Community Forums

RoadEyePie · 03-16-2018, 09:04 AM

First, what exactly is Boon Docking? Is this the same as "Dry" camping?

Is it no campground at all? In a field? BLM?

Campground w/sites that don't have electric, water, sewer at the site but do have within the park...has some but not all?

So without water & sewer, you can only stay as long as the size of your tanks allow. Then what...drive around looking for an RV dump station? Won't that limit how far away you will stay from "facilities" or how long you stay at all?

Without electric hookup, options are very large, heavy and loud generator or a ton of batteries + a smaller inverter generator?

There must be a sticky somewhere that already has the answers?

oldbird1965 · 03-16-2018, 09:39 AM

Yes, just like 'dry' camping. Out in the middle of nowhere without water, electricity and sewer. I can also be like stopping for the night at Walmart.

BFlinn181 · 03-16-2018, 10:20 AM

"Boondocks" became a descriptive word for a remote, rural area during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Filipino language word 'bundók' meant a rural inland area.

Camping in an unimproved site with no hookups is often referred to as 'Boondocks.' It's certainly not 'roughing it' with modern RVs, but your self-sufficiency can still be tested by how well you conserve your onboard resources.

I personally wouldn't call stopping for a night in a Walmart lot boondocking with the blacktop, lighting, etc., but to each their own.

**Spdracr39** · 03-16-2018, 10:36 AM

portable tanks can help but you still have to find a place to empty them. Most modern rv's suitable for dry camping have enough tank storage for a week or so for 2 people comfortably. Conservation can extend that. showers and washing dishes use the most water so paper plates and baby wipes are your friend.

baraff · 03-16-2018, 10:41 AM

Boondocking = camping somewhere in the wild with no hookups.

Wallydocking = overnight parking at Walmart, Cracker Barrel, etc.

Please don't confuse the two.

RoadEyePie · 03-16-2018, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spdracr39

portable tanks can help but you still have to find a place to empty them. Most modern rv's suitable for dry camping have enough tank storage for a week or so for 2 people comfortably. Conservation can extend that. showers and washing dishes use the most water so paper plates and baby wipes are your friend.

A portable tank? I've seen those, but it must have 30 - 40 gallons. How do you pick it up, load it, handle it?

BFlinn181 · 03-16-2018, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwithnorv

A portable tank? I've seen those, but it must have 30 - 40 gallons. How do you pick it up, load it, handle it?

They utilize a great invention, WHEELS. https://www.walmart.com/ip/SmartTote...&wl13=&veh=sem

archer75 · 03-16-2018, 01:07 PM

Yes, no hookups. We do it with no more than 2x 6v batteries and a 80w portable solar panel. We have all the power we need. Run stereo all day long, water pump, fridge is on propane, furnace when we need it, fans, lights. TV is a 12v tv and runs off batteries. We have a small station that must have it's own inverter but it has a cigarette lighter plug and some USB ports. We charge phones off of that and have a small cheap inverter for the plug and I use that to give me outlets if I need to charge something else.

We don't run a microwave, blender, crockpot, etc. when dry camping. If we were i'd probably mount a solar panel on the roof.

I did just buy a generator just in case but in the past few years we haven't had need of one. And we haven't had a situation yet where we needed AC. We did camp in 100 degree weather this past year but the trailer stayed cool. And even those cheap bathroom fans exhausted the trailer pretty well. But some fantastic fans would have been better.

But then we are limited by tanks. We have a 80gallon fresh water tank which is plenty for our needs. It's the 38 gallon grey and black tanks that fill up so fast. You have to check forest laws where you're at but here we can dump grey in the forest. But that black tank fills up fast and nothing to be done but take it somewhere to dump.

Or get a trailer with a bigger tank.

I know it sounds intimidating and complicated. It's really not.

RoadEyePie · 03-16-2018, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

They utilize a great invention, WHEELS. https://www.walmart.com/ip/SmartTote...&wl13=&veh=sem

What you're not going to pull it to a dumping station are you? And wheels don't help with vertical lift.

archer75 · 03-16-2018, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwithnorv

What you're not going to pull it to a dumping station are you? And wheels don't help with vertical lift.

Some people will have a company come to where they are staying to pump the portable tank as well as the trailer.
If I was going to be dry camping for that long I would be a trailer with the largest black tank I could find.
There's apps you can get to show your where dump stations are. One look at that and you'll see they're all over the place.

Soppy · 03-16-2018, 02:17 PM

Got lots of boondocking parks up here. Anywhere from 4 to 10 spots to park and most of them on small lakes. No hookups at all , not even cell service. Most places will have an outhouse or two. Great little places to camp. We usually go from 3 days to a week with no problems.

Easyrider · 03-16-2018, 02:17 PM

I saw a video recently about BLM land in Arizona that had a dump station and fresh water refill area. Only problem was the line to use it was quite long.

BFlinn181 · 03-16-2018, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwithnorv

What you're not going to pull it to a dumping station are you? And wheels don't help with vertical lift.

Along with the invention of wheels, folks have also discovered inclined planes. (ramps) Yes, people pull them like a wagon to a dump station or toilet and dump them. Others place on the ground, let gravity empty the onboard tank into the portable tank, then lug it to a proper dumping place. Others roll them into a pickup bed on ramps and take them, using gravity to empty into the dump drain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvOmaf2GfCY

SoonToBeFT · 03-16-2018, 02:59 PM

Easyrider: I saw a video recently about BLM land in Arizona that had a dump station and fresh water refill area. Only problem was the line to use it was quite long.

You are probably thinking Quartzite

FWIW, we easily boondock/drycamp for 2+ weeks, at a push 3 weeks. Army showering every other day, strip wash every other day between, and washing our dishes and clothes if needed. Have 100 gal FW, 50 gal grey and 50 gal black.

We don't go without anything, just don't waste water. We carry in containers on board, drinkable/cooking water we use in addition.

Sanidumps.com and similar sites detail many places to dump and fill tanks - usually we do so at a gas station or State Park, or if heading to a densely populated area where we book into a CG for a couple nights to explore surrounds, we'll take that opportunity to thoroughly flush, clean, do onboard laundry, and set off with full waters, empty grey/black, and all clean clothes/bedding/towels etc. Then we are good for at least another 2 to 3 weeks boon docking, which we do the majority of the time.