A dirty camper is an unhappy camper...

[LynnCC01]

Hi everyone! I am new to the forums but have been lurking for a while and drooling over fantastic recipes and posts about porta-potties... Anyways... I am fairly new to camping and (after much research) very interested in buying a teardrop or 13" Scamp (or similar) camper. I am not phased at all by not having a shower inside my *potential camper, but I am afraid that my partner (the person I will be camping with!) will be really stressed out about it! I think she will do fine with a porta-potti, but what about a portable shower?! Logic tells me that it will most definately not be a scorching 85 degrees in the evening. This being the case, even if I were to purchase a water heater for my shower, the second you turn off the water you feel the briskness of the cool air around you!. How might one combat that cold shock after a shower in an outside portable shower?? This may seem like a picky consideration, given that camping is mainly about getting out of your house or apartment for a little roughing it, but I feel like this small thing may be a dealbreaker for my wimpy girl, and I am hoping for a teardrop or camper to win her affection before I buy! Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

-Lynn

[mikeschn]

Hi Lynn,

First of all, welcome to the forum. glad you came out of lurking.

Now lets talk camping. A typical camping weekend at a typical campground means you use the campground facilities. I.e. you use their showers and their restrooms. Showers are typically decent, with hot running water. And you don't have to mess around with dumping black water.

Now if you are talking a different kind of camping, let us know and we can discuss that.

How to win affection from a wimpy girl, I'm afraid I'll have to let the others chime in...

Mike...

[Joseph]

Hi Lynn,

I believe the Scamp can be rigged with an indoor shower, though it may be a DIY proposition. Also, there are various shower shelters out there that will at least keep the breeze off you. But seriously, how dirty are you planning to get? I find that a "bird bath" - washcloth and a bucket of soapy water - can get you clean enough. Hair is another problem, but I tend to wash mine in the middle of the day if it's getting really cold at night. Of course, when it's cold, you don't really want to go to bed with a wet head anyway.

Of course, you could always stick to campgrounds that have hot showers. You and your partner might want to start there and once she's addicted to camping (it'll happen!) then give boondocking a try.

Good luck!

Joseph

[b.bodemer]

Hi Lynn,

Like Mike mentioned, I can't remember a time that I didn't have a campground restroom with shower available. Only once was I in a national campground in New Mexico with only sinks and toilets so I left a camp shower bag in the sun. Boy did that heat up fast. I opened the truck door for some privacy and then had a friend hold a big towel in front of me and.....instant privacy for a wuick and hot shower.

I'm not into primitive camping so I check ahead to see if the facilities are available, especially early spring or late fall outings.

No matter what don't forget to treat yourself to flip flops for your feet in any shower situations.

Have fun with the forum and good luck with finding something just right for everyone to enjoy.
Barb

[pgwilli]

Hi Lynn, Welcome.
Unfortunately, the nicest places to camp in Washington seem to have the worst, or no, showers.
We get around that by using the birdbath method Joseph mentioned. Another tactic we use is to use public showers at marinas or laundromats.
We make an annual trip to San Juan Island and after a day of sea kayaking, we drive into Friday Harbor for a long hot shower at the marina.
Another option is drive to Oregon. All the state parks we stayed at to and from northern California this summer had very nice facilities. Its too bad, but we will probably be using this option more in the future.

[Laredo]

I read a lot of good ideas about this at a place called www.popupexplorer.com.

Many of their members have put homebuilt showers in their popups.

They start with those "laundry sinks" you can get at lowes or HD, which they mount on boxes made of 2x4s and fit with drains. They hang shower curtains (one enterprising soul used a hula hoop for the top support) from their cabin roofs.

One fellow got a 5-gal hand-pump sprayer and mixed his water in that, then pumped up the pressure to enable two (young) femmes to shower. Several others bought shower heads on hoses and connected them to thier kitchen sinks (HWOD built-ins or even small gas/elec WH units were featured here).

But if you want to be able to use your tear as a refuge in a time of crisis (hurricane, snowstorm, rolling brownouts, you-name-it), what would you use?

[jimqpublic]

Hot showers are a requirement of my wife.

Much of the country (especially south and east) campgrounds generally have electricity and restrooms with showers. Here in California the private places have full hookups and showers, state parks have showers, and the much more common federal campgrounds have neither. I suspect Washington is similar.

So how do you handle showers? Our Chalet has an on-board water tank and water heater, along with an "outside shower" which is similar to this:
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-pumps-water/exterior-rv-shower.htm

Along with that we have a Paha Que Tepee shower tent. It all works great but is a fair bit of trouble to set up. The shower tent keeps the wind off and as long as you use pretty hot water it isn't cold. I often shower after the kids are in bed and it's dark, 55F, and breezy.

If you don't have a water heater and all that goes with it, there are several options including Coleman Hot Water On Demand, Zodi shower systems, the Paha Que Power Shower, Solar Shower water bags, and finally you can use a metal bug sprayer heated on a stove.

Coleman HWOD: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?product_id=2300-700

My ideal trailer would have outdoor kitchen, bed, storage, and a fully featured indoor bathroom. For the rest I'm happy to be outdoors (this is camping after all). For a couple the TAB trailer Clamshell model could be outfitted as I describe ("wet" bathroom with cassette toilet, water tank, water heater all added) Unfortunately if you bought the TAB for $15,000 and paid someone $5,000 to do a professional job adding the bathroom it would be a pretty expensive solution. But maybe worthwhile.

[asianflava]

We looked at a Casita that had a wet bath. It was a 16ft model though.

[LynnCC01]

Well Hott Diggity dawgie! So many responses! Thanks so much to all of you! I checked out all the links posted so far and I see some great ideas! I am all for the birdbath method mentioned a few times, and I think she would too. She gets really touchy about making sure her hair is clean (which is what this whole fiasco revolves around!) I suppose that, logically, if we showered in a shower surround at high noon there would be less of a chance of brisk discomfort, and yeh- who the heck wants to go to bed with a wet head anyways! The laundry tub install sounds like a great idea- but of course, it will depend on what camper we end up getting in the end. I could start a whole new thread with the decision of which camper to buy here! I am really struggling between a Scamp (or similar), a T@b (which I think are awesome with the HUGE BED and indoor kitchens) and a classic teardrop (which are a little more difficult to find unless you have the handiness to fix them up which, from what I have read, often requires a complete rebuild which I feel I would not be able to do). I do think that I would be able to successfully modify a 13' Scamp to accomidate a toilet/shower if I removed the bunk/sofa, but then I think about the dinette/bed and think it may be too small for our comfort (plus potential kids in the future). Also, if I were to buy a T@b at a whopping 13-15K, I would feel guilty making substantail modifications. ***Sigh***

I think it is a great idea to go to campgrounds that I know have shower facilities. I would be fine with that but I think she will still be touchy on that. But, I suppose that If I cannot get her to embrace community or campground showers, how am I going to get her to embrace camping! AAAAH!

[Joseph]

Hey Lynn,

A couple of other suggestions.

First off, if you’re not already doing so I strongly suggest you “camper shop” together. I was very fortunate in that my claustrophobic sweetie didn’t have a problem with my little 4X8 teardrop once she actually got in it and realized you could sit up in it with plenty of headroom and that the doors were big enough that she could get out easily.

Second, what sort of outdoor activities does she like? Canoeing, swimming, hiking, bird watching, fishing, soaking up rays, sketching/drawing/painting? Come to think of it, they don’t even have to be outdoor activities - camping can simply be an economical means to travel to places you’d simply like to visit. In any case, it’s much more enjoyable when there are plenty of opportunities to do things that both of you enjoy!

Joseph

[LynnCC01]

We went together to checkout the T@b, which we both really liked, but she could not get past the price and remained in that state of "sticker shock" until long after we got home. I would love to be able to cheack out a teardrop, but I have no clue how to go about finding one to look at...

I suppose that the *camper will be less for camping and more for inexpensive accomidations durring travel. Although I would really enjoy taking in the outdoors, she is more of an electronic groupie of sorts (so I will have to be sure I give her at least a DVD player in whatever camper we get!) So, it will be big for those accomidations, and I also hope to use it for those awesome "group tours" I read about everywhere!

[asianflava]

We went together to checkout the T@b, which we both really liked, but she could not get past the price and remained in that state of "sticker shock" until long after we got home. I would love to be able to cheack out a teardrop, but I have no clue how to go about finding one to look at...

Join the club, that is why I ended up building my own. That and the fact that our tow capacity was too close to the T@B and Casita. At first I was buying as I would build, the bad thing is (unless you have good planning)this takes a long time to do.

[LynnCC01]

It would be a dream come true for me to build my own teardrop- I would love to feel the sense of pride and accomplishment that I am sure has come along with the beautiful homemade teardrops that i have seen and read about. And even though I am a girl, I feel that this would be an endeavor I would love to take on, but my knowledge of design and support principals, along with limited access to large and necessary tools, (not to mention a garage) may hinder my abilities! OY!

Oh my- I just had an idea about the shower.... While dreaming of building a completely custom teardrop, and thinking of all the things I could do to make it perfect for me and my girl, I came to a simple problem solver about the SHOWER! It was a total *DUH* moment! All I would have to do would be to lay some towels on the bed of the tear, leave the door all the way open, set up the shower tent so that the opening faces the door, and when my princess is done showering, she could jump right into the camper and avoid a breeze on her delicate little bottom!!! YEEHAW!

[jay]

i am absolutely speechless at the ingenuity of the builders in this forum.

[jimqpublic]

And if you have two doors on that tear your shower tent could stay attached to the side opposite the campsite all day long.