By Cheri Sicard
Ready to ditch the hookups? The team from Called to Wander produced the video below with 20 dry camping tips that work whether you are boondocking for free, in primitive campgrounds like in national forests, at Harvests Hosts, or even when moochdocking on a friend’s property.
If you have never tried dried camping I urge you to do so. You will be well-rewarded with beauty and experiences you could NEVER have in an RV park! Not to mention, dry camping is low-cost and oftentimes free.
I will put in the disclaimer that the tips below are for dry camping for longer periods of time. Little to no advance prep is usually needed to go off-grid for a night or two.
Best dry camping tips
#1 Bring as much water as you can. Fill your freshwater tank, fill large water storage containers, and even fill your personal water bottles. Just go ahead and fill everything you can.
#2 Start with empty gray and black water tanks.
#3 Top off your propane tanks.
#4 Stock up on food. Bonus tip: Preparing meals in advance cuts down on meal prep time and dishes you would need to wash.
#5 Practice water conservation techniques. Watch the video for details and demonstrations.
#6 Practice power conservation techniques to extend battery life. Again, the video gives tips. You will also want to have a way to restore the batteries. That could be solar on your RV, a portable solar power station, or a generator.
#7 Minimalize waste and trash. Again, the video gives tips.
#8 Things you should have while dry camping:
- The video recommends a puppy. Of course, this is optional.
- Solar power, although if you only dry camp for a day or two at a time, you can get by without.
- A generator is great for when you don’t have a lot of sun.
- Inverter gives you the ability to run all your devices and appliances.
- Cell booster – The video claims it can give you an extra two bars of cell service.
- Extra 5-gallon containers for fresh water.
- Solar shower – Gives you hot water to shower outdoors.
- Collapsible dish bin – Put in the sink to save water when washing dishes.
- Body wipes – Can help you avoid extra showers.
- A headlamp – Great for navigating around the campsite at night.
- USB rechargeable fans to help keep you cool.
- LED lights – Replace all your RV’s lights with LED lights as they use minimal battery power.
- Battery monitor to always let you know how much power you have.
Do you have other dry camping tips? Be sure to drop them in the comments below.
##RVDT2174
Bob Difley recommends waking at dawn and going to bed at sunset to minimize energy use.
That seems like real overkill to me. No thank you!
I agree, plus the longer you’re awake the more you find that needs to be or can be done and hence the more power and water you’re likely to need and use.
We have rooftop solar and a generator, but have camped in USFS and NPS cgs. where we were in shade and no generators were allowed. So, we also have a 100w portable solar panel to extend our stay in those cgs.
We also replaced one TV with a 12v TV. That allows its use when not connected to 120v AC power and to prevent needing to run the generator. Having solar means our 3 year-old generator only has 15 run-hours and 90% of that is from periodically exercising it.