solar shower camping

solar shower camping

« Previous12345Next »

The Shower: a comedic look at being too much of a minimalist

If I had been asked to indicate, prior to the relocation,  what I thought would be the greatest benefit of moving to an isolated spot in the bush to live in a Mongolian tent, the first advantage to come to mind would not have been "the showers."  I would have been wrong.

We take solar showers now.  It is close to mid-September in rural Manitoba, and evenings cool off to a low of 2-4 degrees Celsius (25-39F).  We have no permanent heat source, other than each other.  We have also regressed from showering each day to showering, together, every second day. 

I point out that we each are over 50 years old, so I need not ask you to visualize.  To your horror and disgust, I am sure you have already discovered that that particular image is now engrained in your brain, like the horror scenes from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

One of the reasons, though, that we have taken these two drastic steps is because we consider ourselves minimalists.  That is, we seek to get the greatest enjoyment out of life while consuming, owning or using the least of the world's resources.  It is a very noble objective: environmental responsibility.

It is also, largely, nonsense!

The real reason that we shower every other day is because the tankless propane water heater that we ordered on line is truly tankless.  In fact, to date, it is also water heater-less.  It has been eight weeks since we ordered and paid for it, yet we are still awaiting its  arrival.  To wait 8 weeks for a shower would have been unthinkable, particularly after my wife had her very first cold-water shower in July.  That same shower in September would have done her in!

So, we heat water on the barbeque, fill a 25-liter camping water tank,  I haul the tank up a ladder above the shower enclosure, and, using gravity, allow the shower head to drip warm water over my wife.  Then, we begin the process again for me.  It isn't quite like I imagined showering together would be, but then, this isn't what I envisioned  for a hot water source, either.  And, at 50 plus pounds per tank, I am not too eager to carry these containers up the ladder more than every other day.

While we may be, at least temporarily, showering in truly rustic fashion, I find that I am actually somewhat glad that the tankless system has not yet arrived.  Yes, by the time shower day arrives, we  are reverting to our more natural aromas.  And, yes, drizzling the shower water over my wife from above does offer some aesthetic pleasures.  Mostly, though, the lack of a sophisticated water heater actually does feel like we are being responsible citizens of nature.  Indeed, I may not bother to install the heater, when it arrives, until next spring!

About the Author

Easy Camp Solar Shower - 20 Litre - www.simplyhike.co.uk