Review: Joolca ENSUITE Mounted Single

[KD702]

Joolca ENSUITE Mounted Single

I just received the Ensuite and took it on a 3 day weekend where we base camped. The weather was great other than a couple hours of rain storm on Saturday. The unit was used for both a shower stall and for the portable toilet.

I really wanted to like this product and I think it has potential to be great but there are a few things that need attention to reach “Great”, in our opinion.

I guess I will start with the things that we liked about the setup.

PROS:

• The laundry pouch, dry zone, and mesh pockets are great.
• Easy set up and take down of the unit.
• The shower head arm is a great addition.
• Quality material used for the tent
• The height adjustability
• The option to have a roof on it (if it worked properly....see below)

CONS:

• The provided mounting brackets use bolts too large for the commonly used extruded aluminum rails (such as the Prinsu), which forces the user to use way too small of bolts for the hole size of the bracket.
• The rainfly roof is nothing more than a rain water catch. This will hold roughly 1.5 to 2 gallons of water (weighing 11-16 lbs of liquid). This will bend the above mentioned mounting brackets causing a downward angle of the arms. (But not enough to empty the water storage pond the rainfly has created)
• The rainfly attaches on the vehicle side of the stall. This is attached using weak snaps that hold about as well as those on the cheap rain ponchos. I have my doubts that if left up over night for a privacy bathroom and a decent windy condition hits, you may be ordering a new one.
• The Rainfly front flap attaches to the front wall on the inside with Velcro. Maybe there is a reason for this, but instead of creating a “Shingle” effect in the event that the roof would drain water (maybe once it is at “Max Capacity”) the water would be draining down the inside of the front wall.
• Due to the curvature of the sides of several vehicles, mounting on the edge of a roof rack will cause the back wall of the unit to curve and mis-shape the entire structure. This causes a diagonal wrinkle in the side wall that interferes with zipper operation in the front wall door. This wrinkle can even be seen in one of the photos from their website (All of this could be cured or minimized by making the arms about 4 inches longer) This is probably not as big an issue with vehicles that have a more vertical side profile.
• The bolt that holds the shower head arm on has already began to rust and leaving a rust mark in the case.
• The bolts that hold the side arm brackets to the back bar are WAY too long, and protrude out the back. To combat this, they stuck a piece of foam over them to protect the case.

IF I decide to keep it, these are the things I will do to attempt to do. Just thought for the price a person should not have to.

• Get/Make brackets that are more robust, and fit the proper bolts. Figure out how to be able to slide the whole unit out and away from the side of the vehicle to allow it to hang more vertical.
• Build an arched and brackets to go between the arms to give the rainfly some structure to aid in allowing the rain to run off
• Not sure what to do yet about the cheap snaps that attach the rainfly
• Put large gromets in the corners of the rainfly front flap & sew in some toggles to attach it.
• See # 1 above. Get it pulled away from the vehicle
• Cut the long bolts off, possibly add lock washers with acorn nuts and Loctite
• Since the shower head arm is one piece of metal that is bent and threaded, I will probably be forced to clean up the rust, paint the threaded end and hope for the best. I may try to get a replica made from a stainless steel rod of the same diameter.

Just my 3 cents. I was not trying to be picky, just expected more for the wait and price I guess.

KD