These are posts that are related to dry camping AKA Boondocking
This video updates you on how our Mr. Heater Big Buddy portable propane heater is making out after eight years. We often use it when dry camping to save on propane and battery power versus the large RV ducted gas furnace. It’s particularly helpful to take the chill off during long cool winter evenings when … Read more
The other day I replaced my old ShurFlo RV water pump with a higher quality Made in the USA brand, the USA Adventure Gear ProGear 5300. The ProGear 5300 is a more powerful pump with beefier “Made in America” components. The USA Adventure Gear company is a small business run by an RVer based in … Read more
Mid-December 2021 finds us camped at a favorite snowbird location. The Salton Sea State Recreation Area near Palm Springs. In the video, I give you a look at our camping location called Salt Creek, the terrain, and the wildlife. Later we took a short drive to nearby Los Palmas Reserve to check out an oasis … Read more
In this video, I take a cheap battery monitor w/shunt I had kicking around and repurposed it to show amps and volts coming off a 600-watt solar panel array. I wired it up to be able to be easily connected in line with the solar panel output cable. The main reason for this meter is … Read more
As a special gift to one of my viewers in the southwest this winter, I’ve decided to giveaway a little starter kit for off-grid camping. The kit includes a 100 amp-hour lithium battery, a 180-watt solar panel, and a 30 amp solar charge controller. All you need to do is provide your own wire, connectors, … Read more
In this video, a few tips and tricks for bringing water to and filling the RV tank at our boondocking campsite. I demo myself filling my Aquatank 30-gallon water bladder at a State Park water spigot with no threads for the hose. For that, I use a rubber connection device called a Water Bandit. So … Read more
In this video, I demo and review a 100 amp-hour 12V lithium battery from Aolithium. The battery looks well made and utilizes quality components like grade “A” CALB brand lithium cells. But what intrigued me was the inclusion of Bluetooth data connectivity. A feature not often seen in a battery that sells in the same … Read more
Usually, a couple of times a year, Anne and I visit my sister and her family at their home in Victoria, BC. We can park our RV in the driveway and hook up to power and water, but no sewer. Not having a sewer hookup limited our stay. Once the waste tanks filled up, we … Read more
In this video, I demo a 180W solar panel from a company called BougeRV. I have reviewed their 170W panels in the past, but this is the newer, more powerful panel. Overall, it looks like an OK panel build-wise and puts out close to the max-rated watts in my tests. I tested charging a 12V … Read more
A couple of little boondocking tips to do with water. First, a quick and easy way to top up gravity fill freshwater tanks using a siphon hose called a FloTool. Second, the way I keep tabs on our water heater temps using a fridge thermometer with its probe stuck under the water heater styrofoam casing. … Read more
I thought now would be a good time to publish an update on a pair of my core RV boondocking products I have previously reviewed. First, the heart of our system, three Lion Energy Safari UT1300 lithium-type batteries. Second an Energizer 2000 watt gas generator from Midland Power. I’ve used the products for a decent … Read more
In this video, I demo a lithium battery-operated portable pressure washer from Lippert called the Power Max Pro. The Power Max Pro is Lippert’s new replacement to the previous Flow Max I reviewed last year. Now that we are back out doing some RV traveling again, I’ve been able to test it out more. It … Read more
In this post, I demo and review an interesting portable fridge/freezer product from ACOPOWER. Their LiONCooler portable fridge/freezer has the ability to be powered by an AC outlet, DC car charger, and a solar panel. Even cooler is it comes with a removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack that can power the LiONCooler all on its own! … Read more
In this video, I demo and then install a Go Power! TS-30 transfer switch into my 2011 Keystone Cougar fifth-wheel trailer. I’m using the transfer switch to automatically and safely transfer input power between my Safari ME portable power station’s 2000W inverter output and the 30 amp shore power when I plugin at a campground. … Read more
In this video, I review the Safari ME portable power station from Lion Energy. This isn’t my first time reviewing a Lion Energy product. In fact, two years ago I installed and reviewed their UT1300 12V RV lithium battery offering. Over the months that followed, I published a number of updates and demo videos. They … Read more