A year ago I first stumbled upon the website for KickAss Products when I was searching for a 12V battery system to power my off-road adventures. I installed an AGM battery and DCDC charger into my Jeep shortly after discovering the company, and have been very impressed with the quality of those products.

KickAss Products is an Australia-based company that started bringing their outback-proof gear to the United States in 2021. After installing the 12V electrical systems, I started exploring the other offerings that KickAss had available on the Australian market, but had yet to release in the United States. One of the products that caught my eye immediately was the propane-powered instant hot water shower. I emailed KickAss asking if they had plans to import the shower system to the US market, and about 8 months later, here it is!

Instant Hot Water Showers

The concept behind an instant hot water shower system is similar to that of residential on demand water heaters. Rather than a traditional hot water heater with a large storage tank, these heaters run water through superheated coils to rapidly heat it on demand. The result is a smaller hot water heater with lower energy costs — you don’t have to constantly maintain a tank of hot water, only heating it when needed.

A few companies have translated this concept from residential applications to smaller units that can be carried in vans, trailers, or overland vehicles. Roughly the size of a briefcase, these units only require a water supply and propane in order to deliver hot water at the push of a button.

Although primarily marketed as showers, these units can also be used to generate hot water for any number of other applications, including cleaning gear or doing the dishes at camp. Of note, you cannot use this shower to heat water for consumption, so don’t think of boiling a pot of tea here…

The KickAss Products Camp Shower

The KickAss Products shower itself is roughly the size of a briefcase (19x12x6”), but requires some additional hoses and parts that take up additional space and storage. Included with the shower unit is a shower head, a hose to connect the shower head to the shower, a propane tank hose, and some adapters. Most notably not included with the shower is a water supply input, which we’ll talk about later. The whole thing weighs around 12lbs.

While the size and weight don’t seem too daunting, you do have to consider that additional space needs to be afforded around the unit when operating due to the heat it creates. The top of the shower has a chimney-like exhaust that needs to be away from anything flammable or combustable. Likewise, the shower cannot be used in a tightly enclosed space, so mounting it inside the car, tent, camper, or anywhere else where there is no ventilation is a recipe for problems (heard of carbon monoxide?).

Water, Water Everywhere?

As mentioned earlier, the KickAss Products shower does not supply water input, but requires this in order to operate properly. The reason KickAss Products doesn’t include a water input is because they offer the flexibility to pick-and-choose a system and installation that works best for your setup. This flexibility is appreciated, but also requires a little more research and planning.

Essentially, to run the shower you have two options for providing water: 1) Connect to a pressurized water source (aka a hose) or 2) pump water to the shower.

Connecting the shower to a pressurized water source is undoubtedly the easier of the two options. You roll into a campsite with a hose bib, connect a piece of hose from the spigot to the shower, turn on the spigot, and viola! Of course this requires carrying a length of hose with you (and accounting for the fact that the spigot might not always be close to where you plan to park your rig / shower tent / etc). And it also requires that you camp someplace where there is a spigot. Generally speaking, we don’t tend to camp at places where water connections like that are available, and when we do, those campgrounds normally have their own shower buildings.

When primitive camping, you won’t have the option to connect to a pressurized hose, so supplying the shower with water will require additional equipment. To provide a pressurized water source to the shower, you’ll need to add some sort of pump. KickAss Products offers two 12V self-priming pumps designed for this job - one that flows 1.5 gallons/minute and the larger that pumps 3 gallons / minute. I would only recommend the 3 gallons / minute pump, however, as head loss from the pump to the shower should be considered.

KickAss Products 3 Gallons / Minute (17L) Self-Priming Pump

I paired my shower with the aforementioned self-priming 17 L / 3 gallons / minute pump that KickAss Products offers. The main reason for choosing this pump is that it offers a lot of flexibility for mounting and installation, and I can easily connect it to my 12V electrical system.

The pre-wired kit available from KickAss Products makes installing the pump much easier

Initially I thought i’d install the pump into the vehicle and run a quick-connection port from the pump to someplace outside the car where I could then connect the shower. This would have been the ultimate choice for a clean installation; however, I opted not to do this because of the risk of a leak. Water and electricity generally don’t mix, and I didn’t want to have the pump too close to the auxiliary battery system that I have in the back of the Jeep in the event of a water leak.

Instead I’ve been working to build a little box enclosure for the pump that I can hang next to the shower in operation, and that has a 12V cigarette lighter that comes off the side of the box, connecting to the electrical system. This keeps the electrical components far away from the water and avoids any risk of problems should I encounter a leak (this isn’t a suggestion that the shower or pump does leak — so much as a mindset that at some point, every piece of gear will break, and when it does, I don’t want it to break anything more than needed).

Conveniently enough (and what I should have ordered), KickAss Products offers a pre-wired kit exactly as I have described. Everything is sealed in a little plastic box with an easy-to-attach Anderson-style connector and fused switch. If I was doing it all over again, I’d just order their pump kit. Their pre-wired kit also offers maximum flexibility for using the pump for other applications.

One thing I would like to have seen KickAss Products offer is a pre-wired kit that included a small rechargeable battery. The fact that I still have to wire any of their pumps into another battery pack is a limitation, and most people won’t ever need to run the pump or more than 20-30 minutes, which a small battery pack can handle.

Installation and Operation of the Shower

Because the KickAss camp shower cannot be installed in an enclosed space, there isn’t really an “installation” other than to pull the shower out, hook it up, and get to bathing. However, you should consider a few other factors when picking up a KickAss shower — most notably, do you have a shower awning, and if so, do you have a good place to hang your shower? As it happens, I will transport the shower and main components inside the large waterproof box on the roof of my Jeep, and hang it from the Maximus-3 side ladder (next to the shower awning) when I am ready to take a shower. This gives enough space to run the shower head into the awning, though it’s a little stretch to fiddle with the knobs on the shower when I’m naked and shower-ready… so plan ahead.

Setting up the shower for operation is pretty straightforward. As part of initial setup and installation, you’ll prep a few things in order to make future operation easier. Let’s dive in.

First, remove all the packaging and water inlet caps. You’ll need two D batteries and to insert them in the bottom right compartment of the shower. These supply power to the electronics, so plan ahead with the D cell batteries. (This is a bit of a pet peeve for me — I don’t ever use or carry D batteries— I had to buy a pair just for this shower, and now I’ll need to carry spares in my rig). KickAss provides pretty comprehensive instructions on installing the connections; there are some fittings and adapters included that take the connections on the shower from whatever specifications and sizes are common in Australia to those commonly found in the United States. KickAss generously also includes teflon tape so you can do the install and have a nice water-tight connection. Once you’ve connected the quick-disconnect fittings and adapters, I would suggest keeping them on the shower full-time so as to reduce the number of steps needed for future setup.

Connect Propane

Ready to take a hot shower? The water won’t be hot unless you connect the camp shower to a source of propane. I used my 5lbs bottle that is normally mounted to my spare tire. KickAss provides a hose with built-in regulator for use. Personally, I will need to invest in a longer propane hose when I use the shower while camping — or I’ll have to remove the propane tank from its storage / transport location as the hose is a bit short to reach the propane and also be convenient to my shower awning. In fact, the hose is a little tight just going from the shower to the ground if I wanted to put the tank on the ground at the base of the shower.

Now is a good time to disclaimer that working with propane can be dangerous. Make sure you cannot smell propane when your shower is connected and check for gas leaks regularly. The KickAss shower manual has pages of safety precautions about propane — heed them!

Connect Water Output (Shower head)

Next I connected the shower output hose - aka the shower head. As the connections are setup on the bottom of the shower, doing this step next in setup skips over the water input, but that’s on purpose. In the event someone turned on the water input (hose) before I was ready or when I was fiddling with the shower head attachment, the self-igniting shower could start spraying hot water. By connecting the shower head before I attach the source water, I remove any possible risk — remote as it might be — of an uncontrolled shower.

The shower head connects with a slip-in quick disconnect and has a nice long hose. I’ve got plenty of length in the shower hose to navigate all of my body parts while getting clean.

Connect Water Input

Finally, connect the water input. In this case I’m using source water from a hose. I know this goes against what I said earlier about normally not camping where there is a water spigot, however, we should pause to quickly remember that as I’m writing this, I’m currently living in Europe. Primitive camping is not legal with the same freedoms as it is stateside, so I am largely confined to campgrounds that do have water supplies for the next few years. Anyway, that is unique to my current setup, but when I get back to the states, I will be primarily using water that I carry myself and pump into the shower rather than water from a hose.

Make Shower Magic

With everything connected, it’s time to celebrate by getting naked and running around — okay — maybe just get naked and shower. But first, you’ll want to set your water shower knobs, make sure the shower is on, the source water supply is on, and your propane tank is on. When everything is on, you’ll hear the shower start to click as it ignites. The unit will automatically kick-into heating mode, and it’s time to do this thing.

Now this isn’t that type of blog, so you’re going to have to use your imagination to guess how wonderful my naked shower dance was, because I didn’t photograph it!

A Camp Shower Packed With Features

The KickAss camp shower is packed with features to make operation and use efficient and easy. Starting with the shower head — the head has a toggle built into the shower head that allows you to turn it off and interrupt the water supply while you shower. Even if you are connected to a pressurized water supply, I would encourage using this shower head shut-off during every shower to preserve water. Cut the shower water off when you are lathering and soaping up, then turn it on only when you actually need the water. This is different from how most of us shower at home, but it’ll help conserve your water supply. It also will result in less water ending up on the ground, which means less mud at your feet. And it’s better for the environment.

The shower head has three adjustable spray patters for dialing in your personalized shower preference. Choose between “big fat spray”, “even rain”, or “centralized spittle” (my words) on the shower head by rotating the tab on the head, just like you would in your home shower.

The face of the camp shower has three knobs to let you dial in your preferred shower. First is the summer vs wintertime selector. Admittedly, I haven’t played with this since it’s summertime and I’m not sure you’ll catch me taking a shower with this unit when it is freezing outside. But if you are a braver eskimo then I am, you’ll want to flip the switch in the winter months. Then we have two knobs for water min / max and propane min / max. To be honest, the labelling on these knobs could probably be improved, as it’s not immediately intuitive what will happen as you change the settings on either knob. Furthermore, the labeling on the knob itself is mediocre — the water drop and gas flame icon look similar enough that you really need to look close to know which one you are changing. I will probably use the label maker to add an improve label here so I’m not fumbling with this in a morning of delirium. (I haven’t woken up until I have showered, so I need to make my camp shower foolproof!).

The camp shower, like any hot water heater, is affected by the temperature of the incoming water. The colder the source water, the colder your output and vice versa. To start, set the water output knob to max and the gas knob to low. The water coming out will be the lowest temperature available based on the input water source at that time. Fancy a hotter shower? Slowly turn the gas valve to maximum. Do this slowly and give it a second to feel the change on your water output (just like your home shower). Still want hotter? If you have maxed out the gas knob, this is when you’ll start to throttle back the water knob to further increase the water output temperature.

If that sounds complicated, don’t worry — it’ll come pretty naturally once you’ve done it once or twice. Another way of thinking about it is that you only mess with one knob at a time — you aren’t trying to adjust both at the same time.

A Shower Awning to Avoid Peep Shows

Unless you are really out there, you’ll want to also pick up a shower awning tent for when it’s time to do the naked shower dance. The shower tents are designed to mount to virtually anything, including the side of a rig, and quickly self-deploy and unroll. They also make great changing rooms when you need a little privacy.

I got my shower awning before KickAss was importing into the United States, but if I was to do it again, I’d buy one of their awnings in an instant. They are spacious and deploy really fast. If you don’t have an awning, be sure to grab one when you buy your shower.

Opportunities for Improvement

If you read my review of the KickAss 12V DCDC charger and battery system that I installed last summer, then you know I’m a big fan of their products, as I had almost nothing negative to say about either product. As a company, they certainly specialize in producing 12V auxiliary power systems for camping and off-road applications, and it showed through the innovations and unique product offerings they have brought to market.

I’m not sure that camp showers are the flagship product for KickAss; although this shower certainly worked exactly as advertised, but it lacked some of the finesse and refinement that the 12V systems have. Said another way — Coca-Cola is known as a soft drink company. They specialize in the production and distribution of delightful caffeinated beverages enjoyed worldwide. If Coca-Cola started to produce chocolate bars tomorrow, it might be fine, but your expectations for that product are biased from your experiences drinking Coca-Cola. KickAss really kicked ass with the 12V auxiliary power systems, so my expectations of the shower were colored by my experience before.

My biggest critique of the shower is that I think KickAss Products could improve it to make the shower a little more “user friendly” to deploy and operate — or at least have the option to pay a little more for a shower kit that was more pre-built. If I had a camp trailer or a different type of vehicle, I would probably better appreciate the modularity of this system; however, I cannot permanently mount the shower inside of the Jeep for safety reasons, and therefore I’m left with a pile of parts that I need to organize, store, and not loose in the back of my rig. Ideally, KickAss would offer this same shower in a pre-built kit that came in a case with space to hold all the hoses and parts, integrated the pump into the shower box, and made it easy to pack and carry. If I could simply pop open the latches of a box, attach a few fittings, and be ready to shower, I’d be head-over-heels in love with that.

The other improvement that would be super awesome is the offering of two additional expansion parts: 1) a filter for pulling water from a stream/ river and 2) an optional shower head / sink thing for dish washing. In my experience, I am often camping near a place of natural moving water. Rather than needing to haul water with me to shower, it’d be AWESOME if I could drop a length of hose into a stream or river and pump that water through the shower. To do that would require adopting a system where the pump was battery powered (so I could put it closer to the water source and not have to constantly plan around a wire to my battery) and had a floating filter head. The problem with just tossing a hose into a stream is that you’ll likely pull up sand and debris from the bottom of the stream, so a filter and float helps ensure water from the middle of the stream is being brought into the shower.

Recommendation

A camp shower after a day on the trails is admittedly a luxury, but no feeling in the world compares to the bliss that accompanies a hot shower and the accompanying cleanliness. What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a trip? You shower. What if you could do that before you got home… This shower gives you that freedom. It also makes it possible to extend forays into the woods before you feel compelled to get the dirt, grime, and funk off.

If being clean and refreshed appeals to you, then the KickAss camp shower is a great way to get there.

I would highly recommend this shower to anyone with a setup that allows them to install the shower for easy deployment. I’m thinking about trailers or pickup trucks with gull-wing doors; the shower would be that much better if you could safely mount and install it in a place that was minimized the setup before each shower. We have talked about our next build being a vehicle like this, and I anticipate we will permanently mount the shower into that rig when the time comes.

Not ready to get into a hot water shower? KickAss Products has you covered with this easy-to-use and inexpensive alternative.

While I still recommend the shower for folks like me who don’t have the rig type / space to safely permanently install the shower, I do so while pointing out that you’ll need to think through the logistics for storage, transport, and water supply a little more. Those logistics aren’t show stoppers, but they aren’t trivial either. For me, there are a few limitations with the shower that are specific to my rig and setup, but those limitations hold back my overall score slightly. Likewise, as mentioned above, there are some opportunities to finesse the shower in order to make it even more kick ass.

Score: 7 - Recommend With Limitations

If hot water shower isn’t in the cards for you right now - for whatever reason- don’t worry. KickAss Products still has you covered! They also offer a simplified camp shower with a lithium battery that you can dunk into any water source and turn it into an instant shower. Honestly, it’s pretty brilliant. It might not be a steaming hot shower, but it’s a really clever tool and could be useful in all sorts of applications - like cleaning your gear. And it’s hard to argue with the price… $50! I haven’t reviewed that shower myself, but honestly I’m probably going to pick one up and review it soon. I think there are a lot of times when I won’t need the full hot water camp shower, and the compact size and ease-of-use of this option are pretty tempting. Check it out!

Where to Buy

If you want to grab this kit for your own install, check out the KickAss Products USA website to order directly from them:

Questions?

Anything we forgot to cover? Leave us a comment below and we’ll respond back ASAP! As always, we appreciate you joining the adventures.

Clean Camping with the KickAss Instant Hot Water Shower