Black hose shower

[Beerlifter]

Some of you probably already do this but thought I would post it anyways. I was camping out at Last Chance Park last week and was talking to Camp Director (Phil Jones) and he told me a little trick about hot showers. If you have about a 50 foot black water hose stretch it out in the sun for a few hours hooked to the spiget with water on and in that few hours the hose will heat up along with the water and you can get about 2 4 minute showers out of that 50ft black hose.
  Of course not believing him I gave it a shot. I actually had to move out of the water because it was to darn hot!!!
  This of course will only work in the summer time or on really warm days but it does work and is alot cheaper than HWOD! But if ever in need of a warm shower give this a shot.

[howlinowl]

Some of you probably already do this but thought I would post it anyways. I was camping out at Last Chance Park last week and was talking to Camp Director (Phil Jones) and he told me a little trick about hot showers. If you have about a 50 foot black water hose stretch it out in the sun for a few hours hooked to the spiget with water on and in that few hours the hose will heat up along with the water and you can get about 2 4 minute showers out of that 50ft black hose.
  Of course not believing him I gave it a shot. I actually had to move out of the water because it was to darn hot!!!
  This of course will only work in the summer time or on really warm days but it does work and is alot cheaper than HWOD! But if ever in need of a warm shower give this a shot.

Hmmm... wonder what a 50 ft hose full of H2O weighs??  Could just coil it up on the roof of the popup and leave it up there with a "Y" adapter at the spigot so I can leave it hooked up and the water supply to the sink.  Might be an idea.

Allan

[Beerlifter]

Phil does that but he also lives in a modified school bus. The only concern with that is what you said about the weight on the roof. All I can say is give it a try with is coiled up on the ground just make sure it's in the sun and believe you me you'll have hot water if the temperature is 80 or higher. I'm sure you've turned on a garden hose after its layed out in the yard all day and the water came out pretty dern hot! Good luck.

[AustinBoston]

Solar showers have been around for centuries.  They used to be made with leather or watertight canvas bags that would be hung in the sun.  A small plug would be removed to allow a single stream of heated water.

Anyone who has lived in the southwest knows that water in a hose can get mighty hot.

Austin (who never lived in the southwest)

[lwbfl]

Solar showers have been around for centuries.  They used to be made with leather or watertight canvas bags that would be hung in the sun.  A small plug would be removed to allow a single stream of heated water.

Anyone who has lived in the southwest knows that water in a hose can get mighty hot.

Austin (who never lived in the southwest)

It gets pretty hot in the South East too.

[tlhdoc]

Instead of buying 50 foot of black hose, just buy a solar shower.  You don't need it to be hooked to a water supply and the temperature can be much lower than 80 degrees outside to warm the water.  They come with a rope to hang them, when not in use they don't take up much room and they are light weight.  I bet they cost less than 50 foot of black hose too.  I used one for years at a Lake I used to work at.  The lake didn't have any showers.

[robpoe]

When I was younger, the scout camp we camped at had an outdoor shower thing.  It didn't have sides (which meant you bathed in your bathing suit / shorts).  The pipes were above ground in the sun, which meant you could get about 10 minutes of HOT water, 20 more minutes of WARM water, and 10 more minutes of tepid water ..

These were LONG pipes..

[fallsrider]

Just FYI, if I've done my math right, a 5/8" hose 50' long would hold approx. 9.56 gallons of water, which would weigh 79.6 lbs., plus the weight of the hose, of course.

This is assuming the 5/8" hose has an inside diameter of 5/8", not the outside.

Edit: a 1/2" ID hose 50' long would hold approx. 51 lbs. of water, a total of 6.1 gallons. Lesson: a 5/8" hose holds approx. 50% more water.

[ScouterMom]

When I was younger, and a counselor at Girl Scout camp; we also did this at camp.  it was a 'day' camp for the campers - so only 15 or 20 staff lived at camp, the kids went home every night. our only shower facility was in the fieldstone foundation / basement of the caretaker's 100 yr old farmhouse.  It had low ceiling, dirt floors, and we had to share space with loads of spiders, snakes & other unknown critters!

our only other alternative was to wash up at the pump - the well was deep and the water was icy cold. I remember the water tasted great, though! Just getting a long drink could give you an ice-cream headache!  Washing your hair in it made your whole head numb!

We would take an old canvas tent, the old fashioned ones with no floor - and set it up. then we would collect 3 or 4 garden hoses and hook them together, and lay them out in the sun, running the end into the tent with a spray nozzle.  It didn't take long to heat up the water, and we could have enough warm water to take a quick shower and wash hair, too!  On a warm day, it didn't take very long to heat up for the next girl, either!
Laura

[daldricht]

It gets pretty hot in the South East too.

I lived in Sarasota the first time I bought a used popup and it was close to impossible to camp in during the summer months. I don't care how long you have lived there, getting used to humidity while caged in a wrapper of canvas - not a pretty site! And having 5 kids (who possibly had less trouble with the heat) it just drove their mother nuts and we all had to listen to her. So we camped in the Spring and Fall - according to the wife, the winter months were too cold (this was a native Floridian telling a native New Englander that it was too cold???)
Now we (no wife anymore) have the luxury of A/C and love it.

[mjsmith1223]

We've used those solar showers while backpacking.  When empty they are light and can be rolled up into a small package.  When full there was enough warm water in it for the two of us (my wife and I) to wash our hair and scrub our upper bodies.  It seemed like if we filled it up after lunch, it was ready to use before dinner time.  Now with small kids we don't backpack anymore, but I think I will dig up that solar shower and throw it in the popup.

[lwbfl]

I lived in Sarasota the first time I bought a used popup and it was close to impossible to camp in during the summer months. I don't care how long you have lived there, getting used to humidity while caged in a wrapper of canvas - not a pretty site! And having 5 kids (who possibly had less trouble with the heat) it just drove their mother nuts and we all had to listen to her. So we camped in the Spring and Fall - according to the wife, the winter months were too cold (this was a native Floridian telling a native New Englander that it was too cold???)
Now we (no wife anymore) have the luxury of A/C and love it.

We never had an A/C growing up, but now I don't know how we did it!  I've tent camped w/o an A/C, and if there is no water hole it's just miserable!  Spoiled, yes I know.