Outdoor Shower Enclosure Mod on the ILOVHER - No Tent Wrestling Required!

[csevel]

 

Hi Oliver Family..

It’s been quite a while since I last posted around here, but I just finished a quick little mod for the exterior shower station on the ILOVHER.

I do use and absolutely love my wet bath inside the trailer! But before the forum gray-water police sound the sirens: having managed a National Forest campground for five years, I promise I know the rules about gray water and where it belongs. I know there are plenty of places out West that actually permit surface gray-water disposal (and, funny enough, with the wildfire season we're having, the ground could probably use every stray drop). For this upcoming trip, I'll be boondocking in a private field for 12 days, and the owner doesn't mind me showering outside. I'll be using organic, biodegradable shampoo, and with no dump station for miles, keeping gray tank fill to an absolute minimum is the primary mission here.

I considered one of the standard pop-up privacy tents, but having used a bicycle tent for camping, I could already envision the poles, stakes, folding/unfolding and general tent wrestling that would be involved. I was looking for something much simpler — something I could put up in a couple of minutes and take down just as quickly.

I also wanted to avoid the usual problem of routing the shower hose into a privacy tent. You either have to run the wand through the main zipper opening, which can make the entrance/exit awkward, or start modifying the tent itself.

Then I stumbled across these ratchet-style suction arms, and I immediately started thinking, "Oh, I can do something with these!" They reminded me of the SeaSucker-style mounting systems, and the Oliver's smooth, gelcoat fiberglass seemed like the perfect surface for them.

I was so excited about the idea that I put the whole thing together and actually showered in my driveway last night just to test it out. 😂 And honestly, I think these are going to work perfectly!

The Setup:

• Ratchet-style suction arms: I found these folding rack arms on Temu. Say what you will about ordering direct from China, but the mechanical ratchet suction on these things locks onto the fiberglass extremely well. They’re designed to hold weight and, so far, they’ve been remarkably solid.  DM me if you want the link to the product.
• Curtains & rings: I used standard shower rings through the cutouts and repurposed heavy shower curtains I already had from a previous project and the bar that goes between the mounts is a simple tomato stake zip-tied tight to the ends. (I may reconfigure that at a later date with tool clips)
• No modifications to the Oliver: Nothing is drilled, screwed, glued or permanently attached to the trailer.

The whole thing takes less than two minutes to set up, packs down flat, provides total privacy (other than wind, LOL)  and gives me direct access to the Oliver’s outdoor shower faucets without having to wrestle with a tent or poles.  I even have a suction mount for the shower wand.  Please note that I have replaced the original ss shower hose with one that is 120" on my ILOVHER.  Attached are the suction arms mounted to the Oliver and the full enclosure deployed.  I’m pretty pleased with how simple this turned out!

[Boudicca908]

15 hours ago, csevel said:

I have replaced the original ss shower hose with one that is 120" on my ILOVHER

This is great. I remember you telling me about your shower hose modification, and would love to know more about that element as well. Does the longer hose fit well? What is it made of and how hard was it to change out? What does the suction cup mount for the hose end look like?