the water sparingly - no prolonged showers, clean dishes quickly, don't run the water when brushing teeth.......

If we run out of water, we use the milk jugs and a 5 gallon container to replenish the tanks - out east, you can always find water either a spigot or a flowing stream. But after 4 days, we usually like to move anyways.

I have a 150W solar panel which keeps the batteries topped up

G

Somewhat depends on the number of people, water and holding tank capacity, how well you conserve, etc. Our battery is usually the first to go (no solar or genny to recharge), followed by water. We have 2 batteries and a 54 gallon fresh water tank. Holding tank capacity has never been an issue. That said, for the two of us and one dog, 7 to 8 days isn't too hard.

Share some details on the size of your family and your holding and water tank sizes. What type of rv? Also, many folks do tow with full water tanks. I just did 3k + miles with a full water tank... Or at least starting with a full tank.

If you have have a converter putting out 13.6 volts, water and holding capacity may not be your weak area. You may end up in a park so as to plug in more so than empty the tanks.

When we had our 36' diesel pusher, the longest we could boondock in the wild was 17 days. We had solar, carried an additional 20 gallons of fresh water beyond the coaches 110 gallon fresh tank, dispersed our gray dish water as much as practicable, took military style showers, and camped places we didn't need air conditioning so we didn't need our generator for AC.

We now have a 23' class C with much smaller tanks. The best we have done with this rig is 7 days. We again have solar, but our tanks are so much smaller. Our fresh tank is 55 gallons with black and grey tank capacity of 30 gallons each.

I don't know who told you not to tow with full fresh water tanks, but we do every time we hit the road. Granted you need to be aware of your maximum weight limits and be sure you are not exceeding the capabilities of your rig. While true that each gallon of water weighs 8 !/3 lbs and our full tank means hauling another 500 lbs so, you can fill with fresh water close to your destination which many people do, or leave with full tanks and know you have some extra weight to consider.

Conservation is key. This article has a few pointers that may help extend your stays... www.rv-camping.org/Boondocking.html

If one is dry camping at a camp ground, one can use the toilets and/or shower there, extending your length of stay by days - potentially up to the 14 day limit.

If one is boondocking, one is limited by the size of one's fresh water tank. Our fresh water tank is 85 gallons. We can stay 8 days if we are conservative and don't add water while there (we carry a five gallon tank portable tank).

We travel with our fresh water tank at least 2/3 full all the time. We have never had any problems. The problem people typically encounter with traveling with full tanks is the weight limit/cargo capacity of the rig - as long as we travel with less than 100 gallons (800 lbs) between our various tanks, we are not over weight. TTs often have a lower cargo capacity and so are more sensitive to the weight of the water.

Typically, we go 5-7 days between dumps. Even with full hook ups, we try not to dump until 2/3s full, minimum.

There is no reason not to tow with the fresh tank full, just be aware of how it changes the weight/balance of the trailer depending on whether it's fore or aft of the axles.

How long you can last without hook ups depends on # of occupants, equipment and conditions. Two of use can go about a week on 50 gals from our fresh tank, plus a some gallon jugs from WalMart for making coffee, cooking, drinking, etc. That would include washing dishes once per day after dinner and a short shower every other day. If you have some portable 5-gallon water jugs (Aqua-tainer is one brand) you can go get water somewhere if you run out. It's also helpful to have a blue tote to drain the gray tank if it fills up, you just need to find a place to dump the tank....many Love's and Pilot locations have RV dump facilities.

Tips for conserving:
- Wash dishes once per day, and fill sink with soapy water, do not wash under running water.
- Use a handheld shower head with an on/off button. Once the water is up to temp, wet yourself and shut to off. Soap up and then rinse, do not leave the water running when in the shower. This is called a "Navy shower".
- Don not leave water running when brushing your teeth.
- Do not leave the water running while shaving. Fill the sink halfway and rinse the razor there.

On the electric side, changing bulbs over to LEDs saves a lot of energy. We have 2 6v batteries wired in series to produce 12v, and can easily go 3 or 4 days with no generator if we need to....but we also have an inverter to power the TV and change the various phones, etc., so watching TV in the evening cuts us back to 2 days. No solar (yet) but we do have a 2000w Honda (nice and quiet) that we run for a few hrs/day to charge the batteries. If you want to use the microwave, or other electric appliances like a hairdryer, coffee pot, toaster, etc, you will need a generator, these draw too much power to run from batteries or solar. Two batteries is about the minimum you should have, 4 is better if you have the room for them. 12v OK but 6v pairs are better for duration between recharges.

The biggest battery killer is the furnace motor...if it's cold out and you are running the heat a lot, you will need to recharge the batteries more often, or need more batteries to last between recharges.

Biggest conservation tip is turning off lights when you don't need them, OR changing to LEDs. Aside from that, figure what you want to power off the grid and go from there.

Hi,

I have a modest solar system. I can dry camp for about 2 weeks by myself, then I run out of fresh water.

Comfortably we can go 14+ days as a couple on 100gal FW tank, 50gal Blk and Grey. We wash dishes once a day as we cook in RV, both army shower every other day inc hair washing and conditioning, strip wash alternate days. Always have about 5gals fresh water in black tank before starting and conserve rest of the time. Our ideal is 10 days to keep our tanks reasonably fresh, and we usually have water left over on 10 days. Batteries would be your next consideration. We don't use much energy at all when boon docking just a light or two at night for three or four hours generally. We do have a generator but rarely use it.