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Getting out and about in nature is one of the best things about camping. Living without luxuries can do wonders for the mind, body and soul, even if just for a few days. However, there’s one luxury few people want to miss out on – instant hot water when camping.
Having hot water on demand while camping has many purposes and some are considered more glamping than others. But does that really matter?. I thought not.
Whether you want instant hot water for a hot shower or to clean the dirty dishes is irrelevant. Knowing you have access to it will put your mind at ease so you can enjoy camping all that much more.
But is accessing hot water while camping whether you’re car camping or wild camping even possible?. Absolutely and I will now show you a few methods in which to get hot water camping for cooking, showering, making a cuppa etc.
The main reason many people desire instant hot water when camping is so that they can take a nice warm shower. Whether it be in the morning to wake yourself up before the days adventures, or after a long days adventures. A hot shower is just the best when your in the great outdoors.
Portable hot water systems are the best way to get instant hot water for showering in the outdoors. They come in a few types to cater to everyone’s needs. Usually with two taps – a hot and a cold. They will provide hot water through either the tap or shower head, making them ideal for camping.
Many mobile hot water systems are gas powered. This means you simply need gas cylinders and a power source (Either battery or electricity). The water temperature is usually adjustable, and they are built to be safe to use outdoors.
Other advantages include continuous hot water wherever you are, the option to attach it to the tap or shower head, and they usually have a strong water flow. The only disadvantages are of course that you need gas and or a power source such as batteries or electricity. But overall, these are ideal for camping trips as you actually get instant hot water and can shower for a much longer period of time. Even if you have a camping shower enclosure, you can set these up to give you hot showers in privacy.
Here’s A Creative Idea To Get Hot Water
Use a Solar Shower Bag For Hot Water
If it’s a warm shower you’re after without the hassle of dealing with propane or electricity, solar shower bags are a cheap and efficient way to get just that – provided the weather plays ball. Solar shower bags are usually dark colored bags (as these best absorb the sunlight) with a shower head attached to them.
If you have plenty of water, a solar shower bag is a great option. All you need is a good water supply and a sunny day. The bag will heat the water inside when they are exposed to the sunlight, usually in around 3 hours. You can then hang the solar shower bag to a tree and use the attached shower head to give yourself a nice warm shower – total bliss after a long hike.
The only disadvantage of solar shower bags, aside from the fact that you need access to a large amount of water, is that they can’t be used for early morning showers. Solar shower bags need the sunlight to heat them up and must be used before the water cools down. The water won’t heat up overnight, so these are best used for afternoon showers after a day’s hiking. This also means that on cloudy or rainy days, when you crave a hot shower the most, you may have to settle for a cold one!
Use a Portable Electric Shower When Car Camping
Portable electric showers are another great option if you have plenty of space for equipment – best used if you take your car instead of hiking to the campsite. So ideal for car camping when there’s no public shower blocks or if you prefer to have your own shower on hand.
These are readily available online and are great value – often using either electricity or rechargeable batteries like the Iron Hammer Portable Camping Shower.
The Disadvantages To An Electric Camping Shower?
While these types of camp showers are very portable and often run off a built in rechargeable battery, they don’t heat the water. So unless you have a bucket of hot water, you’ll be showering cold.
Unless you bring along another handy camping accessory known as the Allied Precision Water Heater. This is a tool that you plug into the mains and submerge the heating element in a bucket of water. This then heats up the water so that you can run hot water through the above Iron Hammer camping shower. This method of getting hot water for showering while requires two products, eliminates the need for propane gas cylinders. Provided you have access to power.
Portable electric showers usually have a high and low speed mode, with a good battery life. They are usually lightweight, easy to carry and efficient. While it’s not going to be the power shower experience you might find in a high end hotel – they are loved by many due to their ease of use and, unlike solar shower bags, you often have the ability to control the temperature of the water.
All you need is a good water supply. Portable showers generally come with a shower head, hose and pump as well as a charging cord. Hot water is optional if you choose to use a bucket water heater as shown above.
How To Get Instant Hot Water For Camp Cooking
Showers and baths aside, if what you’re after is hot water for cooking then a personal cooking system is a great option. These are generally very small, lightweight containers which will give you boiling water for your pasta, noodles, rice or coffee in just a few minutes.
The Jetboil Zip is one of the most popular brands out there. These are food and beverage cooking systems that are both simple and easy to use. They have a lid and a strainer which you can drink through, and include a measuring cup and bowl.
These are perfect for shorter trips for one or two people as, while they don’t provide anything close to enough hot water for a shower, they are great for cooking and can make you a steaming cup of coffee in minutes. But making camp coffee doesn’t have to be done in this fashion, here you can see 6 methods of making camp coffee which will free up your Jetboil Zip for fast and simple food.
Traditional Way Of Getting Hot Water While Camping
Probably one of the most common and rustic ways to get hot water when camping is to heat your water over the campfire. It’s not a camping trip without a campfire, and these can do much more than just keep you warm and cozy as the night sets in.
Heating your water over the campfire is exceptionally easy although of course, proceed with caution. The fire you build for boiling your water should be long lasting, small and, at risk of stating the obvious, hot. It’s best to let it burn for a little while so that it’s not too fiery. Instead, you want a bed of hot coals on which to sit your pot without any danger of it falling over.
The size of pot you use will depend on how many people you are boiling water for. Stainless steel pots are generally preferred as they are great conductors of heat, and will boil your water quickly and efficiently. Plus, they are relatively stable.
Fill your pot with as much water as you need and place it on the hot coals. Put the lid on, wait until it’s come to a steady boil then remove the pot from the coals. While heating a pot of water over the stove certainly won’t give you gallons of hot water to bathe in, it will get you and your fellow campers a hot coffee in the morning!
Hot Water While Camping Is A Luxury
While camping is all about getting back to our roots and appreciating the basics, hot water is a luxury even many hardcore campers can’t do without. Although long hikes in the sun can make a cold shower seem all that more appealing, colder days will have you craving a steaming hot shower. With such a variety of ways to obtain hot water while camping, there’s no need to sacrifice that morning coffee or even the morning shower should you choose.
I must thank you for showing us these awesome tips on how we can get hot water while camping. I like to travel very often with my friends and family and sometimes it can be a big challenge to find hot water. I will share this article with my friends and I think that from now on, our camping will be even better.
Great article, was looking for this type of article all along. Last May we went for camping with my family I realized that when going out for any camping, if possible, you need to carry a warm water source with you, its really important.
The whether was so chilly and I was not worried of myself or my wife, but was mainly worried for my 8 year son. The water was just too cold for him. After reading your article, I was quite relieved to note that there are so many options of getting instant hot showers.
Had no idea how far camping had gone these days, it’s been a while for me now – gas powered shower systems for the camper (who’d have thought!).
It’s actually one of the reasons I don’t go camping as much as I used to – I like to be ‘clean’ every day and I feel it’s the right way to start a morning. I’m just wondering where these gas shower heads fit, and how many people use them when camping?
I’m having visions of parents holding up towels to shield each other as they shower (a bit of privacy!)
Hi Chris, the shower heads are usually included with the heater. All you do is attach it, plug in the water and turn on the gas (provided you get a battery operated model).
You’re right, taking a warm shower after a rainy day or right in the morning after a cool night in the tent is heaven.
The possibilities you offer are quite good but i think the gas version is the only real option if you want to have a warm shower for all at any time and in any whether.
You didn’t introduce any products here, I would like to know how many kilos does such a gas shower set weight about?
I love the outdoors and camping is one of my favorite thing to do when out and about in nature. When I say camping, I mean real camping, in a tent with the bare necessities, not in a $100,000 RV parked next to hundreds of other “campers”.
Getting back to camping, one of the things I miss most is in fact my hot shower in the morning and your article has opened my eyes to the many possibilities! However, like you mention in your article, hot water is a luxury when camping in the wild, and to me, taking a hot shower would only be necessary if you camp when the weather is colder. In that case I would heat up my water in the campfire and probably use one of the “electrical” options.
Do you have any experience with these battery operated ones? From what I understand, they only provide the water flow, but is it worth the price or should l just go with a solar one?
Hi Denis, the battery powered ones are just water flow which is why I included the water heater as well. Also there’s a link to propane and battery water heaters for camping as well. So you should be covered.
Really useful and informative post on how to get hot water when camping. Every year I go outdoors with family or a single trips for fishing. Family camping tours mainly on the wild Baltic Sea beaches. No questions that hot water is almost excluded just for coffee or tea on the portable gas oven. Having some hot water on longest trips is a great idea. Reading your reviews, I’d choose Solar Camping Shower Heater. I usually go camping on sunny days although Outdoor Portable Propane Tankless Water Heater is not a bad solution for a longer stay.
Thanks for the helpful post on How To Get Instant Hot Water Camping.
“Living without luxuries can do wonders for the mind, body and soul” Yes indeed I felt and enjoyed that it’s so true. We do camping every month so your post is very useful.
I got great insights from your post and the video you embedded is helpful and I enjoyed it. Portable hot water systems and campfire seems to be the best options.
Thanks again for these many options and wishing you great success!
Thanks for the helpful post on “How to get instant hot water camping”! Yeah, it’s really making sense that one’s mind will truly be at ease whether hot water is being needed for a hot shower or for any other purpose so far one has access to it at any time and, thus, will bring about enjoyable camping all the time.
Kudos for enumerating some key methods for getting instant hot water camping for cooking, showering, making a cuppa, and all of that! I’m particularly interested in the electric camping shower, though there are disadvantages as mentioned in the post. What an informative post!
This is the coolest article. I love camping but now that I’m older I like my comfort also. We have donI the cold showers. Which are not bad when it’s 98 degrees. But, I love my morning showers. And before that had been a sacrifice I’ve made. Now knowing I have options for hot water. So I think I got this, if your close to you car we can use it’s battery source to heat the water. We will both love having hot water. Thank you so much for all work in putting this together. For all of us Clamping campers.
Yes more and more people are going camping due to the glamping aspect, which I don’t mind at all. If it gets people away from their screens, it cant be that bad right.
Interesting. I didn’t know that these amenities exist for camping purposes. I like these inventions. However for camping I think making use of nature is more adventurous. Wouldn’t these fancy stuff take away from that feeling?
These products seems really great though and i’m sure there are many people who really will appreciate this information.
Whatever makes you feel more comfortable I say. Some people dont go camping because they are afraid to lose some luxuries, which I think is a complete shame. So if hot water brings people back outdoors then why not.
Thanks a lot for this post friend, going for camping can really be refreshing. In fact, as a human, it is always good to have a change of environment once in a while. And I think camping is one of the best way to do it. I personally love camping so much. We are planning our next family camping trip soon.
You did very well in explaining to us how we can get instant hot water during our camping trips or vacations. I will personally go for one of these portable hot systems since they very good for camping. I really like the fact that they are portable, it means you can carry them along with any camping trip you embark on. In addition to that, I like their ability to adjust to to different temperature levels.
You also mentioned that they even come with both a tap and shower head, that really makes them ideal. I think one major problem will be power source, since electricity may be scares during camping. I will find out is there is any best solution to that. If not, then I will probably consider the using the solar shower bags to see if they can fit our needs.
I have Bookmarked this post for future reference and even purchases, thanks so much for you sharing this useful article with us.
Hi Stephen, if you follow the link to the hot water heaters for camping you will find that there are models that use rechargeable batteries as the power source. So you can pretty much have a hot shower regardless of where you camp.
19 thoughts on “How To Get Instant Hot Water Camping”
I must thank you for showing us these awesome tips on how we can get hot water while camping. I like to travel very often with my friends and family and sometimes it can be a big challenge to find hot water. I will share this article with my friends and I think that from now on, our camping will be even better.
Great article, was looking for this type of article all along. Last May we went for camping with my family I realized that when going out for any camping, if possible, you need to carry a warm water source with you, its really important.
The whether was so chilly and I was not worried of myself or my wife, but was mainly worried for my 8 year son. The water was just too cold for him. After reading your article, I was quite relieved to note that there are so many options of getting instant hot showers.
Thank you so much for a great article.
Ngoni
Glad to have helped Ngoni. Cold showers are not for everyone.
Had no idea how far camping had gone these days, it’s been a while for me now – gas powered shower systems for the camper (who’d have thought!).
It’s actually one of the reasons I don’t go camping as much as I used to – I like to be ‘clean’ every day and I feel it’s the right way to start a morning. I’m just wondering where these gas shower heads fit, and how many people use them when camping?
I’m having visions of parents holding up towels to shield each other as they shower (a bit of privacy!)
Hi Chris, the shower heads are usually included with the heater. All you do is attach it, plug in the water and turn on the gas (provided you get a battery operated model).
You’re right, taking a warm shower after a rainy day or right in the morning after a cool night in the tent is heaven.
The possibilities you offer are quite good but i think the gas version is the only real option if you want to have a warm shower for all at any time and in any whether.
You didn’t introduce any products here, I would like to know how many kilos does such a gas shower set weight about?
Hi Stefan, if you follow the links you can find out more about heated showers for camping as well as product reviews. Hope this helps.
I love the outdoors and camping is one of my favorite thing to do when out and about in nature. When I say camping, I mean real camping, in a tent with the bare necessities, not in a $100,000 RV parked next to hundreds of other “campers”.
Getting back to camping, one of the things I miss most is in fact my hot shower in the morning and your article has opened my eyes to the many possibilities! However, like you mention in your article, hot water is a luxury when camping in the wild, and to me, taking a hot shower would only be necessary if you camp when the weather is colder. In that case I would heat up my water in the campfire and probably use one of the “electrical” options.
Do you have any experience with these battery operated ones? From what I understand, they only provide the water flow, but is it worth the price or should l just go with a solar one?
Hi Denis, the battery powered ones are just water flow which is why I included the water heater as well. Also there’s a link to propane and battery water heaters for camping as well. So you should be covered.
Really useful and informative post on how to get hot water when camping. Every year I go outdoors with family or a single trips for fishing. Family camping tours mainly on the wild Baltic Sea beaches. No questions that hot water is almost excluded just for coffee or tea on the portable gas oven. Having some hot water on longest trips is a great idea. Reading your reviews, I’d choose Solar Camping Shower Heater. I usually go camping on sunny days although Outdoor Portable Propane Tankless Water Heater is not a bad solution for a longer stay.
Why not take both Andrejs, then your covered no matter what and they don’t take up much space.
Thanks for the helpful post on How To Get Instant Hot Water Camping.
“Living without luxuries can do wonders for the mind, body and soul” Yes indeed I felt and enjoyed that it’s so true. We do camping every month so your post is very useful.
I got great insights from your post and the video you embedded is helpful and I enjoyed it. Portable hot water systems and campfire seems to be the best options.
Thanks again for these many options and wishing you great success!
Paul
Thanks for the helpful post on “How to get instant hot water camping”! Yeah, it’s really making sense that one’s mind will truly be at ease whether hot water is being needed for a hot shower or for any other purpose so far one has access to it at any time and, thus, will bring about enjoyable camping all the time.
Kudos for enumerating some key methods for getting instant hot water camping for cooking, showering, making a cuppa, and all of that! I’m particularly interested in the electric camping shower, though there are disadvantages as mentioned in the post. What an informative post!
Israel Olatunji
This is the coolest article. I love camping but now that I’m older I like my comfort also. We have donI the cold showers. Which are not bad when it’s 98 degrees. But, I love my morning showers. And before that had been a sacrifice I’ve made. Now knowing I have options for hot water. So I think I got this, if your close to you car we can use it’s battery source to heat the water. We will both love having hot water. Thank you so much for all work in putting this together. For all of us Clamping campers.
Scarlett
Yes more and more people are going camping due to the glamping aspect, which I don’t mind at all. If it gets people away from their screens, it cant be that bad right.
Interesting. I didn’t know that these amenities exist for camping purposes. I like these inventions. However for camping I think making use of nature is more adventurous. Wouldn’t these fancy stuff take away from that feeling?
These products seems really great though and i’m sure there are many people who really will appreciate this information.
Thanks for sharing. Great post.
Whatever makes you feel more comfortable I say. Some people dont go camping because they are afraid to lose some luxuries, which I think is a complete shame. So if hot water brings people back outdoors then why not.
Thanks a lot for this post friend, going for camping can really be refreshing. In fact, as a human, it is always good to have a change of environment once in a while. And I think camping is one of the best way to do it. I personally love camping so much. We are planning our next family camping trip soon.
You did very well in explaining to us how we can get instant hot water during our camping trips or vacations. I will personally go for one of these portable hot systems since they very good for camping. I really like the fact that they are portable, it means you can carry them along with any camping trip you embark on. In addition to that, I like their ability to adjust to to different temperature levels.
You also mentioned that they even come with both a tap and shower head, that really makes them ideal. I think one major problem will be power source, since electricity may be scares during camping. I will find out is there is any best solution to that. If not, then I will probably consider the using the solar shower bags to see if they can fit our needs.
I have Bookmarked this post for future reference and even purchases, thanks so much for you sharing this useful article with us.
Stephen.
Hi Stephen, if you follow the link to the hot water heaters for camping you will find that there are models that use rechargeable batteries as the power source. So you can pretty much have a hot shower regardless of where you camp.