Question:

What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality?

Just bought a new ‘96 Coleman Shenandoah, which has cassette toilet and shower.  Picked the Shenandoah over the Niagra since it had manual lift mechanism instead of hydraulic.  I felt this would be more trouble free in the long run.  We just love it.  The shower is very handy, although somewhat cramped.  It’s nice to bathe kids there instead of taking them to bathhouses.  The toilet prevents those middle of the night trips to the bathhouse. One thought — a popup without a potty and shower is just a tent on wheels.  Since I already had a tent, I saw little point in getting one [popup] without the luxury of shower and toilet.

Response:

We are in the market for a tent trailer and are trying to decide whether to go with or without a shower/toilet.  We are looking at both Jayco and Coleman units.  In the Jayco line we are trying to decide between the following: 1) 1206 with inside shower/toilet 2) 1207 with outside shower In the Coleman line: 1) Niagra with inside shower/toilet 2) Key West/Sun Valley without shower/toilet What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality?  Any thoughts on the outside shower option with the Jayco’s?   Thanks for your feedback, Andy Vanagunas

We have an older Starcraft that we bought used and it came with a shower. We used the shower once and it was too much work and too messy but the stall is handy for an extra ice chest, gas grill, and a Porta-Potty. The P-P/toilet is practical at night with kids. An outside shower might be useful to wash off dirty feet, but the inside ones, IMHO, make too much of a mess and put a large demand on your battery for the water pump. Just an opinion. Eric

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality? Just bought a new ‘96 Coleman Shenandoah, which has cassette toilet and shower.  Picked the Shenandoah over the Niagra since it had manual lift mechanism instead of hydraulic.  I felt this would be more trouble free in the long run.  We just love it.  The shower is very handy, although somewhat cramped.  It’s nice to bathe kids there instead of taking them to bathhouses.  The toilet prevents those middle of the night trips to the bathhouse. One thought — a popup without a potty and shower is just a tent on wheels.  Since I already had a tent, I saw little point in getting one [popup] without the luxury of shower and toilet. We have the ‘96 Coleman Taos…a very basic model.  I bought a porta-pottie and it works just fine for eliminating the midnight walks to the bathroom.  We usually camp in TX St. parks that have nice bathroom/shower facilities, so showers are not a problem.  As far as your thought goes, we enjoy our Coleman very much and view it as much more than just a "tent on wheels". Oh yeah, I forgot to add that most TX St. parks don’t have sewer

hook-ups at the campsites and that dumping of grey water is prohibited (most pop-ups don’t have grey water holding tanks). Regards, — Ed.

Response:

What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality? Just bought a new ‘96 Coleman Shenandoah, which has cassette toilet and shower.  Picked the Shenandoah over the Niagra since it had manual lift mechanism instead of hydraulic.  I felt this would be more trouble free in the long run.  We just love it.  The shower is very handy, although somewhat cramped.  It’s nice to bathe kids there instead of taking them to bathhouses.  The toilet prevents those middle of the night trips to the bathhouse. One thought — a popup without a potty and shower is just a tent on wheels.  Since I already had a tent, I saw little point in getting one [popup] without the luxury of shower and toilet.

We have the ‘96 Coleman Taos…a very basic model.  I bought a porta-pottie and it works just fine for eliminating the midnight walks to the bathroom.  We usually camp in TX St. parks that have nice bathroom/shower facilities, so showers are not a problem.  As far as your thought goes, we enjoy our Coleman very much and view it as much more than just a "tent on wheels". Regards, — Ed.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We are in the market for a tent trailer and are trying to decide whether to go with or without a shower/toilet.  We are looking at both Jayco and Coleman units.  In the Jayco line we are trying to decide between the following: 1) 1206 with inside shower/toilet 2) 1207 with outside shower In the Coleman line: 1) Niagra with inside shower/toilet 2) Key West/Sun Valley without shower/toilet What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality?  Any thoughts on the outside shower option with the Jayco’s?   Thanks for your feedback, Andy Vanagunas

We have a 1994 Jayco Cardinal which I believe is equivelent to the 1206 model.  Ours has the cassette potty /shower combo. We would not do without it.  It is small but you don’t have to worry about crowded or dirty bath houses.  We have 4 kids ranging from a two year old to a 19 year old. With the two year old we don’t have to worry about sitting or playing in a dirty shower and for the 19 year old she doesn’t have to take all that blow dryer and etc to the shower house.  Also, we live and camp mostly in South Carolina.  Very hot and humid.  Most bath houses especially State Parks do not have AC.  By the time you shower and walk back to your camper you need another shower.  It is nice to get ready in the cool and comfort of your own camper. The potty is must. We also had the outside shower installed.  This comes in handy especially at the beach and when needing hot water for pots and pans that will not fit in the kitchen sink. Good luck, Cheryl Goss Cheryl Goss AT&T Global Information Solutions (803) 939-6539

Response:

One thought — a popup without a potty and shower is just a tent on wheels.  Since I already had a tent, I saw little point in getting one [popup] without the luxury of shower and toilet.

Our pop-up has a 3 burner LP stove, heater, AC, refrigerator, awning & screen room, lots of storage, two queen size beds and two dinning areas. I feel this is much more than "just a tent on wheels".  We decided on a unit without the shower and porta-potty because it did not suit our needs.  We have a porta-potty that we set up inside of a 2 man dome tent off to the side of our camping site for the night time emergency.  The campgrounds that we have visited have always had nice clean bathrooms and showers. Buying a pop-up with or with out the shower and potty or any other option is purely a personal preference. (That’s my 02 cents.)

Response:

Hi Andy, I have a coleman with an inside shower <snip My only complaint is that it would have been nice if coleman would have also placed a shower head on the outside under the sink. It would be nice for a quick rinse off. see you on the trail, Ron

Am I missing something here?  Can’t you just use a water hose connected to a spigot diverter?  I paid $2.99 (Target) for my diverter. Ed.

Response:

We are in the market for a tent trailer and are trying to decide whether

to go with or without a shower/toilet.  We are looking at both Jayco and Coleman units.  In the

Jayco line we are trying to decide between the following: 1) 1206 with inside shower/toilet 2) 1207 with outside shower In the Coleman line: 1) Niagra with inside shower/toilet 2) Key West/Sun Valley without shower/toilet What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your

opinion on its practicality?  Any thoughts on the outside shower option with the Jayco’s?   Thanks for your feedback, Andy Vanagunas

Hi Andy, I have a coleman with an inside shower and bought it specificaly because of that feature. If you have ever camped at a campground that has no hot water you will be very thankfull.In my opinion the coleman is a much better unit than the jayco. We have had our coleman three years now with no problems.My only complaint is that it would have been nice if coleman would have also placed a shower head on the outside under the sink. It would be nice for a quick rinse off. see you on the trail, Ron

Response:

Just a thought the indoor shower/toilet models could qualify as a second home for mortgage interest deductions. Also if there is a dealer in your area, check out Starcraft Starmaster and Starlounge. They are the same floorplans as the Coleman’s you mention. We have a model with the outdoor shower. My wife wants me to construct a portable shower curtain for some privacy for the kids. Adults will use the showers at the camp.

Response:

[EL SNIPPO MUCHO] ".My "only complaint is that it would have been nice if coleman would have also "placed a shower head on the outside under the sink. It would be nice for a "quick rinse off. see you on the trail, Ron

My Coleman has an outside shower with hot/cold water on the back wall below sink level.  Sure you’ve opened ALL those little doors?  :-) Regards, Alan Pilcher OS/2 MultiTasker ‘94 Williamsburg

Response:

We have a micro shower in our old trailer, and it works very well.  Only a 5gallon water heater, but if you use a little sense and take a "navy shower" two people can shower without using up all the hot water, and you only put 7 – 10 gallons of water in your holding tank.   It takes some discipline, and the installation of a showerhead/wand that has a shutoff valve.

Response:

Hi,  We purchased a 1996 Niagara back in March.  We picked that model for several reasons; the shower-cassette toilet, extra storage and hydraulic lift system.  At first I thought the shower would only be big aoungh for our grandkids, but last weekend, I used it and it was just fine.  The only change I want to make is to the shower curtain…I’m going to hang a waterproof fabric one and fix it so it pulls up like a shade when we’re not using it.  The shower is also great for holding stuff when traveling.                                                       Fran in Apopka, FL –

Response:

Hi Jim, I have to agree with Ed and Cassc. We just bought a 96 Coleman "Sun Valley". We also bought a portable potty. We could have bought a different model with a shower and all, but it seemed like it was just unnecessary. Nearly any place we stay will have showers. This camper has two queen-sized beds and most of the comforts of home. I am certainly not knocking folks who want to stay in tents. It can be a lot of fun, but it is not the same. Believe me, down here in Texas you need a powerful air conditioner. Few tents have that                                                Harold Holcomb.

Response:

We are in the market for a tent trailer and are trying to decide whether to go with or without a shower/toilet.  We are looking at both Jayco and Coleman units.  In the Jayco line we are trying to decide between the following: 1) 1206 with inside shower/toilet 2) 1207 with outside shower In the Coleman line: 1) Niagra with inside shower/toilet 2) Key West/Sun Valley without shower/toilet What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your opinion on its practicality?  Any thoughts on the outside shower option with the Jayco’s?   Thanks for your feedback, Andy Vanagunas

Response:

: What has been your experience with the inside shower/toilet, or your : opinion on its practicality?  Any thoughts on the outside shower : option with the Jayco’s?   We have a shower inside our ‘94 Coleman Yosemite.  We like it a lot and use it every time we go out.  We have 2 kids that like to get dirty and it is a great way to clean them up before slipping on the PJ’s before bedtime. Both kids are young and are terrified by camp showers, so the inside shower is the perfect thing to solve that problem.  If we didn’t have the kids, we probably wouldn’t use the shower except in rare non-developed camping situations. The shower is also a great place to store stuff that might leak or is wet. The other advantage of having a shower is that a hot water heater is standard equipment.  You can’t really appreciate hot water until you’ve been without it! Wes Fujii   KC7MFT       |             Weekend Camper Boise, Idaho             |  "Wishing for more weekends in the year" This article represents only the opinion[s] of its author, and is not an official or unofficial position of, or statement by, the Hewlett-Packard Company.  The text is provided for informational purposes only.  It is supplied without warranty of any kind.

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