Road Shower vs. Waterport vs. ?

[Tom (Steel Industries)]

Hello All,

I'm looking for a good water tank/ shower that I can add to my jeep. Has anyone used the Road Shower or Waterport or anything else?


Thanks,

Tom

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Been thinking about the same but mounting on my trailer. Looking forward to hearing responses.

 

[expeditionnorth]

I bought 2 of those solars showers years ago, they sit in the storage locker

I've been thinking of building a DIY version of one of these out of 6" pvc pipe, paint it all flat black
add an air fitting to the top to pressurize it, and a hose attachment at the bottom opposite side for the hose & shower head

 

[Tom (Steel Industries)]

I bought 2 of those solars showers years ago, they sit in the storage locker

I've been thinking of building a DIY version of one of these out of 6" pvc pipe, paint it all flat black
add an air fitting to the top to pressurize it, and a hose attachment at the bottom opposite side for the hose & shower head

Did you use Road Shower or Waterport?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

No direct experience with either of those makes, but have a few friends with the Road Shower.

Even with mildly hot and sunny days, it's not uncommon to add hot water if you're taking a shower at night when temps have cooled. A DIY pvc version would have even less thermal conductivity than metal (even if using black/painted pvc).

 

[dagen]

If you're into doing some home brew work, there's a guy who did a DIY water heater/ tank install on a 4Runner. If you have the time and desire you can do it yourself. You can check out his build thread here. It's pretty cool what he did, but it does take a decent amount of effort.

http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8421&page=36

 

[RaggedViking]

I've got a friend who travels for work and for music festivals (he sells beer, that lucky son of a...). Anyway, he swears by his Road Shower and tried convincing me to add one to my roof top arsenal. I have yet to do so, but am contemplating it for Spring.

 

[Trowbocop]

No experience with the aforementioned brands, but we travel with a Nemo Helio shower. Packs down small and works great. Check them out.

 

[Gabriel]

I have a road shower 2 on my Tundra up here in WA state, the heating functions solely by the black body of it heating up from the heat of the sun. If its summer it works great, ill fill it up before i head out and have warm water ready to go. It comes with quality hardware, but forewarning, it will not get too hot unless it is direct sunlight. If its overcast i usually find only 5degrees warmer than the air temperature. Then again im up here near Seattle so the weather is usually very temperate.

Id say it depends where your located, another option would be a battery powered heater and solar setup but that comes with its own issues and investment. Road shower is simple, convenient, and pretty functional.


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[Montanarally]

I'd skip the one that taps a aluminum tank into you engine coolant . I got one last year ,thing didn't heat the water in any way and was kinda pain to have the truck running to use it .also it was a failure point due the low quality welds they did .


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[VCeXpedition]

I'm currently trying the WaterPort having tried to ho-make one out of ABS black plastic and coming to the conclusion that it was just too much work for what I would get out of it.
It's kind of funny, on the WaterPort website, they don't really emphasize using it as a human shower, more like washing the dog or squirting of a dirty bike or surfboard.
Well, for good reason, it's grey plastic and in my (short) experience with it so far, it does a very poor job of heating up using heat from the sun, so I don't really think it's sold under that premise.

My intention for future use is to be able to:
1. be able to heat up the water in the W/P by recycling through my small water heater from ZODI
2. pressurize the tank again with my on-board air or even a CO2 pellet or something. (max pressure should be below 45-50 psi in the tank)

It only holds 3.3 gallons, maybe enough for a decent shower if you're economical (i.e. not a teenage girl).

And the weather is warm enough to shower outside!

My next move might be to get one of those RV instant / tankless hot water heaters.


FWIW, YMMV.


Dan.

 

[Longshot270]

Grew up using one of the 5 gal blue water containers with a proper brass house bibb fitting and a 5 ft garden hose but for my trips now I also bring a 3 gallon pump sprayer with the mist nozzle cut off. If I don't take the trailer I find the pump sprayer has a much smaller footprint in the jeep or I'll take the larger capacity blue potable water tank if it fits. Just depends on the planned activity.

Water heating is done by solar or waste heat from the generator cooling fans when we run lights for fishing.

Childhood camping trips were a mixture of cold showers, cold or boiling hot solar bags or a 5 gal bucket with a water heater element and a 12v bilge pump going to a shower head.

A coworker uses a tankless with a 20# propane tank but I don't carry more than two little propane bottles for cooking.

 

[badgerwithhands]

Zombie thread! Reviving for thought. I've more or less used most of the home remedies Longshot mentioned.

I thought about taking an air compressor tank and modifying it for water use. What say you? Could mount it to a trailer or on the roof. Food for thought

 

[Longshot270]

An old compressor tank might start rusting and giving you some orange water. They don't paint the inside like they do household bladder tanks.

For small water demands, I found a pump sprayer intended for chlorine disinfectants works well for shower and washing off. It is only a gallon so it is very convenient .

Since making that post I experimented with an air pressurized water pipe but for me it was more trouble than it was worth. I ended up adding an on demand 1 gpm pump to it to supply water. The air volume compresses so the pump can build up pressure to provide continuous flow like your house instead of clicking off and on like in an rv.

 

[brianb2]

Just ordered one of these. Haven't had a chance to take it out yet, but from what I can tell this is going to work out great.

 

[Kent R]

Ive been using a Road Shower for over one year and love it! The main problem is once the sun goes down it gets cool fast, so I just make sure to take a rinse off before that. One more thing the new version is much better than the one I have it now pressurizes to 40+PSI and will drain the tank on one charge.

 

[Adrian Frick]

HI Guys,

Our new black tanks heat up in the sun. Depending on outside temperatures, you can see water temperature up in the High 80s. We also equipped our tanks for manual filling. Fill the tank either with fresh water or stream water and pressurize with a bike pump or compressor. Here is some customer photos. Ive also created a discount code "overlandbound" for 20% off for those wanting to try out the system. If you have any questions let me know!

 

[000]

HI Guys,

Our new black tanks heat up in the sun. Depending on outside temperatures, you can see water temperature up in the High 80s. We also equipped our tanks for manual filling. Fill the tank either with fresh water or stream water and pressurize with a bike pump or compressor. Here is some customer photos. Ive also created a discount code "overlandbound" for 20% off for those wanting to try out the system. If you have any questions let me know!

Nice discount! I’m not impressed with the rinse kit I have been using, fortunately I got it on Craigslist basically new for half price. What kind of warranty do you offer with the water port? Thanks!


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[000]

Nice discount! I’m not impressed with the rinse kit I have been using, fortunately I got it on Craigslist basically new for half price. What kind of warranty do you offer with the water port? Thanks!


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Also, I saw that it says to fill with a garden hose, does this need to be pressurized or can it be filled with a jug with gravity. I’m assuming it just relies on the shraeder valve for pressure but wanted to be sure.


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[Adrian Frick]

1 year warranty!


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