My first iteration of an improvised shower came about while stationed in Texas. Our unit was participating in a field training exercise and were allocated one trip to the shower point per week. As this exercise was more of a practice of our daily grind in field conditions rather than a battle simulation, our platoon of mechanics set up a minimal motor pool and for the most part spent time catching up on service work. One of the few actual repairs I was given over those days was replacing the power steering pump on a M1009 CUCV better known as a full-size Chevy Blazer.
After bolting the new pump into place and reconnecting the lines, I said something along the lines of “Okay it’s in” at which point the truck’s driver took it upon himself to start pouring power steering fluid into the reservoir — without using a funnel. As I was stuck in the dirt on my back and had no idea anyone was there to “help me”, I wound up catching a face and head full of sticky, thick, red Dexron.
Among the asinine restrictions placed upon us during this exercise was that we could not draw water from the buffalo for “bathing”. With a nod and a wink to our platoon leader (a very down-to-earth CW3), I pulled the plastic bladder out of a dark green 5-gallon bucket that held antifreeze then drove to the battalion headquarters where I filled it with potable water. As expected, some headquarters do-gooder questioned my taking of so much water to which I turned the bucket so he could read antifreeze and let the implication that it was for a truck be my only response.
When I got back to camp, the bucket was placed in a truck bed facing the sun. After dark, I tossed down a pallet, took a second bucket that had a few small holes punched into it, added a few gallons of water and hung it from the boom of our wrecker. Maybe not the best shower of my life but it was awesome to get the power steering fluid washed off.
Fast forward to the early 2000s and my wife and I got to spend a week without power thanks to a region-wide ice storm. While we did have plenty of water, being on a municipal system, but our home was all electric and we were still firmly in our broke newlywed period so the preps were few. After the second day my wife said she really wanted a shower. I thought I was being very creative when I heated water on our Coleman camp stove, tempered it to a comfortable temperature then filled one of our garden watering cans that had a sprinkler-style spout.
We took turns standing on a step stool to have enough height and poured the heated water from the watering can over the curtain of our bathtub to get a rudimentary shower. Initially, I thought we could pour the water over ourselves without needing help but holding the correct angle without over tipping and losing lots of the water through the fill cutout atop the watering can was common. By helping each other, the steady stream made for a better experience in terms of staying warm and being able to better rinse off.
The next improvised shower system I assembled was for a hunting camp our family joined in south central Georgia. This camp was far enough from home that we needed three to four-day-long hunt trips to justify the travel. Early season that far south is still warm and humid so having a way to clean up made sense in terms of both hygiene and odor/scent control.
The core of this shower was a twelve-volt impeller-type pump fitted with garden hose male fittings for both the inlet and outlet ports. I made up a set of electrical leads from stranded 12-gauge copper wire and included a single-pole switch around the quarter-length mark since this type of pump will burn out if it dead heads (meaning the impeller spins but flow is stopped by an upstream closed valve). These little transfer pumps are great for moving water but their design precludes having a built-in pressure switch. I terminated the feed ends with spring-type battery clamps and made hard connections at the pump using crimped butt splices.
On the plumbing side I used a four-foot piece of garden hose for the intake line and about a six-foot length leading away to the shower head. As for the shower head assembly, a short piece of ½ inch copper fed into a brass ball valve and the outlet side of the valve was joined to a drop-earred Ell fitting with an additional length of copper. Lastly, a standard shower head and angled shower arm were screwed into the Ell.
To set this unit up, we selected a spot with trees spaced about four feet apart just off of our parking area. A piece of tarping was used to provide a privacy screen and the shower head assembly was bungee corded to one of the trees using the drop-eared Ell mounting holes. One of our trucks was driven up to the shower stall and the pump leads connected to the truck battery. The inlet hose was dropped in the tempered water and supply was controlled by turning on/off the electrical switch. Water was heated in a water bath canner over a propane turkey fryer-burner. Five gallons was easily enough supply for three to four showers.
Splashing led us to relocate the electrical switch to outside of the shower curtain, this then required someone else to turn the pump on/off as needed. Initially we used a piece of galvanized grating for the floor, but it was uncomfortable so on the second trip to camp someone provided a pallet to keep us out of the mud.
Game numbers at this hunting camp were surprisingly low and when the paper company came though and sprayed to kill the undergrowth, we gave up the lease mid-way through our option. I kept the shower components stored in an open bucket for several years and as is often the case with such a poor solution, the kit was always in the way. I eventually decided to find a better storage solution and by splitting the shower head assembly into pieces could fit the entire unit in a large plastic ammo can. This storage method allows me to keep the unit safer and more portable. To quickly rejoin the copper pipe, the adjacent copper ends are slid into a short piece of 5/8” water hose and pipe clamps are used to secure the joint.
My most recent portable shower design came after I noticed a sale placard leaving Tractor Supply several years ago. It was late fall and in the entrance of the store there were a bunch of 13-gallon spray tanks such as one would mount on an ATV. Looking at the pump on one of these units, it had an obvious built-in pressure sensor. Inclusion of this feature overcomes the dead head risk associated with the transfer pump on my original shower and negates the necessity of an external switch to control the water flow. I have since learned that robust versions this diaphragm-type pump are standard equipment for camper trailers and RVs with Shurflo likely being the best-known manufacturer.
The spray tank assembly included a set of 12-volt leads with integral switch, spring-style battery clamps and quick disconnect connectors. The mating 12-volt pigtail on the pump side of the cables only extends a few inches allowing for the bulk of the wire to be removed for storage. On the plumbing side the pump itself is hard-mounted to the tank. The 3/8-inch ID flexible intake tubing passes through the top of the tank via a soft bushing and is capped with a fine mesh, rigid screen assembly. The ten-foot-long discharge line of the same tubing came with an integral spring valve threaded male adapter compatible with either of the included spray wand assemblies.
For the first iteration of the shower head, I cut off the integrated sprayer handle and the 3/8-inch rubber tubing was slipped over the PEX portion of a drop-earred Ell. Next, a salvaged shower head assembly consisting of the drop arm and a shower head with an integral on/off valve were threaded into the Ell. This version failed in two ways with the lack of rigidity allowing the head to move when trying to shut off the integral valve and because the head assembly contained a non-removable water reducer that produced a very poor spray.
For the second iteration, I used a piece of ½” PEX pipe and a lightweight ball valve, along with replacing the original shower head with a cheap hardware store model for which the water reducer could be easily removed. One of the goals for this improvised shower was to be able to use it indoors. Efforts to “just hang” the emergency shower head assembly from the home’s shower fixtures failed because the house’s shower head blocked most of the spray pattern. My not-so-elegant solution was to use a suction cup grab bar as a mount for the temporary assembly. This works, but on occasion the suction cups let loose and the assembly will fall. After a few of these unexpected releases, a two-foot-long piece of wire was used to both firm up the shower head position and tie the entire assembly to the home’s drop leg as a fall safety.
To improve the storage compactness of the ag tank shower, the hose was cut several inches beyond the pump outlet and a 3/8” brass coupling is used to reattach the shower head assembly. All of the components easily fit within the tank. A final benefit to the diaphragm pump versus the transfer pump turned out to be the ability to use batteries from one of my old 12-volt cordless tools sets to power since there really isn’t a rotational “torque” component. As with the watering can and camp shower options from earlier, water has to be heated then added to the spray tank making for a multi-step process. However, the built in pump shut off eliminates the need for outside help so privacy is restored for guests and neighbors. In fact, the overall unit is both simple and portable enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to loan it around the community in prolonged emergencies.
For a while, I considered making a garden sprayer shower but so far have not found a multi-gallon metal tank to use as the reservoir. If anyone is interested, the garden sprayer to shower conversion is very well demonstrated on the Bushradical YouTube channel. The plumbing portions of the build are shown at the 17-minute and 23-minute marks.
Some will debate the need for regular bathing in a true survival situation. In such a scenario, I concede water and fuel availability will dictate the practicality. In terms of weathering the more common emergency situations then I firmly support prioritizing hygiene for morale if nothing else. Every situation will differ.
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