West HELP! Boondocking with Bambi 16?

[Sparkle]

My shower setup: pop up tent, I stand on a water heater pan from Home Depot, I use a bucket and bowl for the warmed water and let the runoff go into the ground. I use biodegradable soap and do not not use this near a water source such as a creek. You should not use even biodegradable soap in a river or stream. I also use the tent for the clean waste pottie to conserve black tank usage. It’s fun to see how you can conserve.

[JavaCowboy]

Originally Posted by Silvr_Bullet

That’s great! Can I ask, where you were parked was there lots of sun? Do you have portable or roof mounted solar panels? Can you post a photo of your battery setup? I have an 80 watt roof mount and an 12 volt AGM, the refrigerator takes its toll on power with very limited indirect sun, I camp at a private campground in Cape Cod ( about 10 days no electric or direct water or sewage ) that doesn’t allow generator use ( never ) and had to remove my battery and partially replenish it with my 2000watt generator off grounds, very time consuming and inefficient.

I have two 12V Deep cycle batteries installed by the dealer behind the propane tanks. About 150 Amp hours. So far I only use my Renogy portable panels since I try to place the trailer in the shade when I can. Since most stuff runs of propane, including my fridge, my 12v usage is actually pretty small. I do not use an inverter or watch TV, etc. so very little draw.

I recommend portable panels with good extensions (I can place 50' away). Hope that helps.

[JavaCowboy]

Originally Posted by Sport 16 STL

Javacowboy
When you finished your trip your black tanks said 50%? How much fresh water did you have remaining? 4 showers, did you take them outside?
Anyone have a good outside shower curtain recommendation?
To those who are researching adding batteries or solar panels here is a good value on a solar generator. Has inverter and solar charge controller built in. Compare to goal zero and other companies. Add a couple of portable panels and you have greatly increased your power availably.

https://mailchi.mp/338b082fb2a5/we-r...7?e=c68a8b7a12

Thanks for the nice detailed boondocking postings.

Sport,
We took all our showers in the trailer. The magic tool for combined tank conservation for us is a small tub that fits in the kitchen sink. We catch water for cleaning dishes in the sink that can be tossed (depending on your location). We take that same tub and put it on the toilet in the shower and catch most of the water used for upper body cleaning in the tub. The rest goes in the shower and if done right only is only a gallon or so. Again, we are using the minimum water to get wet and rinse. We did refill the fresh water tanks on the last day with water we packed.

I have considered showering outside as well but I do not like that the shower is on the curb side where we setup chairs and rug.

Good luck!

[Len n Jeanne]

Ideally you can camp in a remote enough spot to skip the shower curtain for a back-to-nature outdoor shower. The caution being to wear flip-flops so that your feet don't get muddy. Otherwise, indoor bathing with sponge baths & limited shower usage as per JavaCowboy's strategy.

We've not tried this, but in an area with trees, it may be possible to string up a clothesline and hang up something like a sheet, tarp, or even old shower curtain with clothes pins on one or two sides.

You can also use the saved water to wash a few clothes.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by JavaCowboy

Sport,

We took all our showers in the trailer. The magic tool for combined tank conservation for us is a small tub that fits in the kitchen sink. We catch water for cleaning dishes in the sink that can be tossed (depending on your location). We take that same tub and put it on the toilet in the shower and catch most of the water used for upper body cleaning in the tub. The rest goes in the shower and if done right only is only a gallon or so. Again, we are using the minimum water to get wet and rinse. We did refill the fresh water tanks on the last day with water we packed.



I have considered showering outside as well but I do not like that the shower is on the curb side where we setup chairs and rug.



Good luck!

Purchase an extension hose or two.

[farafield]

Originally Posted by JavaCowboy

I have two 12V Deep cycle batteries installed by the dealer behind the propane tanks. About 150 Amp hours. So far I only use my Renogy portable panels since I try to place the trailer in the shade when I can. Since most stuff runs of propane, including my fridge, my 12v usage is actually pretty small. I do not use an inverter or watch TV, etc. so very little draw.

You didn't mention if you have 150ah with a 50% safe drawdown or 150ah total. With the refer on propane drawing about 1, that's 24 per day, 6 days if you run nothing else. But if you have 150ah total, that's a safe drawdown of 75ah meaning you can do 3 days. That's not including water pump, lights, water heater if you use them and the propane monitor. So it would be interesting to know how much your solar panels are adding back in if you're parking in the shade.

[JavaCowboy]

Originally Posted by farafield

You didn't mention if you have 150ah with a 50% safe drawdown or 150ah total. With the refer on propane drawing about 1, that's 24 per day, 6 days if you run nothing else. But if you have 150ah total, that's a safe drawdown of 75ah meaning you can do 3 days. That's not including water pump, lights, water heater if you use them and the propane monitor. So it would be interesting to know how much your solar panels are adding back in if you're parking in the shade.

I have 150ah total from 75ah deep cycle batteries. We use a portable 120w solar panel that is more than enough to keep the batteries topped off. I used a multimeter to check it. More furnace use might push the battery usage but for now we seem to be fine with our solar panel.

[CZPQ]

We have a 2015 Bambi and boondock often. Family of 4. Great basecamp for adventures. We run two AGM house batteries and top up with 100w solar (portable system from Renogy). LP fridge, furnace, water heater, and BBQ. We switched all bulbs to LED. We have two small inverters for laptops. Done. It means no AC and Microwave, but we rarely use them anyway. We really like just going where we want.