With or w/o wet bath ?

[dhuff]

OK, I'm not trying to "start anything" here - really But does anyone have any experiences pro or con concerning Class B vans w/o the typical enclosed wet bath setup ? The enclosed room itself seems to take up a lot of space, plus there's the added complexity of the extra plumbing, black tank & associated dumping thereof, etc... After all, the old VW Westfalias, the grandfather of all Class Bs, didn't incl. this feature.

Practically, how much of an issue was it to just find a shower at a campground, truck stop, etc... ? What, if anything, did you do about a toilet ? (portable one hidden away somewhere ? if so, what kind ?)

Again, not trying to start a thread bashing those #vanlife kids on Youtube with their very minimalist, homemade setups or anything - that's not what I'm after. Just pondering a professional build, but simplifying some of the systems in it to save complexity, cost, and weight.

[booster]

We have the aisle shower of the earlier generations of Roadtreks in our 07. It is still offered in the Chevies, I think. We like it as it takes nearly no space and we use campground showers anyway.

[skiMore]

I don't own a B yet so I can't speak from experience, but if you can live without a bathroom would a van with a mattress and a refrigerator be enough for you?

If you search you will find a bunch of threads on this topic.

[GallenH]

Well it depends on what a person needs/wants. If I'm in a campground with decent showers, I'll use them. If it has flush toilets, I use them. So I suppose that you'd need very little if you scouted out campgrounds for those items. Our PW has a small bathroom that I've never showered in, although the floor is a shower pan with drain. I do wash up every morning...complete body/hair..and shave. Works. A persons needs: Not having to get dressed and go out to the bathroom in the middle of the night is a real plus. I used to tent camp where none of that was an option. I even "car" camped with an suv that had a dedicated air mattress.

[jon]

A few years ago I had a conversion done with a kitchenette sink plumbed to jerry cans under the sink. Then I had a closet with a cassette toilet. Since we used the van to haul kids for the day care, camp, and travel it was fine, but...

We've decided to do away with the dual purpose van. I'm planning our next van and now we know what we really want. This time we'll get the Rixens heat/hot water and a shower. I really miss hot water while camping or traveling. Thetford has a compact cass. toilet that only uses 15 inches of the bathroom space. Then with 15-18 additional inches to stand I would think you could make a reasonable 24"w x 30"-33" long wet bath.

You still have a grey tank but no black tank. One deciding factor was the 3 inch black waste valve hanging down as opposed to the 1 inch grey valve.

[SteveJ]

My intended purpose of buying a class B was for extended trips with a lot of boondocking and that is how it's evolved.

If RV parks and campgrounds with showers are your game why bother with the wet bath? But... what happens if you change your focus and desire more rustic getaways?

On TDY near Montrose Co on BLM land for likely more than a week.

[GeorgeRa]

I designed our 144WB with the external transom shower and the cassette toilet used as seat or ottoman for front seats. Post our 2 Westfalias we had showers in all RVs but used them rarely, prefer full showers with elbow room and plenty of water. Now we have all utilities except an AC and an inside shower.
We have practically instant, about a couple of seconds, hot water at the sink or the transom shower.

[dhuff]

GeorgeRa, Yeah, that's kinda what I had in mind. Instant hot water heater, cassette toilet of some sort tucked away, outdoor shower valves/hose avail out the back. Just no dedicated "wet bath" room...

[Roadie1]

I just purchased a Travato G with bath. Wouldn’t consider a van or trailer without one. Had a couple travel trailers before with baths. After a long trail run or Mtn bike ride, I love having a shower. I think it’s more fun to be self contained and be able to boondock with full amenities. On the other hand I have friends with vans without baths. They don’t seems to mind. Of course they always want to take a shower in mine

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by dhuff

OK, I'm not trying to "start anything" here - really But does anyone have any experiences pro or con concerning Class B vans w/o the typical enclosed wet bath setup ? The enclosed room itself seems to take up a lot of space, plus there's the added complexity of the extra plumbing, black tank & associated dumping thereof, etc... After all, the old VW Westfalias, the grandfather of all Class Bs, didn't incl. this feature.

Practically, how much of an issue was it to just find a shower at a campground, truck stop, etc... ? What, if anything, did you do about a toilet ? (portable one hidden away somewhere ? if so, what kind ?)

Again, not trying to start a thread bashing those #vanlife kids on Youtube with their very minimalist, homemade setups or anything - that's not what I'm after. Just pondering a professional build, but simplifying some of the systems in it to save complexity, cost, and weight.

I brought up a similar question about how many people used the wet bath to shower?

According to Roadtrek...98 percent of their clients want a wet bath... although only two percent of the people say they actually use the shower...we definitely use the bathroom for "number one"....of course in an "emergency"... I'd probably use it for number 2.... BUT...we always stay places or find public restrooms.....

We've been thinking..we should actually use the shower... just seems like a pain to dry the walls..... maybe the fan would clean out the moisture??

Here's the thing.... when it comes time to SELL...you want the bathroom there...it's the first thing people will look for....

We have separate gray, black and fresh water tanks... also preferred......

Is it convenient at 3 AM....you bet it is.... also when it's freezing cold outside.....I know we're thankful for it....plus...if you have to go and you're in the middle of nowhere... you're going to love having this on board.....

All of these situations have come up in the 16 months since I purchased my van....

Eventually we'll use the shower...you just have to realize... its a "Navy Shower"....wet down, soap up and rinse....it's NOT like the shower at home.....

Good luck...

[InterBlog]

It depends on how you use your rig. I live in mine off-grid and away from both public and private facilities for up to a month at a time. The idea of having no washing capabilities in such a vehicle is too silly to even comtemplate, IMO. The folks who advocate for showering in the great outdoors in that scenario obviously haven't yet had first-hand experience with:

(a) killer swarms of mosquitoes,
(b) freezing cold weather,
(c) pouring down rain,
(d) doing heavy labor such that a shower or bath is an absolute necessity (in my case, chainsawing lumber on my property),
(e) visitors staying with you at the off-grid locale (no visual privacy), or
(f) some combination of the above.

One could always set up a temporary outdoor shower to mitigate some of those factors, but why duplicate the effort when there's already a shower right there in the van?

We have segregated gray and black tanks, which means that, if necessary (i.e., if I have to conserve my fresh water), I can use the wet bath for bucket bathing and discharge that portion of the wash water to grade. In other words, the van at that point is neither consuming fresh water or generating gray water - it's just serving as a convenient pass-through for both.

[booster]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

It depends on how you use your rig. I live in mine off-grid and away from both public and private facilities for up to a month at a time. The idea of having no washing capabilities in such a vehicle is too silly to even comtemplate, IMO. The folks who advocate for showering in the great outdoors in that scenario obviously haven't yet had first-hand experience with:

(a) killer swarms of mosquitoes,
(b) freezing cold weather,
(c) pouring down rain,
(d) doing heavy labor such that a shower or bath is an absolute necessity (in my case, chainsawing lumber on my property),
(e) visitors staying with you at the off-grid locale (no visual privacy), or
(f) some combination of the above.

One could always set up a temporary outdoor shower to mitigate some of those factors, but why duplicate the effort when there's already a shower right there in the van?

We have segregated gray and black tanks, which means that, if necessary (i.e., if I have to conserve my fresh water), I can use the wet bath for bucket bathing and discharge that portion of the wash water to grade. In other words, the van at that point is neither consuming fresh water or generating gray water - it's just serving as a convenient pass-through for both.

For those lengths of time, you must have a source for potable water and black tank dumping?

[SteveJ]

Using the aisle shower, things I've learned here and from experience.

I use a meat thermometer to bring the hot water heater to the temperature I desire for the shower. Indicated 95 degrees equates to about 102 due to temp lag. This conserves water because blending is not required. It also eliminates temperature creap when shutting down the water for a Navy shower. The initial run to purge the plumbing of the cold water is about 2 quarts which goes into a sauce pan for tea, coffee or whatever.

I installed a reversing switch on the Fantastic fan. I run it on medium to billow out the shower curtain for more room. After wiping the curtain I redeploy the curtain and turn the fan on for a bit to help thoroughly dry it.

While not exactly on point of this thread it sort of is to show that the aisle shower is not bad to deal with.

HTH.

On TDY boondocking on BLM land near Montrose Co.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

According to Roadtrek...98 percent of their clients want a wet bath... although only two percent of the people say they actually use the shower...

You have made this claim several times. It does not strike me as plausible. Could you provide a citation to where RT makes this claim?

we definitely use the bathroom for "number one"....of course in an "emergency"... I'd probably use it for number 2.... BUT...we always stay places or find public restrooms.....

This is totally beyond my comprehension. I can (sort of) understand why folks might prefer the roomier and longer shower provided by a campground shower. But, why one would prefer a public restroom to one's own toilet seems just crackers. And, why the willingness to use it for one thing but not the other?

We've been thinking..we should actually use the shower... just seems like a pain to dry the walls..... maybe the fan would clean out the moisture??

Invest in a squeegee and a roll of paper towels. The shower can be dried in 90 seconds.

Here's the thing.... when it comes time to SELL...you want the bathroom there...it's the first thing people will look for....

We have separate gray, black and fresh water tanks...
also preferred......

disputed.

Is it convenient at 3 AM....you bet it is.

We find it convenient at noon, too, not to mention hygienic.

I just don't get this whole mindset.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by booster

For those lengths of time, you must have a source for potable water and black tank dumping?

(1) To the extent achievable, the woods are used, but with inclement weather and night-time biting flies and whatnot, using the black tank is necessary on average a few times each day. Black tank dumping is achieved at a provincial park which is about an hour's round trip from my location. I can go there every 10 days or so. They have a separate fee just for tank dumping because they are the only facility in the area and a lot of RVers use them for that purpose whether they stay at the park or not.

(2) A source of potable water is not necessary, as long as a source of fresh water is nearby. I can make that water potable. It looks like this.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by avanti

I just don't get this whole mindset.

That's because you don't realize that the Lord in his infinite wisdom created hospital clean Chevron restrooms.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by avanti

You have made this claim several times. It does not strike me as plausible. Could you provide a citation to where RT makes this claim?


This is totally beyond my comprehension. I can (sort of) understand why folks might prefer the roomier and longer shower provided by a campground shower. But, why one would prefer a public restroom to one's own toilet seems just crackers. And, why the willingness to use it for one thing but not the other?

Invest in a squeegee and a roll of paper towels. The shower can be dried in 90 seconds.
disputed.


We find it convenient at noon, too, not to mention hygienic.

I just don't get this whole mindset.

See answers below;


Could you provide a citation to where RT makes this claim?


I was at a Roadtrek RV show and the sales representative from Roadtrek told me this... I had absolutely "no reason" not to believe him...


He really wanted to sell me a 2018 E-Trek for about $143,000.... listed for $166,000 … it was beautiful, but, really don't want to go that deep into hock on one of these.


Invest in a squeegee and a roll of paper towels. The shower can be dried in 90 seconds.



OK... I'll give it try.... really 90 seconds??? How fragile is the shower curtain? It looks harder to wipe down all the surfaces... maybe the exhaust fan works well??


But, why one would prefer a public restroom to one's own toilet seems just crackers. And, why the willingness to use it for one thing but not the other?



OK.... I've heard many things about the smell... and how hard it is to remove... I do have a macerator and while I don't think it's a problem with the plumbing system.. I'd rather transfer that to another place... there's plenty of clean public restrooms if you look... not a problem.


As far as resale value... YES... I think it's a big sales point...

Why do you disagree?? After all, people love extra baths in their homes.. and the convenience of having the bathroom on board is "obvious" to me..

[GallenH]

Remember, these are all individual preferences. In 1974 I camped in the Catskills. Pouring rain. My wife and I had a true army puptent. Canvas A tent that couldn't have been more than 3 feet at the peak. I remember a VW van (not a camper) pulling in and the guy opened the sliding door and sat playing the guitar on his mattress. Ah, to sleep on that, I thought. Flash forward 40+ years (yeah, we're all thinking it: @#$#, am I that old). It's all about perspective. Bs are these efficient, self-contained, agile wonders. We can go (almost) anywhere. The "wonder" is that we have hot water, a furnace, a bath, a fridge (forget my recent threads!) and a cooking area....ANY of which can be used when it's hailing outside (been there). That combination is the draw for many of us. But to each his/her own. BTW: As someone who does a complete body wash EVERY morning in the tiny bath of a 97 PW, avanti is correct: a good squeegee gets the surfaces almost dry within 1-2 min. Cheers!

[GeorgeRa]

If I had desires for a big RV it would buy a bus with dry shower with plenty of elbow room, big water tanks, a nice toilette, and a bidet.

Regarding the bidet, we were building a custom house in the small town in Oregon. Our master bathroom had a separate room for the toilet on one side and the bidet in the other one. Electrician did his scouting tour with us to understand our needs. Raw plumbing was done. He sticks his head into the toilette/bidet room with 2 look alike holes in the floor and gives us a startling look, so I explained, yes, we like to go together.

[GallenH]

Is this a "the family that _____ together, _____together" moment?