Twocubdad Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I have seen the Promised Land and it looks like this: A white metal box about 16" tall, 12" wide and 4" deep. It hangs to a wall or tree and is connected to a water source with a garden hose on one side, a propane tank in the middle and a hand-held shower on the other. It produces 1.4 gallons of hot water a minute, which means you can stand under a toasty hot shower until the propane runs out. Although our camp has very nice adult showers, they're a good hike from our campsite. (The youth showers are much closer.) That usually means you are just as hot and sweating coming from the shower as you were when you left for it. And if I don't get to shower until all the scouts are settled in, it's often midnight before I'm back in camp. We set the rig up in our campsite, building a shower stall with a couple shower curtains (but black, 6mil poly would have worked). With six or eight adults using it, we could take showers all day long. The unit is an Eccotemp L5 instant-on, tankless water heater. They retail for $149, but they're on Amazon for $112 all day. I got this one "used" for $92 and free shipping, but it arrived still factory-sealed in the box. If I had 12 I could have sold them all. Gas use doesn't seem bad -- about half a 20# tank after a week's worth of showers with 6-to-8 adults in camp. No electrical connection -- the igniter works on two "D" batteries. The only negative comment is the quality of the shower hose and head. The water pressure blew out the hose a couple time. The water cut-off when in the shower is the thumb switch on the shower head. We learned to cut the water hose off at the source to solve the problem, but replacing the hose is an easy, inexpensive upgrade at one of the big-box hardware stores. We'll also add a cut-off valve on the garden hose which will keep you from running to the spigot in nothing but a towel. After one week I can't comment on the long-term durability, but for $92 I'll buy one every year! We're thinking about mounting it on inside of the troop trailer door (so it is outside when the door swings open) for use on car camping trips when we have access to running water. Although we don't necessarily need showers on weekend campouts, it will be a much more efficient means of producing hot water for clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 So a shower in the troop trailer is a good idea????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdad Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Why not just take a motor home to camp? With all the talk about kids' being lazy, I think setting up an in-site shower to avoid the long walk is a bit ironic. Where does the waste water go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 [way off topic, but can't resist] gsdad, on the bus this AM a lady was wearing a t-shirt that said "Girl Scouts: The Promised Land". Neat coincidence, huh? 2C, is the box black to collect sun? I've used camp showers that were essentially solar collectors. Worked fine if you could find a place out of the shade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Oh, I forgot. Manly Scouters don't shower, or if they do they hike five steep, trecherous miles each way to do so. We did talk about taking an RV to camp next year -- of course that would be Camp Mickey -- but we've decided the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian is just too much to pass up. And no, qwazse, the unit is white so to make it easier to see the carbon emissions. After an 18 hour day dealing with a troop of 49 Scouts, you guys really think providing the adults a convenient, hot shower is a bad thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 SM and I take turns hiking to the shower after the boys are bedded down. Yep it is midnight. The days are long and hot, the nights are steamy and filled with homesick boys. I don't go to summer camp expecting to be comfortable or rested... I am not going to whine about cold showers and boy food for a week........ I understand summer camp is not about me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Golly, gee, I thought I was getting away with murder when I took my camp shower, bag black one side, clear the other, filled with water, laid in the sun, hung on the tent pole and catch a shower in the wall tent at the end of the day. If you didn't waste the water, you could also catch a warm spray for morning freshening up. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 stosh ya didn't make a big deal about it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdad Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 qwase- my wife, and daughters have that shirt. I only have a Girls Go Green sweatshirt which I wear with pride. I should actually change my screen name since my girls are out of GS and I will soon be DL for my son's Tiger Den. 2cub- I'd have to agree, the Grand Floridian afternoon tea is a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 One of my fondest memories is sitting outside the shower building at the campground in Yellowstone. You could take a cold shower or you could feed a whole bunch of quarters into a machine that would time the hot water for you. It was an interesting study in human behavior: estimation, investment, and optimization...punctuated by screams when the hot water didn't last long enough. It was great fun trying to predict which skin flint was going to deliver the scream. Me, I'll stick with the cold water kind. No sweat. Did you 'get' that pun at the end? "No sweat" "Ice cold water". Get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank10 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 How hot is hot? Does it bring it up to shower temp of just mot cold? Boy guys your all like the guy who drives at 60 in the left lane having determined that that is the only speed any ever needs to go since 55 is the limit and 5 miles over is the exact amount you should go. So where's your cut off, flash lights are ok but no lantern? Can I use the Colman coffee maker or do I need to use the old tin pot? Sounds like it made his week of volunteering a bit easier and he might have more free tome and energy to do something extra for the boys. Now I don't need one for camp as our site is right up the road from the shower house But I know I'm a better leader after my shower... and I smell better too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thank you, wingnut, my sentiments exactly. I put a lot of time and effort into making sure our Scouts have a great time at summer camp. Doing something to make week a little easier on the leaders can't be bad thing either. The specs say it raises the temp 30-35 degrees above ambient. So unless you're pumping water out of a frozen lake.... Didn't have a thermometer, but cranked up it's too hot for a comfortable shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Where is our curly horned African Antelope? I'm awaiting his post on this subject....! Should be a classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Easier on the leaders????? Too funny. So summer camp is a tough experience? Really????? So exactly what are the adults doing at summer camp that is so hard???? Most of the adults I have seen at camp are sitting around the campsite most of the day. If your following the boys around all day, well lets just leave that lay...... Boy, are americans soft. We can't hike to a provided shower house to take a shower. Soft that's all I gotta say. So what is the lesson or example for the boys????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Basement, the answer is to take them on an actual camping trip for a week. In a wilderness. Outdoors. Backpacking would be just great but not absolutely necessary. No dining hall. No electric lights. No flush toilets. No AC. No fans. Just the woods and the land. Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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