OK… got food, water, heat, meds, security all pretty much figured out - even toilet needs…
I am not looking forward to cold bathing.
How did they fill those tubs with hot water that we see in the old Westerns? Surely heating buckets of water over fire would take a very long time to fill a tub!
Anyone have experience with those black bag camping showers? Do they work in freezing weather? Any other ideas?
The black bags work very well if there is bright sunshine. However, in freezing weather and cloudy it will not work. I will have a ledge outside the window to lay the bags on and a pully system over the shower/tub. What we plan to use during the cloudy times is a two gallon sprayer. It will not take much hot water to heat two gallons and it is plenty of water to soap down and rinse off.
I used the solar showers when we built the house [we lived in a small camper. Well come Nov those showers were brisk to say the least. I didnt have any luck getting the water past lukewarm. What we ended up doing was heating a big canning kettle over a grill and standing in a half barrel. We poured water over ourselves soaped up then poured water over ourselves again to rinse. Sounds harder than it was. It did work pretty well. I was very thankful when we moved into the house and I got my first real shower in a long time.
Crazt Lady – at 20:08 a two gallon sprayer (like a weed sprayer)
That’s what we are going to be using. Pressurized you will use very little water.
Goju,now you understand why baths were few and far between back then. LOL If you have a woodstove or fireplace a metal trash can or a big pot set near them would provide hot water. Those black bags don`t work too well in cold weather.
I wonder if hot rocks added to the bath water would be worth a try?
Sounds icky but in the old days most baths were for the whole family - each by turns, same water (with a bit more hot added).
I did fine with little water in my tactical days. Now with the added benefit of Bronner’s Tea Tree soap, and some ‘no rinse’ for in betweens, bathing is the least of my worries.
During last year’s hurricanes, we simply heated water on a butane burner, mixed it with room temp water in a big pot, took it into the shower stall with a plastic cup, and had a semblance of a shower. It didn’t take a whole lot of boiling water - we were surprised at how easy & quick it was.
However, we have since bought a solar shower. There’s no sense in paying for fuel when it’s free. (Florida)
We recently purchased a SunOven, and it works great! It boils water easily and made a batch of perfect brownies in the same amount of time as it would have taken in the regular oven. If money is tight, you can make your own out of one of those reflective windshield thingies, a cookie cooling rack, a black pot with lid, oven bag, and a bucket to rest the whole contraption on. It’s absolutely amazing. I understand that it works regardless of the outside temperature, as long as the sun is shining.
Meserole in FL – at 22:51
Wher’d you buy it, Meserole (I’m not rigging one more %$^&^%$* thing!)
Some time ago there was a thread on thermos cooking. Rather than buying a number of thermoses for this prpose, I got a Nissan thermal cooker which works like a dream. Bring water to boiling and it’ll stay that way for hours and hours. When I’m not cooking in it, I’ll be keeping my water hot.
Wolf – at 23:03
We got ours at altenergy.com. It’s called the Sun Oven Global Solar Oven and it costs less than $200. The customer service was excellent, too.
The oven folds up like a small suitcase, so you can easily store it when it’s not in use. Apparently food doesn’t burn in a solar oven. I know the brownies were delicious!
Here’s a great site with plans for making solar ovens on the cheap. There’s even one made out of an umbrella!
http://solarcooking.org/plans/
It looks like all you really need for a bare-bones oven is cardboard, aluminum foil, a black pot, and an oven bag. You can probably make one for under $5. If fuel is at a premium or impossible to find, using the [free] sun makes a lot of sense.
Meserole in FL – at 23:11
Thanks muchly for both alternatives. I’ve been quite sceptical about anything solar in my northern climate, but worth a look-see!
We will always have low pressure gravity fed water thru our garden hose. When the solar showers won’t work, I am going to grit my teeth and go outside and bathe in hose water (Oregon). Hey, if they can do it in Finland, we Oregonians can do it too.
Dr. Bronnors Peppermint soap, is my favorite! Using old Windex hand spray bottles, you can do a decent bath with a spray bottle of diluted soap and a wash cloth (or friendly hands), and then spray bottle of rinse water (did this always at Burning Man). It rinses pretty well, and the residual aroma was very pleasant. Rocks do work for warming water, use good size hard roundish rocks that don’t shed sand. Put deep in the fireplace for quite a while (hours), drop in your water. Won’t get too hot, but way better than 40 degree river water.
I followed earlier advice and ordered Kelly Kettles. They’re pricey but are designed to boil water using just twigs, pine straw, etc. I got mine from http://www.waterstrider.com/camp-kitchen-gear.htm#boilermakerlg and they came right away. - haven’t tested them, though
Fiddlerdave- I LOVE Bronnors peppermint soap! I know this is off topic, but can’t resist- How was Buring Man? Ive been intrigued by that for some time and have never met anyone who has actually been there. Sounds really cool.
Wolf — I’m with yoo, I’m not making anything else! I just bought a very cheap solar cooker — a CookIt — from www.solarcookers.org. I’ve heard it works as well as the more expensive kinds of ovens, just doesn’t look as “official” (and probably doesn’t stand up to the wind as well.)
I used it yesterday for the first time — I live outside of Washington DC — and I think it worked as intended from about 11 AM to 1 PM, but we got too many clouds; anyhow, it definitely didn’t cook my meal. It sure would warm up water for a bath. I expect it would work much better during the spring and summer months — mid-Nov. probably isn’t the best time for a solar cooker in the northern climes. Still for $25 (including the pot) I think it will be a good addition to prep supplies.
A couple gallons of Dr. Bronners is my backup for all my soap needs,dishes,laundry and body.
Our plan for hot shower water is to use a solar shower in mild weather and our turkey fryer in cold weather. We have previously used a 7 gallon Aquatainer for rinsing off after a trip to the beach. That works really well. Regardless of the dispenser, we can catch the runoff with a plastic tub, add bleach to it, and do some laundry.
I really like the idea of the garden sprayer. I should probably try that one.
I have used solar showers for years as well as heated water on a wood stove. THis is how you use these methods. Solar showers are great when it is WARM AND SUNNY. If it is cold and sunny, the cold air will leach the warmth out of the bag.
In the winter, you can take said solar shower and hang it in your normal shower. Heat a large stock pot of water on your wood stove. To get a lot of water in the stock pot, use a pitcher. That is how they did it years ago. To transfer hot water to shower, use a funnel and the pitcher and pour the amount of hot water you want and add cold to adjust to your temperature. Hang in your shower and enjoy. Better than taking a shower outside anyway.
Homesteader,
Funnels, yes, and plenty of them, each stored in its own bag with a label to indicate its intended application. For refilling a shower bag, you can use one with a rubber hose to extend its reach.
Have been washing my hair in rain water. This morning in ice cold rain water. My hair felt frozen, my skull felt numb, but I was going out for a fancy lunch and wanted clean hair, so didn’t wait for the bucket of water to warm up in the house. You can do it with suprisingly little water. and fast, very fast. Can wash every day with less than a wine glass of water and a paper towel. I look just as immaculate as if I showered every day, and no one minds, in fact, a man just introduced himself to me, so I must look quite presentable with my rain water wash.
I’m getting used to slightly Sparten conditions as a lark.
Homesteader – at 09:57
I wonder if we hang the black shower bag in a green house in winter, the water will get warm enough. Can any one who has a green house, a black shower bag and in cold climates please do some tests?
ANON-YYZ
When weather gets cold try placing a solar shower bag on the dashboard of your car until late afternoon. Just to be really fair about it, start either with cold tap water or with a bag that has been left out overnight.
Dr Dave – at 14:45
THAT is a great idea. I already have a green house. Thank you.
I have an unused car with a black dashboard. I have been thinking it would make a dandy storage area. Not for canned goods which I wouldn’t trust getting frozen, but items which I want to keep mouseproof. I think I’ll start trying things like warming water on a sunny afternoon, and so on. I just love rain water.
diana,
You must bge an eastern city gal.If I tried that, I`d go to the car, and find an entire family or two of packrats.LOL
How about placing the solar bag in a sunny window, indoors ? The solar gain should be sufficent.
cactus – at 18:01
I tried windows. Won’t work. Reason: the newer e-glass windows filter out infra red.