This $700 Portable Shower Tests Your Tolerance for Dirt

A hot shower is one of those modern comforts you never truly appreciate until you’ve gone days without one. After a few nights camping at a music festival, a week on a dusty job site, or a summer spent overlanding in the middle of nowhere, that familiar itchy scalp and faint smell of stale sweat can make spending hundreds on a portable shower feel like a perfectly reasonable life choice.

I’ve been putting the Joolca Hottap Go through its paces while living out of my van, using it to rinse off after surfing and clean up after cooking. This Australian-designed unit comes with a built-in 12-liter water tank, a major upgrade over other portable showers that rely on external containers and long, trip-hazard hoses. The Hottap Go also recirculates water until it hits your chosen temperature, which is slightly slower than “instant” models but avoids wasting cold water that typically gets dumped on the ground.

Priced at $554, the Hottap Go needs an external 12V power source. In the U. S., Joolca offers a $165 magnetic power bank that snaps onto the case. For my European testing, I sourced a comparable €85 (about $100) power bank from Amazon. The result is a truly self-contained hot water system you can take anywhere.

Let’s be clear: the Hottap Go uses electricity to run its pump and display, but it heats water with propane gas. It works with standard 1lb propane canisters out of the box, and larger tanks require a hose and regulator you supply yourself.

What I really appreciate is how everything stores inside the water tank when not in use: hoses, battery, showerhead, and gas canister all fit neatly inside. The flow-adjustable showerhead comes with a strong magnetic holder, and the recirculation preheat system shows Joolca’s designers have learned from competitors’ shortcomings.

To shower, you connect the quick-release hoses for gas and water, plug the unit into a 12V source (power bank, power station, or your car’s cigarette plug), set your desired temperature, and wait. The unit heats and recirculates until a series of beeps signals it’s ready. I brought tap water to 47°C / 117°F in exactly four minutes, just enough time to set up my outdoor shower stall between my van’s rear doors.

The magnetic showerhead holder is incredibly convenient, attaching to the Hottap Go body or anywhere on my van at any angle. The on/off button on the showerhead helps conserve water while lathering, and the grey dial adjusts flow rate. On a windy day at the beach, I noticed the unit had to keep reigniting, eventually showing an E3 error on the display. Repositioning it out of the wind solved the problem. Otherwise, it lit and stayed lit without issue.

Joolca claims the Hottap Go is good for two “great showers” or one long, luxurious one. I managed two satisfying showers from the full 12L (3.2 gal) tank, using the on/off switch liberally to save water while lathering.

Water flow is adequate but not impressive, even at maximum setting. It’s strong enough to rinse long, thick hair during shampooing, but it won’t blast grime off a mountain bike. The magnetic holder is sturdy, and the showerhead feels comfortable in hand with a well-placed switch. Adjusting flow rate requires two hands, but I mostly left it on max.

If you’ll only use a portable shower once or twice a year, spending over $554 on the Hottap Go is hard to justify, especially when tankless options like BougeRV cost half as much. But for vanlifers or anyone regularly spending days away from plumbing, $719 (with the power bank) is easily justified for what may be the best portable hot water shower available. I much prefer the Hottap Go’s recirculating tank, performance, and convenience, though I wish the magnetic power bank were included in the base price.

Specifications:

• Tank: 12L (3.2 gal), ~2 showers
• Water flow rate: 1.5 – 3.5 L/min (0.4 – 0.9 gal/min)
• Shower hose: 3m (9.8 ft)
• Showerhead with integrated magnetic mount and on/off/flow controls
• Two-stage filter for creek water use
• Cigarette socket power cable: 5m (16.4 ft), 12V DC
• Power draw: 45W
• Max temp: 60°C (140°F), pre-heats in ~5 min
• Gas: 0.45 kg (1 lb) canister, ~15 showers
• Gas flow rate: 20MJ/hr (18,956 BTU/hr)
• Weight: 9.5 kg (20.9 lb) without water
• Size: 495 x 359 x 180 mm (19.5 x 14.1 x 7.1 in), fits most jerry can holders