Best trip yet!

[Dray]

Went to Big Sur California a couple weeks ago.  Was AWESOME.  This was my 4th or 5th trip so I'm getting things figured out, which makes the trip more enjoyable.  Before this trip I got a BAL leveler and also a weight distribution hitch.  So, those two things made life easier.  Still having issues with water when I dry camp.  I mean...how to get water into the camper.  I know there must be an easier way.  I think the manufacturers shouldn't make the inlet vertical.  If they made it horizontal somehow I could just plunk a jug down ontop and let it flow into the water tank.  So any suggestions would be appreciated.  I have been looking for some way to attach a regular hose to a water container and then using gravity to fill my tank.  

When i was at Big Sur July 8,9,10 I saw a LOT of popups.  In fact I was wondering if there was a rally or something.  Were some of you there?  I happened to see one PU with a blue water tank attached to a white RV water hose.  I'm wondering...if you're out there how are you doing that.  

Thanks.

[MomboTN]

I was camping a few weeks ago at Indian Boundary campground in the Mountains of TN.  They had electric at the site but not water.  They did have water at two or three palces in our loop.  When I arrived, i used a hose to fill up by pulling over next to the water spigot.  After I ran out I needed 5-10 gallons for the rest of the trip.  I used what looked like a 5 gallon gas can that was blue and had "water" imprinted on it.  I just filled the jug then poured it into the side of the camper.  It was slow and a little heavy but it was the best I have used so far.

Good luck.

[Dray]

I was camping a few weeks ago at Indian Boundary campground in the Mountains of TN.  They had electric at the site but not water.  They did have water at two or three palces in our loop.  When I arrived, i used a hose to fill up by pulling over next to the water spigot.  After I ran out I needed 5-10 gallons for the rest of the trip.  I used what looked like a 5 gallon gas can that was blue and had "water" imprinted on it.  I just filled the jug then poured it into the side of the camper.  It was slow and a little heavy but it was the best I have used so far.

Good luck.

Thanks.  That's about what I do too.  I use a 5 gallong gas container which works ok.  It's just so heavy to carry and lift for so long.  I end up filling it half way and making more trips.  

I saw a thread before about this and there is an item for sale at camping world for about $87. It's a 45 gallong water tank you can put on your roof or in your truck that you fill up and then run a hose to the camper and it gravity feeds your camper.  So in a way you actually have 45 more gallons of water.  Kind of overkill for me and don't want it crushing my roof.

[Campaholics]

Dray,

We have two 7 gallon plastic jerry cans.  The caps have spigots on 1/2 inch pipe thread.  I bought a plastic pipe thread to plastic pipe fitting, put in a short (about 2 inches) length of plastic pipe, then ran a 12 lenthe of flexible tubing on that.  Still have to lift 7x8.33 lbs of water.
 
Transporting that 54 plus pounds of water is still no fun.  But, if you can get your hands a folding luggage cart at a garage sale, that will help a lot.
Bob

[robpoe]

A friend of mine who has a large camper uses a food grade long "garden type" hose.  When their freshwater runs low/out, they run it from their site to the spigot.  

Their grey / black water tanks are something like 40 gallons each, and their fresh is 40 gallons IIRC.  As long as they're equally using grey and black water, they can fill up once before they have to break it down to go dump.

80 gallons of water in a weekend is a LOT!!!

They don't take showers in the camper (even though it has a NICE shower in it) because we're only about 400 feet from the shower house normally..

[kwatson51]

We have the same affliction.
Usually carry 4 of the 7gal blue containers, but lifting those to fill the tank is a pain. Right now, I use a big-mouth funnel velcro'd to the side of the camper. It has made things easier and is now a 1-person job.

I am working on a solution to connect the pump to one of these blue containers, so that all my wife has to do is move a lever on a switch-over valve to start drawing water from there. I'll post the mod when I get it done.

[Dray]

We have the same affliction.
Usually carry 4 of the 7gal blue containers, but lifting those to fill the tank is a pain. Right now, I use a big-mouth funnel velcro'd to the side of the camper. It has made things easier and is now a 1-person job.

I am working on a solution to connect the pump to one of these blue containers, so that all my wife has to do is move a lever on a switch-over valve to start drawing water from there. I'll post the mod when I get it done.

YES  Please do.  Now that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.  I haven't thought about pumping the water into the tank.  Good idea.  Are you planning on using the water pump inside the camper already?

[kwatson51]

YES  Please do.  Now that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.  I haven't thought about pumping the water into the tank.  Good idea.  Are you planning on using the water pump inside the camper already?

Yes I am. I figure many of us have already paid for that expensive pump system (in one way or another), so why not just maximize the investment.

Still have some parts to find, but I am closing in on it.
Does anyone know where to get fittings for the Reliance Products blue containers?
Looking for barbed fittings that would screw into both sides of the existing cap (after removing the spigot).

[Eric Sass]

There are several companies who make a water pump that attaches to a drill.  They are inexpensive. If you have a cordless drill, you can use it anywhere.