Best Portable Hot Water Shower for Camping (2024)

Camping is a beautiful and memorable experiencefor many people. There are always those who like to rough it and others that prefer the comfort of home. There’s just one thing that can make your camping trip even better: having a hot shower! Portable Hot Water Showers offer the perfect solution for campers who want to enjoy some modern comforts while still being able to get out in nature.

These showers come in all shapes and sizes with different features, but most offer convenience, portability, and affordability.

So when you’re planning your next camping trip, don’t forget to bring along a portable hot water shower. You won’t regret it as you enjoy a hot shower in the woods and make your camping experience even more pleasant.

Whether you are an avid camper or a weekend warrior, you can benefit from a portable hot water shower for your next glamping trip.

That’s why we came up with this list of camping showers that are sure to make your outdoor experience even better.

These are some great options and we’ll get into the details of each shortly.

Are camping showers worth it?

Before we dive into our list of the best portable camping showers, let’s discuss why these showers are worth it. We think you’ll find that camping showers have everything you need to enjoy a weekend trip in the woods.

Enjoy the warmth on a chilly day.

If it’s a cold or windy day, a hot shower can be extremely soothing. Portable showers are designed to provide warmth even in the coldest temperatures.

Most of these camping showers operate at temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit, providing a luxurious experience.

They’re called portable camping showers for a reason.

One of the best things about portable hot water showers is that they are small and easy to transport. Most of these models come with an attached handle or straps, making them easy to carry from the car to your campsite.

They are also usually fairly lightweight, so you don’t have to worry about lugging around a heavy outdoor shower bag.

Portable showers clean up easily.

After a long day of camping, it’s nice to have the ability to rinse off all the dirt and grime. Portable showers are light in weight and easy to assemble and take down. Most come with an adjustable shower head so you can adjust the water pressure for a more comfortable shower.

Plus, it’s easy to take the portable hot water shower with you when you move from one campsite to another.

These are just a few of the reasons why portable hot water showers are worth investing in for your next camping trip.

What Makes a Good Portable Shower?

When we review these camp showers, we look at functionality, convenience, portability, and features.

Basically, does it feel like an actual shower? What camp shower options does it bring to the trip? Is it a gravity shower or a solar-heated shower? These will all affect your decision to purchase one.

First off, it’s a camping shower. You need to have decent water pressure and hot water. With these showers, you might not get piping hot water as you would at home, but we think you’ll be surprised at how hot they can get. Some portable showers get upwards of 125°F! Typically, the temperatures of these camping showers are rated by how many degrees of temperature are increased over the original water temperature.

You’re taking this portable shower with you when you’re camping, so convenience and portability are things to consider. Is it heavy? Does it have a carrying handle or a carry bag? Things like that. You need to be able to take it along with your other camping gear.

We take a look at the characteristics of this shower, particularly since you want a warm shower in an area where you otherwise wouldn’t. Does the portable camping shower have an electric pump? How about adequate water pressure and pressurized water? Weare glampers, after all. We enjoy the finest of camping trips.

Although we didn’t specifically address prices in this overview, it’s something to consider as some of these shower systems can get quite pricey. The more features and better the camp shower is, the more it’s going to cost and the less portable it will become.

With all of that in mind, let’s discuss the best camping showers you can take on your future camping trips.

Basecamp Battery Operated Shower System

Thisportable shower by Basecampis a glamper’s dream, and for a good reason. Not only is this camping shower lightweight and completely portable, but it also provides a decent flow of hot water. There’s the decent water pressure and provides a steady stream of consistent water flow.

When you’re out glamping, you want to know that you always have a portable shower ready for you. At 12,000 BTU, you’re sure to have a warm shower. It can raise the input cold water temperature by a whopping 35°F! Don’t worry about getting burned; it also has scald protection built-in.

Built for extreme convenience, 4 D-cell batteries and a small portable propane tank power this shower, and it includes a flow-driven ignition. This shower is always ready when you are, wherever you are.

Basecamp makes a couple of other models of camping showers for those who enjoy a piping hot rinse. They have a17,000 and 18,000 BTUmodel, which raises the temperature by 42°F and 45°F, respectively. Expect to pay a little bit more for those variants.

When we tested this shower, we found that it was lightweight and easy to set up. It even comes with a carrying bag so you can easily transport it from one place to the next. The shower head is adjustable for your convenience, and the height of this camping shower is adjustable as well.

This camp shower ranks the highest on our list because it meets all of our requirements for a good portable shower.

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VivoHome Portable Propane Tankless Water Heater

VivoHome has developed the most comprehensiveportable, on-demand hot water showerdesigned for all glampers.

They’ve integrated the best and the most features of all of the camping showers making it a contender for the best portable shower.

Powered by 2 D-cell batteries, it is super easy to install and get going. Hook up a gas source and water supply of at least 3 PSI of pressure, and you’re ready to go. You’ll get a 145 PSA stream of hot water in about 3 seconds. The small propane tank will provide warm water for this camp shower for up to one hour.

You don’t even need power for a portable camping shower as the ignition is battery-powered.

The shower head is one of the best features of this kit. It has a stop/start switch with three gentle modes for the perfect shower.

The wand has a stainless steel shower hose length of just under 6 feet long, providing you ample space to clean off after taking a dip in the lake. Of course, you’ll still need a garden hose to provide cold water to the camping shower.

Unlike the Basecamp above, the VivoHome only has one variant and that is the 1.6 GPM (6L). That’s still not bad water flow from a camp shower that helps you save water by not having a water tank.

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Ridgeyard Portable Propane Instant Hot Shower

TheRidgeyard Portable Propane Hot Showeris perfect for campers who want to enjoy some modern conveniences and avoid cold showers.

Think about it, no one likes to take a cold shower when camping. This portable shower delivers, and it promises nothing less.

This portable shower provides convenience and portability with affordability. It is compact and lightweight with a carry handle and stands designed for easy portability, making it easy to transport from campsite to campsite. So when you need an outdoor shower on the go, this is the perfect camping shower for the job.

In addition, the outdoor shower includes auto cut-off, anti-dry combustion, overpressure, overheating, and flame-out protection features which provide peace of mind when showering in areas with high water pressure or when power has been lost in campgrounds.

Best of all, this portable camping shower heats up in just a few minutes, which saves you the time you would otherwise have spent in a cold shower like one of those solar showers or lake.

In our tests, this shower is durable and has a long-lasting battery life. The shower head even has three adjustable settings for different water pressures and temperatures, making this one of the best camping showers on the market.

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Coleman H2Oasis on Demand Shower

TheColeman H2Oasis PortableWater Heater is one of the best and most durable water heaters on the market.

Whether you’re heating water for a hot shower, hot drink, or doing the dishes, the Coleman will get your water to a piping 125°F in no time.

For what it’s worth, we were able to get up to 123°F on the temperature gauge in around 3 minutes. That was with consistent water flow and the settings on high.

Unlike the other heaters, this one uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, so you don’t have to worry about bringing extra batteries. Almost every other battery-powered shower required C or D batteries. Not this one. Just plug it into a 12V outlet (i.e., your car), and soon you’ll be taking a steaming shower.

Keep in mind it can take up to 6 hours to charge the batteries, so make sure it’s charged up before you hit the road. Of course, if you have shore power or a generator, you can charge it at the campsite.

One of the things we love the most about this one is its compact design. It can fit on your roof rack or tucked away in your camping gear.

This Coleman camp shower includes a couple of handles that make it great for transport, and this also makes it super easy to set it up on a picnic table or the tailgate of your pickup truck. With its 6′ of hose length, you’ll have no issues cleaning off anywhere you want.

Of all of the portable showers we reviewed, this Coleman camp shower wins for the most durable and transportable. Most camping showers aren’t this compact.

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Risepro Portable Solar Shower Bag

This list, nor your next camping trip, wouldn’t be complete without the most portable camp shower – theRisepro Portable Shower Bag.

It’s okay; sometimes, you just want to rough it. We get it. It might not be a cozy pressurized shower like the other ones, and you’ll have to wait a few hours, but this pocket shower will do the trick.

Capable of holding 5 gallons of water, you fill the bag up, hang it in the direct sunlight, and its dark PVC shell will absorb the sun’s rays. It’s a very simple shower.

While it’s not nearly as quick as the 3 seconds it takes to get the Basecamp or Coleman going; if you hang this in direct sunlight for around 3 hours, you should have water that is upwards of 110°F. Not too bad, considering power and propane are not required.

This small and mighty gravity fed portable shower is surprisingly rich with features as well.

It includes both a shower head switch and an outlet switch, giving you complete control over water output. It also has an analog stick on thermometer to tell you exactly how warm of a shower you’re about to enjoy.

We used this portable shower in the middle of August, so it’s a great summer shower. We wouldn’t recommend using it in the winter.

While we think this is suitable portable shower for the great outdoors, it’s definitely not at the top of our list for a reason. There’s no electric pump, water pressure is lacking (as gravity fed showers usually are), and you won’t have enough water for multiple showers or to wash dishes.

If you’re car camping and don’t have enough room on your roof rack, then we recommend this. Otherwise, choose one of the other camping showers.

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Change your camping routine with a portable shower!

As you can see, there are many options when it comes toportable hot water showers. If we had to pick one, the best portable shower for camping would be the VivoHome.

In our opinion, it provides the best combination of convenience and portability, water pressure, and affordability. When looking for a fantastic portable shower, those are the elements you want to look for.

While there were a few showers that we didn’t include on this list, such as the Summit Pocket Shower, the Advanced Elements Summer Shower, and the Nemo Helio Pressure Shower, there are still great options out there. We didn’t include those because we didn’t personally try them out like the rest of these camping showers.

We did, however, hear great things about Nemo’s Helio Pressure Shower and the Summit Pocket Shower. So if you tried either of those, please let us know! We can give them an honorable mention.

Regardless of whether you choose a shower system with high-end features or the pocket shower for your next camping trip, we can all agree shower time should be a time of comfort and relaxation.