What is your longest RV Boondocking time?

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by Dogman635UT

Now I have done some wonderful fun boondocking in some Okay and some truly wonderful places. There have been times we have wanted to stay longer. But due to some limitations, we had to pull up our stakes and move on sadly at times.

Now my question is what has pulled you away from Boondocking?
Time, Fuel, Food. Leaving for any reason and returning because of any of the above will stop the time count for your time totally Boondocking? So how long at one time have you Boondocked and in what type of RV?

You started a very interesting discussion thread ... and I totally agree with your criteria and your excellent definition of what "RV boondocking" should be and mean.

I read a lot about "expedition vehicles" and IMHO - given that these still qualify as "Recreation Vehicles" - some of these could indeed by used to camp on the far side of beyond in great comfort for weeks at a time under even extreme conditions.

For instance, read up on Earthroamer models: https://earthroamer.com/
and GXV models: https://www.globalxvehicles.com/
to see what rugged vehicle construction - when combined with large tanks and storage - can do for "true boondock camping"!

By carefully studying their published specifications and build techniques, one can learn what it takes to enjoy extended comfortable and safe boondocking time way out there.

[profdan]

Six nights (seven days) for two people. By that time, the gray tank (25 gal) is full. We often transfer gray water into the black tank. By the end of a week, it is time for groceries and laundry, along with dumping the tanks and refilling the water.

We do a lot of back-country boondocking, far away from other folks.

I should add that with a 120 watt solar panel, our batteries are topped off almost every day. We run our generator maybe once a year, and sometimes less. (Of course I run it at home once a month for maintenance, but not out in the forest unless we have to.)

[van-gogh]

Originally Posted by Pyropete

Camped close to a month in a 4 bedroom tent (like a "+" shape). Area about 8x8 for each bedroom. This happened at slab city years ago and I had run out of foot at about day 20 but the place back then was kind of a community and they had chow call and all that good stuff for the people that lived there. So I joined in. I have been hearing that place is now ruined though and there are druggies everywhere along with more trash and violent drug dealers. Oh and more mentally ill people just screaming for no reason and yelling at a rock or whatever. My buddy was there recently (and for the last time) but he saw a guy at a garbage barrel eating food covered in those meat bees (yellow jackets) yelling, "First you take the hammer and then you hammer it" while beating all the yellow jacket covered food into a mess and when he would get stung he would scream and run around before grabbing a handful of garbage and eating it.

Seems like Los Angeles homeless problem has now extended to the Salton Sea area. Sad, because there were some good people there and I am sure they probably left by now.

From what little I know about Boondocking, this is camping and not Boondocking. If I am wrong can you elaborate more thanks?

[van-gogh]

Originally Posted by Phil G.

You started a very interesting discussion thread ... and I totally agree with your criteria and your excellent definition of what "RV boondocking" should be and mean.

I read a lot about "expedition vehicles" and IMHO - given that these still qualify as "Recreation Vehicles" - some of these could indeed by used to camp on the far side of beyond in great comfort for weeks at a time under even extreme conditions.

For instance, read up on Earthroamer models: https://earthroamer.com/
and GXV models: https://www.globalxvehicles.com/
to see what rugged vehicle construction - when combined with large tanks and storage - can do for "true boondock camping"!

By carefully studying their published specifications and build techniques, one can learn what it takes to enjoy extended comfortable and safe boondocking time way out there.

If I understand Boondocking is not about the Motorhome but the style of living outdoors.

[van-gogh]

Originally Posted by profdan

Six nights (seven days) for two people. By that time, the gray tank (25 gal) is full. We often transfer gray water into the black tank. By the end of a week, it is time for groceries and laundry, along with dumping the tanks and refilling the water.

We do a lot of back-country boondocking, far away from other folks.

I should add that with a 120 watt solar panel, our batteries are topped off almost every day. We run our generator maybe once a year, and sometimes less. (Of course I run it at home once a month for maintenance, but not out in the forest unless we have to.)

Okay, thanks for 7-days total time. I'm not even going to ask how you transferred holding tanks without a word on special modifications being made to plumbing pipes.

[profdan]

Dogman, we transfer the gray water with a bucket -- and dump it into the toilet! Pretty low-tech solution, but it works. Our black tank capacity is 25 gallons, far more than we really need.

I should add that the reason we fill the gray tank in less than a week is that we take showers every night. Navy showers, but still showers. If you are willing to do without a shower, that would extend your boondocking ability. But having a hot shower with soap was one of the key reasons we got a trailer instead of camping in a tent.

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by Dogman635UT

Sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. So you did 5-weeks solo without any form of RE-supply?

Rita was our supply officer. A year and half later I am finally using up her stash of cans and hydrated food in case we found someplace along the way we wanted to stay longer. Having enough food or a month is not that hard so that is not an issue.

We bought a lot in Ocean Shores WA to build our retirement summer house. You can park your RV 90 days a year before building. Because it is all sand and trees setting up and breaking it down is a lot of work. It is a great place to do for walks. The IGA, bingo hall, and Mexican eatery are walking distance.

There all kinds of tricks to conserve water and fuel. For example, I boil water and use a French Press tor make coffee. This also takes the chill out on cool mornings. The extra hot water is poured over a wash cloth to wash my face.

I actually do the same when visiting my son. There you must run water for a long time before the water is hot.

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by Dogman635UT

If I am wrong ....

You are wrong!

There are some cases where you will always be wrong because there is no 'right'.

I was on a business trip with the 'composting' expert who corrected me about the use of the term as he defined it in his book. I replied that he was using a circular argument. I called it composting because that is what my grandparents called it. Sure you can put grass clipping and leaves in the garbage to go to the landfill or you mix them together to make a soil for your garden.

If you live in NYC anyone who compost in their backyard lives in the boondocks.

Another way to ask your question is how long can you stay in one place in a vehicle (using codes and standard for non-permanent living) without resupply?

[followingsea]

I like your idea of using grey water for flushing.

Originally Posted by profdan

I should add that with a 120 watt solar panel, our batteries are topped off almost every day. We run our generator maybe once a year, and sometimes less. (Of course I run it at home once a month for maintenance, but not out in the forest unless we have to.)

While I often critical of folks who spend thousands of dollars on solar, reducing your power use so that 120 watt panel meets demand makes a lot of sense.

What type of loads do you have on your battery?

[dix39]

Since the '90's, I've used an additional dump valve downstream from the other two that allows grey water to gravity feed into the black by opening the grey and black valves. For this to work both tanks have to be on a horizontal plane.

I built the installation for the first one I had, but they are now made by Camco and Valterra and commercially available. They simply attach as the slinky would and have an attachment on the other side for the slinky if needed.

I would wait until the grey was full and open it first and then the black, closing them in the reverse order while there was still some transfer occurring to avoid flow from the black to grey. It is possible there could still be some contamination occurring, but I never had a problem in 20+ years. That seems easier than pouring it from a bucket, although we have done that with water used for a "sponge bath" inside the camper.

The Flair had the black tank on top of the grey, so after buying one of the commercial fittings before determining that, I had to install, wire, and plumb a pump to move the grey to black.

However it is done, it has always extended our boondocking stays.

Steve

[Searching_Ut]

The secondary valve dix39 mentioned can also prevent unexpected surprises when you remove the sewer line cap. I've used one for that reason for quite some time prior to learning it could balance my gray tanks which is a great added bonus. Our current rig has 2 45 gallon gray tanks, and a 45 gallon black. Only 65 gallons fresh though which is stupid.
We occasionally go 14 days true boondocking, but generally choose to move on after about a week to 10 days primarily due to boredom, and we don't have to work hard at rationing water, and carry spare water that way.

[profdan]

followingsea asked about the load on our battery. We have two group 31 batteries, rated at 110 amp/hours each, which means they can only produce 55 a/h each before going below a 50 percent state of charge (12.1 volts).

So we are frugal with the juice -- LED lights, an absorption fridge, the water pump. That is pretty much it.

The biggest hog is the furnace -- four amps! But we only run it a few minutes a day -- while we shower in the evening. The rest of the time we bundle up. Nights are no problem -- a down comforter and several blankets. In the evening, my wife sometimes fixes an old fashioned hot water bottle to keep her feet warm when we are sitting at the table after dinner, reading.

Yes, we are "minimalists" -- guilty as charged. Part of the fun of boondocking, especially in cold weather, is living like the old pioneers did, as much as possible.

But that is fun only because we know we will eventually go home to our stick house, with all of its suburban comfort. If I had to live so minimally all the time, it would eventually get old.

Our longest trip involved six weeks of boondocking (one week at a time). It was great, but we were ready to go home at the end of that trip.

[van-gogh]

Originally Posted by Searching_Ut

The secondary valve dix39 mentioned can also prevent unexpected surprises when you remove the sewer line cap. I've used one for that reason for quite some time prior to learning it could balance my gray tanks which is a great added bonus. Our current rig has 2 45 gallon gray tanks, and a 45 gallon black. Only 65 gallons fresh though which is stupid.
We occasionally go 14 days true boondocking, but generally choose to move on after about a week to 10 days primarily due to boredom, and we don't have to work hard at rationing water, and carry spare water that way.

Large Gray water tank and a 45-gal Blackwater tank. Must be a larger RV?

[van-gogh]

Originally Posted by profdan

followingsea asked about the load on our battery. We have two group 31 batteries, rated at 110 amp/hours each, which means they can only produce 55 a/h each before going below a 50 percent state of charge (12.1 volts).

So we are frugal with the juice -- LED lights, an absorption fridge, the water pump. That is pretty much it.

The biggest hog is the furnace -- four amps! But we only run it a few minutes a day -- while we shower in the evening. The rest of the time we bundle up. Nights are no problem -- a down comforter and several blankets. In the evening, my wife sometimes fixes an old fashioned hot water bottle to keep her feet warm when we are sitting at the table after dinner, reading.

Yes, we are "minimalists" -- guilty as charged. Part of the fun of boondocking, especially in cold weather, is living like the old pioneers did, as much as possible.

But that is fun only because we know we will eventually go home to our stick house, with all of its suburban comfort. If I had to live so minimally all the time, it would eventually get old.

Our longest trip involved six weeks of boondocking (one week at a time). It was great, but we were ready to go home at the end of that trip.

So a good week of Boondocking. Thanks, I think, for the SOLAR Tips. YES, GI-Showers are just about a must in an RV. Don't tell my wife. We always do full hook up when she travels with the RV. She has to use the Washer and dryer every day and sometimes ask about getting some larger ones. I can't wait to tell her about the portable RV swimming Pools now available.