Camp shower advice needed

Fireman78

Expedition Leader
I have the older style Mr Heater Boss style (Aqua Cube) I think it was called. Love that thing. I had a bad regulator after several years, they shipped me out a new one free of charge right away. Great customer service. The biggest thing to remember is pre-circulating the water first in the container as you heat it up. Otherwise excellent unit.


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Abran

Observer
I have the older style Mr Heater Boss style (Aqua Cube) I think it was called. Love that thing. I had a bad regulator after several years, they shipped me out a new one free of charge right away. Great customer service. The biggest thing to remember is pre-circulating the water first in the container as you heat it up. Otherwise excellent unit.


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I've read the rechargeable batteries crap out quick. No problems for you?
 

Abran

Observer
I've been debating one of these:
http://www.rinsekit.com/product/lux-adventure-bundle/
Portable, easy to use for rinsing off after running, hiking, mt biking, or dog training.... Could squeeze a shower or two out of it if needed. Anyone have any real world experience with one of these?

Yes, bought one before starting this thread and returned it. One tiny shower and its done. Got the heater, field refill kit, everything. Hated it.
 
I reached out to RinseKit, as your points made me rethink my debate on one of these.. This was their response.
Quote: "The Heater pulls 9 amps, that is the max you can pull from a 12V car battery without shorting the fuse. The Heater warms water 11 degrees Fahrenheit every 30 minutes"

In my mind a "camp shower" is a quick event. Get the stench and muck off and get out. It doesn't have to be steaming hot, just warm enough to not be utterly miserable. In reality I would use something like the RinseKit a few times a week, mainly for rinsing the dog off. We are blessed to live near a large piece of property that we are allowed non-motorized access to, and its full of mud holes for the dog to run off leash and play in. Between that and rinsing kids off at the beach I think the RinseKit might work well.

As for more of a dedicated camp shower, I'm following this thread to gain as much info as I can.

I found this as I was trying to determine volume.
The average American shower uses 17.2 gallons (65.1 liters) and lasts for 8.2 minutes at average flow rate of 2.1 gallons per minute (gpm) (7.9 lpm).
https://www.home-water-works.org/indoor-use/showers
Obviously would cut that way down for camp use.. I'm just not sure what folks plan for and actually do. ?? For those of you using camp showers, how much water do you go through? Short of sticking a pump in a lake or having access to a campground water hose, I'm not sure I would want to haul that much water around just to use for showers. ?? I've always just roughed it, but trying to find ways to make it more comfortable for taking the family out more. Thanks!
 

modernbeat

Jason McDaniel
Having used a modified bug sprayer bottle with a kitchen sink side sprayer for a shower, I typically used about two gallons. About a half gallon to wet down, then I soap up, and the remaining gallon and a half to rinse off. Having a spray head with a trigger allows you to conserve the water. To heat it, I'd boil a quart of water and pour it into the partially filled bug sprayer. Wasn't ever "hot", but it wasn't miserable.
 
Last edited:

Hilldweller

SE Expedition Society
... For those of you using camp showers, how much water do you go through?...
4 or 5 gallons for us.
Get wet, get soapy, get rinsed, get out.
If we're on a roadtrip we try to hit a pay campground every so often for a luxury shower.
Bu, like you said, water is a precious commodity in the boonies. Heavy, precious, necessary.
 

Abran

Observer
I reached out to RinseKit, as your points made me rethink my debate on one of these.. This was their response.
Quote: "The Heater pulls 9 amps, that is the max you can pull from a 12V car battery without shorting the fuse. The Heater warms water 11 degrees Fahrenheit every 30 minutes"

In my mind a "camp shower" is a quick event. Get the stench and muck off and get out. It doesn't have to be steaming hot, just warm enough to not be utterly miserable. In reality I would use something like the RinseKit a few times a week, mainly for rinsing the dog off. We are blessed to live near a large piece of property that we are allowed non-motorized access to, and its full of mud holes for the dog to run off leash and play in. Between that and rinsing kids off at the beach I think the RinseKit might work well.

As for more of a dedicated camp shower, I'm following this thread to gain as much info as I can.

I found this as I was trying to determine volume.
The average American shower uses 17.2 gallons (65.1 liters) and lasts for 8.2 minutes at average flow rate of 2.1 gallons per minute (gpm) (7.9 lpm).
https://www.home-water-works.org/indoor-use/showers
Obviously would cut that way down for camp use.. I'm just not sure what folks plan for and actually do. ?? For those of you using camp showers, how much water do you go through? Short of sticking a pump in a lake or having access to a campground water hose, I'm not sure I would want to haul that much water around just to use for showers. ?? I've always just roughed it, but trying to find ways to make it more comfortable for taking the family out more. Thanks!

Rinse kit says it holds 2 gallons, the most we got into it was 1.5. Even at that it felt way underfull and light. I have friends that use them for surfing(I prefer a 2 gallon jug of hot from the tap water with an insulated sleeve) and all they do is rinse the saltwater off. Basically the first part of a soap and shampoo shower. My wife used it for a full shower and she has grown up on sailboats he whole life, meaning she knows how to conserve water. Told me it’s great, you should take one. Got stripped down in the cold, went to spray the nozzle and it dribbled out, rinsekit done.

We cycled the heating element through 3 times to get that shower and it was lukewarm, which was great for a camp shower, but at the over $200 price tag I think hot water and at least 2 showers is not too much to ask for.

If I hade the choice of rinsekit or heating water and putting in a jug, I’d go jug.

If you need to rinse some sand off or clean dishes, the rinse kit is a nice tool.
 

Abran

Observer
Having used a modified bug sprayer bottle with a kitchen sink side sprayer for a shower, I typically used about two gallons. About a half gallon to wet down, then I soap up, and the remaining gallon and a half to rinse off. Having a spray head with a trigger allows you to conserve the water. To heat it, I'd boil a quart of water and pour it into the partially filled bug sprayer. Wasn't ever "hot", but it wasn't miserable.

Nice idea. I use those to fill transmissions, t cases, and diffs.

For my purposes I think that’s a win so far!
 

jeegro

Adventurer
Yo Abran

This is Jeff from LRF

I rigged up a heat exchanger to my D2, the line tapped off the heater hose, and installed a water pump where the air spring compressor used to go. Fire up the truck, water is hot within a few minutes. Beats carrying around propane.
 

jeegro

Adventurer
Heat exchanger. Coolant in, coolant out, cold water in, hot water out. Bought mine here: https://www.dudadiesel.com/heat_exchangers.php
Only like $50 bucks. Then bought various tubing and fittings from Mcmaster.

I have various fittings, like a shower head that attaches to the rack, dish sprayer, etc. Doesn't take up any space either.

Thermostatic mixing valve lets you control temp. On full heat, I've clocked 115 degrees
Some pictures

68D6C721-639D-4858-8537-FB256E3BA9E6.jpg

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IMG_1179.JPG
 

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