Shower tent use in the Smokies - Fiberglass RV
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Old 05-07-2009, 06:56 PM   #1
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Name: Parker
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We're heading to the Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park in a couple of weeks and won't have some of the niceties like public showers. We stopped at both Cades Cove and Elkmont camping areas while on a recent Eggscursion and asked about shower tents. A park ranger at Cades Cove said we could use one if we don't use soap. At Elkmont, a couple working the counter gave us a flat "no" and said they have a problem with shower tents. I checked the published rules, which prohibit dumping gray water on the ground. Any idea why we couldn't use a shower tent if we catch the gray water and dispose of it properly? I was dreaming up all sorts of ways to put a shallow bin in the Scamp and "shower" there after a fashion (similar to a recent post doing the same in a Trillium) but it occurred to me that we could have the same setup in a shower tent, except that it's more visible. I wouldn't mind showing them the water collection bin if asked. Anyone have any direct experience with sort of arrangement and the likely reception by the park rangers? I have a call into Elkmont, but the message on their machine didn't give me a lot of hope for a return call anytime soon.
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Old 05-07-2009, 10:30 PM   #2
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Hi Parker - we have primarily used our shower tent setup in BLM areas but also in a few FS campgrounds, neither of which allow you to release grey water on the ground. We have never been hassled about using our tent. We use a large kettle for heating water and a Coleman hand-held, battery-operated showerhead. When the water is hot, we just step into the bottom section of the 'shower stuff' storage tub and suds up. The tub contains the grey water for proper disposal later. FYI Note: the frame of our cabana will NOT support the weight of a solar shower bag). If you are just rinsing off in your swimsuit after a day at the beach/lake/etc, don't even need the cabana, just the 'shower pan'. When we get ready to travel, everything stows neatly in the storage tub which rides in it's assigned spot in the tug. Doesn't get much easier - we've used this method happily for over 3 years. However, YMMV.

There is a detailed thread about rigging an efficient shower inside your Egg - we carried the curtains, rods, etc around for a while, but never tried the arrangement. Now that we have the cabana, we prefer to use it for showering. You can do a search for the thread.

We envy your location - we enjoyed a glorious tour of Great Smoky Mtns NP last year! If you get up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, be sure to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Safe journeys - L 'n D
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Old 05-08-2009, 04:58 AM   #3
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Name: Parker
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We have never been hassled about using our tent. The tub contains the grey water for proper disposal later. Doesn't get much easier - we've used this method happily for over 3 years.
There is a detailed thread about rigging an efficient shower inside your Egg

We envy your location - we enjoyed a glorious tour of Great Smoky Mtns NP last year! If you get up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, be sure to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Safe journeys - L 'n D
L 'n D,

Thanks for the feedback. Exactly what I was hoping for. I recall the thread about installing a shower in the rig, but if we can conduct this operation outdoors, I'd rather do it that way. Our shower tent will hold the shower bags okay, but I'm thinking of switching to one of the stirrup pump garden sprayers so we're likely to use less water, meaning less to haul away.

You're right...it's a great location. It's about a 7 hour drive for us; far enough to be an adventure, but an easy drive. I haven't been to Monticello in many years. Have to put that back on the list!

Parker
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Old 05-08-2009, 12:46 PM   #4
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Name: Parker
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Update:

A ranger from the Elkmont campgrounds just called to let me know they do not allow shower tents under any circumstances. They said that we may do the right thing by collecting the gray water, but 20 others won't, and they don't want to risk the runoff into the stream nearby. At least we know before showing up and can explore other options. There are showers available in commercial parks, plus I may still try to rig something up for use inside the Scamp.

Parker

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Old 05-08-2009, 12:58 PM   #5
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I don't know how your 13 Scamp is setup but mine has both the large exit vent and a fan. So I made a frame out of PVC pipe for a shower curtain and hang it from the two vent frames. I stand in a large rubbermaid container and use probably the same Coleman portable shower that L & D use. The pump is put into the sink which is full of warm water. The rubbermaid tub collects the water and then I dump it into the sink which goes into my grey water holding tank but could easily go into what container you collect your sink water in. I don't wash my hair just me. The hair is done later in the sink.

I've never taken any pictures and don't know when I use it again but when I do I'll take pictures because the topic does come up occasionally.
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Old 05-08-2009, 02:01 PM   #6
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A ranger from the Elkmont campgrounds just called to let me know they do not allow shower tents under any circumstances. They said that we may do the right thing by collecting the gray water, but 20 others won't, and they don't want to risk the runoff into the stream nearby.
I find that to be the most annoying sort of rule. By that measure, they should disallow sinks inside campers because some people let their greywater run onto the ground. Or heck, just make camping illegal because of the people that don't do it responsibly.

I much prefer the sort of rule that tells you what the actual thin is that you cannot do, instead of making "side rules" that only endourage people to find "workarounds," and that punish the good people along with the bad. That's not to say that anyone here is doing anything wrong - not at all! - but to "make" people set up damp showers in their campers to do the same exact (proper) thing they'd be doing in their shower tents doesn't make sense to me.

Should there be no greywater runoff in a particular campground for environmental reasons? Great, that's no problem! But please make the rule "No greywater runoff allowed." Not "No shower tents."

Argh, sorry, had to vent on this one.

Raya
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Old 05-10-2009, 11:30 AM   #7
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My husband and I visited the Smoky Mountains last fall and loved the Smoky Bear Campground -- there were even other Eggs there too!! The campground was super clean, the bathrooms were excellent, and the owners were incredibly nice!!

Here is a link to their site:
http://smokybearcampground.com/index.shtml
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Old 05-11-2009, 07:22 PM   #8
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Here's a web address with a great self contained portable shower that can be used anywhere. This will catch all your gray water and won't contaminate the ground.

http://www.shower-anywhere.com/Tent-Traile...vacy-Stall.aspx
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Old 05-11-2009, 07:29 PM   #9
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Here's a web address with a great self contained portable shower that can be used anywhere. This will catch all your gray water and won't contaminate the ground.

http://www.shower-anywhere.com/Tent-Traile...vacy-Stall.aspx
I really like the design, but it's a little pricey for our purposes. I'm going to do something similar with a plastic bin from the local Meijer store and fiberglass rods hung inside the Scamp to support a shower curtain. We already have a nice shower tent, and the company makes a basin to catch the water. However, that still won't satisfy the campground, so we're moving the operation inside.

Parker
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Old 05-11-2009, 08:51 PM   #10
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Here's another item that may help when you can't take a shower..

http://www.safetycentral.com/washngosink.html

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Old 05-11-2009, 09:07 PM   #11
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I can understand, one inconsiderate person ruins it for everyone. But an outside shower or shower tent and the use of biodegradible soap or dawn dish soap, harms nothing. But policing it would be impossible.

Some thing that does work, buy one of the two gallon plastic lawn pump sprayers, the ones for insecticide or weed spray, cut the wand down or buy one with a real short wand, get rid o the nozzle, they are real cheap any more, fill it with water of your temp choice, hike to the outhouse, and wash your hair over the tiolet with evirofriendly soaps.

It also doubles as a campfire douser!
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Old 05-12-2009, 02:25 AM   #12
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I can understand, one inconsiderate person ruins it for everyone. But an outside shower or shower tent and the use of biodegradible soap or dawn dish soap, harms nothing. But policing it would be impossible.

And yet you can do the same thing inside your trailer, which is no different than a shower tent, really. Thats what gets me. Irresponsible people will be irresponsible anyway, and will dump greywater from their trailer sinks, etc. Ooh, this frosts me. Its so arbitrary. Like if instead of saying no noise after 10 p.m. they said "no generators," and people were free to play stereos, yell, etc. because they regulated a delivery method (generator) instead of the thing they actually didnt want (noise).

I'm all for rules and order - I'm a rule obeyer, typically. But I like them to make sense.


Some thing that does work, buy one of the two gallon plastic lawn pump sprayers, the ones for insecticide or weed spray, cut the wand down or buy one with a real short wand, get rid o the nozzle, they are real cheap any more, fill it with water of your temp choice, hike to the outhouse, and wash your hair over the tiolet with evirofriendly soaps.

I love my garden sprayer. When on the boat, I used it as a shower, dish rinser, foot de-salter, you name it. Makes great use of blown water to conserve on actual water use. And a dollop of hot water from the kettle sorts out the termperature nicely. No electricity required.

It also doubles as a campfire douser!
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Old 05-12-2009, 06:04 AM   #13
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Name: Parker
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I can understand, one inconsiderate person ruins it for everyone. But an outside shower or shower tent and the use of biodegradible soap or dawn dish soap, harms nothing. But policing it would be impossible.

Some thing that does work, buy one of the two gallon plastic lawn pump sprayers, the ones for insecticide or weed spray, cut the wand down or buy one with a real short wand, get rid o the nozzle, they are real cheap any more, fill it with water of your temp choice, hike to the outhouse, and wash your hair over the tiolet with evirofriendly soaps.
I agree completely, and I even wonder whether this is some sort of local unwritten rule or not. A ranger called me, so it sounded very official. However, their posted rules simply say no dumping of gray water on the ground. That's it. And a ranger at Cades Cove camp ground, a few miles away in the same national park, told us we could use a shower tent if we didn't use soap(!). I think we could have negotiated our way through to camp soap or Dr Bonners on that one. I could probably also put up a regular camping tent behind the Scamp, and who's to know what goes on in there! But life is short, we're going there to have fun and not to do battle with the rule makers, so I'm heading the garden sprayer route with an improvised shower stall in the Scamp. I've already tried the garden sprayer here at home....I sure used less water than normal! I'm going to try to convert it to a sink sprayer nozzle or make some other end for it to cut down the water velocity a little.
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Old 05-12-2009, 07:20 AM   #14
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Hi Parker, if you haven't finialized your campground choice yet consider staying at one of the USFS facilities in the area. Nantahala, Pisgah and Cherokee all offer some great opportunities ranging from boondocking spots if you want privacy to sites with W&E. Scroll down through this link for a listing of those in NC (I don't have a comparable link for Cherokee NF in TN but have found some neat places to stay there as well). http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/co...nections_09.pdf

A couple of the smaller campgrounds we like are Horse Cove and Van Hook Glade. Both have flush johns but no showers. If you're interested in boondocking, stop by one of the FS district offices and ask for their recommendations. Also pick up a map of that NF ($5) as there are some excellent drives accessbile by passenger car that you might otherwise miss.

This is one of the dispersed boondocking sites along FS81 in Nantahala NF.

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Hope you have fun - its a beautiful area.


Al & Cindy
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