Helpful hints to extend the life of your dry camping trip:
Dry camping, or “boondocking” refers to camping at a location or campground that does not have any services (water, electrical, septic). So many New York State campgrounds around our area of the Adirondacks offer dry campsites, so here at Plattsburgh RV Store, we came up with a handy list of tips and tricks to extend your stay on your next dry camping trip!
- Upgrade to Lithium batteries: if your camper is equipped to handle lithium batteries, and you can swing the cost (they aren’t cheap!) then upgrading your RV batteries to lithium is a great solution if you do a great deal of dry camping. They are the most energy efficient battery for the purpose and are made to be drawn down to nothing and recharged without damaging the battery.
- Add a battery: if your RV allows it, and there is space for a secondary battery, you can grately benefit from purchasing a second one and wiring the two batteries in parallel. This doubles that amp hours availble to your RV, thus extending your dry camping adventure.
- Upgrade to LED lights: if your camper doesn’t already have LED lightbulbs in the fixtures, this is another excellent way to conserve battery power. LED lights draw far less power than the standard incandescent or halogen lightbulbs. They also have a substantially longer lifespan.
- Top off your propane tanks: this one is farily self explanatory, but nonetheless important. The more propane gas you have available to your RV, the longer you can stay off the grid. This is especially important if you are doing cold weather camping, as the furnace does draw a significant amount of propane.
- Bring along a grill: this has a variety of benefits. If you do not have to run your oven & range top in your camper, you can better regulate the temperature, especially during the hot summer months. Many table top grills run off of 1 lb propane cylinders, which are easy to procure, and will take the strain off of your RV propane cylinders.
- Fill your fresh water tank when your camper is level: in order to fill your tank to it’s maximum capacity, affording you the most water for your trip, make sure that you first level your camper.
- Empty all holding tanks: visit a local dumping station to ensure all of your holding tanks (grey water/black water) are completely empty before you head out on your next dry camping trip through the Adirondacks. This will give you maximum tank capacity for your stay.
- Use a water conserving showerhead: stop in to our parts store @ 240 Tom Miller Road and check out a selection of water conserving showerheads, most of which have a shut off at the head itself. This will lessen the quantity of water used when you shower during dry camping, thus conserving the water in your fresh tank, and contributing less water to filling your grey tank.
- Prewash fruits & veggies: washing your produce at home will also help you conserve your fresh water supply, and put less water in your grey tank. Have them all clean and ready to go before your trip!
