Shower options

[Matt71]

I don't know about you, but I have to shower every day, especially if I'm out doing stuff. It's not that I get smelly or dirty, but I just feel icky when I haven't at least washed my hair.


I found a couple shower options on Amazon that I think might be good.


[font=Arial, sans-serif]Ivation Multipurpose Electric Portable Smart Washer Water-Tank w/ Built-In Rechargeable Battery & Integrated Roller Wheels
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This first one runs off of 12V or shore power. It's a little pricey, but can serve multiple purposes.
http://amzn.com/B00R0GBKR4



[font=Arial, sans-serif]Ivation Battery-Powered Handheld Portable Shower
[/font]
This second option is much cheaper and might be a good option for showering or washing dishes. It charges via USB.
[font=Arial, sans-serif]http://amzn.com/B00IFHFJXI
[/font]

 

[Wabbit]

This is the one we use(link at bottom), similar to your second link. However, being able to plug mine into a CIG lighter outlet is nice. We use a 5 gallon bucket for water(heated on stove in spring/fall weather). I use about 1ish gallons of water and my Volunteer PO ride along uses about 2-2.5 gallons(difference is her long hair to rinse). The water flow is not a strong flow, but it works good as it is and a stronger water flow would use more water.

The one in your second link looks nice and has better reviews, but I think knowing what I know with turning shower off while we soap up and also the ability to use 12v, I would buy the one we use again.

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Show...7321&sr=8-10&keywords=portable+camping+shower

 

[Canine]

I use a weed sprayer with an RV shower head that I attached (with some of the holes glued shut) that has an on/off button. It uses muscles to pump it up, but it is super easy and fast- and I barely have any muscles! The electric ones are noisier and tend to have less pressure and use more water. I'm a huge fan of mine, but most don't go this route. It cost me about $45 to build, but can be built for cheaper with less expensive sprayer.

Here is a link for some other battery powered options:

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/portable-pressure-washer

I also have this as a backup and love it. It works great and the price is right. The sprayer does an excellent job of combing the best combination of water pressure and water volume. It is frugal with water yet provides a great rinse even when used on hair or on a dog.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I have one similar to Brian's, mine only works off the cigarette lighter. The pump looks the same. I use it with an empty black kitty liter bucket, In summer when left in the sun in the morning, some afternoons it was too hot to get under, in cool weather I have to heat up a kettle. The down side, the first one only worked for a week, I returned it the second lasted a couple of seasons before the pump started playing up, I tinkered with for a while but finally it gave up. I am going to buy a more  expensive bilge pump at a marine store,  hook it up to the shower head. and install a better switch. when you open up those switches and pumps you can see how cheap they are. The ideas is good just the quality of the one I have is not.

 

[AuricTech]

Another inexpensive option is the Simple Shower*, which uses standard 2-liter bottles.

Here's a link to a discussion of the Simple Shower.

*Note to our host: I used the Amazon search function on your home page to find the link.  If it doesn't work correctly, feel free to edit my post.

 

[Wabbit]

After reading the idea of the pump handle sprayer, I did a quick search and came up with this. Any experience with this? It is a duck works product, 2.5 gallon, and cost $55.70 shipped. I am going to order this for this spring unless something better comes along.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/gear/shower/

 

[Wabbit]

*Note to our host: I used the Amazon search function on your home page to find the link.  If it doesn't work correctly, feel free to edit my post.

I was wondering how to do this! Thnx!

 

[GrantRobertson]

This ( ) is what I plan to do to heat my water. At least for a preheater.

Be sure to watch the companion video ( ) to see how he pressurizes the system.

Then, all I will need is one of those propane, instant water heaters to make sure it is as hot as I want it to be.

 

[Matt71]

Skimmed through it, but seems like filling it would be a pain in the butt.

 

[Ariel]

Ohh. That pump-up solar shower looks pretty sweet.

I was thinking that a main hassle with the solar bag showers was finding a high place for it to hang. With this, you could let it warm anywhere and then bring it over to a place that is convenient/private to actually shower - even inside. I plan to probably have a wet bath, so this could be brought in and used inside and maybe even catch the water in the tub to save on tank space. I likes it!

 

[GrantRobertson]

Skimmed through it, but seems like filling it would be a pain in the butt.

My plans include a "little" more plumbing than Dan Travels used. All discretely hidden of course. When I am finished, it should be as easy to fill as any on-board storage tank with an external fill port. I am even considering ways to use it as a solar-mass heating system, where the hot water would be let down into a tank inside the van, under my bed to provide heat at night. But that would take a lot more thinking and planning to make it work without adding too much complexity.

 

[LowTech]

As a passive heat system that would work both ways. Not being able to insulate the tank (wanting heat from it) means that it will lose heat until it's the temp of the inside of the van, or worse if it's still connected to the outside it will drop to that temp. Now you'd have a cold mass under your bed. Don't think that's really what you'd want.

 

[GrantRobertson]

As a passive heat system that would work both ways. Not being able to insulate the tank (wanting heat from it) means that it will lose heat until it's the temp of the inside of the van, or worse if it's still connected to the outside it will drop to that temp. Now you'd have a cold mass under your bed. Don't think that's really what you'd want.

Thanks for that point. Though, the idea is that I would drop the water down only when I wanted the heat inside. There would be valves to control where the water goes so it wouldn't be an uncontrolled conduit for heat to go in or out. Since the Seventies, I've done a lot of study of passive solar heating systems for homes. I know the environment would be different, but I am going to try to incorporate as much of that knowledge as practicable.

 

[Canine]

I meant to include the Duckworks link in my previous comment. Here is what I think about it:

I also have this as a backup and love it. It works great and the price is right. The sprayer does an excellent job of combining the best combination of water pressure and water volume. It is frugal with water yet provides a great rinse even when used on hair or on a dog.

 

[SoulRaven]

I prefer non powered shower solutions, just one less thing to break down.

Manual pump weed sprayers are cheap, add a kitchen sink sprayer along with it's included hose, and it will have an auto shut off feature to conserve water.

Even simple trigger spray bottles can give a pretty decent shower. Mine have totally adjustable spray patterns, and I use them for everything from washing dishes to showers and all types of cleaning chores. Very frugal on water usage but very effective.

Paint either of them black, sit them in the sun for solar heated hot water.

 

[NWShortyFord]

Luckily I have met some new friends who live in marinas. My friend lives on a 52' sailboat and I watch after his place, install/fix stuff and clean his boat(swab the decks), last year I met him when I was hired to assist in the restore when he pulled it out of the water last year. Since last July I have had access to his marina shower which is great, it costs about $0.75 for 20 minutes.

On the road I have used wine box pouches, water bottles painted black and a few other things to have hot water. They work great in the right conditions, otherwise a good old fashioned pot of hot waer works great in the winter.

 

[gojo]

I use a weed sprayer with an RV shower head that I attached (with some of the holes glued shut) that has an on/off button. It uses muscles to pump it up, but it is super easy and fast- and I barely have any muscles! The electric ones are noisier and tend to have less pressure and use more water. I'm a huge fan of mine, but most don't go this route. It cost me about $45 to build, but can be built for cheaper with less expensive sprayer.

Here is a link for some other battery powered options:

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/portable-pressure-washer

I also have this as a backup and love it. It works great and the price is right. The sprayer does an excellent job of combing the best combination of water pressure and water volume. It is frugal with water yet provides a great rinse even when used on hair or on a dog.

I like the idea. How many showers do you get per fill-up?

 

[Canine]

I like the idea. How many showers do you get per fill-up?

I have short hair and consistently use less than 32 ounces which is heated in a 1000 watt hot pot that uses a total of 50-60 watts in about 2 minutes or so. While I'm brushing my teeth, I start heating the water so by the time I'm almost done brushing, the water is at shower temperature. If I'm really dirty or want to do a total head to toe, I could use as much as 50 ounces. Now that sounds like a ridiculously low amount of water. For months I thought to myself, "How is this possible? How can I go from using tens of gallons of water to a quart of water? It can't be possible." But it is. I am amazed at how little water I use.

I could use even less, but I like my showers and like them almost every morning. The key to using the least amount of water is using a sprayer that has especially small holes and to use only 8 to 12 of those holes. The holes in the sprayer from a kitchen sink sprayer are too big. Well, I shouldn't say too big, but they definitely need to be smaller to be as miserly as possible with the water while still getting a shower without taking shortcuts in cleanliness.

Here is the sprayer I use. Super highly recommended:

http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Produ...bs_auto_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=06AVSZJZFPXZH3RZZ4NH

Here is a link that has a better picture. If you decide to buy it, I suggest Amazon and to go through one of Bob's links first so he gets a bit of credit.

http://tweetys.com/hand-held-showerhead---only.aspx

The reason I like this sprayer head is it has the small holes that provide the perfect spray. You need to glue some holes shut with gel super glue and leave about 8 to 12 holes open. (If you use regular liquid super glue, it will probably run and plug off more holes than you intended.) The on/off switch isn't spring loaded, so you can turn it part way on and it will stay there. Many other sprayers need to be held to keep the spray going or if it stays on, it stays on only in full open mode, which is a waste of water. I like to turn the switch on halfway for wetting my body and hair and rinsing my body. I only go full blast when rinsing my hair. I use much less shampoo now, too. Can't believe all the years of shampoo and water I've wasted because of the excess I had. It is now weird to me to think using 30 gallons of water to shower is normal.

I used a couple of hose clamps and a 1/2" threaded X 3/8" barbed end to screw into the sprayer and clamped everything together. If you buy a weed sprayer, smell inside of it first. Some have a funky smell that doesn't go away. Many, though, smell just fine. This was way more info than you asked for, but I really, really like my setup and enjoy sharing it with others if it would help them.

 

[GrayWhale]

  I am going to buy a more  expensive bilge pump at a marine store,  hook it up to the shower head.  

But don't those bilge pump, run like 5 gallons in a few seconds? How would you regulate the amount of flow?  

I was thinking about this Amazon shower too, but not if it breaks in a few months. Hmm, what about a fish tank pump? Those last forever. 

 

[cdiggy]

You get a small bilge pump and a valve to throttle it down to the appropriate flow.