Has anyone ever made their own showering tent? The ones you can buy are ridiculously heavy.
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Showering tent
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Poncho?
In the buff would be the most UL. Find some trees for the more modest.
Poncho?
I was going to suggest rigging your tarp up as a temporary shower curtain.
In the buff would be the most UL. Find some trees for the more modest.
We don’t want to offend the woodland creatures now do we? :)
Bring a swimsuit!
Bring a swimsuit!
Short of nude this is the lightest way. Pair of ranger panties-2oz maybe?
Lightest way what I find works best for me is to shower (less than an oz drilled cap on your smart bottle, ala navy shower) or bathe in a lake or stream if available, both in your hiking underwear which get a wash at same time. Change skivies and hang the wet but now clean ones to dry
I am bikepacking, for several months. I use cat litter bucket panniers, they can be emptied and repurposed as a shower.
I might be showering in populated areas. It is important to have some structure to hide in.
Is it absolutely forbidden now to just strip and swim in a remote alpine lake? Sans soap of course, no soap in our drinking water please. I wish Americans could get over their prudery. We had that brief decade in the late 60s/early 70s when people didn’t get freaked out by bodies, then it went all uptight conservative again.
For more populated areas, maybe use clothespins to hang a curtain/tarp/poncho from a bush. Wooden clothespins are lightweight, cheap and biodegradable if lost along the way by accident. But it might be even more freaky to people in a populated area, to see a guy doing *what* behind a curtain.
Women are considered free spirits. Men are usually considered something else. Behind a dressing curtain or a shower tent, it’s pretty obvious what’s happening. It’s accepted. I remember coming down from a shower once and happening upon a young family in the distance. I found a nice boulder for cover. I didn’t feel like explaining my freedom to a family that just might not understand and well within their rights not to. Then I wondered what was worst a naked man on the trail or a naked man hiding behind a big rock. I only felt that it wasn’t up to me to challenge their beliefs, nor did I want to risk any accusations. Especially as an older man, I’m a lot more cautious.
Question to the O.P. How do you plan on hanging it? Does it need to be self supporting?
It should probably be free standing.
I wouldn’t mind showering in the open if I was in the woods, but I will be bikepacking from California to New York, so there will certainly be times where I’m showering in a populated area. I don’t want to get charged with indecent exposure.
Gravity feed or pump? Unless you have a tree, both may be a bit prohibitive. I can only think of a small popup, if you can pack it. If you don’t mind public showers look for the truck stops. Some campgrounds will let you pay for a shower. Join a gym like Planet Fitness that has a lot of branches. Or bring a sponge and leave your clothes on.
Sounds like an adventure.
Neither. I will be using kitty litter panniers. I will shower in a bucket, with a cup, ie pour water over myself with a cup. Certainly planet fitness and truck stops. Unfortunately those aren’t everywhere.
Maybe consider a spray bottle. Perhaps a rain skirt.
I did see this. It’s kind of goofy maybe.
Here’s a one-pound version. You could probably MYOG something similar with lighter materials, or maybe even use your tarp or poncho for the job. It needs to be hung from something, so is not free-standing.
https://www.onewindoutdoors.com/products/shower-shelter
I’ve seen something like that in the wild. I thought maybe it was for privacy while pooping. I see that’s one of the uses identified for that product. They also had examples of using as a tarp.
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