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When The Power Has Run Dry

What if, despite all your expense and efforts, you find your battery dwindling and your propane tank dry?

Electrical

Assuming all your charging stuff is hooked up correctly and functioning properly, for the battery, this means one of two things.

• You have a battery in poor condition and it will no longer hold a decent charge. (Ain't it funny how that happens in the middle of nowhere when there is no auto parts store?)

  I can't help you there. Grin and bear it until you can replace it. 

• You are consuming more power than you are able to replace.

In the case of the second choice, common sense prevails. You have to cut back on your consumption. An excellent way to do this is to have manual back ups for commonly used systems.

Conservation

• Install a hand pump at your sink. Always use it if you are unsure of charging conditions. If you can't, carry empty water bottles. Fill them and do it like you did when tenting! 

• Don't use the "fun" items, like TVs and permanently installed Radios and DVD players and such. If they can also be run off traditional small batteries, great! If not, you'll live for one night. I promise. Give your battery a chance to catch up. You most likely will be watching tomorrow night. 

• Bring Flashlights, either battery or LED Dynamos. They give off functional light, it just isn't as elegant as you planned. You can still turn on your house lights, just use them for what is the direct task at hand and shut them off. 

• When it's hot, open windows and sleep on top of the bedding. Stay outside longer. Bring small desktop battery powered fans. Go for a swim. 

• For those that can not live without their laptops, shut it down to charge it. Do not run it off an inverter while using it. This consumes lots of power to get the screen lit up. Use it until the laptop battery is empty, then shut it down, plug the power supply into the inverter and wait the hour or so it takes to charge. Repeat as needed.
  Charging the battery in your laptop is nothing to your house battery. Getting the laptop lit up, is another story. 

• Do not use any items requiring an inversion. I make an exception with the laptop, as computers are very sensitive to clean power. My comp also ultimately runs off 18v when the power supply converts down, and I have no reliable source of 18v DC. (I suppose they make a doohickey for this, I just haven't searched for one) 

• If you have a choice between incandescent light, fluorescent light, LED or Cold Cathode, always make your first choice in reverse order of how this is written.

Boosting

• If you absolutely NEED to have the electrical power, charge with your car just enough to give you what's lacking. You can also run the car long enough to get power from IT'S battery to run your item. Be very careful when doing this. Your car battery is NOT a deep cycle battery, it was not designed to run appliances. If discharged often enough, it will die a horrible death. If you discharge it often and deeply enough, you are stuck. In the woods. With the hungry bears. 

• Use your generator if you have one and you have it with you. That is why you bought it.

If you have installed all the alternative items mentioned on these pages, it is unlikely you will ever have this problem. It does happen though. Be prepared!

Propane

On occasion, everyone of us will get stuck with an empty house propane tank. There are scads of meters and gauges to help let you know when you are low, none of them an exact science, and despite what they say.. you WILL run out in a most untimely manor at one point in your life.

Once again, have back ups.

• Most folks carry an outdoor barbeque, either gas or charcoal fired. This can be used for all your cooking needs OUTDOORS and can also provide hot water. Never bring a camp stove inside a trailer if it is charcoal powered.
  It is iffy to bring a gas one in, just be careful. Turn the burners low and off when not in use. Just like you would your permanent one.  

• Carry a few of those icky 1lb canisters to run the stove if it is gas. You may have your stove adapted to use the big tank, but keep the junk you need to go back. This is also necessary if you have aux. heaters like my Black Cat. 

• Adaptors can be had to run your House appliances off the little canisters. Invest in one. You'll consume tons of them if running a heater and fridge, but at least you will have working stuff. 

• Your fridge is basically a powered cooler. It will work, after a fashion, as a standard cooler if you plan your openings. Leave it closed as much as possible and only get in there when truly needed. Get items out in multiples.
  I have seen some folks use regular coolers for storage and then if they have an emergency, move their food to them. 

• Your beer and soda will cool down overnight UNDER your trailer, even in the hottest environments. Put it under there, in the shade and pull it out and toss in the fridge in the morning, before it warms up. It will stay cool, not ice cold, and will help keep other items cool. 

• Keep "Blue Ice" in the freezer. These will last a good long time in helping keep the fridge or cooler temp down.

The jury is out on using your lantern inside. I know some folks that do. After all, we used them in tents where the fire danger is 10 times worse than in a trailer. They consume oxygen however, and lots of it. They give off fumes. These two items make me wary of bringing it in. Do so at your own risk.

Personally, I have a small solar charged light that can be brought in. (See Fun Toys)

When all else fails.....

Campfires give off light, and heat. Use them and enjoy.

I bet I have told you nothing here you didn't already know. When in a pinch, rely on the old tent camping methods. It's pretty simple. And much more pleasant with a solid roof over your head.

Remembering
 how it used to be..