Phil and Stacy Farley of โYou, Me and the RVโ have been on the road full-time since 2018.ย With 600Ah of Battle Born Batteries in theirย 2016 Tiffin 33AAย REDย Allegroย named Ruby, they canย boondock for months on end.ย Theseย Navy veterans remainย active in theย RVย military communityย and use theirย platformย as aย resource forย those who served.ย This Veteranโs Day, we’d likeย toย thank Phil and Stacy for theirย service andย share the story of how they get out there and stay outย there.ย ย
About Phil and Stacy of You, Me, and the RV:ย
You, Me, and the RV is a military family with an affinity for the Navy.ย Phil servedย in theย Navyย forย 27 years, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Commanderย andย Stacyย served 5 yearsย as a data processor.ย They are the proud parents of their sonย who serves inย the Navyย as wellย and their daughterย whoย married a sailor.ย ย
Phil and Stacyย were stationed in Japan when theyย firstย met,ย a story they affectionately joke would make a great Hallmark Movie.ย Phil is from Colorado and Stacy grew up in Georgia, so they are thankful for the Navy sending them overseasย to meet!ย ย
โToday is Somedayโย
“Todayย is Somedayโย wasย aย crucialย mantra for You, Me, and the RV. It allowed them to start their journey on the road.ย For most full-time RVers, there always seems to be this โah–haโ moment, they ask themselves the question of โWhy not today?โย So, Stacy and Philย set a dateย ofย May 15, 2018ย for their departure. They sold most of their possessions, sold their home andย Stacyย left her promisingย nursingย careerย for the adventure of a lifetime.ย
โWe tell people all the time that why canโt today be your someday? Especially if you really want to do it,โ Phil said. โThereโs a lot of different avenues you can take butย it really hits home for a lot of people wanting to get into this lifestyle.โย ย
On theirย most recent tripย to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetonsย they boondocked in the Badlands for about four days and drove to Custer,ย South Dakota with a group of friends.ย Known as โcaravanning,โย theyย occasionally travel with three other couples to feel connected andย gain aย strongerย sense ofย community.ย
Due toย COVID, manyย campgrounds and hotels are still closed,ย soย more and more peopleย are optingย to boondock.ย With their rig running on LiFePO4 technology, they no longer have battery anxiety when boondocking in remote and beautiful places!ย
โWe were fortunate enough to get some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) landย for free, go boondocking and rely on our batteries for pretty much the wholeย 3-monthย trip,โย Phil said. They went 100 days off-grid, with only about a weekโs worth of time was spent plugged in to doย laundry!ย ย
After meeting our team at a tradeshow, we hadย asked them whatย they were looking to power in the rig,ย to whichย Stacyย honestly replied with โeverything!โย Battle Bornย made that happen and set them up withย the productsย they needed.ย ย
โBattle Born has always given us great customer service,โ Phil said. โAnytime weโve called with questions or issues with our system, itโs been spot on.โย
Making a Difference for Veterans
Having served in the armed forces, Phil and Stacy have influenced a lot of fellow military members with their You, Me, and the RV brand and YouTube channel. They also meet a lot of veterans on the roadย andย are grateful to help the community in any way they can.ย ย
โOne of our goals when starting our YouTube channel was to highlight veterans, talk about our military and just remind everyone out there about the sacrifices they make,โ Stacy said. โWeโveย actually raised almost $20,000 for three separate veteran charities to date.โย
They are getting ready to start their second campaign, focusing on the Army/Navyย football game in December. People can sign up, choose a side and donate a minimum of $5 to theย Fisher House. The charity provides homes to veterans and their families to stay in while a loved one is in the hospital, free of charge.ย
They also are working withย Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit that builds adaptable homes for disabled veterans.ย Phil and Stacy will be attending a keyย ceremonyย for a veteran to receive their home on Veteranโs Day.ย ย
โWeโll really be able to show viewers of our channel what the money they donated went to,โ said Stacy. โItโll be so cool when this veteran is able to move into his home on that day!โย ย
Whatโsย Inย The You, Me, and the RV Lithium System?ย
Living in a Class A RV isnโt always easy, especially with high-power draws.ย Here’s whatย Phil and Stacy are running in their system:ย ย
-6ย 100Ah BB10012ย Battle Born Batteriesย
-1200 watts of solarย (rigid panels)ย
–Magnum 3000 W 12 DC Hybrid Inverter Chargerย
–Magnumย ME-BMKย Battery Monitoring Kitย
-Magnum PT-100 charge controllerย
โWe use our satellite, TVs and internet all the time, and the reason we went with Battle Born is because we want to be able to do that,โ Phil said. โWe still consider ourselves to be minimalists though, especially because itโs still less energy used when compared to living in a house.โย
After having the batteries for about 9 months, they installed solar panels to help supplement the amount of energy in their system.ย ย
โOur solar definitely helpsย to recharge the batteries and get them to do what theyโre designed for,โ Phil said.ย ย
โWeโre not like mostย boondockers,โ Stacy said. โI donโt conserve energy at all.ย Thanks to the batteries,ย I use what I want to use, when I want to use it. If I want to blow dry my hair or use my Instant Pot, Iย canย do that as well.โย
Whatโs Next?ย
Phil and Stacy advise people not to sit around and wait for big goals to happen, but rather to go out there and work towards it! Whether itโs starting out slowly and only traveling on the weekends or going all inย onย a nomadic lifestyle, taking the first step is always the most important.ย ย
Weโdย alsoย like to thank all military members for their service this Veteranโs Day.ย There are plenty of ways to donate and get involved with charities suchย asย Homes for Our Troopsย andย Fisher House.ย
Check out You, Me and the RV onย theirย blog,ย Instagram, andย YouTube channel!ย
Want To Learn More About Electrical Systems and Lithium Batteries?
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5 thoughts on “Battle Born Batteries Powers You, Me and the RV”
We love following Phil and Stacy. Philโs solar spreadsheet helped me plan for my solar setup. Most of my items came from their spreadsheet to include 200ah of Battle Born Batteries.
What could you recommend for a 2005 Winnebago Adventurer (gas engine) ?Currently I have two lead acid house batteries. The inverter runs very little (tv mostly), and the drain on the battery is so bad I would not use it without the engine running.
We are very interested in boondock camping and getting the most we can from our house battery
Hi Ron, thanks for your comment. If you give our sales team a call at 855-292-2831 they will be more than happy to help with recommendations to get your vehicle out there!
We upgraded our system on recommendation from Phil and Stacy and after watching their installation vide. We have a 2019 Tiffin 33AA similar to theirs and went from four 6v Batteries rated at a total of 400 AH but due to the limitations pf the lead acid could only get about 200 AH our of them when boondocking had to run the generator or Main engine at least every 10-12 hours for a couple hours to chargeback up. Since going to 6 12v 100 AH (100Ah BB10012 Battle Born Batteries) I can now get a minimum of three days off grid without using either the genny or the Main Engine to recharge. We are still learning how to properly conserve and maintain avail battery for longer periods. In any case this is perhaps the best upgrade we have done. Thanks Battle Born and Phil and Stacy. Looking to upgrade to solar capability this coming spring.
when you changed to Battle born batteries did you have to change your converter to charge the batteries