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Less Junk, More Journey Set up Lithium Batteries in Their Airstream

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Marissa and Nathan standing in front of their Airstream.

Nathan and Marissa Moss, along with their daughter Hensley of Less Junk More Journey tell us their story of how lithium batteries have made their lives so much better. Nate actually came to us at Battle Born Batteries seeking information and knowledge about RV lithium batteries and how they could replace their unreliable lead acid batteries.  

Today, Less Junk More Journey is running on 6 Battle Born BB10012s, the only lithium drop-in replacement for a 6-volt lead acid battery in the market. These 12-volt lithium deep cycle batteries are installed in their 2008 Classic 31- foot Airstream and they couldn’t be happier. We are sharing their story to tell yohow you can easily convert your RV or camper to a Battle Born lithium battery bank. We strive to help all of our customers get rid of theibattery anxiety and stay out there longer.

Nate and Marissa Moss of Less Junk, More Journey made a choice three years ago to go on an adventure and spend more time with their daughter. They sold much of what they owned and moved into a Class-A motor home with their one-year old daughter Hensley. Now, after 3 years in their 39-foot Newmar 3810 RV, they decided to buy a 2008 Classic 31- foot Airstream.

Before embarking on this adventure, Marissa was a nurse that worked many long days. With a new born baby at home Marissa felt as if she was never there for her. Nate was at home most of time working as a web designer, but he also felt as if much of their time was not being spent on doing what they really wanted to do. After around a year of planning they made the leap into spending their lives on the road.

Even though taking the leap into this new life was the scary part, Nate and Marissa do not regret their decision. Both have mentioned that they wish they had thought of it sooner. They began to follow YouTube channels and reading blogs. This gave them the motivation to start their own channel and blog. This process is what truly gave them the freedom to live their lives the way they want to and spend as much time with their daughter as possible.

Telling Their Journey 

Going after their new-found dream, Nate and Marissa wanted to have a message of creating happiness and memories not through material items, but through experiences and the people you spend your life with. The question of “What is Your Journey,” is what helped them cultivate the idea of less junk and developing their own journey. Nate and Marissa want people that watch their channel to have a deeper understanding of going after what they want in life, which was not just specific to traveling. They want to inspire people to go after things in life even if they are afraid to fail. Living more with less materialistic items is the message they want to convey. Eventually, they ended up adopting the name (naturally) Less Junk, More Journey for their social media channels.

Originally, both Nate and Marissa took their work on the road trying to fund their new life with the YouTube channel still in its infancy. This would not be for long though. Around May of 2016, the YouTube channel Less Junk, More Journey hit its stride taking in around 10,000 new subscribers by the end of June.

Today, their channel now has over 84,000 subscribers without a hint of slowing down. In the 3 years they have been living on the road they have visited over 40 states, met and inspired thousands of people, seen their daughter grow up, and so much more. To see all their adventures on the road, you can visit their channel here.

Finding More Power with LiFePO4 Batteries

Nathan and Marissa reached out to us because they found our reputation and customer experience to be excellent. They knew they wanted to upgrade their Airstream to a lithium battery bank, and after researching the market they decided to go with Battle Born Batteries. Nate originally started looking into lithium batteries for their old class A RV, then again for their Airstream. But back then lithium was too expensive and complicated. When he found Battle Born Batteries, he knew it was the right solution based on its advantages:

  • Built with lightweight and safe LiFePO4 
  • Designed and assembled in the USA 
  • 3000-5000 cycles 
  • Ability to charge up to 5 times faster than lead acid 
  • Easy installation due to the drop-in replacement form factor 
  • Backed by excellent customer service and technical support 
  • Affordable price point compared to the competition 

The short answer is now they can do more without being tethered to an RV park. This type of camping is also called “Dry Camping” or “Boondocking.” Boondocking is staying at campsites that have no electrical hookups. With a 600 Ah 12-volt lithium battery bank on board, Nathan and Marissa can live stress-free without needing to run their noisy generator (to help their lead acid batteries keep up with their daily usage). Their new batteries give them the freedom to live the life they want to live on the road, and they can watch TV as much as they want. They can make coffee without worrying about turning on the generator in the morning. They can pull over anytime they want and use their appliances to make lunch or dinner without starting their generator.

The fear of lead batteries running out of power is one of the biggest stress factors in RVing. Many people are unsure about their lead acid setup, and afraid they will not have enough power to get them through the night. We call this lack of confidence “battery anxiety.” Today, with Battle Born Batteries, the Moss family no longer has battery anxiety and they feel confident to live the life they want to on the road.

The Moss family inside of their Airstream

Nate and Marissa reached out to Battle Born Batteries because we are a company that is committed to providing the best customer experience possible for each of our customers. Battle Born Batteries have team members that are always ready to help you design the proper system for your needs. Also, to ensure all the components in your RV will work properly with your new lithium upgrade. Nathan and Marissa get lots of requests to support brands. They want it to be known that they chose us because they knew they can stand behind our product and be proud of endorsing it as one of the best upgrade for their lithium Airstream.  

We wanted to be able to offer you the same system we designed for Less Junk, More Journey in varying sizes to meet various customer needs. If you are interested in a different system, whether it’s for RV, boat, or off-grid applications, reach out to us via email: [email protected]. We are more than happy to design a custom system to meet your needs!

We now sell our bundles based on applications, and if you’re looking to replicate their system we suggest checking out our Battle Born Energy Towable 50A 600Ah kit.

Here are the specific parts that we offer from the Less Junk, More Journey system. You can buy them individually here:

BB10012’s 100 Ah Battle Born Batteries  

Victron BMV-712 Bluetooth Battery Monitor

Victron SmartSolar 100/50 Solar Charge Controller

Progressive Dynamics 60-amp LiFePO4 Battery Charger 

Since we published this blog, Less Junk More Journey has released two videos about their installation and how the batteries work. Here is a link to both videos:

Upgrading to Battle Born Lithium Batteries for RV Living Full Time

What can an RV run on Lithium? Finishing out Battery Install in our Airstream Trailer

Marissa and HensleyMoss Family

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Make sure you subscribe and tell them Battle Born Batteries sent you! 

Here is a video we created while in Tennessee visiting the Less Junk, More Journey crew.

Follow their other adventures on their Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Website.  

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8 thoughts on “Less Junk, More Journey Set up Lithium Batteries in Their Airstream

  1. HI! In your write up above (opening paragraph) you listed that Less Junk more Journey are running 6 BBGC2 batteries but the kits you have listed do not have these batteries as a choice. (The kits only show the BB10012 batteries). Can I order the 4 battery kit with the BBGC2 Batteries as this would work perfect in my motor home as I am ready to upgrade!

    Scott Helmann
    [email protected]

    1. Scott,
      We are more than happy to make a bundle to fit your needs. We will email you more information. It was our mistake, thank you for catching that,LJMJ actually uses the BB10012. But we can build anyone a kit anytime. Have a wonderful day! Thank you.

  2. I have a 1953 Clipper 17’ Airstream that I’m refurbishing. Do you think it’s possible to use Lithium Ion batteries only and do away with the need for gas cylinders?

    1. David,
      Possibly! It depends on your usage and other factors. If you’d like to give us a call so we can discuss this in more detail with a direct answer, you are welcome to call us at 855-292-2831 or email us at [email protected]. Thank you so much!

  3. I have a 2018 Thor Hurricane. When I purchased the RV, I had a Go Power Solar installed. It has 2x 160 watt for a total of 320 watts. I did not change out the lead acid batteries. I am interested in the battle borne lithium. There is no setting on the controller. There is an existing 1000 watt inverter that came stock in the RV.

    Do I need a new controller? What else do I need to make the transition to 2x 100 ah Battle Borne Batteries. I would like to swap out the existing lead acid. Thanks in advance.

    1. Hello David,

      Your Go Power charge controller will work to charge our batteries in the AGM setting(when no LiFePO4 setting is available). If you wanted a more efficient charge controller with adjustable setting specific for our batteries, we would recommend one of the Victron MPPT found on our website: https://battlebornbatteries.com/product-category/battle-born-solar/lifepo4-solar-charge-controllers/

      The existing 1000 watt inverter should work very well with our batteries but you will want to check if this inverter has a battery charging feature. If so then the charging voltage should be changed to meet the lithium recommendations. Bulk/Absorption 14.4v and float 13.6v or lower.

      Another thing to consider when upgrading to lithium is your on board converter. Your existing converter will charge the Battle Born Batteries but most likely it would be a very slow charge and possibly never get to 100% full. The existing converter may need an accessory added or an upgraded converter might be necessary to get a fast and complete charge. Please give us a call with the part # of your current converter and we can check compatibility for you.

      In a motorized unit such as your Hurricane you have the alternator feeding the starter battery and the house batteries. You will want to check that you do not exceed the recommended 50 amp charge rate per battery from the alternator to the house(lithium) bank. There are a couple easy ways to achieve this but give us a call at 855-292-2831 and we will go over your system and make the best recommendation for you.

      Thank you

    1. Hi Bob, thanks for reaching out! If you give our technical sales team a call at 855-292-2831 they would be more than happy to assist with setting up your Airstream with our LiFePO4 technology. Let us know if you have any other questions!

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