A fire with flames rising through the coil will heat water more effectively than a bed of coals.
SBM
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Too much gear when all it takes is a sauce pan or tea kettle full of water and half a bag of cold water to get a very warm shower with a solar bag.
If you’re short on space in a boat, it makes good sense to have every bit of gear do at least double duty. A cooking pot and a solar shower bag could provide a hot shower, but perhaps not as efficiently as the ShowerCoil. If I’m correctly remembering the formula I used to use to mix darkroom chemicals to required temperatures, a gallon of boiling water added to a half bag—2 gallons—of water at 60° would mix up to 3 gallons at a toasty 110°. The temperature is good, but it takes a big pot to hold a gallon of water. I put one of my big kitchen pots on a large burner of my electric range set on high. It took 18 minutes to bring the gallon to 212°, a rolling boil. The biggest pot I take camping holds 1 1/2 quarts. Brought to a boil, it would add to 3 quarts of 60° water to create a gallon and 2 cups of water at 110°. I think that the ShowerCoil holds up well by the numbers and the system is fairly compact. A hot shower is a luxury and if you’re traveling light it’s easy to do without or make do, but if you have a bit of room to spare and plan to have campfires, 4 gallons of hot water is something to look forward to.
Christopher Cunningham, Editor, Small Boats Monthly
I always set my solar showers black side up to absorb the sun’s energy.
With the clear side up, sunlight passes through the clear surface and the water on its way to the inside surface of the black back. The ShowerCoil comes with two identical bags, so it would be easy to conduct a side-by-side test with one bag clear side up, the other black side up. I’ll give it a try and report back. In a similar test posted on YouTube, the water in the bag with the clear side up was measurably hotter.
Christopher Cunningham, Editor, Small Boats Monthly