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Limiting Factor - Water, Battery, Freezer space, Toilet Paper?

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#11 Fishyhead

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Posted 01 May 2020 - 06:26 AM

I'm a solo backpacker who fell in love with camping on a motorcycle and my limiting factor was always water.  On those rare occasions where I was able to pump water, my limiting factor was fuel (gasoline on the bike or food on foot).


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#12 Wango

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Posted 01 May 2020 - 04:02 PM

Tough to answer, with the way we are set up now i think we could do three weeks pretty easy. We can carry thirty to forty gallons of water, two fridges and 65 gal of fuel, two full size propane tanks. Yeah, a while for sure. 

We spent 11 days on the same beach in Baja, mostly because of some friends, our problem though is we both get itchy feet pretty quickly, me especially. If there were alot to do in the surrounding area, and we brought the small trailer, we could stretch that out to something crazy.

Fun to imagine this kind of stuff.


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#13 craig333

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Posted 02 May 2020 - 05:47 PM

Interesting topic. I've never had the opportunity to spend more than a week on the road. I expect I'll learn some stuff the hard way once I finally set out. Power supply is indefinite. I expect water and food and laundry to limiting factors. Fuel could be but I have pretty good range with the 35 gallons of diesel.


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#14 Durango1

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Posted 04 May 2020 - 07:44 PM

1. Fuel? 52 gallon gas tank so conservatively 550-600 mile range on the highway. Probably 350-400 in 4WD in the back country.

2. Water? 26 gallon tank plus we can carry two 7.5 jerry cans of water plus 8 one gallon jugs of drinking water. 12-14 days easy.

3. Food? I'm kind of a kitchen sink quartermaster. As in on even a weekend trip we could always live for two weeks with the standard supplies on board.

4. Laundry? Way too many clothes. Two weeks easy.

5. Power? 160 watt panel with two of the standard 12V AGM batteries from FWC. Also have the folding suitcase style Renogy portable panel- I think it is 100 watts with a 30 foot extension cable.

 

Our longest time out with zero contact with civilization? Five days on the White Rim Trail two years ago and we loved it!

Steve


Edited by Durango1, 05 May 2020 - 05:35 AM.

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#15 fuzzymarindave

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Posted 05 May 2020 - 05:38 PM

Water- I keep my backpacking water filter pump (Katadyn) and purification tablets in the camper as backup. Not likely helpful though in some desert areas.
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#16 smlobx

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Posted 09 May 2020 - 05:55 PM

For us it depends on what kind of trip we’re hoping to take.

If the trip involves a lot of travel then fuel will be the limiting factor

If the trip is mostly stationary then water will be the limiting factor.

For the former of course it depends on what kind of driving we do but 3 to 9 days would be the range. When we did the Namib desert crossing in the 79 Series Land Cruisers the entire trip was either in 4 hi or 4 low. We carried an additional 7, 20 liter fuel tanks in addition to the 130 liter capacity of the truck. We made it to civilization literally on fumes and had to adjust out last day of travel to make sure we made it. That part of the trip was 9 days.

Water usage we estimate 2 gallons per person per day and in our Hallmark that will give us about 7 days. I’m contemplating carrying some sort of water purifier with us just in case. I think it may be good insurance.

When I was in grad school I met a guy who had been in the navy and served on a “boomer” submarine. He asked me what did I think their limiting factor on their ability to stay on patrol and I guessed wrong. It turns out that they use nuclear power so they have unlimited power, make their own water so food became their limiting factor. He said that when they left port food was literally stuffed in every nook and cranny on the boat!

Edited by smlobx, 09 May 2020 - 05:56 PM.

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#17 enelson

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Posted 01 July 2020 - 03:47 PM

Water has been our limiting factor. Our camper came with a tiny 12 gal tank that you’d be lucky to pull 11 gal out of due to the tap location. We are on our first trip after removing that tank and installing a 38 gal bladder from Fleximake. The bladders are good with using available space. You do need to make sure to protect them from chaffing and sharp objects. So far, the bladder has been the best mod I’ve made. I was SO sick of pumping out of jugs with a hand pump to refill our 12 gal tank.
C3C4A339-B3A3-4202-A1F5-EE25BC85A1CE.jpeg

Edited by enelson, 01 July 2020 - 03:47 PM.

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#18 Andy Douglass

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Posted 05 July 2020 - 05:39 PM

Aside from some survival situation, comfort would be the root cause of all of our limitations:

 

My wife and I are limited by our restlessness. We tend to stay 1 night at most places, to cover long distances to get to a more important destination where we stay 2-3 days. I can't think of a time ever where we stayed in one spot more than 3 nights.

 

If we weren't limited by that, our next limitation would be comfort in terms of supplies. We would probably start to run out of the types of food/beverages we enjoy after 5 days if we planned right. 

 

In cold weather, we have gotten close to running out of propane, but went out of our way to make sure that it didn't happen.


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#19 ntsqd

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Posted 05 July 2020 - 07:57 PM

Used to be fuel, fixed that with a 60 gal. tank. Old camper only had 10 gals. of water, but we normally carry a 5 gal. jug of drinking water so that rarely was an issue. Biggest limiter was my wife's ~3 days limit on no shower or bath. New to us camper carries a lot more water (i've yet to figure out exactly how much) and has a shower so that limit has been extended. I'm thinking of laying in a large stock of this stuff to extend our water range:

i-kttWXjC.jpg


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#20 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 05 July 2020 - 08:36 PM

Nice to see that's "organic".

Do you get that on Amazon?

Frank


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