Shower Question

[funtwodrv]

Excuse the simple question... although we have viewed dozens of photos, we have yet to see one of these units in person! Having said that, my wife is a little perplexed about the "sit down shower". I just presumed there was no headroom back there. Can someone lend a little insight?
Thanks,
Gary

[RobertL]

Depends on how small you or your wife is?

I am 6'3", So the shower for me is neither sit down or stand up.
We extended our shower hose, place a changing tent(room) outside the rear door and feed the hose out the door after setting the water temp.
That and a matt to stand on works great.

[weekender]

Standing in the shower is both a question of height and how "wide" you are. The curve of the van comes into the stand up space just below my shoulders (I'm just under 6'). Right at this point, the fiberglass bubble that gives us standing room throughout the van takes over, and from a height perspective, I have plenty of room to stand, even in the shower. The problem is that that curve makes it difficult to have maneuvering room.
I have also extended the shower lead which allows me to use it outside the back door in warmer weather. If it is cold, then sitting down is all that works.


Steve

[RobertL]

It still works great for washing your hair, and if its cold out then its time to go back to the sponge bath method.

[OnTheRoad]

Has anyone rebuilt the bathroom/shower area?

Something I'm very tempted to work on is extending the shower pan to take the entire back of the van up to the closet and surrounding the toilet. Then I could either sit on the toilet cover to take a sit-down shower or have more room for standing up.

[skater]

Has anyone rebuilt the bathroom/shower area?

Something I'm very tempted to work on is extending the shower pan to take the entire back of the van up to the closet and surrounding the toilet. Then I could either sit on the toilet cover to take a sit-down shower or have more room for standing up.

The '97 and newer campers had a "wet bath" setup similar to what you describe. You might look at some pictures of those for ideas.

My wife can't use our shower. It's just too small. At 6' tall, I can barely, barely use it, and I get claustrophobic doing it - and I'm not usually prone to claustrophobia. This is our biggest gripe with the B190. We usually use campground showers instead.

[funtwodrv]

Thanks for the fedback and insight. My wife is 5'2", so it sounds llike she shouldn't have any trouble. The comment on the '98 and newer has us thinking about focusing on those years as we continue our exploration into ownership.

Thanks,
Gary

[weekender]

Hey Gary,
The later models with the wet bath have their advantages, but I have also seen members note that the waste tank valves are more prone to damage-- not as much clearance. The spare tire also mounts inside with this configuration-- cleaner look outside. (I personally would have kept the tire outside and used the space where they put the tire for storage!). Also for the kitchen area, the stovetop/oven and refrigerator have switched places. I believe the later models have a smaller extension for the over cab bunk, which I believe is also smaller. Lastly, I also believe most later models have the Triton V10 engine instead of the 460 V8.


Lots to think about!

Steve

[Keystone]

Here's another vote for running a long shower hose out the back door from this camp(er), to rinse off humans, pets, bikes, etc. Why? Because our shower is always full of our toys! It holds (not all at once): four pairs of skis bungee-d onto the towel rack; 2 sets of golf clubs; fishing gear and wet waders; firewood; two bushels of roasted green chilis(!); backpacks and bike gear. On the later models with the toilet and shower flip-flopped, this valuable tall cargo space would disappear (or you won't be able to get to the toilet). So, you have to ask yourself, would I rather have this storage space inside, or find a way to hang all my toys onto the outside of the van and have the more spacious indoor wet shower with toilet tucked around the corner? It all depends on how you use your van. I didn't know it a year ago when we bought ours, but now I'm happy we've got the old configuration. Works for us.

[skater]

Wow, Keystone - that's a lot of toys! (We just keep the cat's litter box in the shower.)

There's another advantage to the wet bath - it looks like you have more room in and around the toilet. In particular, I don't have much room between the toilet and the sliding curtain, and my knees can actually brush against the curtain while using the toilet. It also doesn't leave a lot of room to change if you want to put on a swimsuit in the middle of the day or whatever. I think the wet bath arrangement gives more room in general in the bathroom, but I haven't seen one in person to be sure of that.

I want to be clear, though - this is the 5th year and 6th camping season with my B190, and my wife and I used the camper on 10-12 trips last year, so obviously the size of the bathroom isn't a critical issue. It's more of a "if money weren't a factor, and we had our druthers, we'd rather have..." kind of thing.

[funtwodrv]

Points well taken... there are +'s and -'s for both the early and late models. From what I've learned here, I think the late model bath area would fit our needs better. Although, I would move the spare outside to a door mounted arangement or possibly mount it to the front bumper. As for the upper bunk being smaller on the late model, I suspect we will use that area for storage and sleep on the sofa. At least that's what we're thinking right now. Since we haven't actually seen either version, we may change our minds on the sleeping arrangements. We'll probably go with the first unit that impresses us regardless of the year model.

Thanks,
Gary

[weekender]

Hey Gary,

Not sure where you are located, but if it is anywhere near western MA, you are welcome to come by and see our '93

Steve

[funtwodrv]

Hi Steve,
That's a great offer... we're down in the Carolina's. Although MA is a road trip for us, we may have to take you up on that before we go too far down this path.

Thanks again,
Gary