Advanced Elements - Summer Shower/Solar Shower - Different Capacity - Shower Head - Reflective Mirror - Fill Valve - Black or Silver

I ordered this in anticipation of my Memorial Day Camping Trip. It's always nice to have nice, hot water to rinse off after a long day fishing, especially in dusty northern Arizona. I debated between this and the larger 5 gallon size, but I'm glad I got this one. 3 gallons is PLENTY for a quick rinse of several people as long as you use the water wisely. More water means heavier which means more weight on critical areas on this shower and it won't last as long. The shower itself is made of vinyl a little thicker than your typical Camelbak bladder. One side is clear while the other is black on one side and silver on the outside. The included attach points for a hanging bar of soap or whatever were nice as was the included mirror. The hose is a basic vinyl hose - nothing special, but it does work just fine and is durable enough to last. The shower head is a push/pull valve - pull it and water flows. Push it and it stops. The stops are positive and no leaks were detected during extensive use. The port for filling the bladder is a twist off cap that seals well and is wide enough for easy quick addition of water. Now, for the important part - how well does it heat? I filled the bladder with tap water from the sink and placed it outside on my concrete driveway. Within 30 min I had 110 degree water. Note, however, that I live in Phoenix. Water from the tap is generally 80 degrees and it was just about 100 degrees the day I got it. It still heated VERY quickly. When I went north for camping, the weather was decidedly cooler. 40's at night and 85ish during the day. It took a couple of hours in the morning for the water to heat up, but I consistently had 100+ degree water before noon each day. I would set it on the open tailgate of my truck when I woke up and once it got to temperature I hung it in the tree where the water stayed hot and even got hotter through the day. At night, I'd refill the water and start it again the next day. All in all, the 8 people camping with me enjoyed the hot showers and we experienced no issues with the shower at all. I'd recommend this to anyone needing a way to have hot water when they are away from home.

Works great, no leaks and a substantial nice sturdy handle that doesn't feel like it will rip. Please note that when it was approx. 70% full, it weighs 30 pounds. See pic. I envisioned myself attaching a rope and lofting it over a branch, but it is a little heavier than I expected so I will prob use this without filling up all the way. If I had to repurchase I would get the 2.5 gallon size as that would be plenty for me to shower and easier to manage.

No more cold showers during power outages. Thank you. Fill it up and just let it warm all day and it works great. Family thinks I'm odd for this but my showers are not cold when we have power outages. Tap warm is better than ice cold. It can also double as an extra water bag during grid break downs.

The ADVANCED ELEMENTS 5-Gallon Summer Shower is an essential piece of gear for anyone who enjoys camping or outdoor activities. After testing it out, I’m really pleased with its performance and overall quality. With the 5-gallon capacity, this model provides more than enough water for multiple quick showers or for rinsing off after a day in the outdoors. This shower is built to last with its four-layer construction, including a solar panel that heats water efficiently, a water reservoir, and diamond ripstop fabric for durability. The materials feel strong and rugged, ideal for extended outdoor use. It’s capable of heating the water up to 110 degrees in about 3 hours of direct sunlight, which makes for a warm and refreshing shower at the end of the day. We filled it up and tested the flow, and it gave us about 6 minutes and 30 seconds of continuous water flow. Of course, in an outdoor setting, you’re only going to open it for short bursts to wet yourself, soap up, and then rinse off, so this 5-gallon shower is perfect for extended outdoor stays or when multiple people need to use it. The temperature gauge makes it easy to keep track of how warm the water is, and the extra-large filling valve is convenient for quickly filling up. I also love the wide carrying handles and Velcro straps for holding soap and shampoo—it’s a great touch for staying organized while camping. While some customers have mentioned concerns about leakage, I haven't had any issues with it. The shower rolls up compactly for easy storage, which is a huge plus when packing it up for trips. It’s lightweight, portable, and sturdy enough to handle frequent use. Overall, the 5-gallon model offers ample water capacity for anyone needing a reliable shower during camping trips or outdoor activities. It's well-designed, easy to use, and provides the comfort of a warm shower wherever you are. Highly recommended for all outdoor enthusiasts!

I bought 2 of these after researching to replace ageing made-in-USA solar showers from the '90s. I've been very pleased with the Advanced Elements 5-gallon model, and wanted to try these 3 gallon's for a different location. They've worked well. Here's my review, and temp tests: The vinyl thickness is about the same as an inflatable kid's pool float. Build quality is good, but remember we're talking about a vinyl bag with a spout and a hose. At 8 pounds per gallon of water, these weigh 24 pounds full. Of course, they'll still heat whatever contents even if you don't fill to capacity. Maker's instructions say NOT to use these for human drinking water so I'll take their advice. Honestly there are not a lot of choices in solar showers currently, most are just flimsy plastic bags. All brands I see are made in China now. If you have owned older USA-made solar showers, the current bags will feel thinner and flimsier in comparison. That said, Advanced Elements is the best of the current makers. For most people the choice will be between the 3-gallon and the 5-gallon size, and whether a solar shower is realistic for your location. FIRST DAY TEST: We put 2 of these out in direct Florida sun, late March, from 3.00 PM to 5.45 PM. Filled them with kitchen tap water from the cold water tap. Outside air temp 74 degrees. At 5.45 after 2 hours and 45 minutes full exposure, temp gauge on one bag read 104', the other read 98' (the temp gauges go in 6' increments). The bag that reads 98' had more water in it so it did not heat as quickly. I tried both bags spraying over my hands, and water temperature was subjectively comfortable but not 'hot tub' hot. Both bags were certainly warmer than the air temp of 74'. I'd still have liked them a few degrees hotter than they got in the 2:45 test. I like that the rubberized top handle the bags hang by has a clasp lock that unlocks for easier hanging & unhanging. There's a little plastic mirror on a tether cord in the front mesh pocket. SECOND DAY TEST: 3 days after first test above, on another sunny Florida day I put the same 2 bags, again filled with water from the kitchen cold water tap, outside for 3;00 hours in mid-day. Air temp was 78', a warmer day than the first test. This time they reached 104' and 110' respectively. Each time one bag was filled a little less full than the other and each time the less full bag got warmer than the more full bag. Both 104' and 110' seem very pleasant shower temp's to me. Once you get to 104' that's about the temp most public gym's set their hot tubs to, just as a frame of reference. The extra time makes a big difference. And all day-exposure will get these really hot-- if these are out 6 hours or more in direct sun they're as hot as I can personally stand. Once these are out of direct sun, these bags will begin losing their warmth. So you need to use them while they're hot. Wrapping them in towels or a blanket etc will help them retain heat longer (evening dishwashing?) It also seems to take a minimum of 3:00 hours to reach a pleasant temp level, so plan on allowing at least that much time. I've used these a few dozen times now and so far they're holding up fine. I haven't treated them roughly because they clearly aren't designed for it. Sun is tough on plastics over time so I can't speak to long term durability. I'm pleased with these and glad I bought them. A 5 gallon model weighs 40 lbs full and it does take 20-25% longer to heat than these 3 gallon bags. These certainly work--they do make water hot in the sun-- and I can see why they are #1 in sales on Amazon in the category. AE's products are clearly better made than competing brands...some of which are really just flimsy black plastic bags. Based on my experience I would say these AE's do the job and are currently the best solar showers available. I do notice these have fluctuated between $32 and $19, so it pays to be patient and to shop around. You can also check out the AE 5-gallon model (listed separately) and the 10-gallon model (which at 80 pounds full is not very portable, but might work for a sailboat, cabin, car camping etc). Hope this is helpful. Happy trails and happy showering, everybody.

This is an inexpensive item yet it provides something that you really can’t get any other way easily and that is warm water from a sprinkler at a campsite. I’m not expecting it to be a long lasting item but that's ok. Even for one camping trip or two it’d be worth it to me. We set it up to rinse off legs and feet after going into the river. It was also nice to wash hands with. I felt like it was less likely to tear if we just laid it on the picnic table and put a bucket underneath for catch water. I did hang it from a tall tree at one point, but I feel like the weight of it could cause the seams to bust sooner. It’s also great for dishwashing. It's very hard to wash grease from dishes without warm water so I would use it to wash dishes as well. I replenished throughout the day. Hey, it's camping and there's loads of time. After using it, I'd just fill it with another gallon of water after it got partially used through various activities and it seemed to keep it at a decently warm temperature throughout the day. It does cool overnight so you kind of start over. It was a fun device for people at the campground to enjoy. I don’t particularly like the on off pull nozzle mechanism, but I learned that if you just raise the nozzle up higher, it would pause the flow until you were ready to rinse again rather than pushing the nozzle shut and open each time which was harder to do. Kind of hard to dry out so storing it open so it'll dry out eventually. I thought about running cold air (setting on hair dryer) but that might compromise the seams so air dry it is since I actually do want to keep using this. I can see wanting to make any excuse to break it out - picnics, front yard, back deck, neighborhood block party, etc.

It's worked well over the past three months of continuous use. It carries enough water for 1 person to shower completely. You just have to use a rag and be somewhat conservative. The shower head could be designed a little better. If you're hands are soapy it can be difficult to get the shower head closed quickly (with one hand) to save water. It developed a pin hole sized hole in the plastic bag, but I put some electrical tape over it, and the tape holds up well. You should get temps to about 70 for the water to get hot enough (left out from 10am-2pm) to feel comfortably warm while you shower. You can probably get away with cooler temps, but the shower may be a little cooler than you might want for ambient conditions. Jul '09 Update: My '08 model shower was stolen, so I ordered another one to replace it. The '08 model they shipped me had a locking clasp that you could use to adjust the slack in the handle, or pinch the clasp to open it up. I found the locking clasp to be very helpful as I would re-hang the camp shower continually, usually over a tree branch close to the trunk so that the trunk would be thick enough to support a full bag. With the locking clasp I could hang the bag all by myself without too much difficulty. The '09 model that I was shipped does not have a locking clasp; instead the handle looks just as it does in the picture. You have to manually un-thread and re-thread the handle strap if you want to hang the handle over a large enough trunk branch to confidently support the weight of a full bag. You can get around this by looping a locking clasp type strap around the handle and branch. You could also use a few of those velcro straps to do the same thing, though that would be a little more difficult for one person to work with than a locking clasp. I've not seen any other small shower bags that use a locking clasp; it's an important feature for those of us that solo tour. If I could find another bag that did use a locking clasp in the handle, I would consider that more important than the shower head or temp guage. Hopefully someone will pick up the ball on this. One other change I noticed is that the new model does not have a rubber gasket in the cap like the old one did (to prevent leaking I guess). In my first use of the new shower without the rubber gasket, the bag hasn't leaked, so maybe the gasket was not so important.

Not sure about the camping part, but hot water heater went out a week ago. Works surprisingly well. Just filled with water from cold tap plus heated water in a pot. I got the 2.5. 5 gal would be perfect, but not to sure about hanging that weight from indoor plumbing. Anyway, works great in a pinch. Would definitely buy again!

Pensé que no duraria mucho pero despues de muchos meses de haberla comprado aún está perfecta y la utilizo a diario, debes darle sus cuidados como a todo pero si la utilizas cuidadosamente te durará mucho tiempo.

Me encantó la regadera, recomendable!!!❤️

Prático e eficiente, um pouco pequeno, irei usá-lo principalmente na praia.

Produit de belle qualité de production, apparemment solide. J'aime sa grande capacité, sa robustesse, ses deux couchettes très efficaces, son thermomètre intégré. Attention, ce produit n'est pas destiné à être suspendu mais uniquement à être posé à plat, au soleil (les anneaux visibles sur la photo sont uniquement prévus pour stabiliser le sac sur son support). Initialement, ce n'était pas ce que ce que recherchais et cela m'a obligé à prévoir un dispositif particulier pour son utilisation. Mais si ces conditions sont réunies, c'est un produit très bien conçu qui fait parfaitement son office.

This bag is around 3x the black bags you see listed. Is it worth it? Depends how many times you plan on using it, if its more than 10, I would say go for it. The back bag does heat up water but doesn’t have insulation at the bottom to prevent the water from cooling down to the ground. The black bag has a really crappy opening which occasionally pops open, this alone is worth the 3x cost The black bag has a different design where the black surface is on top, rather than the bottom; no comment on which is more efficient but if there’s bubbles in the bag, which is hard to get rid of, the air is an insulation layer to the hot plastic and the water makes little contact; although i have done no scientific tests. This bag makes it easy to remove air bubbles becuase of its design and the fact the transparent side is on top so you can find the bubbles better. This bag has a thicker tube that doesn’t fold and get creased and then clogs water when use This bag has a 10x better way of dispensing the water through a user friendly nozzle that doesnt leak and can turn off and on easily To be fair, the fact that it has a proper opening is worth the 3x alone becuase you could potentially lose all the water if the black bag was handled incorrectly. I hesitated at first to purchase the 3x more expensive bag but if you really want to use this bag for more than 2-5 times then I would go for the more expensive option. It was around $45cad compared to $15 for the black bag. BIG OR SMALL? the small is good enough for like a 2 min shower for one person, the bigger one heats up slower obviously so if you wanted more water faster, then get the small one and then empty it out (more efficient at heating but more labor for a small pool etc)