2003, we built our ExpeditionVehicle on a 1996 Ford CF8000 commercial truck. Over two decades full-time live-aboard. . We engineered our rig with a rear entry, and permanent porch and permanent porch roof. The deck is expanded steel, similar to stout window-screen. We shower right on the deck. . And 'yes', certain of us might have some 'exhibitionist' tendencies... . For showers, we use a Craftsman 20v battery-operated garden-sprayer. It has a four-gallon (16l) hopper. . We heat water on our ancient Coleman two-burner propane camp-stove. We use four-quart (4l) pots, loaded with about three quarts (3l) to reduce sploshing. . Boiling water goes right into the hopper. Temperature is adjusted by adding ambient water. . Summers, a couple three-quarts are plenty for a hot shower. Cool weather, three pots -- or four! -- gives a great shower. . The stock garden-sprayer hose is only about three feet (1m), so we went to the local-owned family-operated plumbing supply for an extension plus brass couplings and clamps. . Although the factory wand sprayer would probably work for our showers, we experimented with just the grip without the wand. That was good, drizzly but effective. . Our first use, we flipped the 'ON' switch to 'LOW'. Those early showers easily lasted all we needed, while using only about three quarts (3l), leaving enough hot water for at least one more shower. . Thinking about improvements to our Shower Gizmo, we wondered if maybe a sprayer from a stand-still house kitchen-sink might change the dribble to a spray. About that time, some ferals were living in the gravel at the dead-end of our street. They left, abandoning boxes of their treasured 'collectables'. . One box had a hand-held wand for a shower in a stand-still house. What were ferals doing with something like that? Those people don't have the standard-issued reasoning capacity, so anything in reach becomes part of the ensemble. . Irregardless, our Gizmo sports a longer hose and a nifty spray-head. . !!! WARNING !!! A three minute shower on 'LOW' quickly evolved into a twelve-minute shower with the switch on 'HIGH'. How do we know a shower takes a little over twelve minutes? [que : Chuck Woolery and his 'see you back here in two-n-two'] I timed my shower for a post about showers on the vanLiving forum. . And of course, naturally, that minimalist shower expanded to using most of the Hopper's four gallons (16l)... then adding an additional three quarts (3l) of boiling and the equivalent in ambient water to taste. . With this supplemental, we e are looking at nearly twenty minutes of watery sudsy bliss. Yep. . An aside: We like the Craftsman 20v battery-operated tools. We have 20v chain-saws and various other tools, including a 20v battery-operated weed-whacker. We also have an impact-g*n and a DA (dual-action) orbital sander. . How long does a battery last? A four-amp or five-amp battery gives weeks of showers. We anticipate at least a couple-three weeks of showers before swapping to a fresh battery. . Would I do it again? Certainly! . . An aside: Semi-retired welder-fabricator here. I lived and worked all over this particular planet. For decades, I keep my hair in a buzz-cut. For me, it's just easier.
When I first got my Joolca, I’d just hang it from a tree and put the pump intake into a Scepter 5 gallon water can. Get wet, turn it off, lather up, then rinse. Left it sitting outside in a Plano 1719 box with no problems. Packs away in seconds. Hot showers was a luxury I definitely wasn’t going to do without for long. Before the Joolca, I did the watering can thing, but had 4 filled with water. Worked well enough. Did the showering in the rain thing too, but I’m afraid of lightning 😂 And then there’s always the baby wipe baths in a pinch
@@FatGuyinaLittleWoods Hot showers and other small luxuries could be what makes or breaks someone’s experience in becoming more sustainable. It’s good you recognized what you were willing to do without and what you weren’t. Knowing our ourselves and what we’re willing to put up with or not is imperative for sustaining an alternative lifestyle.
I enjoy taking long HOT showers too! Maybe I'm a spoiled brat but I think this is one thing that could make or break my off grid experience! Thats terrible that your hot water heater was broken! Thankfully there are a lot of options today for off grid showers. Great video! ❤
@@bigfamilyexpedition Long hot showers are the best! I’m sure it gives you plenty of time to just be alone and relax in midst of being a busy mom of many littles. I hope you’re getting tons of opportunities to get hot showers on the road in your skoolie!
@@rongarrett1366 Thanks for the suggestion! We have one of those that we used for a while and we still take it on camping trips to use to wash off dishes. We liked it for a while for showers, but since there’s so many of us, the battery didn’t last very long. But I definitely agree with you for a couple of people!
lol we don’t have running water on our property we have a big watering can that we fill up and leave it in the sun so it gets pretty warm lol it sits on top of our car when we shower we just tip it on its side and let it pour on us it’s kinda like a shower in a bag but it a can lol homesteading is a struggle keep the videos coming
@@miscellaneousme I’m hoping we may have a shower soon but we are busy with trying to build our cabin we did start working on a shower we did make a video on it but finishing it is a different story lol so we will use a can till we have time to finish our outdoor shower
My shower: 5 gallon bucket, 12 v bilge pump, 3/8ths hose and shower head outside. On a 95 degree day I have have to add cold water to cool it down before I shower. The darker your bucket, the hotter the water. On cloudy or cool days add a little hot water.
@@josephzimbler9914 We did that for a little while in a shower tent, but winter made it a bit chilly. On this property, we’re actually visible to the neighbors as they drive up the easement that borders our land, so they might get an eye full 🫣😅
@@miscellaneousme well. if you have something that no one has seen before, then it belongs in a museum...you could always build a shower tent, or screen...be safe you guys...
MM, We operate a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene Oregon. . Around here, the dogs are the point. Without dogs, what is the point of living. May as well stand in the shower all day...
2003, we built our ExpeditionVehicle on a 1996 Ford CF8000 commercial truck.
Over two decades full-time live-aboard.
.
We engineered our rig with a rear entry, and permanent porch and permanent porch roof.
The deck is expanded steel, similar to stout window-screen.
We shower right on the deck.
.
And 'yes', certain of us might have some 'exhibitionist' tendencies...
.
For showers, we use a Craftsman 20v battery-operated garden-sprayer.
It has a four-gallon (16l) hopper.
.
We heat water on our ancient Coleman two-burner propane camp-stove.
We use four-quart (4l) pots, loaded with about three quarts (3l) to reduce sploshing.
.
Boiling water goes right into the hopper.
Temperature is adjusted by adding ambient water.
.
Summers, a couple three-quarts are plenty for a hot shower.
Cool weather, three pots -- or four! -- gives a great shower.
.
The stock garden-sprayer hose is only about three feet (1m), so we went to the local-owned family-operated plumbing supply for an extension plus brass couplings and clamps.
.
Although the factory wand sprayer would probably work for our showers, we experimented with just the grip without the wand.
That was good, drizzly but effective.
.
Our first use, we flipped the 'ON' switch to 'LOW'.
Those early showers easily lasted all we needed, while using only about three quarts (3l), leaving enough hot water for at least one more shower.
.
Thinking about improvements to our Shower Gizmo, we wondered if maybe a sprayer from a stand-still house kitchen-sink might change the dribble to a spray.
About that time, some ferals were living in the gravel at the dead-end of our street.
They left, abandoning boxes of their treasured 'collectables'.
.
One box had a hand-held wand for a shower in a stand-still house.
What were ferals doing with something like that?
Those people don't have the standard-issued reasoning capacity, so anything in reach becomes part of the ensemble.
.
Irregardless, our Gizmo sports a longer hose and a nifty spray-head.
.
!!! WARNING !!!
A three minute shower on 'LOW' quickly evolved into a twelve-minute shower with the switch on 'HIGH'.
How do we know a shower takes a little over twelve minutes?
[que : Chuck Woolery and his 'see you back here in two-n-two']
I timed my shower for a post about showers on the vanLiving forum.
.
And of course, naturally, that minimalist shower expanded to using most of the Hopper's four gallons (16l)... then adding an additional three quarts (3l) of boiling and the equivalent in ambient water to taste.
.
With this supplemental, we e are looking at nearly twenty minutes of watery sudsy bliss.
Yep.
.
An aside:
We like the Craftsman 20v battery-operated tools.
We have 20v chain-saws and various other tools, including a 20v battery-operated weed-whacker.
We also have an impact-g*n and a DA (dual-action) orbital sander.
.
How long does a battery last?
A four-amp or five-amp battery gives weeks of showers.
We anticipate at least a couple-three weeks of showers before swapping to a fresh battery.
.
Would I do it again?
Certainly!
.
.
An aside:
Semi-retired welder-fabricator here.
I lived and worked all over this particular planet.
For decades, I keep my hair in a buzz-cut.
For me, it's just easier.
Academy Award for most interrupted video goes to Miscellaneousme.
@@robert-yv2yj Thank you, thank you, everyone. I’d like to thank my furry friends, Georgia and Monty, for their part in making this dream a reality 😅
@@miscellaneousme 😂😂🤣🤣
When I first got my Joolca, I’d just hang it from a tree and put the pump intake into a Scepter 5 gallon water can. Get wet, turn it off, lather up, then rinse. Left it sitting outside in a Plano 1719 box with no problems. Packs away in seconds. Hot showers was a luxury I definitely wasn’t going to do without for long.
Before the Joolca, I did the watering can thing, but had 4 filled with water. Worked well enough. Did the showering in the rain thing too, but I’m afraid of lightning 😂
And then there’s always the baby wipe baths in a pinch
@@FatGuyinaLittleWoods Hot showers and other small luxuries could be what makes or breaks someone’s experience in becoming more sustainable. It’s good you recognized what you were willing to do without and what you weren’t. Knowing our ourselves and what we’re willing to put up with or not is imperative for sustaining an alternative lifestyle.
@@miscellaneousme couldn’t agree more
This was a fun pupper breath video. You shared some really great information, as always.
@@TheBackwoodsHermit They definitely made recording this a little more interesting!
I enjoy taking long HOT showers too! Maybe I'm a spoiled brat but I think this is one thing that could make or break my off grid experience! Thats terrible that your hot water heater was broken! Thankfully there are a lot of options today for off grid showers. Great video! ❤
@@bigfamilyexpedition Long hot showers are the best! I’m sure it gives you plenty of time to just be alone and relax in midst of being a busy mom of many littles. I hope you’re getting tons of opportunities to get hot showers on the road in your skoolie!
Love how you didn't edit out all the "interuptions!" Really great video! ❤
@@chrissy987 Thank you 😅 Some days it’s quiet, other days it’s anything but.
You can get portable shower units that consist of a hose, spray nozzle and battery-operated motor that sinks in to the bucket for $50 or less.
@@rongarrett1366 Thanks for the suggestion! We have one of those that we used for a while and we still take it on camping trips to use to wash off dishes.
We liked it for a while for showers, but since there’s so many of us, the battery didn’t last very long. But I definitely agree with you for a couple of people!
I allow the commercials to run while I read the comments.
I hope this helps!
lol we don’t have running water on our property we have a big watering can that we fill up and leave it in the sun so it gets pretty warm lol it sits on top of our car when we shower we just tip it on its side and let it pour on us it’s kinda like a shower in a bag but it a can lol homesteading is a struggle keep the videos coming
@@RealOutdoorLiving Watering cans are definitely multi-purpose! Great that you have a system going 👍
@@miscellaneousme I’m hoping we may have a shower soon but we are busy with trying to build our cabin we did start working on a shower we did make a video on it but finishing it is a different story lol so we will use a can till we have time to finish our outdoor shower
My shower: 5 gallon bucket, 12 v bilge pump, 3/8ths hose and shower head outside. On a 95 degree day I have have to add cold water to cool it down before I shower. The darker your bucket, the hotter the water. On cloudy or cool days add a little hot water.
@@StephenMeasles-kr9rm Sounds like you’ve got a good setup. Do you still shower outside during the winter?
The bugs are dogging you and the dogs are bugging you.
@@rongarrett1366 That’s life sometimes! 😅
Such a great Woman.
@@mhandy61 That’s kind of you to say. Thanks for taking the time to watch!
YOUR IN THE WOODS, YOU SHOULD BE SHOWERING OUTSIDE...
@@josephzimbler9914 We did that for a little while in a shower tent, but winter made it a bit chilly. On this property, we’re actually visible to the neighbors as they drive up the easement that borders our land, so they might get an eye full 🫣😅
@@miscellaneousme well. if you have something that no one has seen before, then it belongs in a museum...you could always build a shower tent, or screen...be safe you guys...
@Joseph,
Your're.
I am so very sorry. Please get to the point.
@@re575817 Usually I do 🙂 This time around, I had some interruptions but they were too cute not to show!
MM,
We operate a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene Oregon.
.
Around here, the dogs are the point.
Without dogs, what is the point of living.
May as well stand in the shower all day...