Water spigots

When looking for places to find water, you'll want to be on the lookout for available water spigots. Note that many of these are privately owned so you should ask permission from the person who owns the water.

• homes of friends or relatives
• some rest areas
• some public parks, dog parks, or park visitor centers
• garden centers (standalone or attached to big box stores) may allow you to use their watering hose
• cemeteries
• some gas stations have water at the fuel pumps (ask for permission to use water from other locations)
• campgrounds and marinas

Watch for signs that the water may not be drinkable ("potable") as-is. Some spigots may be impractical for direct filling of containers, due to being low to the ground or high off the ground. High spigots may operate at surprisingly-high pressures; you have been warned!

Public sources of water will often be threaded to allow the connection of a potable water hose (like a garden hose but white in color) which can reduce manually carrying water back to your vehicle. They can be found in the RV section of big box stores.

Note that even after you get permission the clerk may not have a key for spigots with no handle. Handles are often removed to prevent tampering (like kids turning on the spigot and leaving it on all night). Being able to say "I have a key!" may help speed up getting that permission – the clerk doesn't have to do anything. A sillcock key fits spigots that have square shanks. The tools typically fit four different common sizes. Shanks with round or starred knobs will fit either 12- or 16-point shanks. It may be easiest to carry one of each; they are ~$1 at hardware stores. Carrying these tools may be an important survival tool.

Some spigots have both threaded and unthreaded outlets. Water comes out the wide unthreaded outlet and getting it to come out the threaded outlet may not be intuitive. The unthreaded outlet is wider because it is surrounded by a spring-loaded ring. Pull the ring down while the water is flowing and water is diverted to the threaded bib. When the water handle is released the ring pops back up into place.

Carrying water

It's a good idea to have water containers on hand so you can carry the water if you can't use a hose to move it.

Collapsible water buckets and water containers are available from camping goods stores.

Sinks and other non-threaded outlets can be tedious to extract water from. Small or collapsible jugs may be easier to maneuver under sink faucets. A water bandit is a rubber device that slips over an outlet and offers a male hose fitting on the other end.