Ep. 84: 10 Boondocking Do's and Don'ts | RV camping tips tricks how-to etiquette

[Music] hey friends welcome back to grand adventure I'm your host mark Guido and for us RV camping is all about boondocking out in nature in pristine environments in today's episode we're going to talk about Papa boondocking etiquette make sure that you remained a good camping neighbor so stay tuned [Music] [Music] now I'm back in episode 6 entitled boondocking 101 we shared with you how to go about finding spectacular boondocking locations we'll link up here to that episode if you haven't already seen it but today we'll take that a step further and share 9 informal yet generally accepted principles of what to do and what not to do while boondocking on public lands now the first subject we'd like to tacko is our personal pet peeve leave as much space as possible between yourself and your neighbors [Music] remember when you're around boondocking on public land you're not in a campground most folks ourselves included we Boone down to get as far away from others as possible and enjoy nature now having someone Park 20 feet away from our rig when there are plenty of other spaces available and that destroys that solitude there are some spots that are obviously intended for large numbers of rigs in close proximity to one another like this boondocking site near Silverton that we visited this past summer but otherwise make sure to pick a site as far away from your neighbors as possible if you can't find a spot at least several hundred yards away from your nearest neighbor that area is already full just like a fully occupied campground would be full seriously go search another area now weather boondocking on BLM our national forest land use only existing roads to access your site and pick a site that has been used previously often marked by an existing fire ring this minimizes the impact of camping upon the land different agencies have different rules on how far from an established roadway you may camp so make sure to check the motor vehicle use map if camping on national forest land or local BLM restrictions when camping on BLM land [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] likewise different agencies and locations have different rules on how long you may stay in one spot you know how far you have to move if you want to stay in the area beyond that most areas have a 14-day stayin limit but it really does vary from place to place and it's your job to know those rules and part of being a responsible food doctor is abiding by those rules campers using public lands for longer stays jeopardize the availability of those areas for camping in the future now nothing is more disheartening to us then arriving in a campsite only to find that the previous camper didn't pick up after themselves this past summer that is ranged from bullet casings and broken glass littering the ground to even bags of trash left around the campsite this not only damages the environment but can also lead to agencies closing off popular boondocking areas so be sure to leave no trace we do our best to always leave a campsite cleaner than we found it in some areas where we've not even found an existing fire ring we've buried our campfire the next morning to restore the area to the way we found it and remember things like plastics and metal cans they don't burn in your campfire earlier we mentioned leaving adequate space between campsites but out in the boonies sound can truly carry long distances especially at night that means being conscious of your noise and respectful of your neighbors if someone else is within earshot limit generator used to the same quiet hours that you'd find in a campground point the exhaust away from neighbors if you own a loud open frame construction generator it's time to upgrade to a quieter inverter generator folks may not appreciate your taste of music and we love our dogs but there's nothing worse than hearing someone else's barking dog all night remember - the light is just another form of pollution and your outdoor lighting may disturb your neighbors appreciation of the dark starry skies above their campsite speaking of dogs our two pups are one of our biggest motivators - boondock being away from others permits some time for our dogs to spend off leash however if we've got neighbors the dog state on a leash not everyone loves your dogs or appreciates being accosted by our two overly affectionate retrievers if you're close enough to neighbors that your dogs may wander over to their campsite or greet walkers on the road or even harass wildlife in the area it's time to keep them on the leash we're planning an upcoming episode form of our tips for RVing with dogs Forest Service and BLM roads can be very dry and dusty there are often children playing around campsites too for that reason whether you're driving your rig or buzzing around on your ATV slow down when approaching someone's campsite and take it easy until you're past it and when you're getting ready for your evening campfire some Bubba clans have restrictions on gathering firewood if it's permitted though only retrieve deadfall to fuel your campfire never ever cut a standing tree even if it looks dead or diseased the doing so contradicts the principle of Leave No Trace anyone who spent time in the western US understands the dangers posed by an out-of-control wildfire many wildfires are caused by improperly attended campfires when leaving your campfire make sure that it's out dead out saturate it with water until it's cold to the touch when appropriate also bury the cold embers ash and coals to eliminate all evidence of your campfire folks often ask us if we feel secure boondocking in remote locations and we can honestly say that we've never felt uncomfortable boondocking way out in nature criminals look for easy targets and wandering around in the boonies looking for an unsuspecting mark isn't the most efficient way to be a criminal that said before we leave camp to explore for the day we'll lock up a few key valuable items including our generator and solar panels we're sure to lock the door to the rig other than that though we worry about little else our patio furniture and other less valuable items sit outside while we're gone and we've never had anything walk away so most of the things we've discussed here boiled down to simply being respectful of your neighbors and their camping experiences nothing we've talked about is rocket science it's common sense respect for others if you're new to boondocking once you've camped in a remote location relying on your rigs self-contained systems and enjoying your place in nature you'll never look back now we hope that these tips can help to make you a better Boone docker and enjoy camping even more now do you have tips on boondocking etiquette to share with your fellow grant adventurers put them in the comment section down below this video and also down below make sure that you give us a thumbs up if you like this video if you're not yet a grand adventurer we have a subscribe button down there in the corner right for you to hit right now and until next time please remember life is nothing but a grand adventure we'll see you soon [Music]

Channel: Grand Adventure

Views: 134,617

Rating: 4.8832421 out of 5

Keywords: RV, boondocking etiquette, boondocking, rv camping, RV boondocking tips, camping tips, RV camping tips, camping etiquette, boondocking rules, camping, RVing, rv life, travel trailer, camp, dry camping, dispersed camping, outdoors, rv boondocking for beginners, free camping, free campsite, national forest camping, blm camping, how to boondock, how to boondock in an rv, camping advice, boondocking advice, boondocking instruction, rv living, how to camp, camping how to, travel

Id: 3751kg4jhts

Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 30 2019