Roadshower 4 Review

Why is it sometimes a struggle to convince your other half that camping is actually fun? Two things. Sleep and shower. The Roadshower 4 more than addresses the latter of those two. I have been testing this product for a while now and can confidently say that as long as the sun is shining it does guarantee a hot shower! It uses the rays of the sun to warm up the water in the black heat-absorbing Roadshower 4. 

Let’s start with mounting the shower. My old Hannibal roofrack had railings all round and I was able to hide the 1.4 metre long shower out of sight. It tucked up nicely behind the railings while I used the slot channels on the slats of the rack to secure it. The shower has slot channels on the side and bottom, so when I secured it onto the legs of my new Frontrunner roofrack I used the slot channels on the side. The slot channels run the entire length of the shower so you can fit the bolts and brackets in any position. It’s really very quick and easy to secure to the rack and all fitment accessories are included.

  Now with the Roadshower 4 fitted to the legs of my roofrack it’s so easy to access when needed. I was very fortunate in that when I decided to test and review this product we were experiencing a heatwave by UK standards. I filled the shower with 26 litres of water in the evening after using the included special wrench to loosen the heavy duty lid. Though the Roadshower 4 has been painted black if you take a look inside you will see it is all aluminium. When empty the Roadshower 4 only weighs 11.3 kg but once filled it was 35 kg. I recommend that when on a trip where you will be showering most evenings keep it full or else if half full you will hear it when driving with the radio off. Once full I used my bicycle pump to pressurise it to 65 PSI using the Shrader valve. On the lid there is a pressure release valve to prevent you from over-pressurising it. It’s important that you pressurise it correctly for better performance, of course.  

I then left it till midday the next day when it was a glorious 22 degrees Celsius outside. Although one can buy a shower extension I only had a quality hose with an adjustable sprayer. When set on max it can shoot the water several metres away or else you can adjust it for a shorter, softer spray. I don’t do cold water and by midday it was good enough for a warm shower. By 3 o'clock it was what I would call a hot shower. 

I paddle a lot on the local rivers and one of my favourite applications is using the Roadshower 4 to  clean myself and my equipment off after a day on the water. If the shower water is too hot I just add some cooler water and away I go. My only one regret is that I put the thermometer (it’s a sticker) on when I mounted it into my old rack. Now on my new rack the thermometer is at the back of the shower, so I have to climb onto the rack to see the temperature. When I buy the shower extension I will just order another one.

VERDICT: There are lots of simple and pretty advanced shower options out there. This one is sort of in the middle – low maintenance, not the cheapest but boy does it work well when the sun is shining. It only needs man and sun power and is very easy to maintain and use.

PRICE: £345 
Contact: offgridgear.co.uk

Did you know that you can now get access to the entire archive of Land Rover magazine content with our brand new digital archive? You can enjoy all the issues since the launch of the magazine – use the search bar below to find features, reviews and other great content: