Short Term Dry Camping Solutions

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by jmgreer1

Anything else? I'm not looking for solutions that would be anything more than a stay-over night while on the road to somewhere if needed.

One thing I didn't see anybody mention is that you asked for a way to recharge phones without AC. You can recharge your phone from the DC circuit just by adding a USB outlet onto your existing DC wiring (a lot of trailers nowadays already come with these). Obviously, you still have to manage your battery capacity – but I have heard of people running CPAP machines all night on their DC circuits (they are really 12VDC devices so you just replace the corded transformer with a straight 12V cord), and I imagine they pull more than recharging a phone.

[MarkEHansen]

Yeah, just use your car phone charger and plug in to the 12 outlet behind your TV (or wherever it is in your trailer). Easy.


It really doesn't make sense to use an inverter or generator to produce 120v AC just to then use an adapter to convert it back to 12v DC. Just go 12v DC straight through.

[apachewolf]

Why not just buy a 12vdc TV? They are available and most even have a DVD player built in.
Another thing is that there are way fewer WALMARTS that allow overnight camping. It's a city or county problem often because of RVers misusing the overnight stop. They extend their slides and even set up outside chairs and tables just as if they were in a regular campground. But I do believe that many of the newcomers will fade as they find out what is really involved in being an RVer. Many I had talked to just got into it because of Covid 19 and had and still have no idea what is involved in going this route.

Happy camping.

[TXMikey59]

Have you thought about getting a solar generator? I've got a Jackery 1000 that I use to power a drip coffee maker, along with a TV, and a smaller unit to power my CPAP and charge phones/tablets. They are portable and brought into the trailer so you don't have to worry about chaining them up at night. I recharge them during the day with their solar panels, but you can also charge them with AC or your vehicle's 12V outlet.

I've got a gas generator, but can go all weekend without starting it up by using the trailer battery for lights and furnace, and the Jackerys for things like coffee, TV, laptops, etc.

[pikespeakviewer]

We take a portable power station/jump starter with us. It can charge items through USB. The kids take their ipads to watch downloaded shows and can charge them as needed (charges phones too). This portable power station has lasted a week of charging devices daily.

As for the much needed coffee situation... we use a press style coffee pot and use our stove to heat the water.

[rjrelander]

Originally Posted by TXMikey59

Have you thought about getting a solar generator? I've got a Jackery 1000 that I use to power a drip coffee maker, along with a TV, and a smaller unit to power my CPAP and charge phones/tablets. They are portable and brought into the trailer so you don't have to worry about chaining them up at night. I recharge them during the day with their solar panels, but you can also charge them with AC or your vehicle's 12V outlet.

They are a little pricey, but I was looking at the Jackery rechargeable inverters as well. Wouldn't want to do any arc welding with them but they would be nice for low demand backup power. In addition to parking lot and wilderness camping, there are many nice non-electric campgrounds out there that do not allow gas generators.

[jimborokz]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

To get around the coffee maker, carry a non-electric old fashioned camping percolator that you set on your stove top. In your camper's case, the gas stove top. No need for electricity. click here. $45 is way too much. I didn't pay near that much for one in a sporting good store.

I picked one up at a garage sale for 50 cents and just keep it in the cupboard for back up in case I need to use propane for coffee.

[KimNTerry]

DW wants to be able to blow dry her hair even if Boondocking and we like to watch movies at night when we camp.

We have an 1800 Watt Xantrex Inverter Charger (40 amp charger) with built in transfer switch (replaces converter) all outlets are powered the inverter.

Up to 4 6 volt batteries (Sam's Club). I take 2 out if I know we are staying somewhere with power but we mostly boondock.

We can go 3 days without recharging the batteries.
For recharging and/or other higher demand power requirements I have 2 Yamaha 2000 Inverter generators that can be run in parallel. I typically only bring one generator though as I prefer to camp where I don't need AC. I will bring both if we are going to use the AC.

Alternately if only worried about a single night a simple 150 watt inverter that plugs into a 12 volt outlet is sufficient for most TVs we started with that until the inverter solution was installed.

Coffee solution:
Sorry but percolated coffee is just wrong (too bitter)

Boil water in a pan and put in Thermal Carafe the carafe we use keeps the water hot most of the day.

DW likes tea and I do pour over drip coffee. Single cup silicone cone with #2 size paper filter makes for easy cleanup with little water.

Cone I use
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Filters
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also have a larger #4 size cone I can make coffee into a second thermal carafe if we have additional coffee drinkers around.

[JRTJH]

We use a Melita Coffee Maker. Boil water, pour it over the coffee grounds and drink... It makes 36 ounces of coffee per pot. That's about 4 "decent size mugs" of coffee. Easy to use, cheap to buy and doesn't "perk" the coffee....

https://www.amazon.com/Melitta-64044...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[tanglemoose]

Our kids play card games but know this generation likes their movies... my tablet plays movies and I can charge off my USB ports... better than tv uses no battery power.
We have solar system that keeps the lights on, batteries charged, furnace running. But we conserve... I use solar lights from mpowered... we have led... but like our solar for night lights etc.

[CedarCreekWoody]

A French Press coffee maker is also a non-perk option.