# Dry Camping



## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

We mainly do campground camping; however, we are thinking about doing a few dry camping trips this season. We have a single 12V deep cycle battery and I know most that do dry camping use 2 - 6V's...

So, if we are only camping a few times dry, I am just curious how long the single 12V will run - if we are conservative..?..we would be mainly using it for the water pump. I can't think of anything else - as we would be using the propane for the fridge & stove. Inside lighting maybe, but, we have rechargeable lanterns and oil lamps for outside.

Do you think a weekend trip would be ok for the single 12V? We do have a portable honda that we would take along just in case....


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

If you watch the lights and don't turn on the furnace you will be fine (assuming the battery in in good condition)

Take the generator as backup but for 2 nights (Fri/Sat) you should be fine. You will have to get into the habit of turning off lights...hard to break if you are used to camping with hookups.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

The furnace can really kill the battery fast, so if it's cold out, I'd bring the generator just in case. Use your interior lights sparingly and remove one of the bulbs in the fixture. It's definitely possible to get two nights from a single battery if you conserve well. My little Honda 1000 watt generator makes dry trips a no-brainer, which is a good thing for me


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

We had to accept a campsite with no services for a long weekend a couple years ago. It was summer, so the furnace wasn't needed. (that is a battery killer). Like you, the battery was for the water pump and lights, and I guess the little bit the fridge uses to control the propane. There were four of us in the trailer, and while we were careful with lights, we didn't have any lanterns or auxillary lighting, and the battery did just fine for the three days. It was still showing 3 out of the 4 lights on the monitor. That was before we had the 250RS. Operating the slides will use a lot of power, so I'd suggest having the truck hooked up when you do that. That would also be a rescue, if you do end up with a dead battery.
You'll be fine!


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## SDCampers (Oct 29, 2008)

We had camped a few times with a single 12v when we did not use the furnace. We camped 2-3 nights each using water pump lights and stereo all weekend without really conserving. We had no problems. Most weekends we never went below 2/3 on the indicator. 
We dry camp almost exclusively so now I have two group 24 12v's and have never had any issues even using the furnace. We don't use an inverter to run any AC stuff though.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks for the info - We will be heading to Cape Henlopen in the fall and they don't have electric there - only water. They do stress no generators; however, if we go early September, the weather should still be warm.


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## Blackjack (Jan 8, 2010)

Cape Henlopen is a great place to camp with the exception of no electric. They no longer allow generators so make sure that battery is good. September you won't need electric much. If you are lucky to be near a bathhouse and have a long extension cord...how quick will that battery charge over night







?


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