The Great On Board Shower Debate

[toy_tek]

Personally I don't really worry too much about it if I'm out for 3 days or less, but its definitely an issue for my girlfriend, even after one day.

I've long considered some kind of pressurized water tank (bug sprayer or maybe plumbed with a Q/D to my ARB compressor) which the water out line would connect to a copper line wrapped around the exhaust pipe or manifold. The copper line would then connect up again to hose that leads to a low flow shower head. This should raise the temp a few degrees, but the tradeoff would be lack of consistent water temp.

I'll report back in a couple years when I get around to it. :chef:

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...
What denotes a shower ?

People on this site are wide and varied in background, the size of their toy fund and have diferent perceptions of what a shower might be...and what they are willing to pay over and above the flannel and a pot of water...

I agree, some will have different expectations. But I would hate to see you spend $100 in parts and hours of your time when you could spend $250 and have a proven system that works. I'm not saying home-brew setups won't work, quite the opposite, I know some that work very well... I'm just saying that a single pass tube in shell exchanger or radiator integrated system could leave you feeling left out in the cold (poor pun intended ). I'm not speaking from "what if", I'm speaking from experience, as I mentioned the ones that spent several hundred dollars making their trans cooler into a shower wished they would have done otherwise, your results may vary.

As for my expectations for a shower. When I'm out for even a couple of days I want to be clean. Different times of year, different trips and different vehicles will surely influence that. When I'm in my topless Land Cruiser in the west desert, I want to shower at night, and when I can take 3-4 decent showers on 5 gallons, why not. I've gone without, I'm not saying I can't... but choosing a vehicle as my base for exploration affords some intrinsic benefits, a shower being one of them, a freezer/fridge being another. I don't need either of them, just as I don't need a RTT or a camp chair either... but when you consider many of us are into our rigs 30k+, another couple grand in accessories that really make things comfortable doesn't sound too bad

 

[Topher Walters]

I have the espar unit and only used it a few times. It works great with no problems and heats up pretty quick.(Diesel fueled) I have a solar shower that is 5 gallons that I have used for years and continue to use. It works great when you have sunny weather. It gets very hot when you can leave it in the sun for a full day.