Product Review: Zodi Outback Gear's Extreme SC Shower

Nov. 01, 2000 By Fidel Gonzales


Our Extreme SC 8160 came ready to use, just add water and a propane cylinder!

    


  I was wadded up in my sleeping bag with all the grease, grime, silt and slime that a day in an open Jeep can conjure up. My hair roosted worse than a crow's nest, and my skin was scathed filthier than a pig that's been swimming in slop since before General George Washington sent them limp-wristed Brits swimming back over the Atlantic. In laymen terms, I was the crustation on the Queen's backside.

   But that was little less than a third of the trouble I was to encounter. The Autumn air brought on a chill colder than a corpse in Antarctica, and waking from my rebel slumber, I knew I needed myself a shower and a swill of a real man's tea, you know, for old times sake and the proverbial toast to the Queen.

   In a glazed and groggy stoop, I threw on my prized poker-face and confronted the cold mountain air where a frozen lung languors well beyond the sunrise. My mission: shower like a queen in the world of real men.

   Well, there's only one way a real mountain man can get away with taking a shower that ain't as cold as an ice berg. The way of which I speak is the Extreme SC shower system.

   Now, I'm used to bathing in the cold brooks of Colorado and the frigid rivers wherever the heck you may call your campground, but if half the head on my shoulders is sitting straight, I've figured out that there's a better way to bathe stark naked in a sunless forest.

   I've tracked down the dudes who created the Extreme SC shower. They kicked down a shower that will whip the pants off of a princess in better circumstances than us Jeepers can jab at in a drunken stance.

   This thing will warm the excess water in your ice chest to jacuzzi-temp in just shy of 10 minutes. And if room temperature is anywhere near the 0-50 degree mark, expect your water to bring you toasty toes in just over five rounds of the big hand.

   In my shower experience, the 100-degree mark was just about right for that good feeling I feel at home, but to kick-up the heat and crank-up the rock-n-roll singing in my mountain shower experience, I went all the way to 105. I know, it got a bit close to the extreme temps my mama warned me about, but baby was I hot, singing stark naked in the ice-blue mountain air.


 

Zodi Extreme SC Shower System

   The Zodi Extreme SC is the most rugged and versatile of any hot water shower on the market, delivering a five minute stream of 100-plus degree water, allowing you to enjoy the life of a queen in even the most remote and ugly of environments. 


What She's Made Of

   First off, there ain't no booger welds nor no rust-o-matic metal on this thing. The tank sails slimmer than an anorexic Cindy Crawford and a heck of a lot better than the S.S. Minnow. You could simmer yourself up some tea if you absolutely had to, but if it were me, I'd leave the British brew for Boston Harbor where it belongs.

   The burner assembly is made of abuse-proof iron ore, laden with a thick coat of paint to protect her from the elements. The burner itself cranks out an astounding 10,000 BTU of brute water-roasting burn.

   The shower head works and adjusts with one hand. The hose it's attached to snakes around at a length long enough to cover even the dark side of the moon, however big that behemoth claims to be. The pump is a hell of a lot better than a Rebok. Equipped with high-grade plastic and a no-leak rubber gasket, the pump is impressively stouter than a Samuel Adams Cream Stout (well almost).

   The nylon gag-bag is useful to keep the other contents contained in an orderly fashion. It is bigger than it need be but will carry the four or more propane bottles you'll need to last you more than a year on your favorite trail.

Pump It Up

   Pump the thing 10 times and enjoy the force of a hot shower for about five minutes. Pump it the maximum recommended 18 times and enjoy it until she runs drier than an empty well of water in the sand dunes.

Let The Warmth Reign Down On You

   In testing thus far, the Extreme SC smoked-up a healing-hot shower in less than 10 minutes. Expect the results to rest well under that if your source of water is over 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

This gnarly little shower set up in less than three easy minutes. The contents came in a tough nylon bag.

    With one flick of the match you'll set your world into aqua heaven. You can adjust the heat to low for the slow-go at it, or you can "burn baby burn" until you satisfy your disco Jeeping dreams.

   Weighing in at about 9 lbs., the Extreme SC slides into any Jeep or SUV. In my '86 CJ, I crammed it between the the rear of the roll bar and the railing of the bed. Then secured it with a simple tie-down.

Three iron pieces simply assemble into the burner as quick as a cat can snatch a string. Toss in a small propane tank and you've got all the action you need to sing yourself a John Denver tune on a high note. It also makes a fantastic camp stove. In fact, I cooked some chorizo on it for breakfast!



The Cost

   A simple 150 smackers ($149.95)  will get you the goods. If your wife has already been to the department store sales, and your wallet is feeling thin, or you already have a nice camp stove, you can opt for the Model 8150. Which includes the same high quality shower, but without the stove/burner assembly.

The Straight Poop

   All kidding aside, the Extreme SC is a scalding hot unit. I set it up; It shook down a warm round, and I took it down in little less than 20 minutes. I was singing Roger Daltry all the way down to "Reign On Me." The shower lasted well into an obnoxious 10-minute long euphoric saga with a beer bottle balanced in my left hand while the other scrubbed the grub from my shapely figure.

Simply fill with water and place on the gas burner. When the built in temperature strip shows 100 degrees, just give the handle 10 quick pumps and enjoy a hot 5 minute shower.

The Stove

The Extreme SC includes the durable 10,000 BTU Extreme Stove. The rugged stove is powder coated for durability and collapses for easy transport. The stove is also handy for cooking and can even handle the weight of a heavy dutch oven. I chose to mount a cast iron skillet to the stove and do-up a tasty round of chorizo burritos.

Recommendations Please?

   Well, for less than 150 smackers, I'd recommend it to even the most cold-hearted cheapskates that I know. Because, even a cheapskate likes to camp in style.

 

Click Here for our recent test of Zodi's "Hot Tap Traveler" electric pump shower!

  For a local dealer or to order online...

Click Here!

Zodi Outback Gear
PO Box 4687
Park City, Utah 84060
(801) 255-6418

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