Do you use the shower in your van?

[Davydd]

We take Navy showers. I was in the Navy, I know how to do it. To extend our water, I often use adult flushable wet wipes on my whole body in lieu of a shower. BTW, they really aren't flushable. Dispose of them in a waste basket.

My wife washes her hair separately in the kitchen sink instead of when she takes a shower. It is more efficient in water use.

I designed a 31" x 38" at elbow height bathroom in a short Sprinter. That's about the size or bigger of the smallest personal shower in a home (30" x 30") and has a wrap around curtain and sanitizes the outside of the toilet. A teak slat floor dries out pretty quick. Raised plastic tiles quicker. We used both. It's more than adequate in a van. The shower head has a spring trigger handle that you can do short spurts of water.

We also make use of campground showers if we deem them good. Just use flip flops.

[Rocinante]

Sure, we use the shower in our van, though we often use the campground showers if available, and we wear flip-flops in public showers.

Regarding the wet bath, we strongly prefer having an enclosed wet bath with a toilet and a sink in there. We don't care for floor plans we see in so many vans that don't have an enclosed bathroom, and we don't like to wash "bathroom hands" in the kitchen sink. I know, first world problems, but there it is, and we can get what we want in this department if we pick the right van. So, we do.

Oh, and we strongly prefer that the wet bath have a vent fan in the bathroom so we can clear it of humidity, etc. Many don't have this, but ours does. It's a simple 6" Ventline fan with a push button for on/off and an up-down handle so we can open it for venting or close it if driving in the rain or if we're camped in a storm where the rain is literally blowing sideways.

That said, we don't judge those who prefer the simplicity of a cassette or composting toilet under a bench, a single sink, and an outdoor shower - it's their van so they get to configure it the way they want, and they have legitimate space-efficiency arguments for that approach.

[KurtFranz]

Seems like it boils down to "camping" VS "traveling" with the differences being a wet bath or aisle preference. The reason I resurrected this old thread was a long discussion I had with a friend when he asked my why I would waste my time taking a shower in my Roadtrek.

It does make for some interesting conversation which is always good

[Urlauber]

It's good to have options - if there is a (nice, free) shower at the campground, of course I use it.
If not, showering in the van works great too, just need to dry it out well afterwards. Our wet bath features a fan on top so no problem.
I have also pulled the shower hose outside and showered there to keep the inside dry. Getting muddy feet can be a bit of an issue when doing that.
I have a 5 gal "solar" shower bag as well, but I usually forget to fill it and put it in the sun so when the time comes I am like . Not an issue when in the desert in summer.

I wish water pumps wouldn't make such a racket... but oh well.

[MsNomer]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

I wish water pumps wouldn't make such a racket... but oh well.

This is pretty darned quiet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

This is pretty darned quiet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks... not sure how to trick that into my FW tank.
Edit - nevermind... looks like it is inline? But not self-priming... so no good for me.

These are shur-ly not quiet!

[KurtFranz]

Originally Posted by booster

How do you do Hampton Inn parking lots without getting booted?

Actually I do not know. I just did it one time on a whim and did not have any issue, so I repeated the performance and never had any issue.

Maybe just lucky...

[Davydd]

I don't have an exhaust fan in the bathroom but I have the Maxxfan adjacent to the bathroom door and the door has about a 1 inch gap at the top so the fan draws air out from the bathroom.

[Philip53]

One of my wife's requirements was to have a shower in the van. So when building out our new van, I built a relatively small one, with a built in macerator toilet. I added a swing out top rod assembly that increased the shoulder room considerably by moving out the shower curtain at shoulder/head level. She is rather small and always uses the van shower - no campground showers for her. I, on the other hand am split about 50/50 with van/campground showers. We also use the shower area for some hanging clothes & beverage storage on the floor. To manage water usage with a shower, we try to only take a full shower every other day. I also planned for the increased water usage and installed a 36 gallon fresh water tank, with a fairly large gray tank as well. And to decrease wasted water, I installed a timed hot water purge system where the cold water in the lines is recirculated back to the fresh water tank, until hot water is at the shower valves - saves a considerable amount of water, rather than wasting that water waiting on it to get hot. We are rarely at a campground - definitely more off grid camping, so we would not be without a shower facility. Just took a little more planning in the build to make it work well.

[ks@yvr]

@Philip53 your house garage looks like mine 😅

We have an inside shower with a slide out shower pan from under our front lounge area and a inside shower curtain ‘box’ to shower inside the van. We have a second shower at the rear doors for an outside shower. We use both; in the warmer weather the outside shower; in the colder weather the inside shower or also if using the outside shower might be a problem. We use our showers mostly but will also use a good campground shower if available but since we boondock mostly we use our showers most of the time. Both showers have hot water available from separate mixing valves and we estimate we use 2-3 gallons of water with each shower. I wouldn’t want a van without an available shower option, I had one van without previously but now wouldn’t want to go back to not having one available.

[folivier]

Just wondering, in most states putting grey water on the ground is not allowed. (I don't see a problem unless you're in a crowded campground) That said has anyone run into that problem using an outdoor shower?

[Pam G]

I often used the aisle shower in my 1998 Coach House. Coach House has a dropped floor with shower drain just where you stand for the shower. A removable panel covers the dropped floor when not in use. I've only used the shower once in my 1999 Roadtrek. Not real keen on the whole floor in the kitchen area getting wet.

[Philip53]

Originally Posted by ks@yvr

@Philip53 your house garage looks like mine 😅

We have an inside shower with a slide out shower pan from under our front lounge area and a inside shower curtain ‘box’ to shower inside the van. We have a second shower at the rear doors for an outside shower. We use both; in the warmer weather the outside shower; in the colder weather the inside shower or also if using the outside shower might be a problem. We use our showers mostly but will also use a good campground shower if available but since we boondock mostly we use our showers most of the time. Both showers have hot water available from separate mixing valves and we estimate we use 2-3 gallons of water with each shower. I wouldn’t want a van without an available shower option, I had one van without previously but now wouldn’t want to go back to not having one available.

Yeah, I agree. I don't think I would build a van without some kind of shower. I like the fold down SS sheet metal shower pan that I saw on the Sprinter Forum some time back. You simply add a track on the ceiling for the curtain, fold down the pan/base, and you have a very usable shower.

[rvsprinterguy]

is when we use our shower. It's in an enclosed wet bath. I've added a valve at the shower head to facilitate taking navy showers.

[GeorgeRa]

We have 144” WB Sprinter Camper Van under 20’ without indoor shower but we have outside shower. My fresh and gray water storage volumes were limited by road clearance (I retained factory clearance). We use campground facilities to a large degree.

With full hook-up camping we have an option for long showers by:

1. External enclosure like this one https://www.go-hangout.com/shop/?mc_...eid=e05043cb78

2. Hitch mounted shower pan with drain hose connected to campsite hook-up.

It is an option, but we don't think we really need it, but, it is an option.

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

It's good to have options - if there is a (nice, free) shower at the campground, of course I use it.
If not, showering in the van works great too, just need to dry it out well afterwards. Our wet bath features a fan on top so no problem.
I have also pulled the shower hose outside and showered there to keep the inside dry. Getting muddy feet can be a bit of an issue when doing that.
I have a 5 gal "solar" shower bag as well, but I usually forget to fill it and put it in the sun so when the time comes I am like . Not an issue when in the desert in summer.

I wish water pumps wouldn't make such a racket... but oh well.

Hi: You might want to investigate a IRVWPC? I installed over a year ago. At low volume, it regulates the water pump allowing water to flow moderately. I believe these water pumps work like an on/off pump? They are made in Canada. https://www.irvwpc.com/

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by Rlum

Hi: You might want to investigate a IRVWPC? I installed over a year ago. At low volume, it regulates the water pump allowing water to flow moderately. I believe these water pumps work like an on/off pump? They are made in Canada. https://www.irvwpc.com/

Thank you, yes this should relieve the hammering noise quite a bit. Not sure about their claim that they save water?
However, at the >$200 price I would probably look into upgrading my water pump first.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CQ7DD0S "variable" maybe?