Best Shower Design for those wanting a more fancy shower?

[veleda]

Hey all!

My camp has done well with a simple 2x4 , pallet, shower curtain set up, evap pond, and hanging camping shower bag.

We're thinking of trying to do something nicer this year. Maybe adding a water pump/tank or a faster assembly system.

I've tried searching google but had trouble locating spiffy (yes I said spiffy) shower designs.

Thoughts?

-Veleda

[Lord Of Ruin]

Hey all!

My camp has done well with a simple 2x4 , pallet, shower curtain set up, evap pond, and hanging camping shower bag.

We're thinking of trying to do something nicer this year. Maybe adding a water pump/tank or a faster assembly system.

I've tried searching google but had trouble locating spiffy (yes I said spiffy) shower designs.

Thoughts?

-Veleda

Easiest thing to do? Watch a couple of MASH episodes and look at their showers. Elevate teh water supply, build a "stall" out of 2 X 4 and then some plywood for privacy. Spring loaded plywood door for entrance. Pull chain to release water.

I'd do a simple gravity tank to a very low flow head. Then elevate teh whole shebang a bit so you can put a catch basin of some sort under it all. Pump waste water into barrel/cans and truck them out.

Super easy, and if you like you could burn most of it in a burn barrel when ready to leave.

[AntiM]

Have you read through the shower thread here? It is sticky, up at the top.

[Badawg]

Zodi... It's the bomb!

[much2naughty2]

Veleda, I was thinking about you looking for a shower design. Don't know if this is spiffy, but this idea is low cost and light weight and reuseable.

2 10 ft pieces of 1/2 inch pvc,
2 - 1/2" x 1" Tees
1 - 1/2 X 1" 4 way Tee
3 cheap shower curtains
small kids plastic swiming pool to collect the water.

For a 4 ft shower stall, cut the 1/2 pipe into 4' lengths. Connect the 3 pieces together with each Tee making sure the 1' Tee outlet points down or slightly out at the same angle. This should make a circle about 4 feet in diameter.

Next cut 3 pieces of the 1" pipe about a 7'. and 1 piece about 2'. Use the longer pieces to make the legs, but don't glue unless you have room to carry the whole assembly. Maybe a better idea is to drill a couple small holes thrugh each assembled tee joint and use a small sheet metal screws to hold it together. Also drill a hole through the middle of pipe large enough to put 1/4 rope through that you might use to tie the shower curtains back when not in use. Put the short pipe into the 1" coupler pointing up.

Do the same with the short section of 1" pipe, but also drill a hole through the pipe large enough to put 1/4 rope through that you might use to attach your shower bag. Might drill several holes at different heights for shorter people. Get facy by using a small pully at the top and a rope long enough to hoist the shower bag up.

When you get to BM, set up your shower frame around the pool and dig 3 holes deep enough to anchor the shower legs. Put on the curtains, hoist the bag.

I suppose there are al kinds of problems with this idea, like when the wind blows. Just another use for your duct tape, or don't shower when the wind blows.

[DiveDogFLL]

I own a zodi 12v powered shower. its just ok.

the problem is regulation of the heat, wastes water. now if you had a lake for a source, no problem run it till it gets to the 'right temp' and shower up. but turning it on and off gets the water in to coils too damn hot.

I use it on the boat, and ended up putting the hot water into a solar shower, to save a few gallons.


easy way is boil a gallon of water, and put in 3-4 gallons of cold water in a solar shower.

[dragonfly Jafe]

I own a zodi 12v powered shower. its just ok.

the problem is regulation of the heat, wastes water. now if you had a lake for a source, no problem run it till it gets to the 'right temp' and shower up. but turning it on and off gets the water in to coils too damn hot.

I use it on the boat, and ended up putting the hot water into a solar shower, to save a few gallons.


easy way is boil a gallon of water, and put in 3-4 gallons of cold water in a solar shower.

I set mine up over a 5 gallon bucket, that was used for each person to dump their water into for the shower. The shower head was stored in the bucket in between uses, and until the water got up to temp. That way, it re-circulated getting hotter and hotter, without wasting water or creating excessive grey water. Then a quick rinse, followed by putting the shower head back into the bucket. A typical shower uses 1 to 1-1/2 gallons of water, or 4-5 gallons for someone with long hair.

[Bounce530]

This is what I did one time for a shower. I took two six foot lenghts of pvc and used hose clamps to attach the lenghts to the roof rack of my van. They went off the side of the van so I could shower then go straight into the van to dry off in a some what clean area. Then, I used 'T's to make a cross bar along the top at the end of the lenghts coming from the van, then a short straight piece of pvc to goto an elbow to make the legs. On the ground I layed an 8' 2x4 with holes drilled out for the bottom of the legs to fit into. I also pounded a rebar stake into the playa, and slid the pvc through the 2x4 and onto the rebar. I was going to use a black cement mixing tub for the water collection. I used three shower curtain liners on the PVC, one on each side and the cross bar.
Then the all day Monday wind storm of '08 happened. While the structure held, the curtains were all destroyed within a matter of minutes. Even though I had them tied up nicely.
I didn't use the shower since the curtains were destroyed, (and wasn't comfortable being naked in public at that time) but the problem that I saw after the fact was I didn't have anything to really hold the solar shower bag up with. The plan was to lay the bag on the roof of the van and use a longer then stock hose. Maybe some extra legs and a peak of some kind out of pvc?
Bottom line, ditch the curtain idea. YMMV.

[Badawg]

[quote="DiveDogFLL"]I own a zodi 12v powered shower. its just ok.

the problem is regulation of the heat, wastes water. now if you had a lake for a source, no problem run it till it gets to the 'right temp' and shower up. but turning it on and off gets the water in to coils too damn hot.

I use it on the boat, and ended up putting the hot water into a solar shower, to save a few gallons.


easy way is boil a gallon of water, and put in 3-4 gallons of cold water in a solar shower.[/quote]

I just put the showerhead in the water bucket so it recycles while not being sprayed on you.

[veleda]

our camp is like a 100 people.. so boiling water for everyone not likely to happen. ; )

I did find this site: hotcampshowers.com that has a tankless water heater which looks tre spif but I'm not sure how much it would cost to fuel and not super power savvy.

I like the idea of having one of these though its tre expensive but i guess we would only have to buy it once..but dont' want to end up spending 1k on heating costs alone.

[sambojones]

Have you read through the shower thread here? It is sticky, up at the top.

there used to be a shower design sticky but i don't see it anymore and i'm having a hard time finding it with the search function

or were you refering to the sticky faq that has a bit of shower info?

I seem to remember a thread that had pictures and designs of ppl's shower setup's and ideas maybe i just made it up in my crazy head

[swampdog]

I was pretty proud of my shower design last year. Not what the OP is looking for, but maybe someone else will see it and like it.

I built a box-like PVC structure using 4 and 4.5 ft lenths and tees. It ends up like a square on uprights. I built a small evap pond under it (1x3, duct tape, and black plastic) and drove 4 rebar through the plastic to stand the uprights over. Then I ran tie-down straps through additional tees at the top of everything so it was lashed down tight to the playa.

Now here's the (pardon my ego) brilliant part. I draped towels over the sides and clipped them together so that they obscured the view neckbone to knee. After a shower (I just used a lawn sprayer) you dry off, throw your towel on the black evap plastic, and mop up any excess water. Then you hang it back up and it dries quickly. You can host at least as many showers per day as you've got towels on the rack. Probably twice a day per towel. You might need to shake the playa dust off the towels before you use them.

I've got lots more details if anyone wants them. Pix even.

[sambojones]

pics would be awesome if you can post em... I just need something simple as i'll prolly be the only one using it maybe one other person so something like that might work where i can temporarily hang up some coverings then take them down and do what u did or just let the sun evap wuts down there

[bm_cricket]

Last year our camp had a 2 story tower with two way mirrors for walls and a light inside (oh, the mirrors were for show, all for show, what a show!). It was a private shower for public viewing.

In 2008 a black plastic bag camp shower and a loading pallet worked just fine. If I wanted to go solo this year I would probably go back to the shower bag setup. At least you can clean all the important bits.

[gidget]

Just get yourself your very own rocket scientist.

We have two that camp with us. Last year they redesigned our camp to have actual plumbing... I know nothing about how they actually made this work, but it consisted of a 550 gal tank in the truck, pump, tankless water heater (just used 2 coleman propane cans), water filter... they built a real kitchen sink, bathroom sink and shower with an actual shower head, faucets for hot and cold and everything, drinking water filter spigot... all drained through a grease trap to the evap pool. It was ridiculous. Too ridiculous. But the shower was lovely.

Rocket scientists. I highly recommend them.

[viajera80]

I really liked my shower design last year, but it is really only good for a few people and I'm sure I will continue to make it better.

I took a 3 foot 3/4 inch rebar stake and staked it about 1 foot into the Playa. I then took a 6 foot length of 1 inch metal conduit and slipped it over the top of the stake. To that I screwed on an elbow piece of conduit with a connector piece and had another connector piece at the end to hold on the shower bag.

My catchment system is a round black tub for putting under hot water heaters. It has a tube connection spout on the side that you can use to send water to an evap pond or whatever you have. I just keep it capped. I then built a little zen-like wood platform out of redwood to stand on and keep my feet clean. I do put a folded up towel on the bottom of the water pan and that usually catches most of the water and I can hang that up later or squeeze it out into our gray water bucket. Most of the water seems to evaporate out of the towel though.

I use the pocket shower and don't need to mess with the long tube:
http://bit.ly/98BtRv

This year I am working on building a screen with a few pieces of rebar and curved conduit with some pretty curtains.

[gyre]

New stainless bug sprayer, can be heated.
Or mobile shower truck.

[Roundtuit]

I found this recently. Temporarily out of stock but to me its an inexpensive and simple option.

http://www.campingcomfortably.com/giga-tent-stinky-pete-shower-shelter.html

[TomServo]

I found this online: http://www.2daloo.com/camp_shower.htm

I've used pressurized sprayers for my misting system. The stainless steel tanks can be heated over a camp stove, for hot showers. But, if you don't care if its heated or not, you could plumb any 3 gallon sprayer. I've got a steel tank I'm gonna use....but maybe use a valve up towards the shower head

[Boijoy]

wow. $387.00

[jkisha]

Well, we bit the bullet and built a hot-water on demand shower system. We built the actual shower stall out of PVC and the base out of 2x4s and plywood and caulked and painted it with water proof paint. It was installed inside the second room of our yurt with a drain hose running outside to the evap pond. The heater, 40 gallon water tank and propane were outside with fittings running through the yurt to the on-demand self priming pump.

Wasn't cheap, but being able to take hot showers out of the wind and dust at any time of the day or night was the best!

JK

[Boijoy]

It really is all about "priorites". we bit for our own Porto and NEVER even batted an eye for the $$ .

[TomServo]

wow. $387.00 :shock:

Yeah, that's what I said. But the design is simple enough, you could make one for wayyy less. I just happen to have a steel sprayer. All I need is the pipes, valve and shower head.

[Boijoy]

or, but you still have to heat the water. (( ponder ))

[Boijoy]

uggg.

http://safetycentral.com/klposohebapo1.html

[TomServo]

or, but you still have to heat the water. (( ponder ))

With the steel sprayers, you just heat it on a small camp stove. I think the plastic ones are sturdy enough to have heated water added to them.

We had a coleman shower a few years back. Those are expensive, but I like em. This is a one piece design...which I like.

[Boijoy]

agreed. You do have to consider "size" @ BM. There are things I would LOVE to take out there,, but can't haul them.

[jkisha]

agreed. You do have to consider "size" @ BM. There are things I would LOVE to take out there,, but can't haul them.

Rent a bigger truck.

JK

[Boijoy]

agreed. You do have to consider "size" @ BM. There are things I would LOVE to take out there,, but can't haul them.

Rent a bigger truck.

JK

yeah, easy for you to say Mr. at Burning Man I live in a 3 room yurt with a standing hot shower piped to an evap pond, and full kitchen with gas blender, & water bed & full bar with disco lights & ac Pants.

[dragonpilot]

I wonder if RV haters take showers. Wouldn't that diminish their Burning Man experience?