Wise water usage the key to extended boondocking

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminIn last week’s post, Power to the people: Upgrade options for your electrical system, I wrote about various ways to increase your electrical capacity while dry-camping (boondocking). Now we will move on to drinking water, that natural resource that will limit your consecutive boondocking days unless you are Moses and can strike a stone with a rod and water gushes forth. If you run out of water you can’t make coffee, spaghetti, or jello,  brush your teeth, flush your toilet, wash and rinse dishes, shower,  or have a nice cold glass of it. In fact, you are probably so used to just turning the spigot that until nothing but a drop or two dribbles out do you realize how thirsty you are. That’s why boondockers have to plan, curbing the natural instinct (and wasteful habit) of unconsciously turning on the spigot without thought. It’s the same as flicking on the light switch and not considering the amps fleeing your batteries. You don’t have to be paranoid about it, but if you adopt the habit of thinking about the consequences of  your... Read more

Power to the people: Upgrade options for your electrical system

By Bob Difley In last week’s post, How to get the most out of your electrical system when camping without hookups, http://blog.rv.net/2013/05/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-electrical-system-when-camping-without-hookups/ I wrote getting started dry-camping or boondocking and how to conserve the electricity in your house batteries to add time to your camping trip before having to recharge. Today we will look at ways to upgrade your electrical system to provide even longer stays out in the boonies. Lower wattage and Energy Star appliances will take less energy to run, pull fewer amps from your batteries, and run more efficiently than your older appliances. However, it is not practical or economical to tear out your old installed appliances and replace with Energy Star (until they start getting tired and need replacement), but you can check before you buy a new RV whether the appliances already installed are in compliance. You can also vastly improve your electrical system–actually more than doubling your storage capacity–by installing additional or different batteries. Here you have choices. Buy an additional deep cycle flooded lead acid RV battery like the one your rig came with. But, don’t add a new battery into a system with older batteries or the older battery will draw energy from the new one. A newer type battery option is the absorbed gas mat (AGM) type, which has no liquid in the cells that must be monitored or refilled. Or you could install two... Read more

How to get the most out of your electrical system when camping without hookups

By Bob Difley In last week’s post, Moving forward: Surviving your first night of dry-camping http://blog.rv.net/2013/04/moving-forward-surviving-your-first-night-of-dry-camping/ I wrote about how to spend a night or two without hookups. This week I go a bit further by looking at how to extend our camping time–actually getting the maximum out of the batteries that provide our house electricity–prolonging the time when we need to go find a hookup or run our engine/generator for an extended length of time to restore the amps–the power–to the batteries. So let’s take a look at the RV’s electrical operation. What could be easier to use in an RV than the electrical system? You flip a switch and there is light. Push a button and your coffee maker produces a perfect cup of Java. Nothing to think twice about–as long you keep an electrical wire connected to your house-on-wheels and the utility company’s equipment doesn’t brown out. In your stick house, when these fail, there is not much you can do about it but wait. And wait. Until somebody else fixes it. But in your RV, it’s a different story. If you practice the cavalier attitude about electrical usage in your rig that you probably do in your house, chances are that your house battery will soon be completely depleted. The reason, of course, is that your wire to your house/RV continuously feeds infinite current, while when boondocking you are using up the finite stored electricity in... Read more

Moving forward: Surviving your first night of dry-camping

After the first night, no longer a virgin In last week’s post, Where are the hookups? Camping off the grid, I clarified the difference between dry-camping and boondocking. But to be a boondocker, you have to learn dry-camping first–surviving overnight without water, sewage, or electrical hookups. The most important feature to understand about your rig, assuming it was built within the last 30 or 40 years, is that it was built to dry-camp. You already have a built-in tank for fresh water, two waste tanks to hold your gray water (shower, sinks) and sewage (toilet), a propane tank and delivery system for heating water (hot water tank), cooking, and running your refrigerator, as well as a house electrical system (house battery/ies in addition to your engine starting battery). Now what you need to know to dry-camp is how to use these self-contained systems. First: Unplug all hookups currently attached to your rig–water hose, dump hose, electrical cord. Turn on the faucet. Voila! Water! Watch the water drain into–yes—the gray water holding tank. Flip a switch. Light! If you can accomplish all this the next morning, you have successfully dry-camped–even if you are parked in your own driveway. You have discovered that dry-camping is not hard. But–and it is a BIG but–spending one night without appendages does not a boondocker make. The trick is how to line up successive nights dry-camping, without having to press the reset button (i.e. retreat... Read more

Where are the hookups? Camping off the grid

By Bob Difley In last week’s post, Introduction to Boondocking for the curious, the closet adventurer, even the skeptic, http://blog.rv.net/2013/04/introduction-to-boondocking-for-the-curious-the-closet-adventurer-even-the-skeptic/ I urged those who have not yet tried boondocking to get off the grid and give it a shot. So let’s look at exactly what boondocking entails, clear up a few misconceptions, and how to ease into it with a minimal of drama and tramma. To make boondocking enjoyable and fun requires a combination of learned (and practiced) skills, adjusting to new habits, a desire to stay out in the wilderness as somfortably as possible, and a curiosity about out-of-the-way places, nature, wildlife, and what you might find around the next bend. Not all boondockers match this profile. Some of the differences can be attributed to the semantics of the words “boondocking” and “dry-camping.” They are the same in that both refer to camping without any hook-ups–water, electricity, or sewage. With even one of these appendages, we would have partial hook-ups and therefor not technically boondocking. Let’s call it almost-boondocking. The key–or difference–is in where we do it. Dry-camping is what you do at an RV rally, in a Wal-mart parking lot, highway rest stop, or a primitive campground where there are no hook-ups but could have a fresh water supply, trash cans, or dump station on site. True boondocking is camping away... Read more

Introduction to Boondocking for the curious, the closet adventurer, even the skeptic

By Bob Difley The concept of an area where owners of housecars, what we now call recreation vehiclesw (RVs) would gather to hook up to electericity, drinking water, and waste water disposal, what we now call a campground, would have seemed like a bizaar notion when the first self-contained RVs appeared on American highways. In fact, the whole idea behind the creation of these new-fangled RVs was to become independent of those hookups–to be self sustainable while seeing the wondrous scenic landscapes of this great and diverse country. The independence was the beauty and the attraction of RV camping. Then campgrounds and hook-ups came along and the RVer evolved from wanting to be free of tethers to the RVer demanding campgrounds with these tethers wherever he wanted to camp. Campgrounds turned into resorts with amenities to match the luxurious vacation hotels and spas–with price tags to match. And many RVers, as if re-proving Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, lost their ability to camp without life-supporting appendages, just like early humanoids lost their tails when they stopped swinging from trees. But unlike the humanoids that lost their tails, RVs themselves did not lose their ability to camp without the life-supporting tethers. In fact, they became even more adaptable, efficient, and practical for camping independent of support systems well beyond the dreams of the early adapters. Giant water supply tanks and waste tanks, generators, solar panels, high efficiency... Read more

Go RVing, hit the road–and save money too with these tips

There hasn’t been a better time in the last few years to hit the road in your RV than now. The economy moving ahead–if a bit sluggishly, Spring is almost here, and the RV industry is on the rebound. You can make your RVing even better by saving money on the road to further extend your camping days by trying some of the following cost-cutting measures to reduce your overhead while not constricting your lifestyle. Most are just changing your old habits for new, more efficient ones. Drive 55. Lower speeds means more miles-per-gallon. Relax, and you will enjoy the scenery more and have less stress at lower speeds. Avoid fast starts and quick stops. It’s all about torque and kinetic energy, which with the proper use will save fuel. Keep tires properly inflated. It can save up to 3% on fuel mileage. Stay longer at campgrounds or boondocking sites. Check out campground weekly rates, sometimes significantly less expensive than the daily rate. Boondock more often. Save campground fees, and losses at the weekly rec. room poker games. Install a solar system. Provides renewable free power to enable camping longer off the power grid–and you can save on campground fees by staying at no-hookup campgrounds. If traveling and staying only one night in a campground, pay less by choosing a non-hook-up site (sometimes called a tent site) or stay at lower-priced regional or state parks, or at businesses that welcome over-nighters like Walmart, Kmart, and Cracker Barrel Restaurants. Eat... Read more

How important are size restrictions when searching for a public campground?

By Bob Difley When you were scouring the campground directories for campsites–especially those in National Parks, Monuments, and Forests–to spend a few days or for one-nighters when traveling and you see restrictions on maximum size allowed, such as “Maximum size 27 feet” did you cross it off your list of potential camping locations? If so, you may have missed an opportunity to visit what might be a wonderful national treasure or a nesty, forest campsite beside a tumbling stream. The maximum length referred to means that all–or most–of the campsites in the campground will accommodate that length. But . . . SOME will also accommodate longer lengths, sometimes much longer. Those who write the rules do not want to officially include longer lengths when maybe only three or four campsites will fit longer lengths, and if those are taken but smaller ones remain open, they may get in a tangle with RVers with a longer rig urging them to move someone with a shorter rig out of the larger site and into a smaller site. Or, when those with larger rigs show up and find there are only a few that fit the maximum size stated and they are taken. Whatever the reasons–not that I blame them at wanting to avoid such hassles–knowing this does open up some options. If you can fit into the campsite they won’t tell you to leave. And often, the measurement is made from the wheel barrier at the rear of the campsite to the front, the length of the pad itself... Read more

RV camping options that you likely won’t find at the Tourist Bureaus

By Bob Difley What could be more enjoyable than roaming around the country in your RV and exploring places you’ve never been before? But if you just go to the major tourist attractions, most popular national parks, and stay in only campgrounds recommended by Tourist Bureaus, Chambers of Commerce, and State Campground Organizations you will miss a lot of what America has to offer. The following three alternate camping opportunities, from my ebook 111Ways to Get the Biggest Bang From Your RV Lifestyle Buck (PDF or Kindle), could lead you to many memorable places that most RVers overlook or miss. Indian Reservations Indian reservations are scattered about the country with the largest reservations in the western deserts. Each tribe has its own rules regarding camping and depending on the reservation, you can find any style of camping from a full service hook-up campground to boondocking on open land (photo – Lake Tombigbee campground on Alabama-Coushatta Reservation east of Livingston, Texas). Always check in with the tribal headquarters before setting up camp. Most have Websites where you can get info.  A good place to start is the American Indian Web site. National Wildlife Refuges In addition to all the state wildlife areas around the country, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service manages the world’s premier system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida’s... Read more

Hosts needed in Northern California’s Trinity County

By Bob Difley Do you ever stumble upon notices such as this one that appeared on the BLM website on January 29th: Opportunities to live and work in beautiful northern California outdoor settings are being offered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in volunteer host positions in Trinity County. Along the Trinity River, the BLM needs campground hosts at Douglas City, Steelbridge, and Junction City campgrounds for a season that runs from May through November. Volunteer hosts live on site in their own campers or camp trailers.  The BLM provides varying levels of services such as water, septic, phone and power connections, depending on the site. There is no salary, but the BLM provides allowances to cover living expenses. Hosts provide visitor information and complete light maintenance work. For more information, contact Bill Kuntz, at wkuntz@blm.gov, or Sky Zaffarano at szaffarano@blm.gov.  Interested volunteers can also telephone the BLM Redding Field Office, (530) 224-2100. Maybe you’ve never tried hosting, but it is a good way to reduce your campground expense, which can be considerable with today’s campground and RV resort prices. If you like lights, activity, and noise the above listing won’t interest you. But if you like camping in our national forests, peace and quiet, wildlife and bird watching, and just being out in Mother Nature’s back yard, you might consider following up on one of these listings. The advantages include free camping,... Read more

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