In reading all the replies to Cupie's post on free camping there appears to be a lot of people that have the need to return to a caravan park every couple of days for a hot shower. Like us we do not have the luxury of a ensuite like many modern vans/motor homes etc.
For the cost of 3/4 nights in a park you could set up your own hot shower, alowing you to stay longer to enjoy the lifestyle.
A pop up shower tent of which there are many versions available, A 12volt pumpwith a hose & shower head that just plugs into a cig lighter socket. maybe even a couple of solar water bags for the hot water if set up for a couple of days. We have even seen these being placed on top of the motor at the end of a days drive & heated by the engine heat.
You may also just boil a billy on the fire or stove according to your camping style. When a billy of boiling water is reduced to a comfy temp you have plenty for a refreshing shower,it does not have to be a thirty minute secion.
This is a basic setup @ low cost & worth every dollar.
jimbo said
02:23 PM Nov 21, 2011
So Simple Jimmy......
Happywanderer said
02:45 PM Nov 21, 2011
I found that interesting to Jim. Although I haven't sorted my ablutions out yet I do have a pop up tent and found on Deals Direct the other day a Solar Shower for 6.95. Does anyone have any idea of their normal price as that sounds a bit too cheap.
Gerty Dancer said
03:12 PM Nov 21, 2011
In camping stores the "ensuite tent" costs from $50 to $120, and the pump was about $20. You can get solar hot water bags for $15 to $20, or boil a billy and add it to a bucket of creek water. We use one of those rubber squares with holes in them for the shower floor. Very satisfactory! I like to have a chair placed close to the tent so I can grab towel/ clothes etc. Its all a bit lacking in privacy if the campground is crowded.
wendyv said
03:19 PM Nov 21, 2011
The solar shower is basically just a black, heavy duty plastic bag, with a little tap and shower head attached. You can get one from Anaconda, that has a thermometer built in, for about $15, so a basic one at the price you quote sounds about right. We usually heat ours by laying it on the ground, in the sun. Sometimes, if we are too late into camp for it to have enough time to heat, we will warm water on the fire and then put it in the shower bag. You don't want to fill it too full because it becomes heavy to left up and hang. You might find one of those light weight "jigsaw" style foam mats very useful to stand on when showering.
Smokeydk said
03:23 PM Nov 21, 2011
Yep...we do same thing James
Gerty Dancer said
03:35 PM Nov 21, 2011
Our cheapie tent doesnt have the strength or height to hang the bag, so we tip the warm water into a bucket and put the pump in that.
valnrob said
04:22 PM Nov 21, 2011
yes we too use one of those spring up type tents - a bucket of warm water, and the 12v pump. Hubby made a little box with 2 x 5ah 12v solar batteries in it to use with the pump. Its a handy little box, i use it to charge my phone and Ipod Batteries as well. Portable as well. Also have our toilet in the tent. Set up not that expensive. Does us.
Joe said
05:28 PM Nov 21, 2011
justcruisin01 wrote:
............... there appears to be a lot of people that have the need to return to a caravan park every couple of days for a hot shower................
We use the pop up tent and the bilge pump in a bucket of warm water too, and the potti is also resident in the tent, but while this is an effective approach to keeping clean it has to be said that it doesn't have the luxury aspect of a real hot shower.
The other reason for visiting van parks is to use the laundry facilities as while hand washing clothes is OK, doing the same with towels and sheets is a pain.
Happywanderer said
05:32 PM Nov 21, 2011
The biggest problem with the pop up tents is how to pop them down again. Just ask the few who had them at Greens Lake the other week. We had quite a few laughs watching the struggling, twisting, manouvering, and still not getting them in the shape they should be. Won't mention any names but no one seemed to be able to do it properly.
Gerty Dancer said
06:32 PM Nov 21, 2011
Happywanderer wrote:
The biggest problem with the pop up tents is how to pop them down again. Just ask the few who had them at Greens Lake the other week. We had quite a few laughs watching the struggling, twisting, manouvering, and still not getting them in the shape they should be. Won't mention any names but no one seemed to be able to do it properly.
My Mr D is amazing... he can refold the pop-up tent in seconds!!!!
AlbyofCraigmore said
07:26 PM Nov 21, 2011
Here is a Utube video on how to fold those pesky tents.
cheers,
-- Edited by AlbyofCraigmore on Monday 21st of November 2011 11:57:47 PM
Helena said
08:14 PM Nov 21, 2011
yes we have the same set up with the 12v pump and shower tent you may have a few problems in putting it down at first but we can now put ours down really quickly no trouble at all. Although we did see someone struggling with a beach tent at one time in the end he just squashed it into his car and took it to the shop and they put it down for him poor guy was so red faced about it. Helena
Happywanderer said
09:19 PM Nov 21, 2011
Thanks for that Alby, certainly a lot easier that what I watched at Greens Lake. Not sure what brand they had but they were trying to twist it to get it to fold with a round at each end. That looked so simple. Must say both videos were identical, not sure if you noticed that. Helena, will say there was one that went in van without getting folded properly too as they just gave up.
justcruisin01 said
09:21 PM Nov 21, 2011
There are also shower tents that are not spring loaded like the one shown, these have a external fibre glass frame to which the tent clips to in the same way as a dome tent, & are much more sturdy. If using the 12volt pump system the shower rose can be hung from the loop at the top of the tent, this gives you a hands free system.
Elle on Wheels said
10:48 PM Nov 21, 2011
I did some ebay shopping and got a 40ltr backpack solar shower for $4.95. I also scored a battery pump shower for $12. I have just bought a pop up shower tent on special at bcf for $40.
I'm sure I will swear a lot the frst few times I put try to put the shower tent down. But maybe not, perhaps I will be very efficient.
On the topic of showers, a bucket wash has always been fine for me in various situations, hot water a luxury so if I can have a nozzle and downward gravity as well that would be heaven.
AlbyofCraigmore said
12:00 AM Nov 22, 2011
Hi folks,
Sorry about that, I could have sworn that the CR1 and CR2 videos were different, but you should be able to find the other type in the same area on U Tube.
cheers,
valnrob said
08:41 AM Nov 22, 2011
Our pop up tent has instructions on folding it up on the side of it. Its pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Have seen lots of people fold it as best they can then throw it the back of the ute as is !!! We had one of those with tent poles but find this one easier to use.
Happy folding
Duckster said
06:10 PM Nov 22, 2011
Keep an eye on Aldi for camping stuff. 3 weeks ago Aldi had popup toilet tents for $29. The Aldi porta pottis 20l are the best buy and quality. Thankfully we have shower/toilet on board. Never use caravan parks.
Smokeydk said
08:40 PM Nov 22, 2011
We have Oztent shower tent......blue with white roof....
cannylass said
11:22 AM Nov 23, 2011
The pop up tent reminded me of when we were camping at Mary Pool a couple years ago one couple would not but up there pop up tent up as he man was scared he would not be able to fold it back down and he got his wife to get pen and paper out and copy the instructions from the out side of an other tent that was there. it took her ages to draw and write out the instructions. My husband said he would help him fold the tent back up.Any way as they got the tent out of its bag and up his wife found the instructions in the bag and boy was she mad having sat and write down how to fold it up
In reading all the replies to Cupie's post on free camping there appears to be a lot of people that have the need to return to a caravan park every couple of days for a hot shower. Like us we do not have the luxury of a ensuite like many modern vans/motor homes etc.
For the cost of 3/4 nights in a park you could set up your own hot shower, alowing you to stay longer to enjoy the lifestyle.
A pop up shower tent of which there are many versions available, A 12volt pumpwith a hose & shower head that just plugs into a cig lighter socket. maybe even a couple of solar water bags for the hot water if set up for a couple of days. We have even seen these being placed on top of the motor at the end of a days drive & heated by the engine heat.
You may also just boil a billy on the fire or stove according to your camping style. When a billy of boiling water is reduced to a comfy temp you have plenty for a refreshing shower,it does not have to be a thirty minute secion.
This is a basic setup @ low cost & worth every dollar.
Does anyone have any idea of their normal price as that sounds a bit too cheap.
You might find one of those light weight "jigsaw" style foam mats very useful to stand on when showering.
We use the pop up tent and the bilge pump in a bucket of warm water too, and the potti is also resident in the tent, but while this is an effective approach to keeping clean it has to be said that it doesn't have the luxury aspect of a real hot shower.
The other reason for visiting van parks is to use the laundry facilities as while hand washing clothes is OK, doing the same with towels and sheets is a pain.
Won't mention any names but no one seemed to be able to do it properly.
My Mr D is amazing... he can refold the pop-up tent in seconds!!!!
Here is a Utube video on how to fold those pesky tents.
cheers,
-- Edited by AlbyofCraigmore on Monday 21st of November 2011 11:57:47 PM
Must say both videos were identical, not sure if you noticed that.
Helena, will say there was one that went in van without getting folded properly too as they just gave up.
There are also shower tents that are not spring loaded like the one shown, these have a external fibre glass frame to which the tent clips to in the same way as a dome tent, & are much more sturdy. If using the 12volt pump system the shower rose can be hung from the loop at the top of the tent, this gives you a hands free system.
I'm sure I will swear a lot the frst few times I put try to put the shower tent down. But maybe not, perhaps I will be very efficient.
On the topic of showers, a bucket wash has always been fine for me in various situations, hot water a luxury so if I can have a nozzle and downward gravity as well that would be heaven.
folks,
Sorry about that, I could have sworn that the CR1 and CR2 videos were different, but you should be able to find the other type in the same area on U Tube.
cheers,
Happy folding
Keep an eye on Aldi for camping stuff. 3 weeks ago Aldi had popup toilet tents for $29. The Aldi porta pottis 20l are the best buy and quality. Thankfully we have shower/toilet on board. Never use caravan parks.