Question about bladder showers
 

Okay, this is probaby just needless worrying on my part, but for those of you who have stayed at camps with bladder showers, would you bother to bring hair conditioner? I have very long, thick hair. It's nice to have something to detangle, but if the water pressure/water amount is so little that I'll barely be able to squeeze a shampoo in, I'm not going to pack conditioner.

I'm thinking particularly of Ronjo, Olduvai, Mawe Ninga and Nomad Tanzania.

Leely - I highly recommend Aveda Elixir leave-in conditioner. I have long fine hair, and it works great for me!

When do you leave again!? :-)

Leely,
This is exactly the kind of thing I worry about. I’ve got freakishly long hair and I wash it every night. I’ve never been to a camp with bladder showers – only to one with tanks above the tents that were filled with hot water in the afternoon. The first night there was more than enough water, probably calculated for two people. Then I had exactly the water I needed to rinse out the conditioner, though sometimes I used the last water for the washbasin as well (same tank, but there was some left after the shower went dry) – then I had to use bottled water in the morning. I’ve seen some photos of really small looking bladder showers. I’d ask for a bucket of water, reserve some for brushing my teeth and for the morning wash, and then I would stick my head in the bucket after finishing the bladder shower. I’m really ashamed of using this much water, but conditioning is a necessity. The leave-in conditioners I’ve tried don’t work. I haven’t tried Aveda elixir though. Conditioners are a weight issue as well.

hi leely,
I also used a leavein cond. Nexus headdress. The showers do have an on off lever to stop the water flow so you may be able to use a deep conditioner. In my case there were 2 of us sharing (I'm guessing) 5 gals.of water and the lever was usually up too high for me to reach, I'm 5' 3". Hence, my long thick hair did look rather Medusa like :-[ by the time I got home

- much blonder though :)
Sherry

Thanks, ladies. I guess I'll pack some, but not very much. It is a little bit of a weight issue, as Nyamera said.

Cooncat, I leave June 15. By the time I get back, I hope you'll have your photos online. :)

I will try, my girl! I will try!

I return the day you leave, so have a fabulous, wonderful trip!

Leely:

I used rinse out conditioner. My hair is longish but not thick so I can probably rinse more easilty than you. You have to stop and start the water flow during your shower--even without conditioners. There is some kind of a spigot control to do so.

At Olduvai and Ronjo the bladder size was large enough for 2 people to shower so definitely no problem there. At Nomad, the in-room instructions indicated that the bladder held only enough for one shower. My first shower I could have used a little more water but I adjusted after that--plus, they will gladly bring more water but of course, you don't really want to be standing around mid-shower waiting for a resupply.

I guess it would depend on how big the bladder is. When we were fly camping, it was just enough water for a quick rinse, soap/shampoo and rinse again for one person. Then they'd refill it for the second person. But at a tented camp, they might have something bigger. At Kicheche we had enough water for two people to shower and they offered to refill if that wasn't enough. I just chose to skip the conditioner.

All of the set ups had a lever which you would use to turn the water on and off. Are you going to be in a single tent? Perhaps you could ask for water for two?

Another reason I chose to skip the conditioner, aside from the water quantity issue, was that I was taking my showers at night and would get really cold with the water off, so I didn't want to prolong the process.

Thanks also to bat and Patty.

I know it's useless to worry about this kind of thing, but it beats thinking about net warrior's oozing, blackened arms.

I will be in the solo tent so maybe I'll have a little more water.

Couldn't you just have your butler or valet standing by with a second bladder?

Hi Leely,

I also have very thick and difficult to control hair. I no longer wear it long, but have for years successfully used Natural Formula with JoJoba. It does not even need water although a slight dampening of the hair helps.

Check it out.

I have to use conditioner or I cannot comb my hair through and I also have a hairtype that needs washing every day or it's horribly greasy. I do my best to shower fast and I also simply turn off the water whilst I'm soaping up, shampooing up, conditioning and so on and back on to wash each one off.

Oh and I get my husband to shower first so that I know he won't run out of water because I used too much!

Combination shampoo conditioners don't work well for me but I'm going to look into that leave-in option.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I have to admit I like lifelist's the best so far.

I hate to be stupid, but what is a bladder shower?

Hello,

A bladder shower is a large, flexible bag (often rubber) with a nozzle attached to one end (think of a giant hot water bottle or a Platypus hiking bladder). They're commonly used for camping and mobile safaris. Sometimes they are warmed by the sun, and sometimes they are filled with warm water. They come in different sizes (one or two person).

I don't know how much conditioner you use, but I'd recommend putting what you need in a set of small, leakproof travel bottles (Nalgene makes some good ones) to minimise the weight factor. Almost all camps have shower gel and lotion (though you may want to double-check this for your particular itinerary) so you can leave those at home -- that should save some weight.

Admittedly this is less of an issue for men as we tend to have short hair, but I've found that Bumble and Bumble makes a great leave-in conditioner.

Cheers,
Julian

It's been years since I've had long hair, but even with short, I use a conditioner (only a quarter-size). But instead of bringing a full bottle of whatever you use, can't you find those small travel packets of conditioner. They're found in all the beauty supply sections of stores, maybe $1-$2/each. A handfull of those won't weigh much, though remember to pack them in a ziplock bag.

Leave-in conditioners always left my hair heavy and still not feeling anything but needing another shampoo. So, it's all individual.

For whatever liquid/cream items I can find in those little packets, usually badedas... that's what I pack.

You might try a spray detangler. My daughter's hair (thin, fine) tangles so bad that you can't comb it and the cheap Suave detangler works wonders. I used it when my hair was longer (shoulder blade length, thick and heavy) and it didn't affect the cleanliness or weight at all.

Just as an aside, Aveda Elixir does not weigh down your hair at all - or I would not use it because my hair is straight and fine. I just put a tiny dollop on my palm, rub my palms together and run it through. Works great - and no flowery, overpowering aroma!
(I don't work for Aveda!) ;-)

To reduce shampoo weight I recommend the Lush bar shampoos. http://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?main...mp;cPath=20_26
They have combination bars and a solid conditioner as well, but they don’t work. The Jungle conditioner might work together with a Parmesan grater, but I think I’ll try to find Aveda Elixir instead, so that I’ll use less water. How many ml per week of Aveda would I need if I today use 300 ml of normal conditioner per week?

Camps usually have a dusty shampoo bottle standing in a corner, but I’ve never seen conditioner being sold. All camps I’ve been to – except Samburu Intrepids that had shampoo and insect repellent as well – have only had soap in the tents.