Portable showers

[Chance09]

Does anyone actually use a portable shower in the woods? I bought a ULA amigo water filter and for another $5 it comes with a shower nozzle instead of just using it to fill up your water bottle.

I can't imagine using it or even wanting to use it until it was warm out but i would imagine that it would feel pretty good after a nice long hot day of hiking.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Some people warm up some water, soap up and use this to rinse off. It does feel wonderful after a long, hot sweaty day of hiking. I've been known to use something like this when a campfire is already going (to heat the water).

[Bob S]

Camp shower weigh a lot, if you are willing to put up with the weight they are great.

An alternative is to pack a 1 qt spray bottle (like an old Windex sprayer) and fill it with water (clear water, no soap) you heated up on a stove. Wipe off with a soap filled cloth and then rinse with the pump sprayer.

[Chance09]

The filter i'm using is a gravity filter that only weighs 7.5oz (off the top of my head). For a shower nozzle its only another .5oz so weights not really an issue. I was just wondering if anyone actually uses them.

[Appalachian Tater]

Not too much.

[saimyoji]

The filter i'm using is a gravity filter that only weighs 7.5oz (off the top of my head). For a shower nozzle its only another .5oz so weights not really an issue. I was just wondering if anyone actually uses them.

The same can be done as follows: If you use a water bottle, get another one just like it, take the cap, drill/pole holes in it to make it a shower head. Then just hang the bottle upside down to shower. Of course, its not much different than just pouring the water bottle over your head.

[mudhead]

The water bottle trick works, if it is warm out, but I would rather stink or swim.

[PJ 2005]

It's always good to smell pretty in the woods

[Tennessee Viking]

If I was car camping or base camping in the woods, I would take a portable shower. But for a long hike, its not worth carrying a shower bag and soap.

I would just use alcohol wipes and no water cleanser to clean up. Or go all-natural...trail stink keeps the bears away. lol

[Monkeywrench]

I usually just use my cooking pot to dip water out of the stream. I pour one pot full over my head stream-side, then scoop up another pot full and carry it away from the stream, soap up starting with my head and working down, then use the second pot full of water to rinse off.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

Here's one approach http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___35282

[Kevin A. Boyce]

Sea to Summit actually makes a Pocket Shower that is a dry bag with a shower head attached on it. So you can use it as a dry bag when obivously not in use as your shower. It folds up into a little case; personally I would leave the case home or use it for your eyeglasses, and it is pretty handy.

[Alligator]

The same can be done as follows: If you use a water bottle, get another one just like it, take the cap, drill/pole holes in it to make it a shower head. Then just hang the bottle upside down to shower. Of course, its not much different than just pouring the water bottle over your head.

I carry a cap like this, it flows a lot slower than dumping the whole bottle. You can even heat up a pot a water. My 3 liter platypus works well with this method. I've only used it a time or two though, there's usually a shower somewhere along the way after four or five days, or a stream for a dip. An added use for the cap is washing your pot.

Also, an onion mesh bag with a drawstring top is useful to hold the water bladder. I have one I keep my fuel bottle and windscreen in on the outside pocket of my pack.

[joec]

I take one with me and leave it in the car. When I come out of the woods, it is there for me to use. My last 3 day hike, I came out, drove to a secluded spot, put it one the top of my car and soaped down, rinsed off and shaved. It was well worth it.

[Incahiker]

I usually just use my cooking pot to dip water out of the stream. I pour one pot full over my head stream-side, then scoop up another pot full and carry it away from the stream, soap up starting with my head and working down, then use the second pot full of water to rinse off.

The greatest ideas are the simplest ones. Thanks for the tip. If I'm smelling something awful then I will use this method

[Monkeywrench]

The greatest ideas are the simplest ones. Thanks for the tip. If I'm smelling something awful then I will use this method

Just remember that your cooking pot is now contaminated with non-treated water. That's usually no big deal, since I'm likely to be boiling water the next time I use the pot.

[Spock]

An easy, lightweight portable shower:
1 platypus, any size - to be used for carrying water until you change the cap and screw on:
1 extra platy cap with a few very small holes burned through with a pin.

Small holes (no more than 5) give a good spray.

[Rockhound]

Of all the pack lists I've seen on this site I can't recall any that included a portable shower, but if you feel a strong enough desire to carry one the go for it. Hike your own hike as they say. Also if we happen to be at the same shelter one night do you think I could use it when you're done?

[Alligator]

Of all the pack lists I've seen on this site I can't recall any that included a portable shower, but if you feel a strong enough desire to carry one the go for it. Hike your own hike as they say. Also if we happen to be at the same shelter one night do you think I could use it when you're done?

I've carried around a cap with drilled holes on trips for at least seven years now. I mainly use it to wash my dishes, but for the weight of a soda cap, it isn't a big deal to have.

The real problem is that if do you use it, you realize how funky everyone else smells.

[Chance09]

Of all the pack lists I've seen on this site I can't recall any that included a portable shower, but if you feel a strong enough desire to carry one the go for it. Hike your own hike as they say. Also if we happen to be at the same shelter one night do you think I could use it when you're done?

my shower is a .5oz nozzle that just goes onto the pre-existing gravity water filter i'm already going to be carrying. thefilter is onl 7.5 oz itself and your more than welcome to use it