5 Things to Bring Boondocking

Boondocking is much different from camping in an RV park. Of course, I’m not talking about the parking lot version of it but actually going to an out of the way place and parking your rig in the boonies. Generally, there is no electricity, dump, or water for that matter. You must be completely self-contained to do it for more than a couple of days. Below is a list of five things that my wife and I always bring boondocking. We consider some of them a requirement, and others just make for a better boondocking experience.

Tote for Grey Water

The grey tank always fills up the fastest. Between washing dishes and squeezing in some quick showers, there never seems to be enough grey tank for our needs. We conserve water usage as much as possible by shutting off the shower when we lather up and only using it to get wet and rinse off. We use paper plates and cook on a grill to minimize dishes. Sometimes that just isn’t enough so we have purchased a 16-gallon tote. Sixteen gallons of grey water is pretty heavy so we reserve the tote for those times when we need to squeeze a few more gallons into the grey tank. We just hook it up and fill it to about half to three-quarters of the way. It gives us the necessary room, and we can still lift it up to attach it to our carrier in order to haul it to a dump station when we leave.

Related Read: How To Properly Empty Your Black Tank

We have a motorhome so hauling a tote back and forth is difficult for us in our tow vehicle. However, if you have a fifth wheel or trailer pulled by a truck, than you are in luck. If there is a dump station within driving distance, a waste tote can be filled up and driven to the dump station any number of times, making your waste tanks somewhat bottomless.

Collapsible Water Container

A collapsible, five-gallon water container is a must bring item. If there is a potable water source close enough to the campsite, this will extend your water capacity indefinitely. It is not always easy to get the water into your tank, however. There are a number of tricks RVers have used to get the water from a portable tank into their RV tank. Here is a video in which they use a combination of a hose and a device called a Water Thief to fill their Class C motorhome. Even if you aren’t able to get the water into your rig, the extra water can be poured into smaller containers to do dishes, flush the toilet, etc.

Solar Shower

Along with a collapsible water tank, I wouldn’t go boondocking without my solar shower. Since I’m showering with it, I can fill it up with almost any water source nearby. One of the biggest uses of potable water is the shower in your RV. Taking fewer showers is always an option. With a solar shower, I can shower outside and always go to bed clean.

It is important to use biodegradable camping soap when doing this. Many articles like this one recommend something like Dr. Bronner’s Soap. Biodegradable does not mean that it should go into the water source. If you want to take a solar shower, make sure you shower 200 feet away from water sources such as streams, lakes, and rivers.

Generator

I personally don’t see any reason to bring an RV capable of using standard 120V AC power and crippling its capabilities by not being able to use them. Sometimes when boondocking, the microwave or air conditioning is just necessary. A good generator capable of putting out the amperage your rig is rated for is a must.

If you have a motorhome, chances are you already have a generator installed on your rig. For those who live in a fifth wheel or travel trailer, you may have to get one installed. It is usually pretty simple to get a carrier for the back of a pull behind type RV that will support a generator. They are also making pretty quiet generators now, as well, so there is no reason to be out in the middle of nowhere hoping you have enough battery to last the whole trip.

Inverter

The generator mentioned above is a must have, but sometimes I want to watch TV for a little while or just charge my laptop. A battery bank can usually handle that if you have an inverter to turn the DC power into the AC power you need. By using an inverter I can usually get away with running my generator three times a day or fewer.

I will usually turn it on in the morning for an hour or so to charge or top off my batteries for the day. Depending on how much time I spent in the rig during the day, I may recharge the batteries for an hour mid-day. In the evening I generally run it for a good two hour period in order to ensure the batteries are charged up for the night.

Related Read: To Invert or Not Invert: RV Inverters Explained

There are certain things I can’t run off the inverter such as the air conditioning, but if the weather is nice enough, I can pretty much run any electronics I need off the batteries with an inverter. I only have to run the generator to keep power stored in the batteries. Of course, you could cut down on generator run time further with a set of portable solar panels. So far, my wife and I have not sprung for a set of them yet, so I can’t speak from personal experience how convenient they are or how well they work.

As you can see, most of the things we consider “must bring” boondocking items center around waste and fresh water. Water and holding tanks are what limit our stay in a boondocking location, so we center our efforts on devices or methods to limit or extend our water usage. The other two things on this list afford us the creature comforts we want in order to enjoy our backcountry stays a little more.