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Here goes, potential Fly in the Ointment time! Sorry!
'Winging it' is OK up to a point! BUT, if you discharge the caravan leisure battery (assuming it's a standard Lead Acid type battery), too deeply, and/or leave it discharged too long, you will irreparably damage it! Replacement batteries are expensive enough (£80 upwards) not to regard as a disposable item IMHO!
One thing for sure, there will not be any inbuilt system on the caravan that will protect your battery from excessive discharge, so it's a case of YOU monitoring it's voltage very regularly to ensure it does not become overly discharged.
Not sure what control panel you have on your van, but many if not most have a Leisure Battery voltage meter of some kind, most meters are 'zoned' Red, Amber, Green, so long as you are in the Amber and Green, you're OK. Below is a rough guide to the state of charge of a ordinary Lead Acid battery (these are 'OFF LOAD' 'resting' figures with no drain on battery and a 30 min or more period of recovery from last use):
On charge: 14.0-14.5 volts
Fully charged: 12.8-12.9 volts
Approx 50% charged: 12.4 volts
Dead flat: 12.0 volts
Once you've hit 12.0v, that is it, no more use until you recharge it, and recharge it soon to avoid damage. On load, the voltage can drop below 12.0 volt (without damaging battery), which is why you need to check OFF LOAD and after a period of rest.
Probably sounds all very complicated if you're not a techy type or just unfamiliar with concept, but with practice you get a feel and instinct for it.
If you don't have a Leisure Battery voltage meter on your panel, an electricians multi-meter (circa £8 upwards) can be used directly on the battery terminals for periodic checks.
If you don't use too many electrical devices, you should be fine for 3 days, but charge the battery as soon as you return home.
What might be a killer is if you use heating (even if nominally gas powered!) with any kind of a fan associated, that's a heavy load and likely run continuously for hours.
If all your lights are LED (possibly won't be in a van of your age) they are not a great load, if incandescent (halogen type spot lights etc.) then minimise use and turn off any not essential Fluorescent lights are better than incandescent but not quite as good as LED.
Water pumps whilst quite a heavy load are only used intermittently so not generally a great problem (make your shower VERY quick, with quick 'Wet', turn water off, lather, quick 'Rinse', turn water off, technique colloquially known as a 'Navy Shower' intended to save water, but also saves battery power on pump! No long luxury showers I'm afraid, just the barest essential)
Don't forget to take torches/lanterns as an emergency backup, just in case caravan battery expires before expected. If battery does get too run down, fridge (controls run off 12v) may also stop working even though running on gas, also electric ignition for gas cooker (and maybe gas fire) may fail.
Cheery chappy are't I!!!! No, really, it's more about guiding you away from unexpected disaster, prioritise the limited resource of the battery for the things that matter, and hoping you have a great time without too many worries.
If you do find battery fails before expected, plug caravan back into car and run engine at very fast tickover for 30-45 mins, that should buy you a little more time (assuming your car socket is fully wired and actually powers caravan battery charger!).
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Topic: Forest camping/no electric
