Phil and Stacy Farley of “You, Me and the RV” have been on the road full-time since 2018. With 600Ah of Battle Born Batteries in their 2016 Tiffin 33AA RED Allegro named Ruby, they can boondock for months on end. These Navy veterans remain active in the RV military community and use their platform as a resource for those who served. This Veteran’s Day, we’d like to thank Phil and Stacy for their service and share the story of how they get out there and stay out there.
About Phil and Stacy of You, Me, and the RV:
You, Me, and the RV is a military family with an affinity for the Navy. Phil served in the Navy for 27 years, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Stacy served 5 years as a data processor. They are the proud parents of their son who serves in the Navy as well and their daughter who married a sailor.
Phil and Stacy were stationed in Japan when they first met, a story they affectionately joke would make a great Hallmark Movie. Phil is from Colorado and Stacy grew up in Georgia, so they are thankful for the Navy sending them overseas to meet!
“Today is Someday”
“Today is Someday” was a crucial mantra for You, Me, and the RV. It allowed them to start their journey on the road. For most full-time RVers, there always seems to be this “ah–ha” moment, they ask themselves the question of “Why not today?” So, Stacy and Phil set a date of May 15, 2018 for their departure. They sold most of their possessions, sold their home and Stacy left her promising nursing career for the adventure of a lifetime.
“We tell people all the time that why can’t today be your someday? Especially if you really want to do it,” Phil said. “There’s a lot of different avenues you can take but it really hits home for a lot of people wanting to get into this lifestyle.”
On their most recent trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons they boondocked in the Badlands for about four days and drove to Custer, South Dakota with a group of friends. Known as “caravanning,” they occasionally travel with three other couples to feel connected and gain a stronger sense of community.
Due to COVID, many campgrounds and hotels are still closed, so more and more people are opting to boondock. With their rig running on LiFePO4 technology, they no longer have battery anxiety when boondocking in remote and beautiful places!
“We were fortunate enough to get some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land for free, go boondocking and rely on our batteries for pretty much the whole 3-month trip,” Phil said. They went 100 days off-grid, with only about a week’s worth of time was spent plugged in to do laundry!
After meeting our team at a tradeshow, we had asked them what they were looking to power in the rig, to which Stacy honestly replied with “everything!” Battle Born made that happen and set them up with the products they needed.
“Battle Born has always given us great customer service,” Phil said. “Anytime we’ve called with questions or issues with our system, it’s been spot on.”
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 road and are grateful to help the community in any way they can.
“One 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,” Stacy said. “We’ve actually raised almost $20,000 for three separate veteran charities to date.”
They are getting ready to start their second campaign, focusing on the Army/Navy football game in December. People can sign up, choose a side and donate a minimum of $5 to the 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.
They also are working with Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit that builds adaptable homes for disabled veterans. Phil and Stacy will be attending a key ceremony for a veteran to receive their home on Veteran’s Day.
“We’ll really be able to show viewers of our channel what the money they donated went to,” said Stacy. “It’ll be so cool when this veteran is able to move into his home on that day!”
What’s In The You, Me, and the RV Lithium System?
Living in a Class A RV isn’t always easy, especially with high-power draws. Here’s what Phil and Stacy are running in their system:
-6 100Ah BB10012 Battle Born Batteries
-1200 watts of solar (rigid panels)
–Magnum 3000 W 12 DC Hybrid Inverter Charger
–Magnum ME-BMK Battery Monitoring Kit
-Magnum PT-100 charge controller
“We 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,” Phil said. “We still consider ourselves to be minimalists though, especially because it’s still less energy used when compared to living in a house.”
After having the batteries for about 9 months, they installed solar panels to help supplement the amount of energy in their system.
“Our solar definitely helps to recharge the batteries and get them to do what they’re designed for,” Phil said.
“We’re not like most boondockers,” Stacy said. “I don’t conserve energy at all. Thanks to the batteries, 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, I can do that as well.”
What’s Next?
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 it’s starting out slowly and only traveling on the weekends or going all in on a nomadic lifestyle, taking the first step is always the most important.
We’d also like to thank all military members for their service this Veteran’s Day. There are plenty of ways to donate and get involved with charities such as Homes for Our Troops and Fisher House.
Check out You, Me and the RV on their blog, Instagram, and YouTube channel!
Want To Learn More About Electrical Systems and Lithium Batteries?
We know that building or upgrading an electrical system can be overwhelming, so we’re here to help. Our Reno, Nevada-based sales and customer service team is standing by at (855) 292-2831 to take your questions!
Also, join us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to learn more about how lithium battery systems can power your lifestyle, see how others have built their systems, and gain the confidence to get out there and stay out there.
5 thoughts on “Battle Born Batteries Powers You, Me and the RV”
We love following Phil and Stacy. Phil’s 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