Advnture Verdict
The Colapz is a cracking power shower that comes in useful in a multitude of ways when you’re spending time outside, from washing yourself and your kit to doing the dishes and hosing down the dog.
Pros
- +
Can be charged from USB
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One charge provides up to an hour of pump time
- +
Folds small into carry bag
Cons
- -
Careless use will empty water supply fast
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Colapz 12v Portable Rechargeable Travel Shower: first impressions
The Colapz 12v Portable Rechargeable Travel Shower puts some extra power in your camping shower. Gravity-fed solar showers might be the best lightweight option for hikers and cyclists, but for car campers, van dwellers and small-boat sailors, a compact, powered shower has many uses other than just hosing the day’s travel grime from your body.
• List price: £49.99 (UK)
• Weight: 719g / 25.5oz
• Capacity: Dependent on water container
• Materials: Assorted
• Features: USB rechargeable battery powered pump
• Shower head type: Comes with interchangeable shower rose, jet nozzle and trigger head
Having said that, with a flow rate of three liters a minute, the Colapz is good for that use too (just be careful not to go overboard and use up all your water supply). The two obvious advantages are having a powerful jet you can direct where needed, and being able to use a variety of water supply options.
The Colapz gives around an hour of use from its USB rechargeable battery, and is rated for water up to 60°C, which means it’s good to pump from a tub of warm water for a better-than-basic shower experience, or hot water from your best camping bucket for tough cleaning and rinsing jobs. The complete unit comes with three heads: rose, nozzle and trigger jet.
Colapz 12v Portable Rechargeable Travel Shower: in the field
During a long summer living on a small sailing boat, I kept coming up with new off-grid uses for the Colapz 12v Portable Rechargeable Travel Shower: flushing an outboard’s cooling system, pressure-jetting muddy trail running shoes and my bike before bringing them back on board, and using – and misering – hot water when doing the dishes.
With a flow rate of up to three liters a minute, the key to efficient water use is to use the trigger head in short bursts for cleaning jobs, and for showering standing in a tub large enough to collect the rinse-off water to be repumped round.
The latter system is a particularly useful hack for cold water and sea swimmers going into the colder months; a Thermos of hot water mixed with a container of cooler water provides a warm rinse down in even the remotest location.
