DRY CAMPING BASICS FOR THE FOURTH ANNUAL DESERT DUST RUN 01/2026
This primer will get you started on the exciting off grid
adventures you can have with an RV.
During this event, there will be no hook-ups and you
will need some basic tips for boon-docking/dry
camping. These tips will be helpful whether dry
camping in a parking lot overnight or for a prolonged
period of time while in the desert. The rig must sustain
itself using only the resources available for your
particular set-up while stationary. Discussing ways to
maximize your systems will allow for a more
prolonged period of time without needing to find a
dump station, fuel or water replenishment, which may
be inconvenient or not readily available.We each have different types coaches,
with different technologies and storage
capacities. Please use your specifications to modify the
basic principles of conservation of your limited
resources.
FRESH WATER
How do you make your fresh water last as long as
possible? FIRST, always start your dry camping with
full fresh water and empty grey and black water
holding tanks.For planning purposes, we average 4-8
gallons a day over 10-14 days. We shower (2 people),
drink water from our tank and use the bathroom.
Depending on your tanks sizes and needs, your reality
may differ. Because of the weight of water we usually
fill our tank the night before we head to our boon
docking adventure.
Water conservation is the key. Use as little fresh water
as possible.1. Minimize the length of time for running faucets.
Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or
washing your hands and turn back on for a quick
rinse.
2. For those without a ShowerMiser,
use a 1 gallon juice pitcher to collect the cold water
from the shower while awaiting an adequate
temperature for the shower. This 1 gallon pitcher
usually works well as it takes about 1/2 gallon to
get hot. This water can then be used for flushing the
toilet with the water pump turned off. This puts
water that would have been wasted in the grey tank
and uses less water in the black tank.
3. With a ShowerMiser diverter, use the bypass mode
(pump is running but no water is coming out of the
shower head) in which the water is recirculating
back to the water tank. When the blue sensor turns
whitish in color, you can then take “Navy showers”
(wet down 30 seconds, turn off the water, soap up
as long as you want as no water is running , turn the
water back on to rinse 1 min). While boon-docking,
we keep our ShowerMiser in bypass mode in
between showers. This prevents the cold water blast
when we turn it on.
4. We have been able to shower daily, as desired, and
have made close to 2 weeks without needing to
replenish water or emptying the grey tank.
However, you can also opt to take fewer showers
than you would when on hookups.
5. We use wall mounted liquid soap/body wash and
shampoo dispensers and minimize amount used.
You can also save water if you squirt five or six
shots of foam dispenser on your hands and scrub
thoroughly BEFORE you even turn the water on to
rinse.
6. Use hand sanitizer and wipes rather than using the
faucet but soap and water is still the best option. If
using the faucet, turn off the faucet while soaping
up your hands.
7. Use waterless shampoo and body wash ( no
personal experience with these products)
8. For coaches with electronic toilets, use the
low flow flush mode. Push and hold the flush
button until it blinks (usually 5 seconds). This will
take it from high water (1/2 full bowl of water ) use
to minimum water use (1/8 bowl of water). Our
long term former rally host informed us that we
have approximately 50 flushes to a full tank (don’t
ask)
9. Use paper plates to keep dishes to wash to a
minimum. One of our previous attendees suggested
buying the bulk cheap metal silverware to keep
down on plastic waste/garbage. We keep a tub
outside to soak and clean them every couple of
days, minimizing water use for dishwashing.
10.Turn off the automatic ice maker as this is the
second biggest power hog after the residential
refrigerator. We try and arrive with a full tray of ice
before we start boon-docking.
11. Turn off the water pump when not in use so as not
to waste water due to slow pressure leaks.
12.In the past, we have also brought one or two 2.5
gallon solar heated bags and gallon water jugs to
use strictly for dish washing with the ability to
throw the waste water onto vegetation to minimize
water and grey tank usage. We fill these up at our
last stop before going into the desert and store them
in the shower in case they leak.
13.In humid regions (Andy and Ellyn live in the
Southeast), we place a bucket underneath the
gutters to gather water from condensation. Again
works great for toilet flushing.
14.If using a crockpot, be sure to use liners to avoid
need for scouring and large amounts of water toclean. This one trick will save you gallons and gallons of water. Cleanup is throwing the liner out
and wiping up the spills and you are done.
CONSERVING GREY AND BLACK WATER TANK SPACE
Start with empty grey and black waste tanks. Steps
above for water conservation should also minimize use
of the black and grey tanks as well.
1. Always use as little water as possible when cooking
and washing. This wastewater goes into the grey
water tank. In Quartzite, Arizona, on the BLM land
where we hold the gathering we are told by the
BLM officials that wash water that never enters a
holding tank or from a wash pan can go directly on
the ground. So, we wash dishes outside and empty
the water onto the bushes and use it to put out the
campfires. Unfortunately we are not allowed to use
our secret weapon which is our grey tank drip hose.
2. You can catch cold grey water in sinks/showers and
putting this into the toilet or directly on the
vegetation where allowed
3. Again, navy showers as described above, use much
less water than standing under the running water for
as long as you like. Also using a foam soap
dispenser that squirts out foamy soap allows you to
scrub your hands very well before you even turn on
the faucet to rinse off. You can drain grey water
from the tank where allowed. We have a system that
will slowly drain into a tub with a water absorbent
towel minimizing grey water on the ground but
allowing emptying of the tank for maximal
capacity. However never dump grey or black tanks
on BLM or other public lands as you may be fined
heavily! Only grey water that has not gone through
the grey tank can be put on the ground per BLM
policy.
CONSERVING HEATING, COOKING AND HOT WATER FUEL
Arrive with full tanks of fuel and propane for heat and
energy usage.This section deals with ways to conserve the fuel
source used to heat your coach and the hot water you
use. With heat sources the only real way to conserve is
to manage usage (on or off) and rate (thermostat
setting). Turn it off or turn it down.
Conserving fuel used to be simpler as the source of
heat was almost exclusively propane. Today propane is
being replaced by diesel and electricity on most larger
coaches. DIESEL heating is GREAT as all you need to
do is have adequate diesel.
Since this seminar is dealing with dry camping where there are no electric
hook- ups,
I will address the “all electric” coaches first.
Hot water and interior heat come mostly from 12 volt
electricity and our Oasis diesel furnace.We find that if
it’s going to be a cold night, we turn on the Oasis and
set our thermostat to Aqua hot furnace mode. This will
run off of the house bank batteries. We have found that
the we only burn 2-4 gallons of Diesel in a 24 hour
period, if we leave the Oasis on for that time period. If
it’s not going to be cold, we turn the thermostat and
Oasis off for energy conservation. We have found that
whichever one of us gets up first in the morning, will
turn on the Oasis. 5 minutes later when it has cycled
off, we are ready to shower and after breakfast we shut
it off for the day. By doing this, it uses minimal fueland we have not needed to keep track of the amount used. If it’s going to be a really cold night, we fire up
the generator, turn on the floor heat ( takes a couple of
hours), turn on the Oasis and the electric water heater
option. We have found on our 10,000 watt Onan diesel
generator will burn an average of 1/2 gallon of fuel an
hour. If you do not have any solar, you will need to run
approximately 6 hours each day to recharge your lead
acid or AGM batteries. For those lucky enough to have
the new LIPO batteries, your charge time will be
considerably shorter ( 2-3 hours?). I find firing up the
generator first thing in the morning, while we shower
and make breakfast, makes the best use of the
resource.Before we added Lithium we would run 2-3
hours in the morning and let my solar take us to 100%
during the day. Later at night when we get back to the
rig, we will run the generator 2-3 hours to hold us
overnight.
Coaches with propane furnaces, water heaters and
cooktops rely on the amount of propane fuel you have
onboard. If you start your dry camping trip with
adequate propane you are good to go. Some coaches
with propane as the heating source have large propane
tanks and if you have over a half tank of fuel and the
nights and days are not always below freezing, youshould be good for over a week easily. Again, manage
your usage.
These “engine fuel” powered systems rely solely on
you having adequate fuel in your engine fuel tank to
operate. These systems have a built in safety feature
that they can not use the last 20-25% of your fuel tanks
fuel ( you won’t be stranded in the desert). Ted and
Ruth Ann’s Oasis system ran about 40 hours and used
an estimated 16 gallons of diesel fuel each of the past
four gatherings in Quartzite where they stayed eight or
nine days total. Their generator ran close to the same
number of hours as the Oasis system and used roughly
the same amount of fuel. Both units have hour meters
on them. We keep a log so we can plan future trips
knowing what to expect for our anticipated usage.
Important: All the above heating systems depend on your 12-volt
house batteries for proper operation of their 12-volt
control circuits. So, keeping these batteries charged is
essential.
PROLONGING BATTERIES AND MANAGING
GENERATOR USAGE
Again it is important to arrive with full fuel and heat
sources including you appropriate fuel, gasoline, diesel
and propane.
This section deals with how one maintains adequate
electric power while dry camping. As you likely know,
all electricity while you are unplugged from the “grid”
comes from one of two or three sources— either your
batteries, your generator, or solar. Solar panels are
outside of this discussion (come to Brian’s solar
seminar) for they simply act as another battery charger
just like your generator or engine alternator.
You have both 12-volt and 120-volt equipment in your
coach. Your “house” batteries directly supply all your
12-volt powered items like the factory-installed lights,
but not household lamps you may have added. Your
batteries’ 12-volt system also directly power the fans
that circulate coach heat, except for in-floor heating.
Other 12-volt draws are the controls on all water and
furnace heat and non-residential refrigerators. I
mention these 12-volt items specifically since you can
control the usage of these items, thus minimizing
draws.
When unplugged from shore power all your 120-volt
equipment is powered by your inverter or yourgenerator. Think of your generator simply as plugging into shore power for the time it is on and being
unplugged when the generator is off.
All coaches now have an inverter of varying size that
supplies 120-volts to only the appliances that are
connected to it. This connection is via a 120-volt sub-
panel of your main 120-volt breaker panel. Appliances
typically running on your inverter are microwaves,
residential refrigerators, wall receptacles in your living
room, kitchen, bathrooms, bedroom, and basement.
The hair dryer, microwave, electric coffee maker, and
residential refrigerator and electric Floor heat are the
biggest draw items usually on the inverter that you can
minimize in your coach.
When your generator is off and you don’t have solar
panels—all your electricity comes from your house
batteries either directly or through your inverter. If you
have not recently dry camped to test your house battery
condition you may discover your house batteries are
getting weak. You should know the condition of your
batteries since old weak batteries will vastly increase
the number of generator hours required to keep your
batteries adequately charged.Here are some suggestions for when you are dry
camping to extend your batteries and thus minimize
your generator run time.
Never at any time turn on or leave on any electric item
longer than necessary.
Consider turning on TV, radio, TV satellite box, night
lights, fans, and inverter only when needed. I
know this seems like a repeat of my first point—but it
is that important! For those with Electric Floor heat
Please Do NOT TURN IT ON. They are great while
plugged into City Services but are a Huge Drain on a
Battery System and only a very few rigs have the
battery capacity to support them. Our rig has 1,200
amps usable and it can not support overnight floor heat
as a example.
Fill your residential refrigerator/freezer to capacity to
improve its efficiency. Add water bottles (extra
drinking water) or food to both the refrigerator and
freezer.
Of course, close all windows and vents unless your
heat is completely off.
Cook with propane when you have this option. This is
much better than cooking with the microwave unless
you turn your generator on first.Run the generator first thing in the morning after the
quiet time for best efficiency as this is likely when your
batteries are the lowest. Only after the generator is
running start your coffee maker, dry your hair and do
whatever you want—just like you would if plugged
into shore power. Run it until your batteries are up to at
least 12.8 volts (lead acid Only!) measured ten minutes
after the generator is shut off! If you have a battery
monitor that displays percent of charge it should read
about 90%. This will likely take two to three hours.
Run the generator again if/when your battery voltage
gets down to 12.5 volts (lead Acid). You should not let
your voltage get below 12.1(lead acid ,50%
approximately ) volts often for you are subjecting your
batteries to a shorter life. The second-best time to run
the generator is while you prepare the evening meal
and/or watch TV in the evening. When dry camping,
you will likely need to run your generator two or three
times for a couple hours each time during the day/
evening. The number of times and the duration will
depend on the number of house batteries you have, the
amount of electric usage and your house batteries
condition. It is good to start your sleep cycle with your
batteries as close to a full charge if you can.
IMPORTANT It is easy to get behind on the charge cycles. It is better
to run the generator a little extra because you may have
a difficult time getting caught back up to full or close-
to-full charge once you get behind. Plan ahead, you can
experiment by simply unplugging—even where you
have full hookups—and see what your off-grid
capabilities are.
I hope this seminar helps you understand what you can
do to make your coach comfortable during an off-grid
experience whether you are dry camping for a few days
at the “Desert Dust Run” or staying on a public land
disbursed camping area or staying awhile in a friend’s
driveway or just spending a night in a parking lot.
Special thanks go out to our former host Ted and Ruth
Ann for passing on some of these nuggets of wisdom.
Happy boon-docking from your hosts for 2025 Andrew
and Ellyn Meshel, Steve Conant, JD & Heather Harris
Disclaimer
This is an informal, volunteer-organized gathering. By participating, you acknowledge that you are responsible for your own safety, well-being, and belongings. The organizers and volunteers assume no liability for accidents, injuries, illnesses, or damages that may occur before, during, or after the event. Participants are encouraged to exercise caution, act responsibly, and follow all local laws and regulations. Any payments made for shared meals or supplies are strictly to cover costs and do not constitute a commercial service. Attendance is voluntary, and participation in activities is at your own risk.
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