Have any of you pop-up TC overlanders ever used a reinforced polyester (or, Hypalon genre) gray water saddlebag between camper tub and truck bed?We have a large 10 gallon portable RV gray water tank, however it needs to be installed outside under the truck, and hose run to it. This isn't convenient when we are dead-heading it cross-country at gas fill-up stations and rest areas. So, I came up with a theoretical concept:-buy a 4+ ply reinforced polyester or rubber fold-up sun-shower bag, with strong 4 corner stanchions;-mount the "sun-shower" to the fore section of our Outfitter camper's tub (where we have lots of thickness for the bag to "inflate" with gray water), with high-density closed cell poly-foam block Ducktaped under it, just fore of our wheel-well, as a pedestal;-attach RV hose to gray water outlet of camper (located directly above where bag will be located), attach other end of short hose to sun-shower bag;-attach 8 feet of clear vinyl tube to sun-shower outlet (secured by tie-wrap), and run to the rear of camper/truck bed, and attach a barbed plastic drain-cock thereto (when we are at a real dump site, we can unfurl the vinyl tube, and empty the ~6 gallons of gray water).The above sounds complicated, but I would estimate a 20 minute install total time. This is a possible contender 4-ply gray water bag: here-->The above would allow us a fast stop at a rest area, where we could use our water pump/sink to wash up, cook, etc, without having to deploy the big 10 gallon (long install) polytank we have in the middle of a public parking lot.Anyone done this ? Can anyone envision any theoretical down-side to this plan ?

silversand wrote:theoretical down-side to this plan ?Are you sure you want theoretical down-side (eg, worst cast scenario)?Actually, it sounds like it would work, if you do it right.

Hi Cal!The worst-case scenario I dreamed up would be saddlebag abrasion. This is why I sourced woven polyester multi-ply, or Hypalon (used by high quality white-water raft manufacturers).I would secure the vinyl tube so that t would take more than 60+ LBS force to pull it out of the bag outlet L fitting.....on edit: the vinyl drain tube would route around the wheel-well, then between camper tub base and truck bed, and out the back near the tail light...hmmmm? What if the camper shifts, pinching the drain tube between wheel-well and camper tub? Hmmmm.

SilverA couple of thoughts.we used blue boy on a hitch rack underneath our last camper to increase tank capacity.when the onboard tank was full I opened the valve and dumped into the blue boy using a short piece of dump hose.then I closed the valve and started again.when we got to a dump site I would empty the blue boy and the on board tank.this effectively doubled our tank capacity.I put a ball valve with hose fitting on the bottom of the blue boy so I could empty that right from the hitch rack without having to lift the blue boy.this system worked very well and we already had the hitch rack and blue boy.If you really want a soft bladder we use fuel cells to carry extra diesel when fishing the offshore canyons.not cheap but they are rugged.Bill

Interesting bill.We have something like the barker (blue boy) but wheel-less in the 10 gal.I think i know the fuel bladders you mention. They are a bit pricy for our app. But are fuel grade.

We use a Swiss 5 Gallon water bag ($10) for our grey water. Love it. It's durable as all get out and has built in carry handles/rope.We use it only while traveling so we just put a hose down into the fill port. DH just uses a bungee to hold it up from one of the stake pockets and it fits between the camper and truck bed. The few gallons we use doesn't slosh out and we empty it as soon as we stop.Google it and see what I mean.

Attn Pop-up TC overlanders: gray water reinforced saddlebag?

JimBollman
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
I would think the draining of the bladder would be slow.

I found a small tank used to drain oil in that fits in my back wheel well, I run a 90 degree hose adapter out the bottom of the camper overhang then run a short hose to the tank. I wedge it upright in place with extra blocking (it will stay put when we are stopped without wedging). I think it holds about 4 gallons. I pull it out every day or so and if I have to carry it somewhere to dump, no problem it has a cap and a handle. If we are real careful we can make it last 4 days but 2 is normal.
silversand
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014

Why a bladder? That plan just screams "disaster" no matter how much duct tape you use.

How about a hard-sided poly tank that will fit in the space? Something like that must exist and surely will be less than $280.

...i've seen full fuel and water bladders dropped from a helicopter, with not so much as a wrinkle. These things are far more robust than a poly tank ;) in fact, i want to replace our 22 gallon poly tank with a caged bladder as soon as possible.

Steve: as soon as i decide on an aproach, and install, i'll post a detailed illustration.

101: i'll have to look into the Swiss Army multi-ply bags. Thanks. We both have Swiss Army backpacks (incredibly versatile, huge quantity of storage pockets), thus i should have thought of looking at their water bladders!
Stars101
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
mkirsch wrote:
Why a bladder? That plan just screams "disaster" no matter how much duct tape you use.

How about a hard-sided poly tank that will fit in the space? Something like that must exist and surely will be less than $280.

With the Swiss Army bag it's made of durable thick-ply rubber. No need to reinforce it at all. I am very comfortable sliding it around. Plus, unlike an hard sided tank, I can carry it anywhere to dump it.

And you can't beat the $10 price.
DWeikert
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2014
Interesting thread with some creative ideas. I just have one question for silversand. Why do you think this is only applicable to a pop-up? :)
mkirsch
Nomad II
Sep 24, 2014
Why a bladder? That plan just screams "disaster" no matter how much duct tape you use.

How about a hard-sided poly tank that will fit in the space? Something like that must exist and surely will be less than $280.
sabconsulting
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
I've been considering a similar need - at present the grey water outlet from my sink is attached to a piece of rubber bicycle inner tube which I flop into the truck bed when not in use, and dangle into a plastic jerry can when stationary so that serves as a grey tank. But I'd like to have something I don't have to rig each time I stop - mainly in case we boondock on the side of a road or somewhere else where I don't want things just sitting exposed next to the camper. I see you can get a number of slim plastic tanks - maybe I could attach one of them along the side of my truck - to the external rails that you tie stuff to.

In any case I'll be very interested to see your solution.

Cheers,

Steve.
silversand
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
....some interesting ideas. I looked at the 6" PVC tube scenario, but I don't want anything "permanent" mounted under this area.

Keep the ideas flowing...

I really like the fuel bladder technology, but am struggling to justify a ~7, 8 gallon bladder purchase at ~$280 +/-. These bladders sure are nice though.

I've own all kinds of water bladders (mostly clear flexible plastic) over my time (some as large as 8 liters), but none of them had an outlet I could connect an out-put tube to, like the sun shower design has.
FreeLanceing
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2014
Why not just put the hose in a 2-5 gallon container and water some trees. When you park in a gravel lot just let it run on the ground. If you are a super greenie use organic soap. I bypassed my shower years ago. It drained into the black. A 2 gallon bucket will easily handle a shower. I still have a 10 gallon saddle tank for the sink. Another option would be a 6" pvc tube mounted under the wing. I found the bypass hose to be the best mod I ever did to my rig.
Joe417
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
One of the posts on the net used multiple lengths of Sch40 4 or 6 inch PVC pipe capped and plumbed together to create fair sized extra grey tanks. It wasn't collapsible but I thought the idea was good.
Stars101
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
We use a Swiss 5 Gallon water bag ($10) for our grey water. Love it. It's durable as all get out and has built in carry handles/rope.

We use it only while traveling so we just put a hose down into the fill port. DH just uses a bungee to hold it up from one of the stake pockets and it fits between the camper and truck bed. The few gallons we use doesn't slosh out and we empty it as soon as we stop.

Google it and see what I mean.