# Our 2nd Trip In The Outback... Locked Out, Ran Out Of Power... Then It Snowed -- But We Had Fun, Anyway!



## Morgueman

Hi everyone!
We took our 2nd trip in the Outback this holiday weekend, up to Julian, CA. The first night I accidentally locked myself out (and the dog in) the trailer! DH needed to use a crowbar to open the door! Has anyone else ever done this???

This was our first time "dry" camping, and we do not have a generator. The first night we set the heater to 59 degrees (the low was in the 30s in Julian) and were sparing with the lights and water pump. Unfortunately, by 8pm the 2nd night we were almost out of power already, judging by the less than 1/3 on the panel and the dimming lights (we have 2 12-volts). The low that night hit 29 degrees and we had no heat! Luckily we slid the couch in before we went to bed, and attached the car, as we woke in the morning to a heavy snowfall! We quickly slid in the rear bed and left the campground, as we didn't want to get stuck! A couple of hours and 20 degrees later we arrived in our driveway, opened the Outback to find... water, water everywhere! You guessed it, there was on ice on the rear slide, which was melting onto the floor all the way home. We slid out the bed and DH brushed all the ice/snow off the top of the slide, and I mopped the floors and walls of the Outback. What an adventure!







This is what camping memories are made of...
Laurie


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## wolfwood

That's the right asttitude, Laurie. It's ALL ABOUT MEMORIES!!!

(Hey, Kathy's first Sheltie came from Ramona...she says "you'll understand that"....







)


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## skippershe

Wow you guys, what a night (mare) that must have been









Too bad you weren't able to stick around and enjoy the snow, but you did get to bring some home with you









We haven't had to run our furnace yet, but I understand that it takes up alot of juice...
So, what's it gonna be? A new generator or no more dry camping??









Glad you made it home safely








Dawn


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## wade2006

Well at least you had fun!!! When we picked our trailer up they said to make sure we separated the keys so we wouldn't lock us out. I got a little ring we can attach to our belt loops so we have our TT keys with us at all times. Just a suggestion. Thank goodness you got out of there before you were snowed in. Great story and a memory of lifetime. 
Ronda









Forgot to say: when we use our heater it doesn't seem to drain our battery. We only have 1 battery, we do have a generator, but only use it if we want to use the lights. The lights drain the battery in a hurry. Our battery seems to do well unless we use the lights. I got some led lights from Costco and stuck 1 in the bathroom, 1 under kitchen counter and 1 under shelf of bed. We use these lights to conserve the battery. We also got a coleman lantern which I charge before going out and we use the nightlight at night and the lantern and it stays charged for the weekend. We only turn the water pump on when using it. Just what we've done the 2 times we've been out and we have only dry camped both times.

Ronda


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## skippershe

Here are a couple of mods that may help you in the future.

The first is the hide a key mod by NobleEagle Click Here

The second would be to replace your interior light bulbs with lower wattage bulbs, or simply remove one of the bulbs from each fixture. They sell the bulbs at Lowe's and Home Depot in the outdoor lighting section. Try replacing the factory 16 watt bulbs (X2) in every light with a couple of 7 or 11 watt bulbs. You'll hardly notice the difference and will save on battery power.


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## Oregon_Camper

skippershe said:


> So, what's it gonna be? A new generator or no more dry camping??


...or 2 6v batteries?


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## Morgueman

The second night we did think to remove 1 light from each compartment to save some battery power. I will check out the LED lights - great idea! DH also wants to check out the 6V batteries, or possibly 2 Honda's ($$ - ouch) for next time. We were only a couple of hours from home so this was a great first-time dry camping learning experience. The key hider is a great idea! The other people in the campground couldn'd get over that we had locked ourselves out -- no one had heard of that before


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## Y-Guy

Tough outing, but you came away with a positive attitude and that's what counts. Glad you are safe and sound.


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## Sluggo54

Morgueman said:


> The second night we did think to remove 1 light from each compartment to save some battery power. I will check out the LED lights - great idea! DH also wants to check out the 6V batteries, or possibly 2 Honda's ($$ - ouch) for next time. We were only a couple of hours from home so this was a great first-time dry camping learning experience. The key hider is a great idea! The other people in the campground couldn'd get over that we had locked ourselves out -- no one had heard of that before


Our door will only lock with the little red handle inside, or the key outside. That makes it a wee bit more difficult to lock onesself out. I carry a spare key for the TV and for the TT in my wallet. Makes it a little harder to sit on, but the one time I locked the key in the truck, it was really appreciated.

Sluggo


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## CamperAndy

The emergency exit windows can be removed from the outside with a screwdriver. Takes 2 or 3 minutes and you are in the trailer without a scratch on it.


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## Lady Di

We have done the suggested 2-6 volt batteries, plus the low wattage lights.

One carryover from popup days is that we have led headlamps. Purchased them from LLBean, but a lot of other places have them now. We look a little wierd to some poeple, but we have hands free light for everything.

They are also great for nighttime dog walking.


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## Kyoutbacker

Why not charge the Outback battery from the tow vehicle using jumper cables? Or plug in the tow cable if it has the +12 to the correct connector?


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## h2oman

Sounds memerable to me.


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## California Jim

Dry camping near Julian. Hmmmm....sounds like Heise to me







Nice place.

We're able to get 3 nights out of our dual 6v batteries while running the furnace each night. Of course we set the temp no higher than 64 at night, and I pull 1 of the bulbs out of each light fixture. We just did it again this last weekend and all went well. Even after drying out my batteries last week







We came home with power to spare.

How exactly did you guys open the door with a crowbar, and did it do any damage


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## Dan V

How did you lock the door and shut it afterwards ? I believe my 2006 will only lock with the door closed , either from the inside with the red latch or the outside with the key . I would like it better if I could just push a latch/button and shut the door . Did you change the locking mechanism ?


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## Chasgirl

We got locked out on our first camping trip, too. If they warned us about the locks when we picked up the trailer, I certainly missed it. It worked out okay though. DH drove back from town with his spare keys. Very embarrassing!


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## Humpty

We were warned about that 'top lock' and its ability to lock someone out. For those that do not know, it only locks the outside handle. If someone is inside, they can still get out, but if they close the door, thay can't get back in. the dealers use that lock. Any OB key (or a master, not sure)will open it

We have been lucky...so far.


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## wade2006

DH purchased our 2000 Honda generator from A to Z rental, it was brand new and cost around $1000. You only need 2 2000 Honda Generators if you are going to run the A/C. The man that owns Ruthrauf told us it was better to run the a/c with 2 2000's than 1 3000 generator. And I can load the generator myself so we are ready to take off when DH pulls into the drive.

Ronda


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## Oregon_Camper

CamperAndy said:


> The emergency exit windows can be removed from the outside with a screwdriver. Takes 2 or 3 minutes and you are in the trailer without a scratch on it.


Anyway to stop this from being able to be removed?. Seems like a great way for someone to break into my Outback.


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## CamperAndy

Oregon_Camper said:


> The emergency exit windows can be removed from the outside with a screwdriver. Takes 2 or 3 minutes and you are in the trailer without a scratch on it.


Anyway to stop this from being able to be removed?. Seems like a great way for someone to break into my Outback.
[/quote]

No way to stop it unless you replace the hinge screws with one use screws, the type that can turned in only one direction. The issue is due to the drop off hinge design of the emergency window. There are other security type and tamper resistant screws but they will just slow someone down and not stop a determined thief.


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## Oregon_Camper

CamperAndy said:


> The emergency exit windows can be removed from the outside with a screwdriver. Takes 2 or 3 minutes and you are in the trailer without a scratch on it.


Anyway to stop this from being able to be removed?. Seems like a great way for someone to break into my Outback.
[/quote]

No way to stop it unless you replace the hinge screws with one use screws, the type that can turned in only one direction. The issue is due to the drop off hinge design of the emergency window. There are other security type and tamper resistant screws but they will just slow someone down and not stop a determined thief.









[/quote]

thanks...I might look into replacing these.


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## MattS

We replaced our 12v batteries with 2 6volts and we went dry camping in Yosemite in December- 3 nights, some generator use, and we made it with the heat set at 64, it was in the 20's at night. This weekend we went dry camping, it was 40's at night and we set the furnace at 64, no generator this time and we were there from 2:30 friday until Monday morning. We also really only turn one light on at a time, whichever one we are closest to. In restrospect we could have probably used more, but better to have the heat, we figured! The batteries worked great- they went down to 2/3 according to the gauge, and they still had juice when we got home. I can't say enough about how happy we are with the batteries so far.

Sorry about the water and being locked out-







I didn't know about the handle/lock situation, so we need to think about that!


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## egregg57

Ha! You're a seasoned bunch in one trip! Excellent!


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## bentpixel

Wow! What a weekend.









I am surprised that the batteries didn't perform better. We spent two toasty nights at New Brighton Beach during the 20 degree cold snap. The 2 - 6 volt batteries and furnace kept a warm 73 degrees.







Did put in 7 and 4 watt bulbs.

There is a power stealing switch mounted inside the refrigerator. Hard find...







believe it is near the top edge of the door jam. My $.02's.

Thanks for the tip on the door lock.









Happy Trails,
Scott


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## Morgueman

California Jim said:


> Dry camping near Julian. Hmmmm....sounds like Heise to me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nice place.
> 
> We're able to get 3 nights out of our dual 6v batteries while running the furnace each night. Of course we set the temp no higher than 64 at night, and I pull 1 of the bulbs out of each light fixture. We just did it again this last weekend and all went well. Even after drying out my batteries last week
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We came home with power to spare.
> 
> How exactly did you guys open the door with a crowbar, and did it do any damage


Well...I literally plied the door latch open (ie. in the same manner that it should open using your hand when unlocked). Fortunately for me (but unfortunate for safety), the door opened up very easily. There's no obvious physical damage; however, when you look underneath the latch, there's a metal rectangular piece and that is the piece that appears to have broken when I pried the latch.


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