Rainburst Simple Shower
Rainburst's unique solution to remaining clean in the outdoors.
Andrew Buskov
Initial Report: June 11, 2015
Long Term Report: November 26, 2015
 Tester
Biographical
Information:
| Name: |
Andrew Buskov |
| Age: |
40
|
| Gender: |
Male |
| Height: |
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight: |
207 lbs (94 kg)
|
| Email: |
Rescue(at)Corridor9(dot)net |
| City, State Zip |
Madisonville, Kentucky
USA |
Backpacking
Background:
I’ve been backpacking for nearly 25 years, and have slowly started
developing my ideal style. I’ve gotten my pack weight down to roughly
20 - 25 lbs (9.1 - 11.3 kg) before water, and am whittling it down
every hike. Day hiking is nice, but getting out over multiple nights is
really what I enjoy. I like to take my time and view the scenery as
opposed to hiking hard. I also like being comfortable and insist on an
air mattress. I usually tent or hammock, but stay in shelters when
needed.
Product
Information:
| Item: |
Simple Shower
|
| Manufacturer: |
Rainburst
|
| Website |
http://www.simple-shower.com/
|
| Year of Manufacture: |
2015 |
| MSRP: |
N/A
|
| Listed Weight: |
2 oz (57 g)
|
| Actual Weight: |
2 oz (57 g) |
| Color: |
Black
|
 Product Description:
The Rainburst Simple Shower is a simple solution to staying clean in
the outdoors. No longer are the days of holding large, cumbersome bags
of water over your head. Now it's as simple as finding a 1 - 2 L (32 -
68 fl oz) bottle, filling it with water, attaching the Simple Shower to
the top, and sitting it out in the sun until it reaches a comfortable
temperature. The entire shower is composed of just three parts; the
nozzle, air relief tube, and plastic bottle (not included). Rainburst
states that the plastic bottle is not included because the company is
thrifty and environmentally minded. As such, they encourage the user to
use a bottle already on-hand. The air
relief tube comes in two lengths; one for smaller 1 L (32 oz) bottles,
and one for larger 2 L (68 oz) bottles. The shower is also designed to
be used with Platypus hydration bags, but may also fit other hydration
bags with the same thread spacing and pitch.
Product
Impressions:
The Rainburst Simple Shower arrived completely intact and without any
missing parts. In inspecting the shipped components, it almost appears
as if the parts were made using a 3D printer as the plastic has a very
porous and layered appearance. This could be due to the material that
is used in constructing the shower; completely recycled material.
Seeing this raises some questions about durability which I will
definitely comment on throughout the testing period. I am quite
interested to see if the air relief line survives a four month testing
period without cracking or breaking through repeated packing and
unpacking.
The nozzle itself is composed of two separate parts; the base section
which screws onto whatever water container one uses, and the head
section where the water exits the device. The head contains 40
different holes in two concentric rings. In the center of the head is a
larger hole that is used in conjunction with the air relief line. On
the rear of the nozzle head is a small port that is slightly larger
than the diameter of the included air relief lines. This allows the
lines to be fit inside the hole snugly which prevents air from
disturbing the water while taking a shower.
 The
base of the nozzle has raised ridges along the narrow side that aid
in gripping the wet plastic when attaching or removing from the bottle
or hydration bag. On the outside of the base towards the wide end are
emblems indicating to the user not to use water over 40 C (104 F), a
patent is pending, and that the item is made in the USA. It is
definitely nice to see that this item is made in America when so many
other items like this are outsourced to China. The shape of the nozzle
base not only helps evenly distribute the water to the nozzle head, but
it can also be used as a funnel to fill the water reservoir after it
has been drained. Simply unscrewing the nozzle head in a
counter-clockwise rotation exposes the funnel for use.
The air relief tube is nothing more than a length of plastic tube that
attaches to the head of the nozzle and sticks into the interior of the
bottle. Because a plastic bottle generally likes to retain its shape,
replacing the escaping water with air is necessary to prevent
disruption of the flow pattern. Without the air tube in place, the
water dribbles and flows erratically at times. When using the Simple
Shower with a hydration pack the air relief tube is not necessary. This
is due to the general construction of a water bladder and its ability
to compress when all water contained within has emptied.
One important point to note as per the documentation is to never put
any water into the bottle that exceeds 110 F (43 C). I'm not sure why
the documentation states as such, especially since Rainburst recommends
that the water temperature not exceed 104 F (40 C) during use. The only
thing I can think of is that the plastic material might have a lower
melting point due to its recycled nature. I'll likely be contacting
Rainburst between now and the conclusion of the Field Report phase to
get clarification on this statement.
While I'm not usually one to take showers while I'm out camping, having
the ability to wash off before bed is definitely going to be a welcome
experience. I look forward to seeing how much use I can get out of the
Simple Shower and determine if having one is really worth the pack
space during long hiking and backpacking trips.
Long Term Report: November 26,
2015
Testing
Locations & Conditions:
My initial two trips were in the area of the Pennyrile National Forrest
located in western Kentucky; an open, backcountry area for camping,
backpacking, and hiking. The elevation for this area is roughly 450 -
650 ft (135 - 200 m) with slow rolling terrain that has a number of
valleys and ridges. Temperatures in the area for both trips were around
75 F (24 C) during the day and down to 50 F (10 C) at night. Neither
night saw any sort of precipitation, though there was a bit of light
rain during the trip down.
I was also able to get an additional two nights of testing when my son and I were able to attend the 100th Annual
Boy Scout Patriot Games at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The weather was
clear to cloudy at times, but there was no precipitation. Elevation was
718 ft (219 m) where we were at on the base, but it was the
temperatures that really fluctuated. The high was a nice comfortable 64
F (17 C), but the last night we were there the low dropped to 28 F (-2
C) making for a very cold morning packing up and heading home.
Performance & Summary:
During the past four months, I was able to get a bit of use out of the
Rainburst Simple Shower. Finding water in the areas that I hike and
backpack is not a difficult task so I was able to use this multiple
times to wash my hands and dog, though I did wash my hair on a couple
of occasions. I found that after filling a bottle with water, it was
better to let it sit out in the sun for a period of time before I
attempted to use it. This was true on most days, even the hottest days
during the summer where I used the Simple Shower at home bathing the
pet. On the first day I washed my hair, early on in the testing phase,
I hadn't yet learned to let the water warm prior to use so I was
greeted with a breathtaking experience.
The shower itself tends to empty a bottle of water very quickly, even
largest 2 L bottles. I found that I didn't really have enough water to
wash my hair with comfortably and had to fill up the 2 L bottle
repeatedly. To me, this is the biggest drawback to using the Simple
Shower. Unless I have multiple bottles filled and warming in the sun, I
can pretty much guarantee a cold rinse somewhere in the process. I did
find that taking the stem out of the nozzle allowed me to more easily
conserve water as I could simply squeeze out what amount I wanted
without having to worry about it draining quickly. Still though, I
wasn't able to conserve enough to completely wash my hair without
resorting to a second, very cold, bottle of water.
The device itself is rather sturdy, and I was able to pack it in just
about any pocket I wanted without having to worry about it breaking. I
did need to pack the tube and shower head separately though as packing
them together both seemed to increase the risk of breaking, as well as
take up more room. This wasn't a problem though asI just packed them
together in a long pocket so I was able to access both pieces depending
upon my needs when using the shower. I did find though that I didn't
use the longer tube near as much as the shorter one. Even with a larger
bottle, simply placing my finger over the center of the shower head
while inverting allowed the water to escape from the holes quickly
enough to create a suction causing rising air to prevent water flowing
into the tube.
In all, I can attest to the effectiveness and usability of the
Rainburst Simple Shower. It does indeed work as expected and does
provide a smooth gentle flow of water from the nozzle. While I can see
myself possibly using this on longer multi-day hikes, I see this more
as a base camping tool since comfort is directly proportional to the
amount of heated water on hand, at least for me that is.
I'd like to thank Rainburst and
BackpackGearTest.org for providing me with the opportunity to test the
Simple Shower.
Read more reviews of Rainburst gear
Read more gear reviews by Andrew Buskov
|
