Has anyone ever camped with a hot tub?

I am considering adding an inflatable hot tub to my toys. I have the space to carry it (of course empty). Biggest concern is emptying the water but I can use the tote I have for the grey water worst case to haul the water to the dump when I need to empty it.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Here's one of the leading options I'm considering.

Coleman inflatable Hot Tub

Ken,

Other than water quality maintenance and dumping, my first concern was providing the required power.

Our last hot tub required 50 amps at 240 Volts. On checking the specs this one only requires 12 amps at 120 Volts. Therefore, the pump(s) and heater are very small. While they state a rapid heater, they quote it heats the water only at 2 to 3 F per hour. Our hot tubs have always been at least 5 F per hour, with the last one 7F per hour.

With 4 people and jets on I highly doubt the heater will be capable of maintaining the water temperature at 104F for other than a short period of time. It will also take almost a full day to bring new water up to temperature, rather than the normal 6 to 8 hours.

Most parks won't allow you wash your vehicles so I doubt they would allow that kind of water usage either.
By the time I got it filled/heated it would be time to move on.

Donna said to hurry up and get it so you can let us know how it works.

Hummmm....Carry the weight of a portable hot tub, pump motor, a 50A cord to run it, chemicals, the set up and tear down time, the amount of room it will take to transport, the added liability insurance, patching the holes from the ground, the unlevel surfaces to set it up on... I think it would be more practical to park at a resort when you want to use one...The others are right with their points and it will take a very long to heat up. At least that was our experience with the home hot tub we got rid of...

I would also question how you would connect a GFCI to this portable unit given the typical campground electrical connections...

On the other hand, it sounds like a lot of fun and would certainly be a conversation piece (at least by the park manager).

Keep us posted how this one turns out...

Thanks all for the feedback.

GipC - Regarding the weight, empty it's only 73lbs. I only intend on using it in and around Arizona (winter 2 months a year) and plan on leaving it at my parents when we travel any real distance. I do have a place in the back of the truck to strap it in so this plan may change.

The electrical cord has the GFCI on the end and is a simple 15A plug. The reviews say it heats up overnight, so if I fill it on arrival I can use it the next day.

I don't see a real challenge with the chemicals. Will have a small bucket of bromine tabs, some starter, some ph Up and Down, shock and a bottle of test strips.

I'm excited to get it, I expect the park manager/hosts will be the first to come over and use it with us :).

Will post when I get in about a month.

Not to get into your business, Ken.. but look for an alternative to bromine tablets. They are not good for your health. It would be better to use just a little bit of bleach or chlorine which dissipates over a few days than the bromine which enters your system and can cause autoimmune problems. (interferes with your thyroid gland)

We have a hot-tub at our S&B and use ozone, and chlorine/bleach when needed.

*stepping off of soapbox*

Actually I must respectfully disagree. Chlorine and bleach are in fact pretty much the same chemical. That's why they call it "chlorine bleach". I find it far to harsh in a small hot body of water even in the smallest quantity but enough to maintain healthy balance water conditions.

I have had a hot tub & pool for about 20 years and have found bromine to be far easier to maintain proper chemical levels using bromine in the hot tub than any other chemical. For me bromine works better in small + hot body of water where as chlorine is to harsh even in very small quantities.

What I've also found is that using a salt based system in the pool makes the most sense rather than straight chlorine. Since salt is converted to sodium chloride basically on demand I can maintain a much lower concentration of sanitizer (i.e. chlorine) and more importantly more consistent level while still maintaining quality sanitized water.

I did early on try an alternative sanitizer "Baquacil" in my hot tub but found it far too hard to maintain good water conditions and it would get really nasty quickly if it got even a little out of balance.

I can't speak to the autoimmune issues you mentioned. I've not heard or experienced anything regarding that. Wouldn't surprise me though that people say that as so many elements in our environment are blamed on so many conditions.

I also am not sure what you mean by "when needed". Proper water conditions (sanitizer, stabilizer, pH, hardness etc etc) need to be maintained all the time not just brought back to good condition when they go bad.

Of course these are just my experiences, your milage may vary but thanks for your thoughts.

*Now I'll step down from my soapbox*

OH THE ANTICIPATION!

I have the tracking details from Amazon and my hot tub will be delivered on Tuesday.

Can't wait!!!

Sometimes I do have to marvel at how fun it is to be me :woohoo:

That IS awesome Ken ! ! ! Enjoy it ,and don't get too shriveled up staying in there

Ken - I do have to ask - as it appears that you are boondockiing, where did all the water come from for your newest accessory ?

We are in a power/water site. Filling is not an issue, draining maybe a challenge.

I have a water tote that I use to manage the grey water, so worst case I can haul it off using that.

I for one, am totally on board with the whole concept! Keep us posted on how well this works out. As old and broken down as I am, I can probably deduct it as a medical expense.

Jim

Well the first deployment of our Campsite Hot Tub has been a resounding success. Gizzi was first skeptical to the extreme but not willing to say "NO" to me so I got it. She has now said a few times how she likes the tub and thinks its nice. SCORE!

Moving on to the good, the bad and then the ugly.

The good:

• The hardest part of the setup was figuring out how to follow the rather limited documentation. In the end I had to use the blower that makes bubbles in the water to inflate the tub and cover. Everything I needed was in the box and worked as advertised. Filters popped in very easy and unpacking was a snap although it is heavy.
• It only requires a 15A plug and has built in GFI protection. That means I can actually plug it into the power drop in the convenience center or a 20A connection on the shore power pole to run it. Very convenient.
• Retrieved the tub at about 2pm from UPS from the drop location gave me ample time to unpack, setup, fill and start the heater before night fall. Was at temp (104F) by daylight.
• The water drains very slowly which makes it practical to sluff the water off into the desert without disturbing the surrounding area. I think I have some very happy cactus around our site tonight.

The bad:

• It only requires a 15A plug so it can't run the blower and the heater at the same time. That means if I jump in when the water is 104F and turn the blower on the heater turns off. Pumping air for outside when the ambient temperature is around 65F will start to cool the water down without a heater to keep it hot. I did exactly that, got in at 104F w/ outside temp at 65F dropped the water temp to about 95F when I got out 30 minutes later. Enjoyable for personal use, but for a longer (read party) usage situation, probably won't keep up.
• The water drains very slowly so some advance planning needs to happen in order to have it transport ready when you want to break camp. Since this is my first time doing it I started Monday night planning on pulling out on Wednesday.
• It's always something. Now I need a way to manage wet pool towels and bathing suits. I am in the process of upgrading my "hang off the ladder" drying rack to accommodate the extra towels.....

I will say I thought I'd miss the full on jets of a larger less portable tub like I have back at my SnB home, but I don't think I do. the movement of the water with the jets is very relaxing and actually pumping cool air around a very warm body of water is very appealing.

Now about the "Ugly", so far I have none to report. I will pack up the tub and transport about 100 miles to our next stop on
Wednesday and see how it goes. It will also be a Power/Water site so I'm hopeful I'll be back tubbing on Thursday.