0 RV Boondocking Project - DIY Installation for a Reverse Light

One of the most difficult tasks when boondocking is backing your RV into a suitable area. This can be made even more challenging if you don't have reverse lights on your RV and it's starting to get dark. In many cases, In our case, we usually don't reach our destination until it's gotten pretty late in the day. Without decent back-up lights, you could risk serious damage to your RV.

RW, Jr.'s RV didn't have any reverse lights and it really made it difficult to back-up when there wasn't much daylight left. To remedy this problem, I installed an LED spotlight on the spare tire carrier on RW, Jr.'s RV. If we wind up getting set up late in the evening, we don't have a problem because of a lack of daylight.

.The main obstacle was making a mounting bracket for the light. Replacing the existing taillights with ones that incorporated reverse lights was a pretty expensive proposition and they wouldn't have provided very much additional light. Standard reverse lights aren't very bright and wouldn't be a lot of real help when it gets dark.

I used an old aluminum bracket and a piece of 1/2" electrical conduit that was in my junk pile to fabricate a mounting bracket. It only required a couple of holes to be drilled in the spare tire mounting bracket to attach the light. I mounted it in a centered position that enabled the light to be used to its maximum advantage. This gave the maximum amount of light coverage.  

The light was wired directly into the trailer wiring harness to the reverse light wire which hadn't been hooked up. Now RW, Jr has a spotlight that works any time he is backing up his RV. He can also see me when I'm guiding him into place if it's dark. I used a  10 watt 12 volt  DC LED Floodlight for the reverse light. It's water-proof and puts out a lot of light.

Got boondocking light?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Detail: RV Boondocking Project - DIY Installation for a Reverse Light

0 Gambling with Nature - The Uninsured Loss

Life is a gamble. Sometimes you win but eventually you will lose if given enough time.  The cost sometimes out weighs the risks and you will need to be prepared if your gamble doesn't pay off. You need to be prepared for the consequences and accept the fact that your attempt to beat nature has failed.

For a decade and a half my gamble with nature has finally resulted in a big loss. There have been minor setbacks over the years but nature has finally won the battle. A recent storm has damaged my bug-out retreat beyond repair. Having lost more than sixty percent of the roof and close to 100 percent of the contents due to heavy rains that accompanied the storm, there is little left to do other than a salvage operation.

The overall dollar value of the place was fairly insignificant but is still hard to accept. Realizing that the cost of insurance would have been way more than the structure was actually worth, a decision was made to save the extra cost and take a chance. The cost of insurance would have doubled the cost of the structure and now the place is just an uninsured loss.

All my time and savings will now have to be focused on replacing the damaged structure and restoring my bug-out retreat to a usable state. Even though it wasn't a huge investment, it is still hard to accept the consequences of my actions by gambling with nature.

Got uninsured loss?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Detail: Gambling with Nature - The Uninsured Loss

0 Riverwalker's Pics - Desert Shelter

The jacal pictured above is a typical form of adobe-type shelter used in the desert. They were built using mostly native materials that were available in the desert. This jacal is located in Big Bend National Park.

Got desert shelter?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Detail: Riverwalker's Pics - Desert Shelter

0 RW Tours an Atlas Survival Shelter

Shane Connor from ki4u.com has placed an Atlas Survival Shelter on display at his facility. I recently had an opportunity to make a short trip to his facility in Gonzales, Texas and  “take the tour” of a survival shelter. You can contact shane@ki4u.com to obtain more information on the different Atlas Survival Shelters that are available.

This is a view of the main entrance to the shelter. You can also see the flange "connecting tube" for what will be the below entrance. 

This is an outside view of the escape hatch and the outside air duct. Having an escape hatch is a primary and extremely critical part of any survival shelter.

This a view of the NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) Air Filtration System in the shelter. This is another critical component of any type of survival shelter.

Here is a view of the inside access to the escape hatch. This will give you an additional way out  if your main entrance is blocked.

Here is a view of the entryway and the overhead lighting. The shelter has both AC and DC power options.

This is a view of the living area with a full-size sofa. It didn't appear to be a "sleeper" sofa which would probably be a good idea to give you additional sleeping space.

This is a view of the microwave and refrigerator. These were AC powered units and a DC alternative would probably be needed. Otherwise, you'll be eating most of your meals cold and straight from the can.

This is a view of the "entertainment area" of the shelter. Probably don't want to rely on satellite or cable reception. I'd stick with a few DVD's and a12 volt DC automobile DVD player.

This is a view of the sink area and some of the overhead storage space that is included. Chances are you will need additional storage capacity and there is adequate room to add additional storage cabinets.

This is a view of the counter area and the additional cabinet storage in the sink / kitchen area.

There was additional storage space in recessed floor compartments throughout the shelter. This is an important part of a shelter in order to have room to store additional supplies and gear.

Here's a view of the bunk beds in the survival shelter. There were a total of four bunk beds and room for a full size queen bed on the other end of the shelter.

There was also a small toilet area which had a chemical toilet. I didn't see any type of shower facility and this would probably need to be addressed. Otherwise, you may be taking a lot of sponge baths.

Whether you are planning to buy a ready-made shelter or build your own, it's probably a good idea to tour an actual shelter and see what it includes and what may be needed to cover your needs.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Detail: RW Tours an Atlas Survival Shelter