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