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Libero · 05-10-2021, 08:03 AM

Our Mantra is: that whatever steps you can reasonably do for contingency planning simply makes sense. For us, in part, this means travelling with full freshwater, empty grey & black thanks. Full propane and full engine fuel is ideal. We never let our engine fuel go below 1/2 under normal circumstances. Having enough food on hand of course complements this being prepared modus operandi.

Being prepared has enabled us to live through situations like being caught in traffic for hours on end, being stranded in snowstorms or on occasions when we have unscheduled stops such as we just saw a nice place and would like to stay for a bit, or for unscheduled maintenance stops without concern about the living situation.

Bedlam · 05-10-2021, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sw3

I always travel with full freshwater tanks you never what may happen while traveling.

I’ve spoken to those who have travel trailers and fifth wheels and the majority are more concerned about every bit of weight especially water.

Actually the truck camper crowd is the most sensitive to weight since the weight of the entire RV rides on the rear axle of your truck. Some weigh everything in their camper and keep a detailed list (followers of TCM), some buy a bigger truck (my case) and then there are the ones having no idea how much their setup weighs and they judge things by the seat of pants...

THEHOFF · 05-10-2021, 08:48 AM

I will with about 10-15 gallons. Just enough for the occasional bathroom stop. If I go further it might be 20 gallons, but never full.

Bazou7101 · 05-10-2021, 09:01 AM

I travel with about a third of a tank. If I go boon docking then I fill up at a place close to where I will be parked. There's really no need to have a full tank, there's little chance that you will use it on the road and it adds stress to the trailer frame, adds weight therefore increases stopping distance if you need to stop in a hurry as well as it pushes the suspension limit and tire wear and tear.

FredKate · 05-10-2021, 09:11 AM

We like to travel with the water tank light showing 2/3 full, which is about 30-35 gallons.

kmessinger · 05-10-2021, 09:24 AM

Our Travato is our earthquake and fire escape vehicle. Water is always full. Extra water always loaded. Gas never less than half. Ya just never know.

Mudfrog · 05-10-2021, 09:29 AM

Knowing that I'll be boon docking, traveling some distances, leaving the state, sure I fill the tank up.

For our usual camping around here, nah. Campground water could go down but, and I know it would be a pain, I could always unhook and go find water nearby from where I was staying. Being in the friendly state of Texas, I'd have no problem pulling up, telling of my situation, and asking a home owner if I could add water to the tank. Of course I'd offer to reimburse but I imagine most would tell me to keep my money.

Been camping a long time, been to many campgrounds, and have never had an occurrence where water went down.

My biggest reason for not keeping water in the tank,, I had a water pump leak when I wasn't looking. Had to remove the everything out of the bedroom, dismantle the bed frame, dry out everything, and have the carpet replaced.

permitwriter · 05-10-2021, 09:43 AM

I can't believe that I read more than 1/2 of this thread or that I'm adding to it. Full tanks are great for those with big diesels. I wish I could afford that but we can't. The CCC of my 33' gasser is 1455 lbs. A full tank of water is almost 500 lbs. I'm not willing to sacrifice 1/3 of the CCC just to carry a bunch of water.

We carry a little to flush on the road and just in case for whatever. Also 6 gallons in the water heater. I'm not going to drain that for travel.

We've never boondocked, always stayed in campgrounds, and fill up at the campground if we won't have full hookups. Have never run into bad water but could buy bottled water if that happened plus I carry a collapsible 5 gallon water jug that I could fill if I could find good water.

We have the toad if we break down and I have a setup where I can pump water into my tank if I can find a source of decent drinking water somewhere.

I don't believe there are right or wrong ways to do this. Whatever works best for each of us.

mike5511 · 05-10-2021, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by permitwriter

I can't believe that I read more than 1/2 of this thread or that I'm adding to it. Full tanks are great for those with big diesels. I wish I could afford that but we can't. The CCC of my 33' gasser is 1455 lbs. A full tank of water is almost 500 lbs. I'm not willing to sacrifice 1/3 of the CCC just to carry a bunch of water.

We carry a little to flush on the road and just in case for whatever. Also 6 gallons in the water heater. I'm not going to drain that for travel.

We've never boondocked, always stayed in campgrounds, and fill up at the campground if we won't have full hookups. Have never run into bad water but could buy bottled water if that happened plus I carry a collapsible 5 gallon water jug that I could fill if I could find good water.

We have the toad if we break down and I have a setup where I can pump water into my tank if I can find a source of decent drinking water somewhere.

I don't believe there are right or wrong ways to do this. Whatever works best for each of us.

I agree with that 100%. It is curious though, to see those who are fully capable of carrying a full load of water, and could one day regret not doing so, making excuses as to why they don't.

JCM · 05-10-2021, 11:06 AM

Always travel with a full tank (RO) as the weight seems to activate my suspension (Ford Transit) and give a smoother ride and I am prepared for the possible breakdown (has happened) where I don't have hookups - auto shop. Better to be safe than sorry.

Triangle Drifter · 05-10-2021, 03:44 PM

Full for us is 100gal. It really depends on many things. If we are headed into challenging terrain we might try to travel light. If we are in transit Wally camping for a few nights we may carry near full to start. If we are headed to an event, such as Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we are full to the last possible drop.

The view here is that it does not take much energy to keep weight moving. It takes energy to get weight moving & to stop it.

Nikcoh · 05-10-2021, 04:09 PM

I can't leave my home in NC with anything more than half a tank otherwise it overflows and floods my basement because of the steep roads I travel to leave my homestead. Once on the road I usually keep about 50 gallons in the tank and then there's the 10 gallons in my water heater. If I know I'm boondocking for an extended time I'll fill it to capacity.

JCM · 05-10-2021, 04:51 PM

I had the same problem - could loose up to 1/4 of the tank due to syphoning so I put a ball valve shut off on the overflow pipes. I just HAD TO REMEMBER to open it when filling then I closed it. When I got to my destination I had full a full tank but I also Immediately (first thing) opened the valve. I never had a plumbing problem on my 2 class A coaches over 10 years now I have a B+ and I haven't figured out if I have a syphoning problem. I will find out in 2 weeks.

PS56 · 05-10-2021, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXduo

I disagree.

More than once I have pulled into a campsite and their water was under repair and off, or had a "boil water" notice, or just tasted terrible. So if the current location has good water I depart with a full fresh (100 gallons) water tank.

You risked your life doing that?!

Go to walmart and buy some water.

Better yet go to walmart buy a 5gal jug and 2 gal dispensing jug. Fill both up at a filtered water station for .25/gal.