Time for a Generator

Last time we went camping, we lost battery power about halfway through the weekend.  Luckily, we were done with Saturday night dinner and the evening was warm enough that we didn't need the heater to kick on.  We were able to limp along and stay through Sunday by turning everything off and just using the stove to heat our hot water for coffee in the morning.  No one should have to do without coffee while camping.  After talking to some other campers at the campsite and doing more research when I got home, it seemed that a generator was the best way to go.  It turns out you can only let a 12V battery get down to about 10.5V before it is nearly useless.  I had no idea.  I thought you got to use up all 12 volts before you had to recharge. 

So, we are now the proud owners of a Honda EU1000i super quiet generator with an eco-throttle mode.  This thing is beautiful.  It runs at about 53-59 dB, which is pretty darn quiet for a generator.  These super quiet generators are not cheap, but I decided it is worth having and being able to use without disturbing other campers.  I hate the sound of a generator in the great outdoors, but if you have to use one, this one is pretty nice.  We should only have to run it a couple hours a day to keep the battery sufficiently charged.  We are really excited to try it out on our upcoming holiday weekend adventure.  I am hoping this will make the weekend worry-free as far as battery consumption goes.  Check them out at the Honda Website.