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Dry Camping Tips please

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Kenn View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kenn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Dry Camping Tips please
    Posted: 02 Apr 2012 at 9:54am
Originally posted by HerbL HerbL wrote:

Don't forget, most tow vehicles will charge the battery. In a pinch you can run the TV for a while to partially recharge the battery. Not the most efficient method, but it works and a lot cheaper and lighter to haul than a generator.



How long will it charge the batteries? How much charge is the TV providing to the batteries? If I run a generator, how long will it take to charge the batteries?

2010 RPOD 176 (Silly-POD), 2011 Forest River Stealth 2612, and 2014 Forest River XLR 380AMP
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tedbear Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2012 at 12:54pm
If you're like me, a single 50-something with no kids who goes camping to get away from the city, the people and the noise, then it's all about dry camping.  Where there are electrical hookups, you will have the "livingrooms on wheels" and the kids, their bikes, and everything else that can possible make noise.  I search out the unimproved areas with no power, haul my own water, and stay as far off the grid as I possibly can.  However, I do carry a weather radio and a 12-volt TV so I can stay up on the weather forecast (which got me out of the way of an ice storm a year and a half ago).  Instead of the AC, I have a 12-volt fan, and I use a large cooler and ice for my perishable food.  If it's chilly, the propane heater works great, and I conserve fuel by cooking over coals when possible.  I adopt my tent camping experience to the RV, which seems luxurious by comparison, so it's also a matter of what kind of mindset you have.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote leonlewt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 9:43am
very good point,...thanks.   2 months away from the first voyage,..can't wait.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HerbL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 8:32am
Don't forget, most tow vehicles will charge the battery. In a pinch you can run the TV for a while to partially recharge the battery. Not the most efficient method, but it works and a lot cheaper and lighter to haul than a generator.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alex&Marie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2012 at 4:39am
Hi we just picked up our new 177 and am reading the forums avidly to see what other's experiences have been. 

We have done a lot of sailing and have mostly not used marinas but instead stayed at anchor overnights. It is free and is usually quieter. With boating there are lots of resources on line that talk about good spots to do this -- it is called gunk-holing and is analogous to dry camping. 

Anyway, are there good references for places to dry camping?
Alex and Marie
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote headcold Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Mar 2012 at 10:03pm
Hi Larry:

What's the portable sewer (tote) to which you refer?  Is it a Port-a-potty like we used to lug along on whitewater raft trips? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Feb 2012 at 4:49am
I also have a Honda 2000 Generator and also a tote (portable sewer) which I use when dry camping. Get some battery operated stick up LED lights so you don't have to use the pod's lights. It would be helpful to have two propane tanks and two 12-volt deep cycle batteries as well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote headcold Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2012 at 11:21pm
I should have said "Every year."  Every month would be nice too.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote headcold Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2012 at 11:21pm
Every month, I dry camp a month in the Southern Utah desert, 30 miles from the nearest conveniences.  The secret: A Honda 2000 generator to keep the batteries up to snuff.  One propane tank will last at least three weeks of use, even in cold weather, but I set my furnace thermostat to to higher than 40 F. in the evening. Nevertheless, I carry a smaller spare just in case, and I often cook outside on a coleman camp stove.  Water is a problem, and find myself having to pack around five six-gallon water containers, which I have to fill up on a weekly basis.  Of course, I go in with a full water tank.  I also bring an external portable latrine, rather than fill up the black water tank.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Heidi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2012 at 11:13pm
We dry camp for a week at a time every summer. We do not shower in the pod or use the water heater then but we will run the lights, fridge on propane, we use the stove, flush the toilet no showers. I only turn the water pump on when the pressure drops then turn it off again. We have just the standard battery and propane tank and they last us a week with extra. I have run the furnace to warm things up before bed. but don't normally need heat during the summer. We have a small generator just in case but have not needed it.
we R-pod people
175 ,2 peeps and one small horse
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