What to use to heat 5 gallon bucket of water for camping shower

https://www.walmart.com/ip/45413507...75035&wl11=online&wl12=45413507&wl13=&veh=sem

 

I was thinking the same thing propane burner

 

A propane setup like this is very plausible... More than one use is always good too, have always wanted to do a southern style crawfish boil.

Might be ordering one of these in the near future.

 

You don't need to heat 5 gallons. One boiling teapot in two gallons of cool water in a solar shower bag is plenty for a good shower.

 

Another good point, one option would be just to heat a smaller pot of water and poor into a larger container.

Im sure I will end up trying multiple methods to see which is most suitable for us.

One of my main hesitations of the solar shower was the water pressure. I like the thought of being able to utilize the pressure of the system i bought.

 

A large enamel canner pot with lid is cheap and be easily heated over a fire or other burner, the lid is important as it keeps the ash out. Pump warm water right out of pot.

I never go camping without the canner pot - it's the dish wash basin, water heater, heck the kids even bathed in it when camping as toddlers.

 

I use that exact pump with a 3 gallon home depot black bucket and a lid i painted black. Leave it out in the sun all day and it will take the CHILLY water from lake george in mammoth and make a nice warm shower by the end of the day. You can get 2 showers out of the 3 gallons if you use a little restraint.

 

i made one for less money. cost $29 i think.

i bought a cheap ass fertilizer sprayer. two gallon capacity. attached a hose from the kitchen sink. (the one you use to spray off dirty dishes)..heat one gallon of boiling water. add to one gallon of cold water..= 2 gallons of very warm water. pump and wash. the thing is bad ass.

 

BOOM!! found my pics!!

 

that works!

Once nice thing about that battery operated setup is if you want to rinse something you can just cycle it back into the bucket with no loss in water.

 

Do you have a 110 outlet in the bed? If so you could rig up something from an electric hot water heating element from the hardware store. Could be as simple as the element and a cord, potting the connections in epoxy for water tightness.

 

That was my original plan if you saw the first post, most of the heating elements that I came across were around 10 amps and the bed outlet is good for around 3 from what I understand.

 

Ah - I just skimmed and didn't see that.

How about an RV heating element?

 

Someone posted one of those too, just more than I want to spend on this setup as well as being too bulky

 

for wanting to keep it simple, you are making it not simple. If simplicity is the key which you stated multiple times, dunk a washcloth in some warm water and wipe yourselves down.

 

seriously... a black bucket in the sun does pretty good. All my buddies thought i was stupid on our end of summer camp trip when i put my bucket full of ice cold water in the middle of the sun in the morning.... come dinner time when it was time to clean up i was the only one with a nice warm shower. Next thing i know they set out their own buckets the next day so they could use my shower.

 

Yep. My solar shower works the the same. Even without sun, itll still heat to the ambient air temperature for the day. THe only downfall is using it before the water starts to cool off

 

Very cool

 

How is this not simple? It is a rechargeable self contained unit. Your suggestion of a washcloth provides no solution to the fact that I will still need warm water.

Also if you don't realize that there is a large difference between wiping yourself down with a washcloth, and actually having a shower, I don't know what to tell ya.


I appreciate all of the helpful input. It has given me some great ideas.

1. Buy a 5 gallon metal black bucket with lid (Amazon 15$) and first try solar heating.
2. If there is no sun or we don't have time to let bucket sit in sun (moving campsites etc..), the metal bucket will allow me to heat over a fire, or with rocks set in the fire.
3. If these methods don't prove effective enough, I will be getting a large turkey fryer type propane burner that I can use to cook with as well.

 

Black buckets and sunshine was our way of having warm water for showers growing up (during the summertime and parents couldn't pay the gas bill).