One of the primary missions of our website is to document RV ownership. We like to help educate newcomers to RV camping. It can all be a little perplexing at first. So why haven’t we talked about liquefied propane (LP)? Well folks, now you know what’s inside those mysterious aluminum canisters resting at the fore of every Airstream. Propane is one of those not terribly sexy expense items in your RV camping budget. It’s kind of like electricity and water — you never fully appreciate it until you don’t have it. In an RV, it works together with electricity to help tame the wild.

Let’s put it this way: if your RV was a baseball team, propane would be the utility player — the guy who plays shortstop, right field, and occasionally pinch hits for the pitcher. It’s the unsung hero of RV camping. So let us gather together, my friends, in praise of gaseous hydrocarbons.

Why do we use propane? It’s an alternative source of fuel, and it powers some of our appliances (the oven, stovetop, and furnace) exclusively. It powers other appliances (refrigerator, water heater) occasionally when electricity is not available.

Wait a minute. Did he say refrigerator?

Yes. Although it seems counter-intuitive, an RV refrigerator is capable of operating on either electricity or propane power. If the refrigerator senses we have no electricity available, it switches to propane. This feature is essential when you’re traveling across the Arizona desert and you want milk that passes the sniff test.

Can a person legally operate RV propane tanks when driving down the highway? State laws vary — I think that some states actually forbid the use of propane when traveling down the road. Those states also boast an excess of spoiled milk.

In truth, the majority of RVers traveling down the highway are powering their refrigerators with propane. This is a classic case of, “Hey, everybody else is doing it!” It’s legal in many states. But bear in mind that it increases the risk of fire if you have an accident. So please, don’t have an accident.

With regard to powering appliances, propane has some unique real world advantages over electricity.

The hot water heater, quite simply, gets hotter faster when we engage propane heat. We have two switches for the hot water heater – one activates electrical heating, the other propane. So one can choose whether or not to engage the propane. If you are already paying for electricity (as in a campground) then perhaps you will prefer to conserve your propane for those times when you really need it.

The heat furnace, since it generates heat from beneath the trailer, warms our Airstream’s pipes as it operates. (The so-called “heat pump” refers to heat generated by our ceiling mounted A/C unit; this works fine for human warmth, but does NOT protect the pipes on a cold winter night.)

Prices vary, but in our area propane seems to costs about a dollar a pound. Of course, as with any fuel tank, you just pay for what you need. In the video I refer to our tanks as “empty,” but in actuality they were about one third full.

Here's a typical receipt after filling ONE 30-pound tank of propane. It costs about $22 for a tank, money I'd really rather put towards a case of Sam Adams.

In the video I reference the notorious unreliability of our propane gauges. The interior gauge is pretty much useless because it ALWAYS reads 100% full. The exterior gauge is more accurate. Yet it now apparently reads “empty” when the tanks still are one-third full. More on this little dilemma in a future episode. Hopefully your digital gauges, if you even have digital gauges, are more accurate.

Our two 30-pound tanks of propane will last quite a while. How long is a while?

During summer, the two tanks probably last the entire season. This is because we don’t do daily oven cooking, and the propane supply is really just tapped for occasional refrigerator and water heater power.

During winter, quite frankly, it all depends on the weather. We live in an area with mild winters. Temperatures rarely dip below freezing. When they do, they rarely stay freezing for long. So we can get along without winterizing our RV, so long as we’re prepared to turn on the heat furnace on those “hard freeze” occasions.

Propane is a gaseous fuel, so there’s at least a slight element of danger associated with it. Our RV cabin is equipped with a carbon dioxide detector. It emits an ear-piercing alarm when it detects too much gas (or Kristy’s perfume!) in the air.

The worst accidents I’ve heard associated with propane have been fires. Remember that refrigerator power I mentioned? Recently the huge RV refrigerator manufacturer Dometic recalled about a trillion refrigerators due to a potential propane fire hazard. Leaks and sparks are not a good combination. If you have an RV with a refrigerator manufactured between April 1997 and September 2006 (this went on for NINE years, guys?), please Google “Dometic recall” and make sure your refrigerator is safe.

Can we camp without propane? Sure! We can camp without anything. Heck, we can lie down on a pile of leaves and call it a night.

Okay smart ass, does it make sense to RV camp without propane? In our case, it does not make sense. Our oven and stove would be useless without propane. And then there’s the refrigerator. We spend so much time on the road, we need to fuel our well stocked refrigerator at all times. It’s crucial to EVERYONE’S morale that my beer is maintained at proper temperature.

So that, in a nutshell, is propane – your silent but deadly camping friend.

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Unfortunately it’s the “worst” part of that equation that dominates our headlines, and often our thoughts.

I want The Long Long Honeymoon to be an upbeat, positive, happy place. But I also want to be realistic about what’s going on in the world.

So let’s put a few metaphors in my magic verbal blender. Ignoring recent headlines would make me the blogging equivalent of Nero, the emperor who famously fiddled whilst Rome burned.

And yes, Rome is burning. For the RV industry, this year actually may be “the worst of times.” Quite frankly, it’s a bloodbath out there.

If you watched our recent appearance on HGTV, a couple of the premiere manufacturers whose products were prominently featured have gone out of business. Monaco and Country Coach made beautiful motorhomes, but both have filed for bankruptcy. Last year saw Teton Homes (beautiful fifth wheels) go under. And earlier this week Fleetwood (builder of travel trailers) filed for bankruptcy.

We’re in the middle of a severe recession, contraction, depression, fiscal black hole, economic come-to-Jesus meeting, or whatever you want to call it. As previously noted, the heart of the RV industry Elkhart, Indiana has the highest unemployment rate in the United States (as of this writing, it’s 18.3%!).

So… Is this the end of the RV industry, as some have claimed?

Not so fast, my friends.

It may be the end of certain types of RVs. But the American love of camping and the great outdoors is not tied to fluctuations in the stock market.

Last year, I asked an RV campground owner whether $5 per gallon gas had hurt her business. Her answer was surprising.

“Not really,” she said. “We stay fully booked. Now people just stay here longer.”

In other words, people kept on RV camping; they just reduced their driving.

Of course, the RV industry must innovate. RVs need to be more fuel efficient. Changes need to happen in the credit market so willing consumers can buy.

But Americans love the outdoors. We love to camp. That love is not going away, no matter what happens to the Dow.

"Quit camping? I'd rather buy a razor."

Our country stretches across a continent, one filled with mountains, lakes, rivers, canyons, deserts, and trails. We have the best national parks in the world. We have an immense infrastructure supporting RV travel that has developed over several decades.

Want to see America, the REAL America? There’s still no better way than by RV.

Want an affordable second home? Even in times of plunging real estate prices, there’s no more affordable one than an RV.

And in times of economic hardship, RV camping arguably makes more sense than other forms of travel. When we camp, we can more easily control certain key expenses like dining out. Hey, Kobe beef and fine wine are nice, but it’s tough to beat fresh grilled hamburgers, cold beer, and smores. You keep the white tablecloth; I’ll happily trade it for a campfire.

We may not travel as far from home (or as luxuriously) but we’ll still go, and we’ll still have a great time.

And I suspect that when things bounce back, they will bounce back BIG TIME.

So don’t listen to all of the doom and gloomers out there. RV camping, in some form or fashion, is here to stay.

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If skyrocketing fuel costs were not enough, there’s also the small matter of the global credit and banking crisis. Willing buyers with good credit have been unable to obtain loans. And the plunging stock market has hindered many a retirement plan. It’s tough to buy a new RV when your stock portfolio is emulating an Acapulco cliff diver.

The result has been a severe contraction of the industry. Business is shrinking like a cheap cotton t-shirt. Many quality dealerships have gone the way of the Dodo. The same holds true for many manufacturers. Even those who are surviving are doing so through layoffs and cutbacks. Elkhart, Indiana — the heart of American RV manufacturing — boasts the highest unemployment rate in the country.

But have no fear. Help is on the way!

Or is it?

My wife in Buenos Aires. No word on whether the stimulus package applies to shoes.

The much discussed and hotly controversial $875 Billion stimulus package includes provisions to help the RV industry. Here’s a breakdown of some of these goodies. If you want detailed information, you’ll need to call your accountant. My pencil-pushing skills only go so far.

According to the provisions of the new stimulus bill, if you buy a NEW motorhome between now and December 31st, you will be able to deduct a portion, up to about $4,000 worth of the sales or excise taxes. This cookie applies to the first $49,500 of the deal.

To qualify, you must earn less than $125,000 a year individually or less than $250,000 a year jointly.

In addition, the stimulus bill includes RV consumer loans and dealer floor plan loans in the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). They say this should ease credit and stimulate RV lending. I’m no expert on TALF (wasn’t that a sit-com in the 80s?) but apparently this means that dealerships and consumers will be able to more easily obtain Federally-backed money to buy new RVs.

But note that the new provisions do NOT include travel trailers or other towable RVs! This exclusion makes no sense whatsoever to me, as it obviously leaves Airstream and others out in the cold. But hey, I guess we’ve got to start somewhere.

In a future blog post (probably a video post) I will consider some of the costs associated with RV travel. While no travel is cheap, with RV travel you have an ability to control expenses. When people think about RV expenses, they often focus on gas prices. But to get a clear picture, you need to consider a lot more than the transportation cost. And when you do so, you’ll probably discover that RV-ing remains more affordable than booking flights, hotels, and restaurant reservations. In fact, the travel experts claim that an RV vacation typically costs quite a bit less than one which includes renting hotels and dining out every meal.

I’m sure we’ll be revisiting this story as the year progresses. But for now, if you are in the market for a new motorhome, I hope you found this article stimulating.

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Of course, the secret is simple. If you want to beat these skyrocketing gas prices, you simply need to…

…camp close to home!

Of course, this is only one way to beat high gas prices. I’m sure there are others. But for me, camping close to home highlights much of what’s wonderful about owning an RV.

It’s counterintuitive, to be sure. When we buy our RVs, we think about hauling them all around the continent. We imagine traveling from Florida to Alaska and all points in between. But one of the most extraordinary aspects of RV ownership is the sense of adventure it brings to ordinary locations.

Camping, you see, is camping. Sure, it’s nice to camp alongside the rim of the Grand Canyon. But once the sun goes down and the campfire lights up, you find yourself focused on the fundamentals. The simple basics of the experience are what make it so enjoyable.

The first time I went camping, I was young – probably around seven or eight years old. I slept in a Boy Scouts sleeping bag. I awoke amidst chilly early morning air to the sound of chirping birds, and the sight of glistening dew. I had enjoyed a fantastic childhood camping memory, and it all transpired in my family’s backyard, in the shadow of our house.

Shortly after Kristy and I bought our Airstream, we tried camping in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Even in this most unromantic of locations, we discovered that RV camping was still surprisingly fun. There’s tremendous value in simply stepping outside your normal everyday comfort zone. There’s upside in trying something different, even if it’s something you’ve been ignoring for years.

As newcomers to the RV lifestyle, we also took our newly purchased travel trailer to a nearby state park. This particular park is one of the most spacious and beautiful in our state’s system. It is located about 10 miles from our home, and offers rustic camping amidst a recently upgraded campground. But we had ignored it for years. It took buying an RV to get us out of our house and into that forest.

Quite frankly, those who insist “there’s nothing to do here” are usually busy doing nothing. Most people ignore the opportunities that exist in their hometown.

Wherever you live, there’s plenty to do. The question is whether you appreciate and value it enough to get out and do it. Which brings me to today’s point about RVs, camping, and beating high gas prices.

You may think that you need to haul your RV 1000 miles away to have a good time. You’d be mistaken. Good times are had in the company of good friends and family. You can be lonely and miserable in Paris, London, New York, and Tokyo. You can be happy and satisfied in Mayberry.

Quite simply, if you’re concerned about how gas prices affect your RV travels, perhaps you need to look close to home. Some of the best experiences of your life await, and they may be found right in your own backyard.
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