Boondocking/Offroad camping

[tnrver]

Originally Posted by Air Doug

Also look at the Refrigerator Shade post trending right now and see what folks have to do to keep their propane absorption fridges working when its hot. No issues at all with the 12V Truck Fridge if you get that option in the Lil Snoozy.

Yes the woman I talked to at LS told me about the truck frig. She even gave me the model and said that LS does the installation.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by tnrver

Yes the woman I talked to at LS told me about the truck frig. She even gave me the model and said that LS does the installation.

Truckfridge, or any of the other variants with a Danfoss / Secomp compressor, do work well - as long as you have enough power for them. How much power they need varies a lot depending on the temp you set it to, the temp outside, if its in the sun, how often it is opened, etc.

I have a transportable one cubic foot Indel B that is really the same as the similar Truckfridge model. I use it as a back-up / supplement to my absorption fridge. Power consumption varies from about 250 watts to near 900 watts in 24 hours. Typically on the lower end of that spectrum if only used as a fridge and not set to freeze anything.

So plan accordingly. As long as you dont run out of power, its a nice way to go.

[tnrver]

I gotta say something about my Norcold frig. This has been the 3rd season with my camper, we have a 6cf refrigerator. I start the frig 24 hrs before filling it. All food and drinks are chilled before we load it. An 11 hr. drive from TN to Fla. this past July with temps in the mid 90's and everything was as cool when got to the campground as when we put it in. We camped all summer long for the last 3 yrs. in TN. where the temps are any where from 90's to triple digits. The camper is in the sun part of the day but not all day. I've no complaints with my absorption frig. But im aware that a compressor frig is more effective at cooling and a lot cheaper to replace when needed.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by petruccelli

If you're worried about theft just mount panels to the roof. Plus then you never have to mess with them, take them out, hook them up etc, they are just always collecting.

Oh, I wish it was that simple.

On the roof, you can't point them at the sun easily, you have to get up there to clean them and you have to park in the sun. You'll get way less than their rated output unless you have a way to adjust them both left and right, and up and down.

[ArthurBNH]

I boondock or dry-camp 3 - 5 months a year and have downsized over the last few years to a Scamp 19 5th wheel from a 36 Foot Pusher.

I am a little late to answer you but here is what my experiences have caused me to set up.

Water, Water Water. Water is always an issue in a Scamp or small camper. So find a way to transport water in your tow vehicle back to camp every time you leave. I carry a 40 gallon bladder under the bed box in my Frontier and have an electric pump to move it.

Save water by getting rid of your toilet and tank. 50% of water when you camp goes in the black tank. We use a natures head composting toilet.

Power, Power, Power Upgrade the batteries and charging system first. Carry a QUIET generator and add solar when you can afford it.

Height does matter - Most newer campers have better clearance but even you tow vehicle needs it. Put 15 inch tires on the Scamp even though it had been raised already. A 4X4 helps a lot when driving in and out of rougher areas too!

Good luck its a blast!

[Stephen_Albers]

Originally Posted by ArthurBNH

I boondock or dry-camp 3 - 5 months a year and have downsized over the last few years to a Scamp 19 5th wheel from a 36 Foot Pusher.

I am a little late to answer you but here is what my experiences have caused me to set up.

Water, Water Water. Water is always an issue in a Scamp or small camper. So find a way to transport water in your tow vehicle back to camp every time you leave. I carry a 40 gallon bladder under the bed box in my Frontier and have an electric pump to move it.

Save water by getting rid of your toilet and tank. 50% of water when you camp goes in the black tank. We use a natures head composting toilet.

Power, Power, Power Upgrade the batteries and charging system first. Carry a QUIET generator and add solar when you can afford it.

Height does matter - Most newer campers have better clearance but even you tow vehicle needs it. Put 15 inch tires on the Scamp even though it had been raised already. A 4X4 helps a lot when driving in and out of rougher areas too!

Good luck its a blast!

The insights in this message are golden from someone who walks the walk. As a small trailer neophite, I suspected that water priorities in my Casita are inappropriate. Replacing the grotesquely complicated and profligate conventional toilet system seems a good idea. The community seems terribly ambivalent about composting. However, its obvious advantages are hard to ignore. But, instead of removing the under black tank, I'm considering converting it to externally sourced gravity fed fresh water. After all, which would you rather haul while boondocking, twenty gallons of **** or fresh water? I'm harboring equally iconoclastic ideas about my electrics.

[ShelbyM]

I think the black tank might better serve as additional gray storage. There are lots of ways to carry more fresh water but a full gray tank is going have you hooking up and looking for a dump.

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

I think the black tank might better serve as additional gray storage. There are lots of ways to carry more fresh water but a full gray tank is going have you hooking up and looking for a dump.

This is my experience. Arthur is right, too. My limiting factor is always waste water storage space. Depends on how you camp and whether "boon docking" means not leaving camp, or not breaking camp down. If you want to head to the mountains or desert, 30 miles down a dirt road and not come out for 5 or more days, both fresh water and waste water storage can be an issue.

For camping without hookups in fairly well-traveled areas, my issue is always gray water. I can run a few miles down the road and fill containers with fresh water to bring back to camp. But when your grey tank is full, it's time to break camp and haul the trailer into town.

The only way to really spend extended periods in a camper out in the "wild" is to use it like a tent. At which point you might wonder why you hauled that big thing all the way in there with you.. But sometimes the bed alone can feel worth it.

There are all kinds of creative ways to extend your stay, and they all involve fresh water and waste water. Everything else comes pretty easy, assuming you have either solar panels, a generator or are ok with charging your battery with your tow vehicle.

[Stephen_Albers]

I'm listening. Meanwhile, the toilet manufacturer will ship me one with return privileges in case I can't get it to fit.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I've dry camped a week or so in the Casita, and never had a problem with the black tank filling. grey tank on the casita 16? way too small for my wife (one of hte major reasons we now have an Escape 21), although I can make it last if I'm solo via sponge baths. I use a 5 gallon carboy with a hand pump for drinking water, so the trailer water is pretty much only used for flushing and sponge baths.

[k corbin]

if you want to go boondocking and have enough fresh water and waste tank capacity then you need to learn more about boondocking techniques.



You don't wash dishes the way you have always washed them. You wipe the pans, plates and utensils to remove the debris. Then you get a couple of little hand held pump sprayers. One has vinegar and water solution, that is for washing and sterilizing. The other sprayer is plain water for rinsing. They get pumped so they have lots of water pressure. So in other words you don't use your sink and faucet for washing dishes instead you use a minimal water method. They get just as clean and just as safe to eat from with only a fraction of the fresh water used and next to nothing for waste water produced.

You can also shower and wash your hair using the same technique with these small pressure sprayers that can be purchased at hardware stores and in garden supply stores. Believe it or not you can get clean with one liter or less of water.

Add in a composting toilet and you basically need very little grey water storage. Dig a cat hole to pour the collected urine into and you will not even need a black water tank.

Use you leftover shower and dish water for rinsing dirt off the outside of the trailer or tow vehicle or for rinsing off shoes, putting out camp fires and such and you will have even less grey water to store.

Most of your fresh water will now be used for drinking and for cooking and only a minimal amount needed for washing up. Remember you removed most of the food particles by wiping it off the dishes before you washed them.

Doing extended boondocking means making changes not in your trailer but in how you manage the chores. Your ancestors knew how to conserve water, a lot of them also had to haul it into their homes in jugs and buckets.

[TZBrown]

I like the sprayer bottle idea for dishes and showers

We use a hand sprayer / spritzer, filled with simple green and water mix, for toilet flushes, shut off the water to the toilet first. Hold open the dump valve during / for large deposits
It is a dramatic difference in the amount of water used in the black tank.

Driving to agitate tank before dumping is a must