Date:         Fri, 6 Jul 2007 20:19:29 -0700
Reply-To:     Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Hot showers/vans.
In-Reply-To:  <002501c7c040$4b1bc6e0$e2b2d8d1@dhanson>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

We used to do the solar shower thing, and I've also been known to use
public or fee showers on the road. For in-camp showering I've got a nice
little rig that I'm using these days. I have a Zodi Hot Tap shower
heater which sits atop your normal 1lb bottle of propane. It has a
submersible pump and a battery pack. The pump sits in the water
reservoir. With the pump started, the heater lit, and the nozzle in the
reservoir, hot water recirculates through the heater and it warms up
quickly. Can easily get too hot for me.

The idea is to pick up the nozzle to wet yourself, then return it to the
reservoir when soaping, then pick it back up and rinse off. This
conserves water, but I don't like showering one-handed so I mount the
nozzle on one of Zodi's Shower Poles, which lets a fellow use both hands
for soaping and scrubbing and rinsing, and I put a 3-way valve in the
line feeding the nozzle so that when water from the nozzle is not needed
the water is diverted back into the reservoir.

For privacy we use one of these:

http://www.campausa.com/shower_enclosure.htm

and the heater sits outside for safety. There is an opening in one wall
near the floor for the hoses. It sets up and breaks down quickly. If
there is wind it has tie points for guy lines. It has stood up to some
strong wind gusts w/o damage. It has a snap-in floor but I dislike
standing in the muddy soapy puddle (just fussy, I guess) so a Cabela's
Shower Deck

http://tinyurl.com/34c8b4

provides a nice floor and a handy carrying case for shower items.

The whole thing breaks down into three small packages: the hardshell
water reservoir carries the heater, pump, hoses, and battery pack. Its
lid snaps off and becomes a base for the propane bottle. The shower pole
goes into the enclosure's storage bag, and the little shower deck closes
up fairly small.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR