Camp showers

Ours is a 4litre Hills Sprayer from Bunnings - about $20. Given that you only use about 2 litres with this sort of shower, we thought anything bigger was a waste. Took the wand apart, and cut the steel bit to minimum length, and resassembled.

We heat up some water in a billy and add it to cold water until we have about 3 litres at the right temperature. Just pump it up to pressure and use it. The spray is very fine, so it can take twice as long to have a shower, but even so, you only use half as much as you would with a quick 12V shower.

We also use the $20 12V shower when water is not much of an issue, and reserve the weed sprayer shower for the longer desert trips.

Hi I had one of those solor showers, then changed to a weed sprayer type. Got the 7lt. I took the rose off the solor shower, got extra tube put a in line tap on. As said boil a billy of water
add cold water hang the rose up,pump up pressure up open tap
and shower. If water comes out to quick put a reducer in line.
I did test mine at home.put 7lts water in, pumped up pressure,
opened tap and started timer. I think it was about 6 mins
before water ran out. Enough for two showers.

Hi Julie S,
I made on up from the a 5 litre sprayer from bunnings and also used one of those brass and stainless steel spray nozzles that clip straight into the clip in fitting on the end of a hose. They are sort of domed on the spray end and have heaps of holes in them. Best thing is you take it in the shower tent with you (if you use one) and it doesn't matter if the whole thing gets wet.

Bit difficult to describe but it works a treat. Many years ago when we used to camp on the Macquarry River near Bathurst I used a bilge pump and a bucket 10 litre bucket. We had a tarp that we used to drape around 4 six foot pegs/poles and hang the shower head over the side. Used to amaze everybody as they had to was in the cold Macquarry. Graduated to a van these days - getting old and lazy.

If you like I can draw it up in the computer and email it to you.
Regards,
Bruce.

Julie S, this is an revised copy of a post made in a previous (59003) thread which covers most aspects of the sprayer. I believe it is a comprehensive list of positives FOR the sprayer and at 61 years of age do not find any negatives in using it for me personally. Basically, it comes down to what sort of camping you want to do.

The only mod we made to the sprayer was to shorten the non-adjustable wand as we just use the supplied nozzle. Some sprayers are mostly plastic and have extendable wands and others have metal/brass fittings. This was a problem for our daughter, who is slightly handicapped, and needed someone on hand to help her with the Coleman or she would use all 15 litrs of pre-heated water in the bucket We found that we had to hold the nozzle a fair way off to use it. Then, after putting very hot water into the bottle, the on/off valve/trigger started to leak. Unscrewing the valve and wrapping some teflon plumbers tape around the thread solved this problem. Placing the sprayer on top of the Porta-Potti makes it easier to use if the hose is not long enough. The nozzle, set on spray, can remove all soap in a very short time, which was never the case with the Coleman. Usually the water got cold because we turned the shower off to soap-up and it required the Toolman to get it started again while the showerees teeth were nearly pulverised by chattering and blinded by shampoo in the eyes, added to that, we always used more water than we should have, too. We got our showers down to -4 ltrs for the three of us pretty quickly after changing to the sprayer.
Our 1st sprayer was a cheapie ($7.99) as an experiment. When we travel, we go to very isolated places to prospect for gold and, waterwise, have to be self sufficient. We have a 140ltr tank on the Camper Trailer and carry 9 x 20 ltr jerries to last 3 adults, 1 dog, for up to 2 weeks, if there are no towns, creeks, dams or rivers handy. Using the Coleman unit took at least 5 ltrs per person per day, which was not very economical under these conditions.
I have used slow flowing creek water for everything but cooking and do not use it to top up the tank in the trailer. I did find that there was a fair amount of muck in the water and filtered it through a funnel with a strainer in the bottom and packed with fish-tank filter wool (weighs 0), as I filled the jerry can. By adding a bit of swimming pool chlorine and leaving it to sit for a while with the lid off, the chlorine dissipated and the water was sparkling clear and odourless; staying that way until we left that site. We showered with this water and I also washed our very dirty clothes in it, whenever needed. I used a separate billy to boil this water as I didn't know how the chlorine would affect our kettle, chemically speaking. The blue Willow jerry can and/or a solar bag can be left out in the sun all day to warm up, and just pour it into the sprayer when needed. What I find is that now my daughter and I can have a shower whenever we want without the necessity of hooking up to the 4by engine and trying to get the gas to light and stay lit.
There are no problems with this method other than the first spray out of the sprayer is usually cold water. I have picked the sprayer up and shaken it to resolve this but the first spray is always cold. This can be avoided by spraying the feet first or back into the jerry, until hot water comes through. We have a pop-up dual purpose shower/loo tent too and find that it gets like a sauna inside after the first shower. This is one of the rare times when everybody wants to be last in line. It all depends on how hot you make the water in the sprayer. There is also a lot less water under the mat on the ground when everyone is finished showering and drains/soaks away fairly quickly afterward.
The sprayer is also handy for washing the dishes after a greasy bar-b-que, the pressure of the water forces all the mess off the plates and a lot less of the campers tank water is used. Another point I might mention too, is that the river water is softer than the town water we take in our camper and that is a big plus with its cleaning power.
I now have a HILLS 3ltr battery operated sprayer from Mitre 10, with adjustable wand, which sprays 250ml per 60 secs or 45 secs using the stream. One thing is for sure, I don't dread cold weather camping anymore because of the hot/cold showers we used to have.
Sheila.

Julie I thought exactly the same thing when I saw the other thread. Never would have thought of it myself, but what a fantastic, simple and cheap idea, after all you need the hot water generally heated on the stove to do the dishes anyway!

I think I'll go out and get one, for that price it will serve as a great back up considering we're having to use a camp unit every day here at home till the house is built.

Also makes a good fire extinguisher , keep some water in it.

We use one of those 12v cig. lighter connection showers and stand in a bin of hot water...as hot as we can bear it...the water just recirculates and you can shower for as long as you like or until the water gets cold....the water is not wasted and the 2 of us have a shower in the same water....when we are finished clothes can be washed in the same water then the water put on any small trees in the vicinity....cheers