We just got back from an overnight trip with our camper where we got a few miles off the pavement down a one lane rutted dirt trail in a mountain pass in the extreme N.W. British Columbia region. This is one of those places I probably wouldn't have gone with a heavier rig. I thought I would like to start a thread about this type of camping where there are no facilities for dumping tanks, and how others get by without hot and cold running water, showers etc. as well as experiences, places others have gone (hopefully with pictures or maybe even maps!
I'll start with our own new experience with our 8' cabover that doesn't have grey or black water tanks and how we have been "getting by". My wife and I come from different backgrounds when it comes to road trips and camping. She was a tent camper and I owned a 29' motorhome (before we met). I never liked tent camping on the ground. Never liked screwing around with tent poles, melting ice in the coolers, the sudden rainstorm at 3am etc. But the real thing that caused me to get little sleep in a tent was the idea of being trapped inside basically a bag when a grizzly bear decides it wants to snack on one of us!
Anyway now we have what we both consider the perfect solution! Our 8 foot camper without any "facilities" has just enough room in it, yet feels light enough for our Chevy 2500 HD to handle like it isn't even there. Here is a picture of our latest adventure up in the pass in a place we might not have tried getting to with a bigger camper and certainly wouldn't have gone with a tent either.
This is an idea I came up with to ease the burden of not having the convenience of a shower or hot water at the sink. I bought a 2 gal pump sprayer and attached a garden hose nozzle, the type that has a rotating head for different spray types. By heating up water on the stove and pouring it into the sprayer it makes a great outdoor shower as well as a good way to wash dishes in the sink! This is a great addition. Now we need to come up with an outdoor shower curtain. Hopefully someone has figured that out on here and will share their ideas! Hope to hear from others as to their "boonies" adventures as well as ideas for making their "primitive" TC's a little less so!
Note: Maximum photo width is 800, with 640 preferred.
I'll start with our own new experience with our 8' cabover that doesn't have grey or black water tanks and how we have been "getting by". My wife and I come from different backgrounds when it comes to road trips and camping. She was a tent camper and I owned a 29' motorhome (before we met). I never liked tent camping on the ground. Never liked screwing around with tent poles, melting ice in the coolers, the sudden rainstorm at 3am etc. But the real thing that caused me to get little sleep in a tent was the idea of being trapped inside basically a bag when a grizzly bear decides it wants to snack on one of us!
Anyway now we have what we both consider the perfect solution! Our 8 foot camper without any "facilities" has just enough room in it, yet feels light enough for our Chevy 2500 HD to handle like it isn't even there. Here is a picture of our latest adventure up in the pass in a place we might not have tried getting to with a bigger camper and certainly wouldn't have gone with a tent either.
This is an idea I came up with to ease the burden of not having the convenience of a shower or hot water at the sink. I bought a 2 gal pump sprayer and attached a garden hose nozzle, the type that has a rotating head for different spray types. By heating up water on the stove and pouring it into the sprayer it makes a great outdoor shower as well as a good way to wash dishes in the sink! This is a great addition. Now we need to come up with an outdoor shower curtain. Hopefully someone has figured that out on here and will share their ideas! Hope to hear from others as to their "boonies" adventures as well as ideas for making their "primitive" TC's a little less so!
Note: Maximum photo width is 800, with 640 preferred.
Arktikos wrote:billtex wrote:Arktikos wrote:
get by without hot and cold running water, showers etc.
Isn't this a TC forum?
Why would I want to "get by" without hot/cold water rand showers?
We can boondock for a week easy with daily (hot) showers...
The only time I do without is tent camping.
Am I missing something?
Probably.
I am not trying to say that a TC with hot and cold water, showers, flush toilets do not have their place, because they do for probably 90% of the people out there. This wasn't meant to be a thread to knock those TC'ers with bathroom facilities at all. If I used mine extensively in more populated areas with facilities to deal with full tanks abound I would not have a rig like this one. I am in the 10% minority however. I want to get way out there, maybe at times on the Dalton Hwy up to Alaska's Brooks range. Other times I like to go camping when the temps get down to zero, such as this spring along the Alcan hwy where everything RV or campground related was closed up tight and was just as well because if I had tanks they would have been froze up. It is also that where I live and play there are not that many dump stations around. When I had my 29' Class C it seemed like I always had a full grey water tank, and the black water wasn't far behind. That was ok for what I was doing at the time, mainly chasing work in the lower 48 but here where I live having even smaller tanks to empty is often a hassle. Having a portable toilet is easy as I can take it into any roadside pit toilet or bathroom and dump it. My camper has a perfect place for it to store, completely tucked under and out of the way. It simply works well for my intended use and this thread was meant to hear about others who use their campers the way I do.
My TC has hot/cold running water, shower and flush toilet. Plus solar, AC, compressor fridge and satellite tv. So with all these things I guess I can't go where you can!!
We use a Ozark Trail shower/restroom tent, Advanced Elements solar 2.5 gallon shower bag, toliet seat that fits a 5 gallon bucket, DW is very happy with that setup.
