Great shower for base camp
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
We use a on demand hot water heater, great set up for base camp.
Nice, share did you get yours.
But a cool mountain creek is so refreshing.
Zodi works the same, but in a MUCH smaller package.
I like rubbing myself with baby wipes. It's especially refreshing when they start out frozen stiff and crunchy.
Nice set up! Here is my Zodi shower and surround set up last year in NM. Only holds 3 gallons....and it takes sometime to heat the water. The biggest problem is finding a source of water and then hauling it to camp.
Thanks for sharing! LaGriz
Nice set up! Here is my Zodi shower and surround set up last year in NM. Only holds 3 gallons....and it takes sometime to heat the water. The biggest problem is finding a source of water and then hauling it to camp.
Thanks for sharing! LaGriz
I thought that was going to the SHUG with his shower cap on!
Mark
Here is where we will be cleaning up during our elk hunt.
Shower? You mean, like with water and stuff????
That would be an extra bag on the plane for sure....
LOL! Good one Mark.... funny stuff... I didn't mind the shower one... the bathroom stall creeped me out a bit....
I've never seen that Zodi but the one I had fit in a box a little bigger than a lunchbox that served as a water supply. Hot water on demand and all you need is a 1 lb propane bottle and 2 D batteries for the little pump. Awesome device!
Jaq, what is the shower you are describing called?
Zodi hot tap instant shower. They make several varieties. Heats water through a copper coil. Wonderful tool.
My Zodi gave a burst of hot (scalding water)if it was turned off, so I just recurculated the water in the bucket till it was the right temp, then turn off the heater and just used the shower. It works great this way!
I bring a 3 gall pot and put it on the stove for a few mins. My hot chocolate then doubles as my shower dipper. Feels great, and sure beats wet wipes!
Deerslayer, does the hot chocolate also work as a cover scent? :)
TD's Link
Even our base camp is pretty spikey....
Actually I do usually take a sea to summit solar shower bag. Some Septembers it works good... others it never gets warmed up to any kind of comfortable level. But when it's that cold I have less need for a, um, shower....
It is great for use in the camp "kitchen" though. Washing pots or hands and stuff, just hang it at a comfy height and open the sprinkler, twist it to shut off when done. On demand running water. And doubles as both water storage and s dry bag. Not at the same time though....
My Base Camp shower, I have to heat the water for it, but it works great.
Kevin
I heat water and put it in a Tide bottle, have a bunch of small holes in the cap, just pour it on my head and lather up. The perforated head works better than just removing the top. Works great, simple, free.
Sun shower with water heated up from the stove and poured in.
Zodi makes a two fuel canister model that is super fast in heating water. I have started using only one fuel canister as the double just gets too danged hot. This model is self contained and comes in a red plastic box that doubles as a water container. Beats the heck out of the old solar showers in elk camp. Sun never got the black plastic bag hot enough so we had to supplement the water with a Coleman Stove.
Wow....just give me a creek.
A creek is a tall order where I hunt.
Looking at the Zodi, can you control the flow of water on and off at the spout or do you have to stop the pump. I like to conserve as much water as possible so I usually get wet, stop water, get a good lather on and rinse.
You can stop it ,but as I was saying when you turn it back on it is very hot! It works best to just heat 2-3 gallons in a bucket then turn the shower head off and on.
A creek is a lousy option when day-time highs are 45 and under. Especially when it's windy.
How much do these heating systems cost?
The zodi's are $1-250 depending on what system you want.
We take a bilige pump and about 6' of hose with a water saver shower head. We set a metal 5 gal bucket next to the campfire till the water is the right temp then throw the pump in.
Campfire?.... not in my elk camp, only if we are cooking backstrap and drinking crown royal aka hunts over. I think for ~150$ an on demand, small, portable hot shower is worth its weight in gold; hence my interest.
I've used the solar bags leaving them in NM sun until I'm back from evening hunt and sometimes it was too hot but the limited water and gravity pose other minor issues.I've used the same showers in ohio during winter w/ zero heat and zero sun in an old barn..WOW talk about shrinkage!! freezing cold. The pallets we stood on turned to ice. Also did the water bottle w/ holes poked in the top, it worked, thank god the CO sun was out.
Monkey butt sucks.
Nice showers!! I guess my bucket/pump/copper line running thru the campfire is a little primitive.
-Joe
Ohiohunter, as to the question about turning the pump on or off, I just put the shower head back in the red water container and let it continue to recirculate and never have to turn it off till I am finished. That greatly conserves your water as well.
Do you guys bring your wife along to scrub your back?
Of course, she doubles as a pack mule.
Another option is to use your camelback or similar bladder and just add a bit of heated water from your stove.
I hang it on a treelimb about 3/4 full of cold water. Then heat up water in my Jetboil and top it off. Take the bite valve off the end of my camelback hose and use that to rinse off.
I like having things that do double duty and save weight- and fits nicely with my KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) mentality! ;-)
Crop of the picture for a better look. This is my Zodi purchased at Cabela's in 2010 I think for $170. I can get by with the "baby wipes" for a day or 2 and then it gets pretty cheesey if you know what I mean!This is by now means as good as a real shower or bath at a camp or motel. It however,can make a 7-10 hunt endurable. IdyllwildArcher - I did the "stream thing" in the middle fork of the Salmon River once as our Sept. hunt heated up. I don't think I have ever recovered from that 40 degree water! There is control of the water flow at the nozzle. I replaced the original plastic one with a brass shower head. Burner can be used as a back up stove. Comes with a tough nylon sack and can run on a cartridge or from a bulk tank. I think it is worth it if you need to wash badly enough. LaGriz
Non typ
How do you power the bilge pump?
Had a guy show up with this PVC contraption once. Used a pump in a turkey fryer to heat the water. It was probably in 2 or 3 different counties with in three days of setting it up.
That guy is obviously on a bivy hunt!
Why does a shower need a roof? He afraid the buzzards are gonna catcha peek at his pecker?
Truck battery for the pump.
Wow... that looks like something from a MASH unit.... maybe Hot Lips is in there somewhere.....
Mine is a $25 pop up shelter / shower from ebay.
sit on a smoothed off 5 gallon bucket with a bot of hot water and a Dixie cup.
works great - cheap - and feel clean as a whistle when I get done.
This thread got me to thinking about making something for camp this year. I have done the sponge bath in a creek before and its not very much fun so you end up not doing it or only once. Didn't want to spend a lot of money since it would only be used 1 time per year. I was going to go the 2 gallon sprayer method initially. Just add hot water, pump, and spray but I was afraid I would have to pump during the shower. I ended up looking at bilge pumps after non typ post.
I purchased a 12V seaflo pump on ebay for $20. Same type of pump used in an RV. Rigged up a kitchen sprayer to it from Lowes cost $11. Kitchen spray is ideal because when you stop pulling the handle there is no call for water so the pump shuts off. No messing with a power switch and conserves water. Then purchased a 12V cig type plug. Will have an ATV and truck at camp so can run off either just 2.7 amps. Since I will already have a propane stove no sense lugging another appliance just heat some waterm add it to some cold water, toss hose in a bucket and go. Portable so I am sure I could use it for other uses maybe rinsing off meat if needed. I have around $35 into it.
That sounds like a GREAT idea.
Got any pics?
They make a battery operated Zodi for around 39.00. Check Cabelas.
That's very similar to the setup I came up with for my hunts out west. We usually hunted from a place we could drive to, but took the tents and set up nice comfortable camp to come back to in the evenings.
A 12 V RV pump, kitchen sprayer, and extension cord fitted with lighter plug, using a plastic bucket for water heated as desired on the campstove. The shower stall was sometimes a tarp rigged between a couple of trees, other times was between the back doors of the van, propped open with a broomstick cut down and fitted with a bent nail hook on each end to go into a an screw eye in each door and serving as a shower curtain holder if we were camping where others might happen by, or if the wind was whipping up at shower time.
All but the broomstick went into the bucket for a small package in transit.
I think I came up with that the year after the brother-in-law and I went to CO and decided we really needed baths on a windy 40-degree day with a handy water tank and windmill providing the water. It was a quick bath.
huntabsarokee's Link
I made a quick video at lunch out of my truck for my buddy and I will try and add link here. Just uploaded to photo bucket but not sure which link to use. Give this a try.
http://vid436.photobucket.com/albums/qq87/huntabsarokee/shower.mp4
Perect timing with the shower video buddy. You posted as I was reading another thread learning how to shave my body. We may not kill any elk, but we'll be smooth and clean.
Look out Wyoming hot springs here I come.
I have the same type as Lagriz and love it. I had the other Zodi with the coil and pump but the battery operated pump on didn't work so well so I got a new one.
I use it in the shower in my trailer when the weather is cold so trailer tanks would freeze. Heat it up outside then open the gray water drain and use the Zodi inside. Much warmer than outside. Really good system.
We use a 12 volt pump and heat the water in a garbage can with a turkey fryer. Simple but works great.
It makes you wonder how guys on 12 day backpack sheep hunts can possibly do it?
This was one of my favorites.