# Dry Camping Info



## Collinsfam_WY

We have taken a few trips over the last year or two that have given us the opportunity to see campgrounds in the National Forests. We really have fallen in love with the natural beauty of these areas and would like to camp in them. We have always camped in places with at least water and electric. On occasion, we do have sewer hookups as well. I know that we will need some additional things to "dry camp" (and change some habits) in National Forest campgrounds but I would like the input of some folks experienced with camping in these areas so that we can do so successfully. Please bear in mind that we are a family of 5 with kids 2, 3 and 8. Here are a few things that I have thought of...please add whatever you might think is appropriate. Thank you!

Power Generation
Honda 2000 (or similar) genset (2 with the hookup kit if you want a/c)
Does the 30amp plug connect directly to the generator or is something needed here?
Gas can with fuel for the generator (any idea how much can be expected to used daily assuming 4hrs runtime per day?)

Power Storage
2x 6v Trojan batteries wired in parallel. One dealer said he could do 2x 12v. For some reason I recall reading that somebody felt that dual 6v batts were better but I'm not sure why.
Run generators 3-4 hours during the day to recharge batts for sufficient power to run furnace at night.

Water
Fresh water tank and onboard pump must be good.
How to get additional water into the onboard tank? Is there a "tank with wheels" or something that you can pull over to a spigot, fill up and then bring back?
Pump to get water out of portable tank into camper?
How much power does the onboard water heater use? Should we just run it on propane?

Camper
Replace lights in Outback with led lights.
Run refrigerator on propane?
Run water heater on propane?
Anything else?

Thank you and I appreciate your input and information.

-CC


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## WYOCAMPER

Hey CC,

Glad to hear you and the family are enjoying the National Forests. It's a great way to get out into nature. It's the only kind of camping we do. Funny, but we have only camped in a campground with hook ups twice since we bought the 23rs back in 2007. We love the peace and quiet and getting away from it all. "Conservative" is the key to dry camping. That goes for everything - water, heat, lights, power, heck - even toilet. Here are some comments to your questions:

Power: I use one Honda2000 generator. I do not run the a/c. I have never run the microwave dry camping. The Honda has a 30amp outlet, so you can plug the Outback right in - no adapter required. I mainly use the genrator to charge the batteries, so the 1 gal gas tank in the Honda prolly lasts me a couple of weekend camping trips. Always carry spare gas cans with you - you never know when you will need it. I always have two 5gal cans when dry camping up in the mountains.

Batteries: Two 6v batteries are best - they hold their charge longer than two 12v batteries. I have not upgraded to the two 6v batteries yet. My current set up is two 12v deep cycle marine batteries. On a typically 3 day weekend camping trip, I will only need to charge these once (if at all). Keep in mind, we don't use our a/c or microwave. We rarely "need" to run the heater at night. During the colder nights of early spring or late fall camping trips, where we do run the heater, I will charge the batteries for an hour or two daily with the Honda.

Water: The fresh water tank in the 23rs will last our family (me, dw, three little ones under the age of eight, plus 2 dogs) for at least a 3 day weekend. Typically, we even have some left that we drain on the drive back home. Conservative is key here - no daily showers/baths. We are camping after all. ha ha! We usually bring along a case of bottled water, so that cuts down on water useage from the onboard tank as well. Others may have more ideas for you on portable tanks. Hang tight.

Camper: LED lights would cut down on power useage. I use my stock lights, again, conservativley. A battery powered lantern helps, too. Our Coleman placed on the counter next to the sink lights up the entire 23rs just fine. No television while camping, but we do use the radio. Radio doesn't seem to drain too much battery. Fridge and hot water heater run on propane. We run our fridge all weekend long, but having a cooler with drinks outside in shade cuts down on trips to the fridge. We only fire up the hot water once in the morning and sometimes a second time in the evening - only when we are needing hot water to wash up. Otherwise it stays off.

Hope some of this info helps. Feel free to hit me up with any other questions.

-RG


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## Oregon_Camper

collinsfam_tx said:


> Camper
> Replace lights in Outback with led lights.
> Run refrigerator on propane?
> Run water heater on propane?
> Anything else?


Unless you're going >90% dry camping (like we do) I think replacing the lights is overkill. Keep what you have...keep your money...and see how it goes. Worse case...you fire up the generator every other day vs. every 3-4 days.

Yes...run all the appliances on propane. Fridge use is about 1.5pounds per *day*. Furnace use is about 1.5 pounds per *hour*, it does not matter whattemperature it is set on it matters how long it runs. Water Heater is about .5 pounds per *hour. *Stove/oven not sure but it is in the range of .25 pounds per hour.


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## CdnOutback

2 x 6 Volt batteries will be hooked in series... not parallel.


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## Oregon_Camper

CdnOutback said:


> 2 x 6 Volt batteries will be hooked in series... not parallel.


Yep...like this.


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## KTMRacer

Lots of good advice above, and we really enjoy dry camping.

For water here is what I've done. In the pass through I mounted and wired in one of the basic trailer water pumps. inlet and outlet are connected to lengths of clear plastic hose. On the Inlet side I attached a piece of stainless tubing about two feet long. to fill from our blue 7 gallon water jugs, I stick the ss tube into the jug vent hole which I've enlarged. then stick the pump outlet line into the fresh water fill inlet, turn on the pump and pump away. Much easier than trying to lift a 7 gallon water jug and fill through a funnel. Guess I'm getting lazy in my old age!!. This winter I plan to run the pump outlet directly into the fresh water inlet through a spliced in T fitting. that way I just stick in the tube and pump away. I carry 4 of the 7 gallon wate jugs. that way they can be used to hold down the easy up when full, and gives me 28 gallons to fill with when needed.

As for lights, I did a full LED conversion with real bright high output LEDs (not the ebay chinese imports). Frankly this is an expensive undertaking, especially with a trailer with as many lights as our 29RE. However, it would make sense to swap out the lights you use most often, Turning on ALL the lights in the trailer now consumes about 3A, less than turning on TWO overhead lights with the two bulbs in them. We draw less than 1A with lights we typically use after dark when reading, etc.

One other thing I'll mention. The WFCO charger used on Outbacks and many other trailers isn't known for reliably going into boost mode for charging. If it doesn't it will take forever to charge your batteries. If the run from the charger to the batteries is more than about 10' you likely will have a problem, and even at 10' it might be a problem. the way to verify is to discharge the batteries to about 50% turn on the charger and then measure the current with a dc current probe, it should be in the 35-50A range. Or measure the voltage at the output of the converter (not at the battery). I should be about 14V or more. If it is in the 13.5V range, or if current is in the 10-15A range, your not in boost mode and charging will take a long time. My 295 has a 25' run of #8 wire and even going to #4 welding cable wouldn't get the WFCO into boost mode.

The easiest solution is to replace the converter section with a drop in Progressive dynamics 55A direct replacement. A better solution if you have a pass through close to the batteries is to install a 65A PD or IOTA charger in the pass through and run #4 welding cable to the batteries. With a single honda 2000 generator, don't go much above a 65A charger, anything bigger that isn't power factor corrected is likely to exceed the hondas VA rating and trip the overload just when you need it most. And 65A is about all you want to stuff into a pair of 6V golf cart batteries anyway. Either option will get you from 50% to 90% charge in a few hours.

And finally, if you dry camp a lot, Installing a Trimetric battery monitor is worthwhile. It will measure the actual AH drawn from the battery or added when charged and give a very accurate battery state of charge. With the trimetric I'm comfortable letting the batteries get to 40-50% discharged then turn on the generator till they get to about 90%. The last 10% takes a long time.

Oregon campers dead on for propane consumption. My trailer came with a Marshall 254 changeover regulator with that regulator they sell a monitor that snaps onto the regulator and triggers a flashing LED in a box you mount in the trailer. The LED will flash when it changes from the main to aux tank. then I know to refill.

As for generators, if I was looking again, I'd look seriously look at Yamaha vs. Honda. when I got my honda about 6 years ago, Honda was about the only game in town. Yamaha now has some very nice competitors to the Honda, IIRC they have slightly higher output ratings and are also very easy to parallel. but I think they are heavier. Some places are offering very good deals on a pair of yamahas set up for parallel operation, better price than the pair of honda's. Either way, buy blue or red, not yellow!. (stay with a quite generator, not the noisy imports please!)

12V vs. 6V. Lots of opinions, I prefer 6V. I have one set in my small trailer that is 8 years old and going strong, even with the abuse I give them. The outbacks are only a year old, had them installed in place of 12V when I bought the trailer.

At the last RV show I spent about 1/2 hour talking to the Trojan battery rep about batteries, specifically 6V vs TRUE deep discharge 12V. (not marine/starting 12V). In summary, if your current draw is reasonably low (<40A or so), 6V is the way to go. If you are running big loads off an inverter, then 12V is the way to go. The reason is that 6V total AH available is pretty stable regardless of load, while 12V AH drops off with increased current. And for RV use, we seldom draw at the low 20hr rate which is how batterys are spec'd. However 12V has much less internal resistance (thinner plates), so there is less voltage drop when hooked to a big inverter and drawing 75+A. And 6V chemistry is designed for long life under lots of abuse while 12 chemistry isn't. So his summary is if your dry camping running the normal stuff in a trailer the 6V golf carts are the best choice, just watch the water level. Guys with the big motorhomes watching TV, running the microwave, etc. and other stuff running of an inverter and drawing big current loads- go 12V.

He mentioned that guys who want a quicker golf cart (acceleration) use the trojan 12V true deep discharge instead of 6V golf carts. Less internal resistance=higher currents when starting, but they end up with shorter range on the golf cart even though the biggest trojan 12V deep discharge actually has a slightly higher 20hour AH rating than the 6V golf cart battery. But it's a lot lower AH rating than the 6V when looking at the 30, 50, or 75A discharge AH rating.

Now go out and enjoy that camper!


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## Jewellfamily

If you have a genny as you are indicating, power is pretty easy and you can refine it as you get experience. Water conservation is the tough one when your used to camping with hookups. Monitor your tanks levels closely until everyone gets the feel and habit of how dry camping is. A lot of your national forest campgrounds have fresh water stations somewhere to get water. The problem is that dumping stations are not nearly as readily available.


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## Colorado Outbacker

Here is a funny photo of our extra supplies for a 13 day dry camping hunting trip in Colorado this past fall for your enjoyment. Can't be to comfortable ya know! There may be a few clues in there for you as to ideas for water, fuel, beverages etc.

We dry camp around 50 nights a year with a family of six, five of them are young ladies. We just take a couple of the green water jugs and do fine for 4 or 5 days. Generator an hour or two a day with two 6 volt batteries.

Have fun, enjoy! 
Tony


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## ED_RN

You will definately need a water thief to connect the hose to a water spicket. National parks all grind the threads off to prevent people with 
RV's from hooking up directly. Dumping the tanks is usually the bigger issue than getting water. Dumping to the ground in a national park or forest can get you in big trouble. If there aren't any dump stations in the park the rangers usually know where there is dump you can use on the way out, often in a mobile home park nearby. The gen will use very little gas. A Honda 2000 will run almost 8 hours on a gallon of gas if your just using it to charge the batteries. Will use more obviosly if your running both to power the A/C, but still very economical. I while propoane isn't an issue usually I turn on the water heater when I run the gen to charge the batteries and the fridge runs off the gen as well. Doesn't seem to really bump gas consumption but saves a little propane.


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## ORvagabond

Here is another option for water:
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/Portable-RV-Fresh-Water-Tank-45-Gallon/1605/&?&affiliateid=3274&cvsfa=2734&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=31363035

but then you will need one of these also:
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/product/thetford-smarttote-and-smarttote-lx-portable-waste-tanks/6073


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## Oregon_Camper

ORvagabond said:


> Here is another option for water:
> http://www.campingwo...cvsfhu=31363035


I'm not to sure how I feel about putting ~360lbs on the roof of my truck.	In the truck bed...SURE.


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## Insomniak

Oregon_Camper said:


> Here is another option for water:
> http://www.campingwo...cvsfhu=31363035


I'm not to sure how I feel about putting ~360lbs on the roof of my truck.	In the truck bed...SURE.
[/quote]
And, what the heck is the vehicle that the tank is sitting on? Looks to be a 70's model....something.....


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## Oregon_Camper

Insomniak said:


> Here is another option for water:
> http://www.campingwo...cvsfhu=31363035


I'm not to sure how I feel about putting ~360lbs on the roof of my truck.	In the truck bed...SURE.
[/quote]
And, what the heck is the vehicle that the tank is sitting on? Looks to be a 70's model....something.....
[/quote]

LOL...hover over the image and it will open a window to magifiy. Look close....the steering wheel in on the wrong side!!!


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## Insomniak

Oregon_Camper said:


> Here is another option for water:
> http://www.campingwo...cvsfhu=31363035


I'm not to sure how I feel about putting ~360lbs on the roof of my truck.	In the truck bed...SURE.
[/quote]
And, what the heck is the vehicle that the tank is sitting on? Looks to be a 70's model....something.....
[/quote]

LOL...hover over the image and it will open a window to magifiy. Look close....the steering wheel in on the wrong side!!!








[/quote]
I've seen this CW ad before, but never noticed the steering wheel. I wonder where this product is from, that it gets put on top of an old beater car that drives on the wrong side of the road? Looks like something Austin Powers would be driving....YEAH BABYYYY!!!


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## ED_RN

If you leave in the bed of the truck you can tell the kids it's a water bed and they will fight over who gets to sleep on it. That is after you explain what a water bed is, or is that was.


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