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Old 03-26-2012, 12:16 AM   #1
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Dry camping

We just took our new to us pup on our fist family trip and a had blast. We lived upgrading from tent camping and so great for the kids.

We are now planning for our first dry camping trip and it has me nervous. Besides a charged battery what is a must have for a 3 night stay?
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:28 AM   #2
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go very very light on your voltage useage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth K View Post
Besides a charged battery what is a must have for a 3 night stay?
maybe some extra water

if you do not plan on charging the battery
at least a little durning your three days
go very very light on your voltage useage

with only one battery
we do not get far if we
leave lights on
or
long periods of TV watching

have a great time
Mountainman
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:43 AM   #3
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As Mountainmanbob said, water. We use the blue jugs and take four of them with us and use the water sparingly.With kids, that might be hard. We also use a seperate jug for drinking water.To help conserve the battery, we use two batteried powered lanterns. Fully charged, we can get about 12-14 hours of continous use out of each.
We also bring our Honda Genny just in case. Have fun with that new camper.
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Old 03-26-2012, 07:38 AM   #4
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Its all about conservation. Especially with the battery. Depending what systems you have on your pup, the typical group 24 battery will last but you need to be careful about using the furnace, water pump and lights.

Try it out this trip and bring a multimeter with you to make sure you do not drop below 12.1 volts on your battery. If you do, consider a larger battery for future dry camping trips.
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Old 03-26-2012, 07:46 AM   #5
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Try to bring some good sleeping bags. The furnace is the one that will eat your current quite fast. For the rest you should be okay. If you have the fridg that uses the cooling fan it will uses your battery also because this fan is running on 12 volts. You have the option also to replace some of your lights with led bulbs. These bulbs are really energy savers on your battery.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:26 AM   #6
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If you need to run the furnace, your battery probably won't make it for 3 days. Also, you may run the battery down farther than what is good for it. If no furnace and you are careful, you can make it. Dry camping is fun and rewarding. Good luck!!
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Old 05-29-2012, 10:03 PM   #7
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We too are planning dry camping from a Friday afternoon and leaving Monday. I will have a full size genny too. We have a 30 ft Rockwood 2703SS.

From what I read from other posters, if I run the genny for 2 hours a day, should I have a problem? I'm hoping it's not too hot, we're going July 12-15 to South Jersey (Parvin State Park).
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Old 05-29-2012, 10:13 PM   #8
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Dry camping is fun & easy. We did it in a pop up for 15yrs with 3boys. Never ran out of battery power. We did not use the lights very much, most of the time is spent outside the camper. Always had pleny of flash lights & batteries. We even ran the furnace for 4 days before we ran out of battery power.(that was a rare occation, 14" of snow in yellowstone). We had a small refrig in ours, that used propane. Our 3 week trips never ran out of gas or battery power. You will have no problem!!!!
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Old 05-29-2012, 10:28 PM   #9
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Fresh water, and a full grey tank, problems one and two. One shower each, and you are out of water, and the gray tank is full. Don't even dream of washing dishes in the sink. Take tubs and wash them outside, and dump the water outside. In July, won't need the furnace, won't have air conditioning with no power. The water pump will be hard on the battery. No television, little use of the radio, if any. If the kids are are video junkies, have to have to have DVD's, video games, etc., it may not be fun.

Not trying to rain on your parade, it can be fun. Just pretend you don't have any water or power for 3 days, and enjoy. Use sparingly.
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Old 05-30-2012, 05:19 PM   #10
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Thank you all for the replies.

We plan to shower in the campground bath house so I'm hoping water won't be a big issue. I'll fill up when I get to the campground and empty all tanks before leaving (they have water fill and dump stations).

I could run the genny a couple hours during the day if we really need A/C and to charge the battery. Quiet time between 10:00 PM and 8:00 AM, no genny during those times.

Is there anything else I should be concerned with?
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Old 05-30-2012, 05:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colonel134 View Post
Thank you all for the replies.

We plan to shower in the campground bath house so I'm hoping water won't be a big issue. I'll fill up when I get to the campground and empty all tanks before leaving (they have water fill and dump stations).

I could run the genny a couple hours during the day if we really need A/C and to charge the battery. Quiet time between 10:00 PM and 8:00 AM, no genny during those times.

Is there anything else I should be concerned with?
having enough liquid refreshments ?
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Old 05-30-2012, 05:25 PM   #12
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I agree- the furnace is the black hole of power. After our first outing and killing the battery on day 2 of a 3 day trip kinda left us worried. We bought a cheap genny (Honda wannabe) and it didn't do much. Installed a second battery and seems to have solved all problems.
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Old 05-30-2012, 05:26 PM   #13
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Oh yea, and returned the genny to Costco and bought a Honda!
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