The Grey Nomads Forum

Fuel or Water

Jacko1963 said
11:42 AM Oct 23, 2023

Hi All, newbie here. We are currently setting up for exploring all parts of the country and we have capacity to carry two extra Jerry cans. We currently have 220 litres of water in the van and a long range 150 litre fuel tank in the vehicle with two 20 litre jerry cans already. My question is, which would be better to carry in the additional two Jerry cans, fuel or water?

Whenarewethere said
12:07 PM Oct 23, 2023

In remote parts we survive on 2.5 litres each per day. 3.0 litres each in hot weather.

We don't waste a drop. It is surprising how efficient you can get with practise. & without feeling one is suffering.

We also keep minimum of 20 litres just in case something goes wrong.

Fuel, we also have spare Jerry cans. Also calculate usage. Have pretty good idea of efficiency of all kinds of road or track surfaces.

So with your 220 litres onboard, less 20 litres for emergency, at 3.0 litres per day each, two people. You have 33 days supply.

If going through water quicker than that you need to look at your process of water conservation.

yobarr said
12:22 PM Oct 23, 2023

Jacko1963 wrote:
Hi All, newbie here. We are currently setting up for exploring all parts of the country and we have capacity to carry two extra Jerry cans. We currently have 220 litres of water in the van and a long range 150 litre fuel tank in the vehicle with two 20 litre jerry cans already. My question is, which would be better to carry in the additional two Jerry cans, fuel or water?

Consider that even in bad conditions, in a 'normal' car and van, with the fuel you have you're likely to get up to 600km between fills.Unless you're really remote the servos are a lot closer than that, so fuel isn't a big deal. However, if you're in the back of beyond and you get stuck or have car troubles it could take days for help to arrive, so water is critical.

Personally I reckon that you've plenty of both fuel and water, but if it comes to the crunch and you want to, or are forced to stop for a few days then water is more important. Do you have a Satellite phone? Good luck. Cheers

Jacko1963 said
12:35 PM Oct 23, 2023

Thanks for the thoughts, my wife is in your camp, but I am thinking fuel. We use about 15-16 litres per 100km, so have a current range of just over 1,000kms. We have a Zoleo Satellite Text messaging device, so if the worst happens we can still communicate. We also carry a personal EPIRB for each of us.

yobarr said
12:45 PM Oct 23, 2023

Jacko1963 wrote:
Thanks for the thoughts, my wife is in your camp, but I am thinking fuel. We use about 15-16 litres per 100km, so have a current range of just over 1,000kms. We have a Zoleo Satellite Text messaging device, so if the worst happens we can still communicate. We also carry a personal EPIRB for each of us.

Now that you've posted your fuel figures I'd say unequivocally "water". With a fuel range of 1000km you could safely head for the moon! Good to read of Sat phones and PLBs.

Just make sure you carry plenty of spares. Fanbelts, radiator hoses, tyre repair kit for starters.

What car and van do you propose to travel with. Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Monday 23rd of October 2023 12:48:25 PM

Bobdown said
03:49 PM Oct 23, 2023

No need to skimp around with 2.5 litres of water a day, take as much as you can carry.

Nice long hot showers.

Cuppa said
04:03 PM Oct 23, 2023

If not travelling remote - well off the beaten track - I'd take both of the jerries for water, & only fill them if intending to stay somewhere off grid for a while. We can manage 3 weeks on 220 litres of water without trying too hard.

shakey55 said
07:32 AM Oct 24, 2023

With those amounts, Id take two empty jerry cans for emergency purposes. One for water and one for fuel.

Good luck on your adventure

bristte said
08:58 AM Oct 24, 2023

My setup is similar and I've wondered the same thing. I don't carry as much water in the van tanks, but I get better fuel economy that you form my 150L tank. 1,000kms is a long way and I'd have to be travelling very remote and encounter remote communities that were closed or had just run out of fuel to encounter problems. So I carry water in two jerries on the drawbar. I also carry a 5L jerry of diesel to top up the tank for the water and air heaters, that could be used to give a little extra range in a pinch.

In very remote situations I also carry a couple of collapsible 20L water containers. These are actually handy for remote showers (non-negotiable with my travelling companion) where you have access to water that you'd rather not put into your tanks. I purify such water first, and then have the ability to pump it directly into the shower, bypassing the tanks. Not all vans have this capability, but collapsible containers for use as required are a useful adjunct to the main water storage options. Just be careful to not use the handles to carry them when they're full, or you'll soon get a leak.

StormCamper said
03:01 AM Oct 31, 2023

A major problem is most pumps are high volume flow designed for glamping and not fit for water conservation in the remote. 6 liters per minute for a shower is a joke. In fact half that is overkill. The quick and dirty way to reduce flow is with some inline valve, but the results are not stellar. with my 5lpm pump i could only choke the output to about 2.8lmp before the pump was cycling on/off badly. At this increased head pressure the pump is working the hatdest drawing the most current perhaps 2 to 2.5 times as much and is alot more noisy. Funny I got 30meters of 1.84mm2 cable running it. This is one of those advantages of lifepo4, the slight extra running voltage allows me to get away with ultra light cabling. Another way is to increase resistance by making the hose alot narrower, like 6mm diameter vs 12mm and alot longer. My small submersibable pump for my ultra light minimalist road side shower can be dialed back to 750 to 1200ml per minute flow rate and with a good spray pattern I can shower with only a total of 1min water running and get a perfect clean. Having short hair makes it soo much easier. I also can drink up to 6liters a day in the heat so always make sure there is a cache in vehicle, stuff bottles in every nook and cranny.

Gundog said
08:30 AM Oct 31, 2023

I didn't vote because I would carry neither, because you have sufficient fuel and water why carry dead weight.

We travel with about a1/3rd of a tank of water, because the extra 150ltrs of water would make us overloaded, basically where we choose to travel there is a town or roadhouse eveyr 50-100k away. Note if we wanted to navigate more remote regions, it would not be by ourselves.

Possum3 said
09:44 AM Oct 31, 2023

I agree with GD, other than being overloaded, no need.

dogbox said
10:31 AM Oct 31, 2023

I have travelled with 20 liters of extra fuel an the closest I ever came to needing extra fuel was when I came across two roadhouses the first was waiting for a fuel delivery the second was waiting for someone to repair their generator(no power) 2 out of action in a row i put the extra 20 ltrs in just to be safe.(standard 70 liter tank)
when I fueled up at the next road house i would have made it with a couple of ltrs spare without the extra fuel
so unless you are going remote bush and planning on doing some heavy 4x4 work (uses extra fuel) not required, unless you plan to try an buy cheap fuel and avoid the expensive areas? I have come across a few people that have run out of fuel because they didn't want to pay the price of fuel an thought they would save a few cents an find a cheaper source (good example on the NULLABOUR plenty of fuel keep tank topped up)

same for water you can work out how much water you use per day and if you plan on being away from a source of water for longer than your capacity allows you can carry extra or miss a few showers

Jacko1963 said
10:45 AM Oct 31, 2023

Gundog wrote:
I didn't vote because I would carry neither, because you have sufficient fuel and water why carry dead weight.
We travel with about a1/3rd of a tank of water, because the extra 150ltrs of water would make us overloaded, basically where we choose to travel there is a town or roadhouse eveyr 50-100k away. Note if we wanted to navigate more remote regions, it would not be by ourselves.

I totally get your point of view, but we plan some remote travel foe extended periods and we are not overloaded with the extra on board.

Eaglemax said
02:07 PM Oct 31, 2023

bristte wrote:
My setup is similar and I've wondered the same thing. I don't carry as much water in the van tanks, but I get better fuel economy that you form my 150L tank. 1,000kms is a long way and I'd have to be travelling very remote and encounter remote communities that were closed or had just run out of fuel to encounter problems. So I carry water in two jerries on the drawbar. I also carry a 5L jerry of diesel to top up the tank for the water and air heaters, that could be used to give a little extra range in a pinch.

In very remote situations I also carry a couple of collapsible 20L water containers. These are actually handy for remote showers (non-negotiable with my travelling companion) where you have access to water that you'd rather not put into your tanks. I purify such water first, and then have the ability to pump it directly into the shower, bypassing the tanks. Not all vans have this capability, but collapsible containers for use as required are a useful adjunct to the main water storage options. Just be careful to not use the handles to carry them when they're full, or you'll soon get a leak.

I am a bitumen guy but if I was going remote the collapsible water containers would be my choice. Anything that is light and takes no room is my preference as I tow a lightweight van. I have a water bladder, you can get these in any size. Again they collapse. Fuel doesnt seem a problem for you imo. Tony

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