An exterior shower probably sits fairly low on the list when you first start building a touring rig. Get a few dusty trips under your belt, though, and suddenly having warm water outside the vehicle begins to make a lot more sense.
Aussie company Aus J Hot Water Solutions has now released an updated version of its EZY RV Exterior Shower Outlet, targeting the caravan, RV, marine and 4X4 markets. The complete kit is designed to provide a permanently installed hot and cold water outlet without taking up valuable space inside a camper or canopy.
For 4X4ers, its usefulness goes beyond having an actual shower beside the vehicle. An exterior outlet can be handy for washing sand from feet before climbing into the camper, cleaning mud off equipment, rinsing cookware or dealing with the inevitable filthy dog after it discovers the best bog hole in the campsite.
What comes in the EZY RV kit?
The new EZY RV system is available with either black or white exterior fittings, allowing owners to match it more closely to the bodywork, canopy or caravan it’s being installed into. A covered external mixer provides hot and cold temperature adjustment along with water flow control.
Aus J has also fitted the kit with a three-metre shower hose, which should provide enough reach to move around beside a vehicle rather than being forced to stand directly beneath the outlet. A removable chrome suction-cup holder lets the shower head be positioned on a nearby panel when required without permanently installing another bracket.
Behind the panel, the system uses brass mixing valves with rotating arms. According to Aus J, this is intended to make installation easier where space behind a caravan wall, camper body or canopy is limited. The kit also includes 15 BSP-to-8mm barbed fittings for connecting the shower assembly to the vehicle’s plumbing.
That flexibility could make the setup interesting for custom touring builds, particularly where owners are assembling their own canopy water system rather than installing a complete caravan-style plumbing package.
Water use still matters in the bush
Water capacity remains one of the biggest limitations when touring remotely, particularly once drinking water, cooking and washing all begin drawing from the same tank. Aus J says its shower head has been designed around a softer raindrop-style flow rather than conventional continuous jets.
The company quotes a total flow rate of around 12 to 18 litres per minute depending on the selected hot and cold water mix. It also claims the shower head can provide water savings of between 25 and 80 per cent compared with some alternative designs.
Exactly how much water it saves in a real-world touring setup will obviously depend on the shower head being compared, supply pressure and how long the tap stays open. Even so, managing water use becomes increasingly important once you’re relying on whatever is sitting underneath the vehicle rather than a tap at home.
Where it fits into a touring build
The complete EZY RV Exterior Shower Outlet has a recommended retail price of $239 plus delivery. Aus J also sells individual shower components, allowing builders to assemble different combinations rather than purchasing the complete boxed kit.
The system can be paired with existing hot water installations or Aus J’s own compact water heaters, including its Duoetto 12V/240V and GEN 3 12V/120V ten-litre units. Those heaters offer adjustable water temperatures between 30 and 70 degrees Celsius and are designed for vehicle, caravan and marine installations.
For most 4X4ers, an outside shower probably isn’t the first accessory that gets bolted onto a touring rig. Storage, suspension, fuel range, refrigeration and electrical systems are generally going to come first.
But once the basics are sorted, exterior hot water can become one of those luxuries that earns its place surprisingly quickly. Whether it’s washing yourself after a day on the tracks, rinsing the kids before they climb into the camper or removing half a campsite from the dog, a properly integrated external outlet certainly beats balancing a camping shower from a tree branch.
