Yes yes...I know that you don't need to heat hot water (buh dum dum)

Lately I've been intrigued by the Zodi ( www.zodi.com ) water and tent heaters for emergency use and for camping. Do any of you have experience with their products? The more I look into them the more I build a huge list of pros and cons.

The only real competition for the Zodi shower (they call it a shower but it has plenty of other uses) is the Coleman Hot Water on Demand heater which is all fancy with it's built in propane tank and battery and thermostat. To me that seems like more to break but maybe the convenience is worth the extra cost. The Zodi on the other hand is dead simple, cheaper, way easier to fix and can be purchased in a form which just sits on top of your camp stove meaning small and even cheaper. It has no thermostat however and no 'on demand' functionality. You basically start the pump (a submersible affair with D cells in it) and then fire up the burner...more fire = hotter water.

The reason I'm looking at this is because it would be handy to have in case of a major utilities outage as it's much more efficient than boiling on a stove (which you can't shower under) plus it would allow my DW to shower no matter where we camp with the addition of a privacy tent/curtain/thingie...a major concern for her (it's the one piece of civilization she insists upon when camping. If that's all it ever is, I can live with that). Definately a small price to pay for a happy wife.

Either way, I'd be curious to know if they're junk before I buy anything...thoughts?

Interesting. It says it can heat about 60 gallons of water on one propane cylinder and one set of batteries. How much water does a person usually go through in a shower (side note, DW has long hair that uses a lot of water)?

-Blast

I was talking with someone for whom I have created a BOB last week. The family went camping in West Virginia, on land rented by a neighbor. There was a building on the property, and the neighbor showed them how to turn the water, etc. He also said that if anything happened in the city, they were to just go there. So, it set up my next question, which was "and how long will it take you to leave?" Anyway, I told her I was making them BOBs for the family.

One of the things she told me is that she, a woman with hair down past her shoulders learned to shower with about 1.5 liters of water when on a trip in Africa.

DW might have a problem with that because she tends to take 20 minute showers. However, she also was happy that she had the kind of wipes in her BOB that she thinks would allow her to clean up without a shower. I finally got DW to look in her BOB and add some clothing to it.

Since I got off track, my point was if you are talking about taking a shower in a situation when you don't have much water, then the answer might be not that you don't need much water at all. Otherwise, you might be going without any shower.

Finally, what about one of the solar shower bags. If you wet down turn it off, soap up, then rinse off, you should have a decent shower for one taken with no plumbing. Might not work for Hacksaw or me in winter, but it could work in other circumstances. See: http://store.sundancesolar.com/sosh5ga.html
Campmor has something for a few bucks less. I wonder if something could be made like this that could withstand being in hot liquid itself. If you put the bag in hot liquid, got the content warm, then showered, it might be a good systems. You'd need a big pot, but my brew pot could handle it easily.

I've thought about the solar showers but we tend to camp in the mountains and camp year 'round so there are times when it's cold and there isn't much sun.

Propane is abundant and something I'd have anyhow for the camp stove.

Hiking is another story. She sucks it up for that but has yet to make a long trip with me and if given the choice between 2 campgrounds will always go for the one with the shower. I've considered the small solar showers for hiking just for myself...roughing it is roughing it but a shower sure does make you feel better after 8 hours of hiking.

The propane heater (zodi or otherwise) has many uses. But the last thing I want is another piece of junk taking up space. I wish I could find pictures of the inside. I bet one could build one like the Zodi stovetop model fairly easily.

Thanks Izzy.

Let me be clear though. I camp and I hike...your definition my differ but to me they are 2 completely seperate activities. Camping means the Jeep is loaded up for a comfortable weekend in a campground or a road trip of 7-14 days while hiking means living out of a pack for 2-7 days.

For hiking I would never ever take something like the Zodi...solar shower at most (and I haven't made that plunge yet). But I take many things 'camping' which are less than practical for hiking...this would be one of those things. Having it around home would be nice too. I've had to shower cold at home on several occations due to a malfunctioning hot water heater.

My brother has a Zodi and we both think it’s junk. It requires the water pump to run all the time If you run the heater without the pump on you will damage it. They tell you to have water circulating all the time when you are heating it. Also the instructions say if the water is not hot enough to put the spray head into the pickup tank and run it through again(this means it will not heat the water enough the first time through.)You have to do this 3-times to get the water warm enough to take a shower. Also you eat batteries like they are candy because you have to run the pump all the time. And propane!



It’s a real piece of garbage.

Look into this shower real good before you buy it, call the company and ask some hard questions before you give them any of your money.

I would not take one if it were free, it doesn’t work very well and uses a lot of propane and batteries to take a slightly warm shower.

Now my brother and I both use a Coleman shower pump, it cost $22.00 it has a shower head on the end of a long hose with a submersible pump at the other end. It has a 4 D battery pack with a water-resistant switch on top (rubber coated.) You push the button on top of the battery case with your toe while taking a shower. This way you can easily turn it on & off as needed to conserve water. One set of alkaline d-cells lasted 3 of us all week.


To heat the water I use a 12-qt pot on top of a propane stove or my Thermette.

I just came back from a week camping at a music festival and used the Thermette to heat water for 3 of us. It takes about 4 gal of water for a good shower and I would heat 1 ½ gallons of that water (heating the Thermette water 3 times, 15- min to do this) to boiling and add that to the other water. It worked well; we had to add more cold water to cool it off it was so hot.

Sorry for the 2 post, dinner was just comming out of the oven and it was calling me. the second post was post dinner...

You already are boiling water most of the time.

Do a basin bath. Use a washcloth to scrub what you choose and a small cup to pour watr over to rinse. With a cup to pour water over your head you can easily shampoo your hair.

You are on your own trying to convince your female significant other that this is adequate.

Hey,

I am late coming in to this conversation, I went on a fishing/cookout trip with my family today.

I often have had to stay in the bush working or hunting for extended periods of time, after a while getting clean feels great and really helps camp moral.

We have used a solar shower in the summer and filled it with heated water in the spring/fall. It works well and you can get a reasonable shower on 2 gallons of water (turn off the water when you soap-up).

Here is an ugly picture for you all. We have a large metal watering can that we would heat-up over the stove or fire, then one guy would stand in the back of the truck and "water" his partner clean. Not for the shy and I am glad there were no cameras around.

Lately I have been using "No Rinse" products found here http://www.norinse.com/outdoorproducts.htm

With very little water they allow you to get clean and no water is needed to wash your hair. After using the products you feel clean, there is no need to rinse off and you smell a heck of a lot better.

In winter we use body wipes before getting into the sleeping bag at night, not the best but better than nothing. We started keeping these in the hunt camp outhouse year-round.

There ya go,

Mike

Hacksaw
Thanks for the post ( The usual disclaimers apply )
I have that of which you speak of and It rocks!.
It works like this: Battery powered pump sends water through heat resistant tube. To a copper tube coil to more heat resistant tube and shower head thing. Below the copper tube coil sits a propane stove burner which heats the water up. tie this to a 20 lb tank and a river lots of showers. I think coleman come out with one with no heat, pump sends water to head type.

Lee

How about The Waterbaby (click on the picture to enlarge it):
http://www.atvconnection.com/Departments/Dune_Desert/waterbabysports.cfm

I can't seem to make the Waterbaby web page work. I don't know if that means that they are out of business or not. So if you are interested, keep trying since they might just be down at the moment. I would love to have a Waterbaby Sports pump! This is their website. I hope they haven't gone out of business: http://www.waterbabysports.com

If anyone has had experience with the Waterbaby, I would like to know what you think about it?.

I had a solar shower that I really liked. It was the Stearns brand. I think it was discontinued because I can't find it on the internet. The one I had had a pump and held 7 gallons. I will get a smaller one next.

Joy

You really don't have to make bathing or hair washing a major ordeal. The trick is not to use soap. Soap takes a lot of water to rinse out, esp out of long hair.

For a bird bath, pour about 2 quarts of warm water into a basin. Stir into it a heaping teaspoon (no more) of baking soda. This simple solution cuts through body oils and neutralizes odor wonderfully. You can use it on every part of your body. And you don't have to rinse it off, just wash with it and dry (or evaporate). Your skin will be clean and soft.

For hair washing (I've used it for waist-length hair), use a basin that you can immerse a good part of your scalp into. Use water that is as warm as you can stand, not just tepid, and add about three tablespoons of baking soda. Stick your scalp into the basin and work the soda water well into your hair. Massage your scalp gently while in the water, and use a comb to work it through your hair. Then take your container of warmish rinse water and a cup, and pour the rinse water through your hair.

That's it. Try the bath at home when you're sticky-sweaty-stinky for a real test. Try the hair washing with really dirty, greasy hair. You WILL be surprised.

And dry baking soda makes an excellent deodorant, too. It does wear off with heavy sweating, but it's all I've used since 1985, really. A recycled bath powder and puff is ideal.

I once saw a 'shower' in a campground: a pump garden sprayer, two cheap opaque shower curtains on rings, a hula-hoop, and some cord to hang it from three points from a tree. Tip: don't use it when the wind is blowing.

Sue

Here's a bunch of solar showers from expensive and complicated to simple and relatively cheap, including several Stearns.
preparedness.com solar showers

BTW, you can use a solar shower in winter on sunny days. Just insulate it well from the ground (I've used my sleeping pad folded in half) and protect it from the wind while waiting (half the day but you don't need to stand there watching it) for the water to warm up. Add a quart or so of hot (but not boiling) water and you're good to go. I probably wouldn't use it if I was winter camping but at home during an extended winter power outage back in the early 1980s, it worked well enough.

Thank you Spiritwalker for the link. I will probably get one of the 2 or 3 gallon Streans. I think they discontinued the one that pumps up, because they had a tendency to explode if pumped up too much.

For me the large 7 gal. size was too heavy to really deal with. But you could lay it in the tub or on the ground, pump it up and still take a shower.

Right now we mostly take sponge baths if the power goes out. I heat water, put it in a large bowl and take it to the bathtub. I also have body wipes that I got at REI for use away from home.

Joy

Quote from sue: "I once saw a 'shower' in a campground: a pump garden sprayer, two cheap opaque shower curtains on rings, a hula-hoop, and some cord to hang it from three points from a tree. Tip: don't use it when the wind is blowing."

Sue, I like that idea! I hate taking showers in a camp shower. This would be a nice alternative. A person could always clip the shower curtains closed if they were that worried about being seen!

The pump garden sprayer I have doesn't spray for very long before you have to pump it up again. Maybe there is a kind that works better than mine.

I love outdoor showers and bathtubs! I went on a garden tour once and 2 of the homes had outdoor bathtubs! One was on a back deck, built into the floor of the deck. The other one was out behind the garage. During the summer they put a large mosquito netting tent on top of the garage - turned it into a night time bedroom and the bathtub was right below them. The tub was surrounded by beautiful flowering bushes with a little side table and a book rack built over the tub so they could read! I loved it! It was an old clawfoot bathtub. At night they covered it with a board.

Thank you for the suggestions!

Joy

Hi Hacksaw,


The IDC Solarstore portable inflatable Solar Collector might be of interest.




http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/introducing-inflatable-solar-panels/1093

http://www.smartplanet.com/news/tech/10001234/photos-inflatable-solar-panels.htm

Hey,

About 25 years ago I was on an Initial Attack Forest Fire Crew and we accessed a lot of fires by helicopter. We used to keep a "Fog Nozzle" in the kit bag and ran it off the Wajax Mark 3 fire pump. We would tie the nozzle up in a tree, run the pump on low and shower under this, there was little need for soap as it blasted the dirt right off you (and maybe a little skin).

On one of the last fires I worked I saw a shower unit at a base camp that the staff called a "Demand Heater". A portable fire pump pushed water from a nearby pond in to this unit and supplied the pressure. The water circulated through piping that was heated off a 20 lb propane tank and the water sprayed out of 2 showerheads on either side of the unit. I do not think this was a commercial unit, just something the Fire Staff developed in the off-season.

Mike

"...Soap takes a lot of water to rinse out, esp out of long hair..."

Huh?

Quick update:

Despite camping at a camp ground with showers this weekend I convinced the DW that she didn't need them (the fact that it would have cost us 10 bucks to both shower helped...damn pay showers!). We tried to go as low tech as possible and washed in the basin/bag which came with my GSI Dualist kit and about 4 cups of hot soapy water for the both of us...plus a J-Cloth.

I think to make it work better in the future I'd have to take a 'bird bath' (thanks Susan, I like that term) twice a day and she'd definitely need something more for her long hair...if nothing else just to get it good and rinsed out.

It's a start and already I'm proud of her...I didn't think she'd go this far.

Thanks for the advice folks!