Hot Water for Showers

[unwiredadventures]

I have an extended trip in my Land Cruiser coming in a couple months. I'm looking for a hot water heater for showers. I'll also need this for a few extended campground trips where there are no showers. I need this mostly to entice my wife and kids into longer trips.

I'm specifically looking at anything other than a solar shower since it will be needed for multiple people.

I've looked a these:

Coleman

Zodi Outback

Portable Tankless Water Heater

Does any one have any experience with these?

Any other recommendations for hot water heaters?

[DaveK]

I have used the Zodi Hot tap dual burner extensively. Compact and efficient. If you are going into areas where the water will be cold, the dual burner is necessary. If warmer weather (and water) is in your future, you can do with the single burner. Combine the Hot tap with an easy set up/takedown shelter (see http://www.evergreen-outdoors.net/outba ... _privy.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)and it makes an incentive for other members of the family (wife & kids) to go camping.

If you are in remote areas you will either have to bring along enough h2o to serve all who will be using the shower or have another source such as a stream, lake or spring. In any case, there is no better way to make camp more comfortable than a shower, especially after a vigorous day of hiking, wood gathering, campfire smoke exposure, etc.

See http://www.zodi.com/web-content/Consume ... hower.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[KB6SRT]

I have an extended trip in my Land Cruiser coming in a couple months. I'm looking for a hot water heater for showers. I'll also need this for a few extended campground trips where there are no showers. I need this mostly to entice my wife and kids into longer trips.

I'm specifically looking at anything other than a solar shower since it will be needed for multiple people.

I've looked a these:

Coleman

Zodi Outback

Portable Tankless Water Heater

Does any one have any experience with these?

Any other recommendations for hot water heaters?

I went on a trip with some friends who had the Zodi Hot Tap Shower and it was pretty cool. I only had to wait fo rthe propane to heat up for about 5 minutes as I was the first one in. If I remember right, the water saver shower head was operated by either 2 or 4 "D" cell batteries and they said that if they only used it twice a year, they were changing the batteries every year (in other words getting 2 uses out of them.)
But it was the closest thing I used to having a real shower at home. You don't heat it up hot anyhow. It comes out super warm to almost too hot so you regulate it so it's warm or very warm. There is no cold water knob. So it's pretty cool how they laid it out.

I liked it and I only took a 4 minute shower so everyone was able to get in. What they ended up doing was bring a 55 gallon drum and filling it and it lasted for several people for several days and they also used it for drinking water as well. But we were in one campsite and went on trails and then came back to camp.
So, there ya go. Hope that was helpful.

[taugust]

I wouldn't rule out the solar showers. If you will be stationary for a couple hours, they work well. There are some larger ones that can accomodate several people. Last year on the Rubicon, we used a 5 gallon clear/black solar shower that was hot in about 2 hours of late afternoon sun. Three people showered and there was water left over. These aren't luxury showers, but they were the best showers ever. The advantage is compact storage, no fuel and no waste containers. I like the simple solution.

I used a Walmart (cheap) shower enclosure and now have a battery powered shower pump instead of gravity feed.

Another (not cheap) option is the Thermette. You can see it at http://www.thermette.com. It is a copper boiler that uses anything that will burn, as fuel. In a test, we boiled a half gallon of water in 7 minutes, using only a little newspaper and some twigs that were laying around. It generates a very hot fire on the inside with a built in chimney in direct contact with the water. It is an amazing device. We used it daily to boil water for dishwashing on a weeklong trip to southern Utah, and I considered using it for showers, but didn't. You can mix with cool water to get to shower temp. Some experimenting will yield the correct amount of water to add to get to shower temp.

It's also an excellent piece of gear for a disaster kit.

[toms]

Frank,
Soemone sells a heat exchanger for the Landcruiser. I saw it recently surfing the web for Cruiser parts but do not remenber who. It splices into the heater hose. I think you leave the Cruiser running and pump ( there is a small 12v pump bolted under the hood too) fresh water thru the exhange tank and out to your shower. One advantge is it does not take up cargo space except maybe the input and output hose. I have a friend who says they work well. I don't know what the magnatude of impact is on your fuel.

[latinoguy]

Another option is this...

[cruiserlarry]

Frank,
Soemone sells a heat exchanger for the Landcruiser. I saw it recently surfing the web for Cruiser parts but do not remenber who. It splices into the heater hose. I think you leave the Cruiser running and pump ( there is a small 12v pump bolted under the hood too) fresh water thru the exhange tank and out to your shower. One advantge is it does not take up cargo space except maybe the input and output hose. I have a friend who says they work well. I don't know what the magnatude of impact is on your fuel.

One other consideration might be to those camping near you - the fumes from the exhaust while the engine's running. I'd think this option would work very well, but probably better when camping alone or a distance from other campers...

[OLLIE]

Another option is this...

I wonder if they like DeWalt????

[brentbba]

I've got the Coleman and love it. A little on the bulky side, but heats the water quickly. I use the hose accessory to drop directly into the 7 gallon jugs of water I carry.