Okay, it is not as interesting as some of the more "rugged" aspects of 4x4 travel, but to be honest it is about the only thing I have not really sorted on any trip... ever. This has to be sorted out as a matter of priority (so I have been told)!!!

So I was contemplating how you would build a shower for overlanding. I was thinking about small heat exchanger type system and a basic 12v pump. Or a simple small black (to absorb heat) tank that could be pressurised by air compressor (to keep things simple). Then I got to thinking that the exhaust could be used to heat same... loads of possibilities. I reckon the heat exchanger thing is probably best as one day the car will travel in colder climes. So my question is really if anyone has built or purchased similar systems and how you have got on with them? Please don't tell me about bucket baths using 0.5 litres of used dishwater as this will simply not wash!

Ta in advance,
Gil

When I had a Camper.......I used a 3 meter long length of 140mm diameter waste water pipe with an and plug fitted with a tap and a 45 degree end on the other end with a screw on cap ( imagine a long periscope laid on its back) held about 45 litres of water, strapped to the roof rack and painted black.
come evening I affixed a washing machine hose to the tap with a shower head on the end. Open the screw end for air flow, open the tap.mmmmmmmmm warm ( or sometimes HOT! ) Shower!

Cost about 25 euros to make and was a good way to carry water for cooking too. as the pipe was brand new and clean.

Martyn

A 7 litre black plastic container strapped to the roofrack. It has a small plastic tap. Lean it off the side of the roofrack or nearby tree (watch for snakes)
and open to get wet, close while you soap, open to wash off soap.

I have a 20 litre solar shower, but I was always worried about it getting punctured so didn't often use it.

I like the simplicity of the rugged plastic container and how easy it is to carry away from the vehicle so you don't leave litres of water near your vehicle.

If water is tight I use a fold up sink and a cup: hair, face, neck, underarms, privates.

This all assumes you are somewhere warm ;-)

For colder weather there are various heater exchange units (from Oz and the USA mainly) but even with cold weather you need to be able to shelter from the wind else you will catch a cold or end up feeling pretty cold.

__________________
Kiwi, 7 years around Africa. Overlanding channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/roamingyak

I've used one of these:


Untill I forgot it somewhere. They hold like 2 liters, which is plenty for a shower. Boil half a liter and add to the other water to make it nice and warm.

You could move up a size to something like this:


Probably not what your looking for, but on my transafrica trip I bought one of these in Burkina and enjoyed it all the way down to SA.

Wet Wipes the Baby kind, nice smelly ones to attract the ladies, always mouthwash and always brush teeth 3 times a day, as most people forget that getting bad teeth on the road is much worse then being stinky.

I don't mind this kind of washing at a pinch for maybe 2-3 days on the road as I know I can stop off for a shower along beaches, in hotels, leasure centres or my favorite streams rivers etc.

My rule of thumb is when you fill up check over your bike then yourself if you need to change fluids fuel up or clean off mud from either of you that's the time to do it, as your bodies just a biological machine after all.

Swiss army waterbag kept in the side window all day then an ex army shower bag on a pole from the roof. they are both black but the swiss army bag has more surphace area to heat. A piece of ply to stand on.

This topic gives me the perfect opportunity to share this link for an engine heated shower

Shower

just makes you want to go camping

__________________
Chris
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"Never have a stupid argument with an idiot - he gets a lot more practice than you"
there I go again
not too hard really

Hi Gil,

We had a pump with a combined shower / normal tap with a long hose which was fitted to the back door of the car. It could be fitted high up to the side of the car aswell. It was taking water from an underbody 60L tank. No heating device. In the suction line between tank and pump I fitted a 3 way manual valve. With this valve I could choose to take water from the 60L tank or take it from an other random source via a quick coupling hose. During colder times just had to take a bucket, boil some water, mix it in the bucket to a nice temperature, turn over the valve, put the hose in the bucket and voila; warm showers without complex systems.

Cheers,
Noel

exploreafrica.web-log.nl

well if you had an argos shop near you you could have bought a camping
shower for about £10 they are awsome

Fixed!

.....and to think some people worry about where to put their spear gun

__________________
Chris
-----------------
"Never have a stupid argument with an idiot - he gets a lot more practice than you"
there I go again
not too hard really

I use a volcano kettle to heat the water, and then fill a solar shower. Best of both worlds - zero fuel costs and the shower bag provides a decent shower.

We had people begging us to use it at Le Mans last year...

I posted this before and bought one, 20 Ltr Swiss Water Carrier > Exarmy Ltd they are very strong. I am hoping to be able to make a better solar shower with it. I did once meet someone with a cube form solar shower which was stronger than the normal ones. that said I have used them for years either by putting them in the sun or filling with water from a kettle. if water is not short I like to fill a 10 litre bucket and use a small jug just to poor loads of water over myself, an overland luxury!!

Graeme

Hi,

I did raise the hot water issue a few months ago and got a similar range of responses - at the end of the day it comes down to your circumstances on the trip.

At the budget end I would recommend going for a solar shower - you can get cheap solar ones at most camping places, although they aren't that robust - ideally go for the Swiss Army bag mentioned above.

You can buy from 4x4 companies powered showers using heat exchangers, however the big problem with these is that you have to have the engine running when you are showering - you have a nice hot shower as you get smothered in diesel fumes.

A better option is one of the heat exchanger tanks used in campers, available from around 10l up to 60+l - these heat up whilst you are driving and then give you a supply that willl still be warm in the morning. They also tend to have a mains powered heater element so if you pitch up to a camp site that provides power hookups you can have hot water 24/7.

I have just finished working on an 80 where we removed the rear windows fitting aluminium panels and fitted a shower into one of them so you unlocked a small door and behind it was hot and cold taps feading a shower head could be turned from flowing like a tap for filling bottles to a full shower.

On top of the actuall water side of things you can buy shower curtains to attach to the side of your roof rack - we took one to Morocco, but never used it - too much hastle to put it up.

Personally I travel with my wife and children and would want to have hot water on tap - in Morocco we used solar showers strapped to the bonnet, however this wasn't reliable enough. For my next trip I'll go doown the same route as the 80 above.

__________________
Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.

Hi,
I met up with a French guy in Senegal, travelling with his wife and two kids (both under 8 years) in a Land Rover 110.
He had a very good shower system in his impressively kitted-out 4x4; I'll do my best to describe his set-up. (For the record, I was on a bike, so no showers for me!)

Two water tanks—one hot, one cold—lying width-ways on flat-bed, behind crew-cab. Vague recollection of c. 100+ litres each. He filled these whenever he could: hotels, campsites, etc.
I believe these were custom made to fit the flat-bed, most likely welded aluminium.

In the engine bay, he located two conveniently accessible points on the engine's coolant circuit where the piping joined engine/radiator/some other component.
At these two points, he removed the existing coolant pipe from the component. He added a new, short piece of pipe onto the component, and then rejoined the original pipe to the new pipe with a metal T-junction connector, across the 'top of the T'. The engine's circuit was, thus, restored, but each of the two points now had a spare location where he could attach a new piping circuit (to the 'down-leg of the T').

The new piping circuit was made of copper piping, no more than 7 mm dia. It went from T-junction #1, back through the cab, to the hot water tank, and then back to T-junction #2, completing the water heating circuit.

The copper pipe was coiled inside the hot water tank to give some extra surface area, and improve the heat transfer. In the crew-cab (somewhere between the two front seats) he fitted a simple valve to the heating circuit, so he could control when, and for how long, the engine's hot coolant could be channelled back to heat the hot water tank. Somewhere between 30-60 minutes' normal driving was enough to heat the water tank. (A thermometer fitted to the tank would tell you how hot the water was.)

He had a small tap at the side of the vehicle, just under the sills, where he could wash dishes in a basin.

On the roof, he had a pipe with a shower head that was fed water from the hot water tank. For the life of me, I can't remember what delivered the water from the tank to the shower head. Obviously wasn't the siphoning effect, as the shower head was higher than the water tank, but I don't remember him having a pump either. I could be wrong on that; my recollection of that part of the system is a little vague.

In addition, he had welded three lengths of square-section steel (perhaps 10 mm x 10 mm) into the three sides of a square. This 'open-ended' square slid into a recess he welded to the underside of the roof-rack. The 'open-ended' square could be pulled out from under the roof-rack at the side of the vehicle, and a shower curtain attached to the three sides for some privacy.

All in all a neat solution, I thougt. Probably not too expensive either. If any of the description is a bit confusing, post back, and I'll try to explain it better.

Regards,
Ken.

,
,
,
Sounds simple enough,

How about a sketch in MS paint ?
G.