Alright, now we know what boondocking is and how to go about finding boondocking locations. Almost anyone can go and dry camp for a night or two, but what about dry-camping for longer periods of time? Many locations allow you to boondock in one place for up to 14 days! In order to camp, without hookups, for an extended period of time, you’ll need a few things. Here, we’ll list each item and talk about how we use them for boondocking.

Power Source

A power source is the number one essential item for boondocking! First and foremost, you’ll need batteries. RV batteries store power. These will keep your essential items running: the fridge and any electrical items you may need like a coffee maker, water heater, or small appliance.

Generator

A generator is a great, budget friendly option for charging batteries on the RV. It does require gas, plus generators are loud, and many places do not allow the generator to run late at night or overnight. You’ll need to have enough battery power and charge to keep the essentials running through the night.

Some RVs come with a generator or you may have to purchase your own. When purchasing a generator, we recommend getting an inverter generator. Without getting too technical, a basic generator is less expensive, but tends to be less consistent (“dirty”) with the power output verses a cleaner output from an inverter generator. Some RVs and electronics have an issue with the “dirtier” power from a basic generator because it isn’t a constant 120v/60Hz. The price for an inverter generator can range from about $600 for 2500W to over $1200 for 3500W or more. This is the one we have for our rig.

Note: Most places have rules for generator usage, please respect the rules!

Solar

Some RV’s come pre-wired for solar. You can buy portable solar panels, which may or may not be enough to power your RV. If you live on just the basics (only using appliances and air-conditiong, etc as needed) and just want to keep your battery bank charged during sunny conditions, portable panels may be enough for you. If you are a power hog or want to live off grid comfortably with no backup source, you will need more solar.

The main concept behind solar for fully off-grid living (no generator) is to run everything you need off your batteries and have enough solar to recharge that usage. We will cover the topic of calculating how much solar you need based on your everyday living in a later blog post.

We had our solar instal professionally done by Power Up RV Solar. They do mobile installs!

Why solar? A generator is usually pretty noisy, and can distract from the wonderful sounds of the outdoors. The cost can range from a couple hundred dollars for portable solar panels to $30,000+ for large off-grid solar setups with large lithium battery banks.

With the prices of a full solar set up, you can see that a generator is an economical way to either start boondocking, or supplement a small solar setup while you try it out. Dry camping may seem enticing, but it’s not for everyone.

Portable Water Bladder and Pump

This is essential. The portable water bladder and pump help us keep our fresh water tanks filled, without having to move the rig to another location to fill up. Sometimes the campground/boondocking site will have water spigots on property, while other times we have to fill up at a nearby gas station or campground. Always call ahead to the campground to ask if you can fill up with fresh water, as sometimes there is a charge.

How it works:

This 60 gallon Water Bladder actually folds up to the size of a book for storage. We lay it out flat in the bed of the truck and fill it from a water source (mentioned above). We simply transport it back to the rig in the truck bed, and use this 12 volt water pump to transfer the water into the fresh water tank. It will also be filtered using our incredible, on board water filtration system from Clearsource. The process to fill the water tank with our portable water bladder takes about 20 minutes.

Water Filtration System

Since you’ll be using various water sources for filling up your water tanks, you’ll want some sort of water filtration system to make the water as pure as possible. We HIGHLY recommend this Clearsource Water Filtration System! It filters water down to .03 microns and even filters out viruses, it’s truly incredible! Because we installed ours onto our RV, it is able to provide the cleanest water to EVERY faucet in our rig!

Click here to watch our very informational how-to video about installing our Clearsource Water Filtration system on our RV.

Portable Dump Tank

We’ve all heard the quote, “Shidder’s FULL!” Well, sooner or later, you’re going to need to dump the tanks. We use Campendium to find nearby dump stations, or some campgrounds may let you use the dump stations for a fee (always call first.)

If you have a prime boondocking spot, you may not want to move the RV. This is where having a portable dump tank is a lifesaver. You can dump grey or black in it, and then haul it to a nearby dump station. You will need to make sure you know how large your grey or black tank is (whichever you are dumping) is the same size as the portable tank (not smaller) or else you may have a really nasty situation. These tanks come in different sizes, but we use this one.

And a Few More Things…

RV LOCK. Did you know that most RV’s are keyed the same? When staying out in the middle of nowhere, we love the added security we have with our RV Lock. We replaced our factory-grade locks for RV Locks. It works as a keyless pin-pad entry or by using a key fob! You can get one here.

Hitch Lock. Have you ever worried about leaving your rig in a spot to go out to explore for the day, if it will be there when you get back? Technically, someone could hitch up their truck and take your rig. We use this hitch lock to guarantee that won’t happen.

Grill/Cooking Grate. You can conserve battery power in the RV by not using electric kitchen gadgets (ex: instant pot or microwave) by planning meals to cook either on a grill or over a campfire. This is a “grate” option for cooking over a fire.

Wash Basin. This is helpful for washing dishes without putting water into the grey tank. We use our basin from our outdoor kitchen, however, this collapsible basin is perfect for storing when not in use. You’ll reuse the dish water from the wash basin for flushing the toilet. We’ll touch more on water conservation in our next blog post in this series.

Some of our favorite trips have been when we are boondocking in wide open spaces. Our favorite spots to date have to be boondocking near Grand Teton National Park and also on the Wall in South Dakota. Please reach out to us if you have any questions, we’d be happy to help!

Stay tuned for our next blog post in this series, where we’ll cover the topic of POWER/ENERGY usage while boondocking.

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