Camp Privacy Tents: What a Shower Enclosure Actually Includes
A privacy tent shows up in a lot of "camp shower" photos, and the shower itself is almost never in the box. What you are buying is an enclosure: fabric walls on a frame, nothing that holds or heats water. That is not a flaw. It is just worth knowing before you set one up expecting more.
Quick Answer
A privacy tent gives you a private, standing-height space for changing, showering or using a portable toilet, at roughly 120 × 120 cm and 180 cm tall. It does not include a shower unit, water, pump or toilet; those are separate purchases you bring and fit inside it. Anchor it properly with the supplied stakes and wind supports before you rely on it, and never treat it as shelter in genuinely severe weather. Pitch it with the same distance-from-water thinking you would use for any greywater or washing task at camp.
01What This Actually Is
ARWE's Portable Outdoor Privacy Shower & Changing Tent is a fabric enclosure, roughly 120 × 120 cm at the base and 180 cm tall, that ships with eight ground stakes and four wind-support components. It is a standing-height private space and nothing more specific than that; the listing describes it as suited to changing clothes, showering privately and screening a portable toilet, without committing to any one of those as its primary job.
That flexibility is the entire point. It is the same enclosure whether what is happening inside is a change of clothes at the beach, a solar shower bag at a drive-in site, or a folding toilet on a multi-day trip.
02Three Jobs, One Enclosure
The 180 cm height is what makes all three uses work. A shorter shelter forces you to crouch or duck; this one gives an average adult room to stand, dress and turn around.
- Changing out of wet or muddy clothes away from the main site
- Privacy around a portable shower, camp pump or hanging water bag
- Screening around a separately purchased portable toilet
Choosing which job matters most for your trip decides what else you need to pack, which is the subject of the next section.
03What's Not Included
This is the part worth being direct about. The listing states plainly that shower, plumbing, toilet and waste-management equipment are not included with the tent. What you receive is the enclosure, its support bracket or frame, the wind-support pieces and the ground stakes.
If showering is the goal, you need a separate water source, whether that is a solar shower bag hung from the frame, a pressurised camp shower pump, or water carried in and poured by hand. If the goal is toilet privacy, you need a portable toilet that fits the floor area, purchased separately.
Critical Safety
Keep flames, stoves, heaters and any fuel-burning equipment away from the enclosure entirely. The fabric is not designed as a heat-safe space, and a shelter this size offers no meaningful ventilation for combustion equipment.
04Footprint and Fit
Before you buy a portable toilet or shower unit to go inside, measure it against the tent's 120 × 120 cm floor area and leave enough room to actually move. A toilet or shower pump that fills most of that footprint leaves very little space to change clothes standing up, which defeats part of the point.
Sketch the layout at home if you can. A corner-mounted shower bag with a small mat leaves more usable floor than a toilet placed dead centre, and knowing that before the trip is easier than discovering it at the site.
05Where to Pitch It
Wherever it is doing shower or washing duty, treat its placement the same way you would treat any greywater task at camp. Our guide on going to the bathroom outdoors covers the distance and soap guidance that Leave No Trace Canada sets for washing yourself away from water sources, and the same thinking applies here: pitch it well clear of any lake, stream or drinking-water source, not right beside one for convenience.
Level, firm ground matters more for this shelter than for a sleeping tent, since a shower or toilet inside it depends on the floor staying flat and dry. Use all eight stakes and the wind supports rather than a handful, since a lightweight structure this size catches wind more readily than its size suggests.
06Care and Storage
Let it dry completely before folding it away, since a damp fabric enclosure packed into its bag behaves like any other tent fabric left wet: it mildews. Wipe down the frame or support bracket if it picked up sand, grit or soap residue, and store it somewhere dry between trips.
Do not rely on it in genuinely severe weather. The listing is explicit that it is not built to withstand strong winds or storms, so treat forecast severe weather as a reason to skip using it that day rather than a reason to stake it down harder.
07Frequently Asked Questions
Does this come with a shower or water bag?
No. The tent is the enclosure only. Shower, plumbing, toilet and waste-management equipment are stated as not included and need to be purchased separately.
Can I fit a portable toilet inside?
Yes, the enclosure is listed as suited to screening a portable toilet. Measure the toilet's footprint against the tent's 120 × 120 cm base first, and leave room to move.
Is it safe to use in windy or stormy weather?
No. The listing advises against relying on it during strong winds, storms or other severe conditions. Use the full set of stakes and wind supports in normal weather, and skip using it altogether if a storm is forecast.
Where should I set it up at a campsite?
On level, firm ground, and well clear of any lake, stream or drinking-water source if you are using it for washing. Treat the distance the same way you would for any greywater task at camp.
Privacy is the whole product. Bring the water yourself.
ARWE · FIELD JOURNAL
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