How often have we come out of the water with our heavy scuba gear on and walked up to the beach shower only to have to wait in a long line!
We recently purchased a RinseKit Pro Pak which is an insulated 5-gallon container with a built-in pressurized pump and shower head. Essentially a portable shower.
We got to use it for the first time when shore diving at the Blue Heron Bridge. As a bonus, you can fill it with warm or hot water. What a treat!
We have seen others build their own shower systems using a large water tank and pump (surely cheaper and more capacity) but, for us, the convenience and portability of the Rinse Kit was a selling point. We’ve also seen roof mount gravity-based systems, self-pump versions, but we really liked the idea of an electric pump to provide constant pressure.
We love that you can carry the Pro Pak on your back like a backpack.
There is a thick insulation around the water tank and when filling it with hot water, it kept the temperature for a few hours. It was nice to hose off after our dive with a hot shower. The 5-minute run time was more than enough for the two of us to rinse off and to rinse all our gear. The pump had ample pressure (they claim 50 psi) and it seemed to hold its charge well.
It comes with a convenient auxiliary power outlet (cigarette lighter plug) for the car as well as a standard wall plug to charge it at home. It seemed to charge quickly.
The shower hose fits nicely into a zippered pocket on the side of the unit and was long enough to reach out of our trunk. The shower head has the usual shower, jet, and mist modes. It comes with a quick attachment. They also sell accessories to mount the shower head, but we were good to just hold it in our hand.
It was nice to hose off right at the car as we could also rinse tanks and equipment after stripping off wet suits and disassembling the gear for packing. Also nice to rinse off the boots without walking through more sand from the beach shower.
The duffle like shape of the bag worked well for us and we could put it in the trunk lengthwise next to our tanks. This also leaves the hose and pump button facing the back for easy access. We found the bag to be well designed and well constructed and we expect it to last. Note the turn off switch on the shower head! We initially thought the pump had stopped working, but it helps if you turn the water on!
While tempted to just keep it filled in the trunk (we might do that on consecutive dive days) we followed the advice of emptying the reservoir to let it dry in order to avoid any mildew or mold from getting in there. We might try rinsing with vinegar from time to time for a deeper clean if storing it for a while.
RinseKit Pro Pak Specifications:
- Price: $400 but look for occasional coupons
- Capacity: 5 gallons
- Run time: 5 minutes
- Size: 12 in. x 9 in. x 27 in.
- Hose length: about 7 feet
- Weight: empty almost 15 pounds and full about 47 pounds
Overall impressions
Being over $400 this may not be for everyone and note that RinseKit does have some smaller models too. Some have manual pumps or use the hose pressure but the built-in pump with the Pro Pak kept up a good and constant pressure.
The bag is easy to fill with a large fill hole on top and seems to be well insulated. It would have been nice to see connectors where the hose goes into the bag as this could be a point of failure or leakage. We also found it a bit hard to drain having to turn the bag upside down. A removable drain plug would also have been a nice addition.
Conclusion
We have to say that the convenience of having a hot shower right at the car was pretty cool and we do enough shore diving to treat ourselves to such a luxury. It does take up some trunk space and it barely fit lengthwise in our small SUV trunk. That said, the portable format could go on a seat and be pulled out when needed.
We plan to use if for shore diving and even just going to the beach or kayaking / canoeing. Anyone going hiking or camping would surely appreciate the convenience.
*Please note that we are not paid for this write-up, we simply want to share our findings in the fast-moving field of scuba and outdoor gear.