Community Forums

Cumminsfan · 10-05-2017, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanztek

Our Wind River has a 66 gal fresh water tank. When we're out and don't have access to water we conserve by taking showers only every 2nd or 3rd day and only flush for a #2. We've been out for 9 days with no fill ups many times. Conservation is the key.

You must not do much if you only take showers every 2nd or 3rd day. Try riding bikes, hiking or just being in 90* days for a week with out AC.

tuffr2 · 10-06-2017, 06:02 AM

I agree, when I am in a RV Park or state park campground I can stay cleaner then when I boondock. Seems when I boondock I get more sweaty / dirty. Even when I boondock I shower just about everyday...but I take a 'Navy Shower'. That is why a camper shower has that shutoff. Get wet, shut off, soap up, rinse, done. I once filled the fresh water tank to tippy top. Took a Navy Shower, filled up the fresh water tank again to tippy top with 2.5 gallons of water.

Now, my wife uses that much just to wash her hair.

John Bailey · 10-07-2017, 03:09 PM

Thanks all for the good information. Sounds like the Gray tank is the most problematic.

I'll keep all these suggestion in mind while looking for our next trailer.

John

tnedator · 10-07-2017, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keymastr

Depending on the site you are at outdoor showers can make a muddy mess to then have to avoid for a large part of the day.

We have 80 fresh, 40 black and 40 gray. With 2 of us 5 days of normal use and 7 if we really stretch.

You can easily dump to a tote if needed but getting more fresh water and finding a way to pump or pour it into the tank can be a real pain. I would look for a trailer with as large a fresh tank as possible.

My wife and I probably haven't learned the art of RV showers, but I've been struggling to not fill up 1/3 of a grey tank when I shower. She's doing a bit better than me.

I think one factor is the two places we went had soft water (we live in an area with hard water) and with soft water, it never feels like the soap is rinsed off.

lanztek · 10-09-2017, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

You must not do much if you only take showers every 2nd or 3rd day. Try riding bikes, hiking or just being in 90* days for a week with out AC.

We do plenty...ride dirt bikes, ATV's, some hiking, and just general camping in central Idaho. And yes, we are very stinky by the time we take a shower. But when you have x gallons of water and you need to make it last since there's no replacement, you do what you have to do...and showers are the lowest ranked use of water in our book.

Superslif · 10-09-2017, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Thanks all for the good information. Sounds like the Gray tank is the most problematic.

I'll keep all these suggestion in mind while looking for our next trailer.

I agree...as far as fresh tank size. I think since you don't do a crazy amount of "off-grid" camping, anything over 40-45 gallons should do.

Just watch, because some manufactures include the 6 gallons of the hot water tank as fresh water total. I remember back 7-8 years ago we looked at a new Jay Feather where it had a posted 30 gallon fresh, but 6 of those was the HW tank. So it was really only 24 gallons fresh (deal killer)

dix39 · 10-09-2017, 11:35 AM

My point of view from almost exclusively boondocking/dry camping with TCs and MH since the late '70s, with all tanks bigger is better, if that is what you plan to do.

Larger fuel provides a longer range all our campers were modified to provide 500-600 miles. That is about what the MH has. More would be even better, but that has sufficed. We have traveled coast to coast on many different routes nearly every year since the late '70s and if you plan to do something like that range is important.

With our campers I devised a way to gravity transfer grey into the black tank when the grey was full. Our current MH has the black tank stacked on top of the grey so I am going to pump water from the grey tank into the black when the grey is full. That will provide a few more showers/days without having to dump/fill.

Our last camper had 40 gal. fresh and 20 something for each of the grey and black tanks. When on the road we could get four showers and whatever other water we used in only two days, then we needed to fill and dump. That could be changed by skipping a shower. When in the woods by myself hunting I could go for about a week by showering every second or third night and just washing up in between. When the wife was along we would get about four or five days. The MH with 60 gal of fresh and 35/35 grey and black is at this time not all that different because of the grey tank filling first. When I can utilize some of the black storage for grey the time between fill/dumps should increase a few days.

I'm a little like lanztek with water use. After a hard days hunt a shower is wonderful, but if it means loosing a half day or more of hunting to go and dump the tanks the hunting wins and I just wash up. Scent cover spray and other smelly options seem to help the elk think I am one of them, which is what is important.

Best of luck with the selection.

Steve

puttin · 10-09-2017, 01:57 PM

"With our campers I devised a way to gravity transfer grey into the black tank when the grey was full. Our current MH has the black tank stacked on top of the grey so I am going to pump water from the grey tank into the black when the grey is full. That will provide a few more showers/days without having to dump/fill."

-Good advice. Our black and gray are at the same level so I just use a gate valve at the termination cap while keeping both the other valves open. Besides, when you don't use this setup you always have an extra valve for a spare.

lanztek · 10-09-2017, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

You must not do much if you only take showers every 2nd or 3rd day. Try riding bikes, hiking or just being in 90* days for a week with out AC.

We do plenty...ride dirt bikes, ATV's, some hiking, and just general camping in central Idaho. And yes, we are very stinky by the time we take a shower. But when you have x gallons of water and you need to make it last since there's no replacement, you do what you have to do...and showers are the lowest ranked use of water in our book.

Cumminsfan · 10-09-2017, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanztek

We do plenty...ride dirt bikes, ATV's, some hiking, and just general camping in central Idaho. And yes, we are very stinky by the time we take a shower. But when you have x gallons of water and you need to make it last since there's no replacement, you do what you have to do...and showers are the lowest ranked use of water in our book.

All that stink and sweat and you shower and still get into the same bed? Whatever works.