One of the biggest drawbacks of traveling by motorcycle was trying to maintain a minimum of hygiene, especially when you are in some of those remote and unpopulated areas we all have in mind when talking of an adventure journey.

After a day riding the dusty routes of the wild Cambodia or the hot deserts of Namibia while dressing those heavy biker clothes the first thing you have in mind is to find a source of water where to take a shower. This daily mission becomes an obsession sometimes but we were not always lucky enough to achieve it.

So when we decided to change the way of traveling, parking the motorcycle for a while to continue moving in a camper van, we quickly thought about that privilege of being able to have a shower with us, but which options did we have?

Our vehicle would be an old Volkswagen T3 Syncro, its cabin is not very large and of course we can not stand so there is no room for a shower like we can find in a motorhome.

We also knew that the van would be overloaded and we began to think of a model that would be light, portable, simple and also inexpensive. These times of pandemic affected seriously, like to many other travelers, the few savings we had.

The perfect option was a homemade solar shower made basically of PVC pipe.

A few days ago we contacted our friend Dani from Camper Sur, we told him about that idea and in less than a second he invited us to his workshop to help us out.

In just two hours, with a minimal investment and with very few tools, the shower was already installed in the roof rack of our camper.

So take a look at it because perhaps this idea will serve you for long travels or for those weekends trips, this system is not only valid for vans but you can also install it in your regular car to go out for a couple of days to the beach or to the mountains.

Materials:

• 3 meters 125mm PVC pipe
• PVC buffer 125 mm waterproof thread
• Blind PVC cap 125 mm
• PVC elbow 125 mm 45º
• Chemical weld for rigid polyvinyl chloride
• Garden Tap 1/2 “x 3/4”
• 1/2 “tank outlet
• Bicycle valve
• Spiral hose with multi-position pistol and garden quick connectors
• Gray polyurethane putty
• Teflon
• Sandpaper
• Black paint

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The Corona virus change the plans for all of us. We are lockdown more than 80 days or more….I don’t count . Now the situations getting better, looks like. We are in #fase2 and once we reach fase 3 we can start to move around the country. We are currently in #Spain. During this days we decided to prepare the van for the next month leaving inside and moving around. Almost all is inside, was missing shower and with the help of @campersur this project is done. We made simple, solar shower and very useful. Works perfect , now just waiting to made the first shower in some beautiful place around . Check this vídeo 📽 . . . #vanlife #vanshower #solarshower #campervan #campervanconversion #van #vwt3syncro #4×4 #adventure #adventuretime #camp #camping #outdoors #overland #t3syncro #volkswagent3 #buslife

A post shared by Around Gaia (@aroundgaia) on May 23, 2020 at 8:46am PDT

Tools:

• Electric hot air gun
• Drill
• Multi diameter metal / plastic drill bit
• Putty Gun Applicator
• Small paint roller
• Small brush

Production time:

• 2 working hours plus glue and paint drying

Cost:

• About € 50

Water capacity:

• Approximately 40 liters

How to install it on the roof of your vehicle:

• Metal or plastic cable ties

Pressurize:

• Add air with a hand pump

Tips:

• Paint black to better absorb heat
• When the temperature is below zero, open the cap (prevent the freezing pressure from destroying the pipe).