Camp Shower Showdown

Camp Shower Showdown

  • Zodi Extreme

    Votes: 83 29.5%

  • Zodi Hot Tap

    Votes: 42 14.9%

  • Coleman Hot Water on demand

    Votes: 31 11.0%

  • Helton

    Votes: 39 13.9%

  • AT Water Tank Heat Exchanger Shower

    Votes: 13 4.6%

  • Other: Please post other preference and why

    Votes: 73 26.0%
  • Total voters
    281
C

concretejungle

Adventurer
I'm late on this thread and haven't read all the posts.

I have the helton hot water system. Why i think it's superior is as long as you have a water source you can take as long of a hot shower as you want. I dropped the intake end of my hose into a stream a few weeks back and took maybe a 20 minute shower in the woods with hot water after a long hike. It was wonderful. My GF was even super impressed and said that she no longer feels like camping is ruffing it.
 
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Redman333

Adventurer
I'm actually thinking of combining some of these ideas. I was thinking about doing the road shower 2 and the Helton style. Like the reason stated above. If I have a water source I can use the Helton setup as well as use it with my own water source(2 jerry cans) and then for most of my cleaning needs I can use the road shower. In the summer the road shower would be great for rinsing off after the beach. Camping wise I'd rather use it for cleaning. Rather then have to hear a pot on the stocks fire use the road shower setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
spikemd

spikemd

Explorer
Anyone using the new Mr Heater BOSS units? The low end unit is for showers only and runs off 6 D cells, the middle has a rotating spigot that hooks up to the shower head and a rechargeable battery, the top of the line looks similar to the original model with LED controls. I am looking at the middle model as it is slightly smaller than the top of the line and runs of 12v if the battery dies. States the battery gives about 40 minutes of run time and it heats water 40F above ambient.

I m working on a submersible pump/faucet for camp water convenience, but the BOSS maybe the answer to both camp faucet and shower needs.
 
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rob mellor

Observer
I was at cabelas and they had the top of the line model on the shelf. It was kind of an impulse buy but justified it since Ive wanted one of the Coleman units since they first came to market but this one seems to be an improvement on those. I've only set it up and messed around with it once but it looks like it will work pretty well. I filled up a scepter water can from the hose and it was 50 degrees and the heater said the output water was around 90-92 so I think the 40 degree claim is valid.

The feature I really liked is with this model (not sure about the others) is when you shut the water off using the button on the spray head then the burner shuts off too and relights when you turn back on the water flow. I can see this being helpful for getting wet, turning off the water then sudsing up. For a rinse turn the water back on and the burner kicks on automatically. I think with the Coleman units you have to keep the water circulating the whole time to keep the burner from over heating. It also came with a carry bag even though I think the mr heater site says it doesn't.
 
Chris Boyd

Chris Boyd

Explorer
90 degree water sounds pretty good on paper, but that's pretty cold if the ambient air temp is low. the helton does about the same 40 degree lift, so recirculating it twice gets it good and hot. so hot, that I'm adding an anti-scald device to my "plumbing" for the shower head. I haven't seen the unit, but based on the description, sounds like you could recirc it as well?
 
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Redman333

Adventurer
Chris Boyd said:
90 degree water sounds pretty good on paper, but that's pretty cold if the ambient air temp is low. the helton does about the same 40 degree lift, so recirculating it twice gets it good and hot. so hot, that I'm adding an anti-scald device to my "plumbing" for the shower head. I haven't seen the unit, but based on the description, sounds like you could recirc it as well?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I have the zodi hot water. Single burner and I have to recirc in order to get hot water if the ambient temp is below 60. If I had a big water tank to recirc I wouldn't mind that but I'm needed something that heats more then that on the first pass.


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spikemd

spikemd

Explorer
So a first pass through the unit will warm the water and a second pass will bring it up to toasty. Only downside is using lots of propane. Storage is getting tight for me with the fridge, Goal zero Yet 400, kitchen supplies, grill, gear, water/gas and RTT. Not sure if I have the space for the unit.

I have been looking at the fiberglass propane tanks since I just bought a Weber q for camping. Don't want to carry tons of small canisters. BTW, the Q1200 rocks as a grill. As good or better than most backyard BBQs.
 
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Redman333

Adventurer
spikemd said:
So a first pass through the unit will warm the water and a second pass will bring it up to toasty. Only downside is using lots of propane. Storage is getting tight for me with the fridge, Goal zero Yet 400, kitchen supplies, grill, gear, water/gas and RTT. Not sure if I have the space for the unit.

I have been looking at the fiberglass propane tanks since I just bought a Weber q for camping. Don't want to carry tons of small canisters. BTW, the Q1200 rocks as a grill. As good or better than most backyard BBQs.
Click to expand...

That grill takes up a lot of your space. I had a Coleman tailgater grill and now have a much smaller one that works just as good but doesn't take up nearly as much space. You can also fill the 1 pound Coleman gas cans with 2 pounds of propane. I have been doing that for awhile now. At least until I can mount my 11lb tank on the rig.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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rob mellor

Observer
Chris Boyd said:
90 degree water sounds pretty good on paper, but that's pretty cold if the ambient air temp is low. the helton does about the same 40 degree lift, so recirculating it twice gets it good and hot. so hot, that I'm adding an anti-scald device to my "plumbing" for the shower head. I haven't seen the unit, but based on the description, sounds like you could recirc it as well?
Click to expand...

When I was messing around with it in the driveway air temp was about 55 degrees and that 90-92 definitely would have felt like a cold shower. It would be easy to recirculate the water once through to warm it. Just swing the faucet over on the side of the unit and let it run into the scepter can until it said the inlet water temp was 70ish then you could adjust the output temp with the display. The unit did say it would shut the burner off if the outlet temp was 120 to prevent scalding.

The manual said about 40 min of use on the built in battery. I like the fact that when the internal battery inevitably dies you can run it from the 12V (yeti 400 here) or 110. One of the reviews also said 55-60 gal on one of the little green tanks so it doesn't seem to use a lot of propane.

This shows the swing out faucet thing that I'm talking about.
 
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robgendreau

Explorer
Why would someone choose that over say an Eccotemp L5? And it looks huge. Maybe cuz I come from activities where one has to make do with much less weight I just can't wrap my head around the hassle and compromises involved in some of these shower rigs, having seen the thread rise zombielike from the past.

Would a pot on your stove heated to boiling and dumped in a container of water be a more efficient means of heating water? certainly less bulk and redundancy. And BTW, does dumping 1L of 100C water into 3L of 50C water produce 4L of 62.5C water?
 
Chris Boyd

Chris Boyd

Explorer
robgendreau said:
Why would someone choose that over say an Eccotemp L5? And it looks huge. Maybe cuz I come from activities where one has to make do with much less weight I just can't wrap my head around the hassle and compromises involved in some of these shower rigs, having seen the thread rise zombielike from the past.

Would a pot on your stove heated to boiling and dumped in a container of water be a more efficient means of heating water? certainly less bulk and redundancy. And BTW, does dumping 1L of 100C water into 3L of 50C water produce 4L of 62.5C water?
Click to expand...

I think for a teardrop trailer where things can get mounted and plumbed in, the eccotemp is a no brainer. Just like the Helton on my engine. Different folks, different strokes.

I have seen the basecamp unit now that I saw the video. They had it at expo east and it's a nice compact setup. I just personally don't want to manage green propane bottle and Jerry can storage or find another place to store another thing. Same reasons I don't run green bottles on my stove. I'm sure this can be adapted to larger tanks of gas as was mentioned.

One upside is that it appears to produce hot potable water for dishes (I'm sure glad she needed a shower after doing those dishes :))
which is one potential limitation of the Helton. Shower water only.
 
Corey

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
I run my Basecamp off of a 5 lb bottle instead of the disposable 1 lb green bottles.
 
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