Using the shower

Up until now we have only used our shower for storage space, we split our days between 1 night wild camping followed by 1 night or longer on a campsite. We are now planning to travel the NC500 and hope to spend a lot of the time wild camping. I am looking for some feedback on the use of the shower in the Warwick XL. i.e. does it create a lot of damp, is it watertight and as the water tank is not that big how much water does it use. Also is it easy to dry out and keep clean. I look forward to your comments.

It will use a lot of water. Shouldn't cause damp and should be water tight if your van is ok. Give it a try before you go.

I would have to disagree with Rose I fear, although the size of your tank has a bearing on what counts as "a lot". 

If you adopt the van showering mode it need not use very much at all. Get wet and switch off. Soap and clean. Rinse. I can't put a figure on how much we use, but with two showers each morning we can easily last four days without topping up.

Many A.S. vans have 100 L tanks, the Warwick XL  only carries 69 L .. On occasions when we have been on CLs or sites with no toilet block, we find we can easily go through 40 litres per day if we both have a quick shower and cook & wash up in the van. We have a shammy leather to dry the compartment after use, and so far we have had no damp problems..


PS I know its 40 L  as I refill it using a 10 ltr container ..

Does your shower head have a built-in on/off switch?

We have one like this:

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which saves quite a lot of water as it's only running when you actually need water.

Check that you have a standard size hose fitting of course.

If you want a different style, with the switch on the back for example, search for 'shattaf' on ebay.

We use ours a lot and using Gromits method I.e Navy shower it really doesn't use much and never runs out of hot water. Showers easy to keep clean with a wipe down afterwards.

A washing up bowl is useful. Choose one that you can stand in and do so as you shower. That way you catch all the water and can wash your feet at leisure after you have turned off the shower or, with a sponge or flannel, rinse off anything you missed with the shower head.

You can either pour the dirty water straight down the van drain, or take the bowl outside and to the nearest suitable drain.

Jaytee wrote:We use ours a lot and using Gromits method I.e Navy shower.......

I use the 'Navy method' also - except I don't need to call out when switching on or off.

G

Apparently a shower uses an average of 17 litres of water. A shower head with a trigger is definitely the best bet in the van.

Nora

Traficlady wrote:Apparently a shower uses an average of 17 litres of water. A shower head with a trigger is definitely the best bet in the van.
Nora

That must be for a household shower Nora.   That's three and three quarter galloons in sensible money!!!!

As said before, we can easily last four days on 100 litres of water, including drinks, cooking , washing up etc.. If we used 34 litres per day in the shower alone, we couldn't last for more than two days.

Pongo shower for me, na soap. 
Boaby

Hi.
Most towns and villages have a church, most churches have a cemetery, most cemeteries have a tap and most tap water is potable.
Rich..

RML wrote:Hi.
Most towns and villages have a church, most churches have a cemetery, most cemeteries have a tap and most tap water is potable.
Rich..

Yes indeed Richard, and they can be most useful if you are running short. A very good tip.
Don't be tempted to take a shower under the tap though, however hot it is - the locals tend to get over excited!

Gromit wrote:

RML wrote:Hi.
Most towns and villages have a church, most churches have a cemetery, most cemeteries have a tap and most tap water is potable.
Rich..

Yes indeed Richard, and they can be most useful if you are running short. A very good tip.
Don't be tempted to take a shower under the tap though, however hot it is - the locals tend to get over excited!

Good advice from Gromit.we also use the ships shower technique but take extra water in Jerry cans if going off grid for a few days.. 

Gromit wrote:

Traficlady wrote:Apparently a shower uses an average of 17 litres of water. A shower head with a trigger is definitely the best bet in the van.
Nora

That must be for a household shower Nora.   That's three and three quarter galloons in sensible money!!!!

As said before, we can easily last four days on 100 litres of water, including drinks, cooking , washing up etc.. If we used 34 litres per day in the shower alone, we couldn't last for more than two days.

I was told that by a caravan fitter. I guess he meant if you leave the water running though, which is why I advocate a trigger.

Nora

A bowl with warm water and a mug provides an adequate shower. You can then see how much water you are using.

Use navy method you will soon become an expert

We're not in the Navy though, we're on bloomin' holiday, we want a proper shower.

Same as Gromit, we both shower every morning and use water for washing up and brewing during the day, plus a rinse down before turning in. The 100 litre tank lasts four days and three nights, but I always carry 20 litres in a container if we intend to be in the wild blue scenery for an unspecified time, so we always have a bit of leeway.
We did the NC500 and some last year, we toured Scotland for 18 days and only stopped on sites for 3 nights.
Al.