The Rinsekit is a popular portable shower that provides high pressure water on the go. While I may have considered this at one point a luxury, I now see it as essential for our water loving family.
This helpful tool had been on my radar for at least a year, after one car trip of sandy, muddy kids too many. However, I thought it was just another thing to buy, when a water bottle could do the job. At the time, I was taking the boys to beaches during the day. They would inevitably end up with sand everywhere. I would keep a blue, plastic water bottle Kelly used to use for soccer in the car as extra drinking water. My hope was that rather than needing to drink it, we’d have the water left over for rinse offs at the end of river or lake time before getting in the car.
Sand, Mud, and Messy Kids
I’m writing this today, because yesterday I was faced with the same predicament. Our Rinsekit was on the boat and I had driven the kids to a beach nearby. We had sand on everything and now it wasn’t a matter of getting the sand off for convenience, it was to get it off of us so it didn’t end up on the boat. I had a gallon water jug for extra drinking water in the back of the car we hadn’t used. So, I put the big jug of water between my knees and spilled water over our shoes and clothes. Then, turning on the kids I got our feet, boogie board, and pfds. It was a mess, but it did the job. However, I thought how much easier that would have been if I had the Rinsekit with me.
Last year I caved and bought the Rinsekit after being on the boat for less than a week. The purchase wasn’t even in response to our immediate needs on the boat at that time, but a situation like I was in yesterday. The boys and I had gone to another beach. This time, it wasn’t just sand, but six inch thick mud from low tide that the boys ran through to get to the water. When we got back to the car a thick mud was everywhere and I was almost out of water in my 32 ounce water bottle. I was ready for a better solution.
Living and Playing on a Boat
For some context, my husband Shane is an avid paddleboarder. We are currently full-time on our 41′ sailboat, traveling the Puget Sound. Every morning he wakes up early to paddle, with the goal of paddling all of the named islands and rocks in the Sound. My two boys also love being on the water, paddling, rowing, sailing, and now winging. I’ve been posting a travel log of our adventures here on my blog and on our family Youtube Channel.
The Rinsekit I went with for our boat life is the Pro version. It holds 3.5 gallons and shoots out water at up to 50psi, pressurizing by way of battery. It’s pretty awesome. It’s not like the portable showers we grew up with. The kind with the bag you hang up and the water trickles out is nothing like this. The Rinsekit resembles a hose you would have at home, giving you a variety of sprays to choose from. The kids spray off after being in the water on the boat using the shower setting. Shane uses the jet setting for rinsing saltwater off his paddleboard and the boat. We don’t have a fresh water sprayer built into the boat. Even if we did have a connection, I highly doubt it would be able to move beetween our bowsprit to the swim step.
Now that the sun is out when we leave the Rinsekit on deck, the water inside the black cover warms up, making rinse offs with the kids a breeze. They also sell heater accessories for the kit, which we considered getting a few times this past winter. It would have been helpful to get some of the snow and ice off of the boat!
The Rinsekit battery seems to last us a long time and quickly charges when needed.
While the 3.5 gallon box is convenient for the boat, it’s probably to big to just cart around in the car with you. They have a smaller version that offers 1.5 gallons. If we were to have more trips in the car like the one yesterday, I would consider getting that one for having on hand when out and about. It pressurizes using the pressure from filling up the container with a hose rather than a battery.
Making it Easier to Have Fun
Having tools in your kit like the Rinsekit ensures you get out and have fun. The hardest part of doing things outside is the preparation and effort it takes, especially with kids. Apart from the car water, I have used a few other tricks that ensured I made it out, especially when the kids were really little. The most important one was having a “go bag” always ready. I would repack my beach bag that night after getting back from having fun. The bag was always in our coat closet by the front door during the warmer weather months. Having the Rinsekit back then would have been awesome.
I had been meaning to write a Rinsekit review for a while now. It is the purchase I made for the boat that I am most happy with and am grateful for. That and the travel bags I purchased for going back and forth to land. I highly recommend for families that love to be by the water!