Coleman H2Oasis Shower

Chris Griggers

Adventurist
Author
When it comes to overlanding, no matter what, you get down and dirty! Ok, ok. Get your minds out of the gutter, not that type of dirty. Some of us like to rough it and just stay dirty, some of us may use baby wipes and try and get some of it off to freshen up before bed, but…me, I like a nice hot shower to rinse off and refresh after a long day on the trails or even just a few hours of sitting near the campfire eating s’mores or waiting for your delicious cobbler/cinnamon rolls to finish in your dutch oven. For those men who are just starting out and trying to talk your wife into this incredible hobby, you will receive extra points for having a hot shower available to her. Yeah, there may be tons of different portable shower systems, but this is about the Coleman Hot Water On Demand H2Oasis.

So what exactly is it, how does it work, and why am I discussing it? Well…the Coleman H2Oasis is like a tankless instant water heater in your home, it runs off of propane and gets you really hot water in no time, reaching its max at 125°F! It is very simple to set up by just connecting the two silicon hoses (6ft), dropping the pump in any 5 gallon water can, connecting your 16.4 oz propane and igniting it, and dialing in your temperature. It works great when it is charged up. Yes, unfortunately, I said charged up. It has a built-in lithium-ion battery that is charged from your 12V car charger that powers the electric pump. Coleman states it is perfect for washing dishes, making hot beverages, or showering during outdoor adventures. I’m gonna be honest and say its almost perfect, and overall a good buy and is a great addition to anyone’s overlanding gear.

Colemand-H2Oasis-Review-1.jpg
Colemand-H2Oasis-Review-3.jpg


The Good:

Straightforward and simple to operate (once you read the instructions)

You get very hot water, very quickly which is more convenient that a solar shower bag.

Lightweight and easy to move around.

Fairly small for easy storage and rugged.

You get to take a hot shower or give your pet one while out in the field, camping, or just getting dirty around the house.

You could use it at home in case of an emergency.

Uses very little propane, which allows the propane to outlast the battery.

My wife gets really frustrated when she is taking a shower and doesn’t have enough pressure to get conditioner out of her long hair. So one of the requirements when I'm searching for a portable shower, is will it have enough pressure for her? The pressure of the H2Oasis is preset and is actually quite strong, meeting her needs nicely.

Colemand-H2Oasis-Review-5.jpg
Colemand-H2Oasis-Review-4.jpg


The Bad:

It is recommended to charge it a full 6 hours before your first use.

It only came with a standard 12v male socket for charging, there is an optional wall charger available for purchase separately.

It isn’t really on demand. There is no way to shut off the water while in use. So you either have to turn the unit off and restart it or do what I do and put the showerhead back in the water to continuously cycle and not waste water, while you scruba dub dub.

It is not completely self-contained, you have to have 16.4 oz propane handy and a water can, which most of us have that anyway. Purchasing the carrying bag, will at least allow you to have two propane bottles with you.

You have to recharge the pump after about four 10 minute showers.

It has a lot of safety features, which is nice; however, it was slightly frustrating figuring them out on our first camping trip. It might have saved some frustration if we would have read the instruction book it came with.


The price:

H2Oasis itself-$279.99 Amazon Prime shipping

Carrying bag-$37.74

Hose Adapter to use a garden hose for unlimited water supply. -$36.32
 
Glad to hear this is a good product. I've been looking at using some other on demand propane heaters but was never a fan of the form factor and having to integrate a separate pump. Unbelievably Kmart has these on their website for $238 with free shipping right now. I really like the size of this unit and it would be handy around the house for cleaning off dirty kids and pets before they come inside.

Looking at the wire diagram it appears you could remove the rechargeable battery and add an Anderson connector to plug it directly into a vehicle starting/house battery. The average car battery should run the pump for about 30 hours straight.

Screenshot_20170905-224327.png
 
I've got the older version of that unit. Mine has always worked well for us, my biggest complaint was the size of the unit, the new one does look smaller.

After this last road trip for the eclipse, we REALLY enjoyed having hot water/shower capability. Machelle decided that it needed to be a regular part of our pack out for any trip. She found a spot in the camper where it fits mostly out of the way.
 
bob91yj - my first thought too was a smaller footprint/size than the old monster Coleman had. Sold that one because it was just too darn big. Looks like they still haven't put a shut off on the shower head. That's a real drawback. Someone over on Expo Portal I believe posted up how to put in a T valve/switch and a little more hose to reroute the water back to it's source instead of to the shower head to effectively 'shut off' the water while soaping up, etc. The only other alternative was to place the unit close enough to your shower enclosure to shut the unit off until you needed the water again.
 
bob91yj - my first thought too was a smaller footprint/size than the old monster Coleman had. Sold that one because it was just too darn big. Looks like they still haven't put a shut off on the shower head. That's a real drawback. Someone over on Expo Portal I believe posted up how to put in a T valve/switch and a little more hose to reroute the water back to it's source instead of to the shower head to effectively 'shut off' the water while soaping up, etc. The only other alternative was to place the unit close enough to your shower enclosure to shut the unit off until you needed the water again.

I'm glad to read that, since that was my first thought as well. I have a tank, not a bucket, so it wouldn't be so easy to just stick the shower-head in (even if I opted to use a Jerry can for the shower I think a bypass hose would be easier).
 
Glad to hear this is a good product. I've been looking at using some other on demand propane heaters but was never a fan of the form factor and having to integrate a separate pump. Unbelievably Kmart has these on their website for $238 with free shipping right now. I really like the size of this unit and it would be handy around the house for cleaning off dirty kids and pets before they come inside.

Looking at the wire diagram it appears you could remove the rechargeable battery and add an Anderson connector to plug it directly into a vehicle starting/house battery. The average car battery should run the pump for about 30 hours straight.

View attachment 33471
It actually comes with about a 10 ft power cord with a standard 12v male plug. You can charge it with the plug or run it off of it once the battery dies.
 
Back
Top Bottom