Guero
Oregon USA/Jalisco MEX
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Joined: 07/01/2008
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We love boondocking/dry camping, and I thought I would share some of what we use when we are away from shore power.
AM Solar recently installed a SunRunner AM100-22B 3 Panel System with four Lifeline AGM Batteries. This system meets all of our needs except the air conditioner/microwave. However, we are campers usually out hiking, kayaking, biking, fishing, clamming or around the campfire. The 12 volt Fantastic Vent Fan 5000RBT will provide sufficient cooling if needed.
The baby watches her cartoons on a Naxa 13.3" Widescreen HD LCD with built in DVD 12 volt TV.
We make our coffee outside in the morning with the ingenious Brunton Brewfire Propane Coffee Maker, and we cook over the fire or with a Coleman Grill Stove. We do use a B/D 400 watt inverter to power small appliances like the battery charger for the B/D 18 volt Blower that we use to blow off the Spree slides.
We try to use the Spree bathroom sparingly, and minimize our water usage using wet wipes, plastic plates/cups/flatware and short showers utilizing the Oxygenic Water Saving Shower Head. The baby, of course, gets her bath in the Spree no matter what! When I refill the 46 gallon freshwater tank, I have a 6.5 gallon tote I place on a Cosco 6' step ladder and pour into a funnel. When I need to refill at a campground, I use a Water Thief to fill the tank the easy way!
Next season we would like to purchase a Tri Fuel Yamaha EF2400iS Inverter Generator we will run on propane when we need to.
Next stop beautiful Olive Lake in eastern Oregon, which at 6200' is quite cool at night this time of year. We enjoy fishing for Kokanee and exploring the Greenhorn Mountains immediately south of the lake.
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Güero, beautiful Wife, sweet baby Daughter, baby due in June & spoiled Chihuahua
2009 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD 4DR 4WD 5.3L/3.42 PU
2010 K-Z Spree 245KS LX
Marin Nicasio Hybrid Bicycles
Mad River Adventure 16' Canoe
Photos of Camping & Life in Mexico
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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We have duel 6 volt Trojan T-105s on the tongue to furnish power.
We recharge them USUALLY daily for about an hour though it's more economical to do it every two or three days to hit the HIGH setting on the charger.
We recently replaced our 20" 12 volt TV with a 26" LCD running off of a 750 watt MSW inverter. this will also power our direct TV receiver.
We still use the concertone DVD, Stereo and weather radio.
WE heat water once in the morning for showers and still have hot water available for dish washing after the evening meal.
WE make coffee on the Magic Chef range using an old fashioned percolator with a drip coffee filter in the basket.
We cook meals on the range in the kitchen and wash dishes once a day using left over water from the morning shower.
WE often have campfires in the evening or sit around in the living room and read while listening to music on the stereo.
We don't USUALLY camp where we NEED the air conditioner and if we DO want to use the microwave we fire up the Honda 2000 gen for a few minutes.
Our FW tank is only 40 gallons but we have 90 gallons of holding tank capacity so it is sometimes necessary to replenish the water tank. I also use 6 gallon jerry cans and just dump them into the tank via the gravity fill. WE ALWAYS shower in the Rockwood as when we're BOONDOCKONG there is RARELY a shower facility in the national forest for us to use but SOMETIMES there is a stream or lake.
WE don't camp often close to home but use the RV for travel so we may be most ANYWHERE else when we camp. Average maybe one week a year camping in our own area. WE usually look for a place we can appreciate NATURE without a crowd around and OFTEN we're the only campers in a mile or two. That keeps ME from going off about some of the silly things we See others doing like dumping tanks in the woods and trashing their camp sites. Once we get OUR little piece of heaven cleaned up then it's "out of site, out of mind". Camping in an URBAN location is almost COMPLETELY off limits for us. Camping in PARKING LOTS is COMPLETELY off limits. I'd keep driving first.
Our usual destinations are someplace cool in the summer time and someplace warm in the winter. We can go ANYWHERE in spring and fall.
On our recent two month trip to Alaska we spent exactly 10 days in organized campgrounds and the REST of the time boondocking. Of those 10 days in campgrounds only three of them had any utility hook ups of any kind.
2004 F-250 SCREW Long Bed (new)
OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles)
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
We have enough YOUTH...how about a fountain of SMART
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w6pea
Lost in the Smog of Mexifornia
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Joined: 09/08/2006
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Like Guero, we have a system by AM SolarWe have 6 U2200 Interstate Battery's and we also have a 2000w inverter.
We also make our coffee on the propane stove, my wife cooks all of our meals on the stove.
Remember "Without Truckers America Stops"
It's too late to save your shoes..so roll up your pant legs
"When all else fails..Amateur Radio"
I need some more Coffee&Old Bushmills
Semper Fi
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Good Sam RV Club
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Four GC2 batteries from Costco.
Prosine 1800 to power MW or one other appliance.
DW drinks premix iced coffee, I have a soda.
Small 15w Solar for storage only.
Toshiba 19" LCD/DVD combo runs direct on battery or small square wave inverter.
All interior lights are LED from superbrightleds.com
300' of flat hose if needed to refill water(Yosemite/Death Valley and others)
I only bring the 2600 Kipor generator if we will be parked more than five nights in fair weather.
The OEM 55 amp WFCO puts 60 amps and 14.4 volts at the battery when low.
Wash minimal dishes once a day max using the small side of the sink.
Water thief can be weak if water is going uphill so I also have a cut 7/8" hose and clamp with hose adapter for semipermanent attachment.
50gal fresh, 60 gal grey (2 tanks), 24? gal black is good for at least five days.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
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garyhaupt
Kitimat, BC, Canada, Mile '0' of Alaska HiWay #37
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Joined: 11/21/2003
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Two solar panels...75 and 85. Two deep cycle 6 volts. Two inverters to power the laptop and recharge batteries. No gen set. Never have run out of power. No furnace at night. Could be out for weeks, no power issues. It's the running out of beer that gets me going.
Gary Haupt
I have begun to blog.. .www.gary haupt.blogspot.com. It's not about RV'ing...but RV'ing is a part of it.
Gary
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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Joined: 03/15/2006
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We just came back from the Oregon star party and with all the electronics we had and my friends have, there is no way a solar panel could recharge every thing. I used my Honda 2000 and it ran at half throttle and did the job very well.
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Bubby's RV
CA
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Joined: 07/22/2003
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Good Sam RV Club
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Two 125-watt BP solar panels,
Four Lifeline GPL-4 AGM batteries,
One Prosine 1800 inverter,
PD-9160 w/Charge Wizard for battery charging in addition to the OEM converter,
Onan 4kW installed genset,
mix of flourescent, halogen and LED lights.
We stay away from hot areas so we don't have to run the A/C, but everything else runs just as if we had full hookups.
John, Winnebago Minnie 24V
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atreis
Yellow Springs, OH
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Joined: 08/29/2005
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One 115W solar panel, 2 GC2 6V deep cycle batteries, LED lights, and appliances run off propane. We've never needed a generator while camping. Since we were going for 2 weeks fairly deep into Canada this year I took our Kipor 2000 inverter-generator with us, but ended up not needing it. We did have to run the furnace nearly every night, but the solar panel and basic conservation (more blankets and only minimal heating) were enough.
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camperfool
Michigan
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Joined: 10/15/2006
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The longest I have boondocked at one time was nine days this past summer and that was because we ran out of black tank capacity.
I Have a 50 W solar panel/controler and 3 rv batteries. No tv or air but lights, water pump, fan. Gas refrigerator of course. The furnace ran a couple of times but all works just great. Batteries charge in just a couple of hours if that. 35 gallon truck mounted water tank for refill of rv tank.
Keystone Laredo 32RS 2006 front bunks rear bedroom
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profdant139
Southern California
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Joined: 11/14/2005
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Wow, do I envy all of the solar folks -- I may have to break down and do the solar thing. The only problem is that we almost always camp in deep shade. But anyway, if you want some very amateurish descriptions of how we boondock, here you are:
Boondocking tips and tricks -- pretty tame stuff
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