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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    6,608

    Recommend me a car camping shower and sleeping cots/pads

    Upping our car camping game.

    Need a shower. Any suggestions - ones to definitely get or not get?

    Also, want to convert from sleeping on pads or air mattress on the ground to cots. Anybody have cots they love or hate? Pads to use with them?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    LV-426
    Posts
    21,083
    Highly recommend a Zodi hot shower. We have an older one of these, but the battery compartment corroded, so got an adapter with alligator clips that connect straight to a car battery. Open the hood and connect.

    http://zodi.com/hot-showers/hot-tap-with-case

    The carrying case serves as the water tank. Fill it with water, start pump, light burner, and let shower water recirculate into the case until what comes out of the sprayer is hot enough. If water is very cold (icy stream), it'll need a minute. If not, can shower immediately. So much better than a solar shower bag...

    You can DIY for cheap, by heating water on a stove and using a garden sprayer with a pressurized pump, but the Zodi is hard to beat. As hot a shower as you want, as much water as you have available.
    Quote Originally Posted by powder11 View Post
    if you have to resort to taking advice from the nitwits on this forum, then you're doomed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2022
    Posts
    793
    I know nothing about cots, but the 2-person Exped MegaMat Duo 10 is awesome.

    Bought one for a long COVID-wedding-honeymoon road trip thinking we might get rid of it after, but decided to keep it.

    Car-camp only as it is basically the size of a 55L pack when fully compressed, but not too heavy so you can still carry it to a ~1-mile walk-in site or something. Great to sleep on--thicker than regular foam/inflatible pads and feels much more like a real mattress than an air mattress. High R value and not that hard to inflate between the self-inflating foam and the included fabric "pump" thing.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    2,729
    I bought one of REI's Kingdom cots and really like it. Stable, adjustable, comfy, and I got it on sale for like $120.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Last Best City in the Last Best Place
    Posts
    7,237
    Love my Coleman Packaway cot. Sidetable thingy is surprisingly handy.

    Coleman Pack-Away Camping Cot https://a.co/d/8auu2Im

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    1,744
    Don't throw away the camping mat, use it as a topper for the cot and you'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago.

    Amazon has a bunch of battery powered shower head units but you will need a vessel/heater for the water. They are a lot cheaper than what's posted above, though that does look awesome.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Geopolis
    Posts
    16,048
    Quote Originally Posted by singlesline View Post
    I know nothing about cots, but the 2-person Exped MegaMat Duo 10 is awesome.

    Bought one for a long COVID-wedding-honeymoon road trip thinking we might get rid of it after, but decided to keep it.

    Car-camp only as it is basically the size of a 55L pack when fully compressed, but not too heavy so you can still carry it to a ~1-mile walk-in site or something. Great to sleep on--thicker than regular foam/inflatible pads and feels much more like a real mattress than an air mattress. High R value and not that hard to inflate between the self-inflating foam and the included fabric "pump" thing.
    I bought one of these a month ago, had a great sleep with the SO and kidlet. It feels like a stiff foam mattress much more than a squeaky air mattress of old. Not cheap, but a lot of value for car camping. It is not small. I am not sure if I would want to hike with it. It's not so heavy, but picture a 65L hiking bag worth of mass to carry around. I still recommend it.
    j'ai des grands instants de lucididididididididi

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    6,608
    Would you guys consider putting an exped single mattress on top of a flat cot?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Geopolis
    Posts
    16,048
    if you like sleeping on a cot it would probably be an upgrade?
    j'ai des grands instants de lucididididididididi

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Last Best City in the Last Best Place
    Posts
    7,237
    Quote Originally Posted by The Tortoise View Post
    Don't throw away the camping mat, use it as a topper for the cot and you'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago.
    Definitely this, I would never be comfortable sleeping directly on a cot. River trip Paco pad works great, but I also have some 2 inch memory foam I can fold doubled up for a plush 4 inch mattress. Pretty luxurious compared to sleeping on the ground.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    livin the dream
    Posts
    5,761
    +1 for Exped Mega Duos


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
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    Squaw Valley, USA

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Reno, NV
    Posts
    1,052
    Nemo pump solar showers are way better than the gravity fed ones.

    Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

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