Any Experience With Class B RV's?

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

The main thing is you get to sleep in your own bed every night and cook your own meals (the option is yours) and therein lies the beauty of RVing. Oh! And you can go where you want to go, in your own time frame.

Yeah, there really are a lot of pleasures to camping - sanitation stories and jokes notwithstanding.

Case in point: next week we are taking a quick 4 day trip to a beachside campground (literally maybe 100 feet to the Gulf). We'll sleep in our trailer which will be clean and comfortable. We'll likely meet new neighbors, sip wine, read on the beach with temps in the high 70s, catch the news and weather on TV, sleep in, catch a nap beneath the pine trees. Total cost: $100 including most food.

I'll have to spend 5 minutes draining the tanks before we leave for home.

 

[REWahoo]

I'll have to spend 5 minutes draining the tanks before we leave for home.

OK, but when you're done satisfying the Mrs, don't forget to stop by the dump station on the way out of the park.

 

[W2R]

Ewww. I can guarantee you that I will NEVER buy an RV. Never, never, never.

I will always choose a home with city water and sewer, and will never deal with a septic system. I am too much of a city girl for that. I want to simply depress the handle of my toilet and forget about it!

Basically,

• I have worked hard all of my life,
• I am too old to change, and
• I deserve to not have to deal with poo if I don't want to.

YMMV and obviously does!! But as for me, I APPRECIATE the conveniences of living in 2009 as opposed to the Dark Ages or even the time of my great grandparents.

 

[RonBoyd]

... I want to simply depress the handle of my toilet and forget about it! ... YMMV and obviously does!! But as for me, I APPRECIATE the conveniences of living in 2009 as opposed to the Dark Ages or even the time of my great grandparents.

Yeah, DW used to feel the same way -- "they don't have 'room service'." She no longer harbors those thoughts since actually living in one. Of course, she only has to "flush and forget" -- she makes up the bed, I dump the tanks... a fair division of labor -- so it might not be a fair comparison.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Ewww. I can guarantee you that I will NEVER buy an RV. Never, never, never....YMMV and obviously does!! But as for me, I APPRECIATE the conveniences of living in 2009 as opposed to the Dark Ages or even the time of my great grandparents.

No, I don't think it would be a good fit for you .

 

[W2R]

No, I don't think it would be a good fit for you .

You're right!! On the other hand, if Frank ever decided to buy an RV (and do all the messing with poo himself, like RonBoyd does for his wife), I suppose I would ride along. I seriously doubt he would do that, but you never know.

 

[dex]

I'm a city boy and I was surprised how much I like RVing.

I'm wondering what a psychotherapist would say about those who have an aversion to draining the tanks - poor potty training; an inability for close personal interactions, annal retentive personalities?

If you really want to worry about germs and such watch people at RV parks - not washing hands after using the toilet; not washing hands after dumping the tanks. I use rubber gloves when dumping the tanks, tend to wash my hand more often at RV parks than I do at home and keep my hands away from my face.

Most if not all RV parks provide toilets, showers and a place to wash dishes. State and Federal RV parks facilities can vary from the norm. So, you don't have to use the RV's facilities if you don't want to and never have to drain the tanks.

 

[W2R]

I'm a city boy and I was surprised how much I like RVing.

I'm wondering what a psychotherapist would say about those who have an aversion to draining the tanks - poor potty training; an inability for close personal interactions, annal retentive personalities?

Probably all of the above! In my case, it's just a distaste for feces born from having changed every (cloth) diaper my infant needed changed, washing them, and so on. I don't ever want to deal with poo again.

Most if not all RV parks provide toilets, showers and a place to wash dishes. State and Federal RV parks facilities can vary from the norm. So, you don't have to use the RV's facilities if you don't want to.

That would work, for me, as long as I didn't have to wander through snowdrifts to get to the RV park toilet only to find it wasn't working.

I went to summer camp in Vermont as a child, and the restrooms were connected with septic tanks. No problem, though I never had to deal with the septic tanks. The camp counselors did all that.

 

[bbbamI]

TMI

 

[W2R]

TMI

Sorry!!

 

[M Paquette]

Hmmm... Such a fuss over dumping a tiny little sanitary tank.

I'm surprised Nords hasn't chimed in about dumping sanitaries on the ocean-going RVs of the submarine force. "Venting sanitaries inboard!" KaWHOOSH!

 

[NW-Bound]

I'm surprised Nords hasn't chimed in about dumping sanitaries on the ocean-going RVs of the submarine force. "Venting sanitaries inboard!" KaWHOOSH!

Sure he did. Follow this link.

...

 

[brewer12345]

Eh, generally the worst thing about dumping the tanks is that there is sometimes a line for the dumping stations on Sundays in the summer. Other than that, the average diaper is far, far worse. And I could probably bathe in the black tank effluent and be less exposed to "stuff" than when I dealt with one particular diaper-related incident that I will very kindly not detail here...

 

[Nords]

I'm wondering what a psychotherapist would say about those who have an aversion to draining the tanks - poor potty training; an inability for close personal interactions, annal retentive personalities?

Hmmm... Such a fuss over dumping a tiny little sanitary tank.
I'm surprised Nords hasn't chimed in about dumping sanitaries on the ocean-going RVs of the submarine force. "Venting sanitaries inboard!" KaWHOOSH!

I wonder what a psychotherapist would say about those who have a fascination with the operation, mis-operation, maintenance, and repair of sanitary tanks.

It's probably the #1 topic of discussion on submariner boards. And every sea story starts with the phrase "This is a no-sh!tter" when of course they're full of it...

 

[unclemick]

I wonder what a psychotherapist would say about those who have a fascination with the operation, mis-operation, maintenance, and repair of sanitary tanks.

It's probably the #1 topic of discussion on submariner boards. And every sea story starts with the phrase "This is a no-sh!tter" when of course they're full of it...

Sooooo - I guess there is no need to bring back tales of the home made disposal system for the fish camp in the Louisiana swamp. eh?

It's not bragging when you had the highest growing swamp cane for miles around.

Right?

heh heh heh - in the city now - no fish camp, no RV, no stories. .

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Because we're the type of people who can remember to never, ever lick our fingers...

I had a great laugh with that one!

 

[fisherman]

We just got back from a five day camping trip and had a full hookup site where the night temps went as low as 20deg. That makes for interesting issues with the septic line if you do not keep it all down hill. They make adjustable stands for this problem and the people that did not use them wished they had!

 

[dex]

We just got back from a five day camping trip and had a full hookup site where the night temps went as low as 20deg. That makes for interesting issues with the septic line if you do not keep it all down hill. They make adjustable stands for this problem and the people that did not use them wished they had!

Do you keep the valves open all the time when you are hooked up?
The way to do it is to only dump the tanks when near full - first black water then gray. This allows time for the solids to break down.

 

[fisherman]

You are certainly correct. When we are connected to a sewered site I do keep the valves open so that nothing is in the tank and I do not have to monitor levels. If you use the hose stands it works very well but only with them. I usually close the gray water tank valve the day before we are leaving to let that tank fill some and then I open it to wash the hose before disconnecting.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Though DH does the dump duty when we camp in our RV, I would rather have that job for a thousand years than change one dirty diaper. Seriously. Ugh! and Yuck!

Ours is quite simple and we do the black water then the gray water tank last. Stow the hose in one of those nifty hose-keepers on the back bumper, and you are done in 5 minutes.

 

[brewer12345]

I just dealt with a diaper that was far worse than an entire camping season's worth of dump station duty...

 

[RonBoyd]

I just dealt with a diaper that was far worse than an entire camping season's worth of dump station duty...

It all Depends.

 

[dessert]

It all Depends.

 

[Koolau]

For those who RV,

Rich mentioned a 4 dayer for $100. Sounds great but I wonder what investment you need to make such a trip possible.

Are there any estimates of what it costs for the actual equipment? If you could sell your house and live RV full time, it would have to save money over living in a house and traveling by car using Motel 6 or equivalent.

Someplace in between, there must be a "break even" point for the "casual" RVer. Anyone know what that is? I'll admit to being fascinated not only by the life-style, but also by the equipment. I always go through the model RVs when we find a show or whatever. But, my mental back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that you have to travel a lot by RV to save any money over doing it the old fashioned way (you know, sedan and a Motel 6).

Off the top of my head, I wonder about e.g.,

gas mileage vs a car
depreciation of a "dedicated" vehicle vs a daily driver which you need anyway.
opportunity costs or finance cost (or both)
RV park costs vs Motel 6 (esp. when it's a couple and not a whole family.)
storage - in my old MW life we had ordinances against some types of home-storage of RVs
routine maintenance of dedicated vehicle
breakdowns costs vs a car
propane for heating during winter
other?

Not trying to be critical at all. RVing actually sounds like an adventure and a very social thing and lots of fun. But my "cheap sob" nature would have to go through the calculations suggested before even thinking about an RV purchase.

Many of my co-w*rkers got into RVing and it always seemed to follow the same pattern. Young couple buys a tent to throw in the back of the car. They upgrade to a pop-up, then to a small camper, then to "big" camper and then a few even go to the "bus" type by the time they retire. None of this can be cheap and I wonder if it could actually be "worth it" on a pure cost vs "Motel 6" for traveling.

At this point this is no more than curiosity on my part. You don't see many RVs on Oahu (Maybe Waianae coast or the occasional beach park - more permanent than "roll-your-own" here.)

Thanks for any info and I'm sure YMMV

 

[REWahoo]

Many of my co-w*rkers got into RVing and it always seemed to follow the same pattern. Young couple buys a tent to throw in the back of the car. They upgrade to a pop-up, then to a small camper, then to "big" camper and then a few even go to the "bus" type by the time they retire. None of this can be cheap and I wonder if it could actually be "worth it" on a pure cost vs "Motel 6" for traveling.

Koolau, here are a couple of earlier threads on the subject. Bottom line, RVing part time isn't viewed as a cost saving passtime unless you have a very basic rig or tent camp. But then most hobbies aren't about saving money are they?

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...n-it-instead-of-a-traditional-home-32457.html

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/frugal-rv-planning-29669.html