The best teacher is to just jump in with all the good advice you can round up (some of which is above) and dry camp. If you want training wheels, dry camp on your property or driveway (as one poster above has recommended) with no hookups and get familiar with your rig and its propensity to use battery power and tank capacity. Resist the temptation to go back into the house for a respite.
I do remember, vaguely, our initial attempt to dry camp with the TC. I made a lot of mistakes and misjudgments those first few times, but they were my mistakes, not someone else's. Nothing devastating, but I did learn my own lessons. And those lessons continued through the four seasons.
Allow me to tell a story about my brother John and his first time dry camping in his very spacious 9.5' OUTFITTER/on ford F250. His mansion is on the right:
He took his rock crawler on trailer out to Means Dry Lake. The camper was brand new and has some electrical problems that only became apparent once you were using it. He had to do some wiring retrofitting on the lake bed. Luckily, he is a mechanical and electronic whiz kid. He and his wife liked to keep the soft side camper cozy warm and had the heater going all the time. It was winter time in the desert. Since they had a nice bathroom and shower to use, they used them with impunity to get the salty silt off their bods. Ah, this was the life! 2 showers a day for 3 days; use as much water as you need; heat up high; a fridge full of good eats; what could possibly go wrong? Toward the end of their first trip the grey and black tanks were showing signs of fullness. Very full. They were out of propane so the fridge stopped working on propane. They had used up their battery power enough that they could not use the fridge on DC. They were out of fresh. They were full of black and grey. W-what happened? This was one of the best LESSONS ever described to me about dry camping in an RV. Bro John limped out of camp with stuff gurgling and bubbling up trying to find the nearest dump station. Maybe my story does not impart the glee they had at the beginning of their first trip, but it was memorable, even to one who was not there.
I hang out on the Truck Camper forum and 90% of our truck camping is dry.
regards, as always, jefe
I do remember, vaguely, our initial attempt to dry camp with the TC. I made a lot of mistakes and misjudgments those first few times, but they were my mistakes, not someone else's. Nothing devastating, but I did learn my own lessons. And those lessons continued through the four seasons.
Allow me to tell a story about my brother John and his first time dry camping in his very spacious 9.5' OUTFITTER/on ford F250. His mansion is on the right:
He took his rock crawler on trailer out to Means Dry Lake. The camper was brand new and has some electrical problems that only became apparent once you were using it. He had to do some wiring retrofitting on the lake bed. Luckily, he is a mechanical and electronic whiz kid. He and his wife liked to keep the soft side camper cozy warm and had the heater going all the time. It was winter time in the desert. Since they had a nice bathroom and shower to use, they used them with impunity to get the salty silt off their bods. Ah, this was the life! 2 showers a day for 3 days; use as much water as you need; heat up high; a fridge full of good eats; what could possibly go wrong? Toward the end of their first trip the grey and black tanks were showing signs of fullness. Very full. They were out of propane so the fridge stopped working on propane. They had used up their battery power enough that they could not use the fridge on DC. They were out of fresh. They were full of black and grey. W-what happened? This was one of the best LESSONS ever described to me about dry camping in an RV. Bro John limped out of camp with stuff gurgling and bubbling up trying to find the nearest dump station. Maybe my story does not impart the glee they had at the beginning of their first trip, but it was memorable, even to one who was not there.
I hang out on the Truck Camper forum and 90% of our truck camping is dry.
regards, as always, jefe
