Camping showers provide more significant water pressure than gravity showers and can operate in almost any water source, whether it’s a 5-gallon bucket, lake, or nearby stream. In addition, unlike propane showers, these showers do not heat the water, so the temperature of the running water is the same as the temperature of the outside water.
Using a portable camping shower can be a great option if you don’t want to carry a lot of weight or don’t have access to an outlet. These portable showers can weigh about two pounds, are very compact, and consist of nothing more than a battery-powered pump and two hoses. In addition, its design is straightforward, allowing you to use it in more ways than just a camp shower.
How do these work?
A mixer camping shower usually consists of an intake hose or pump that goes into the water source and an outlet hose that connects to the showerhead. The water source can be a lake, stream, five-gallon bucket, or even a cooler filled with water. Remember that the temperature of the water source is also the temperature of the water you will come out of, so if you want a warm to a hot shower, you will need a way to heat the water source first!
The battery-powered pump of these showers is waterproof so that it will drop directly into the water source. Most of the time, you can use them even in murky water because they have built-in screens that filter out debris that could damage the water pump. The pump is turned on and pumps water through the outlet hose to the attached shower head.
Get the most out of your battery-powered shower.
One of the best ways to get more out of a battery-powered camping shower is to preheat the water so you can enjoy the luxury of a warm shower. Heat water over the stove or fire, or for a lukewarm shower, put a 5-gallon bucket of water in the sun all day.
It is also a good idea to take extra batteries with you. Many camping shower reviews indicate that most portable camping shower models last about 4 hours of continuous operation on one set of batteries. Four hours is a lot when you consider that you won’t leave the shower running for more than a few minutes at a time! Regardless, it’s best to have extra batteries with you just in case – no one wants the water to stop running unexpectedly, especially while the soap is still covered in suds.
