Nomad Collapsible Hot Tub: A Portable Wood or Propane Camping Tub

A bright yellow tub of steaming water beside a forest stream: that was the picture that made The Original Nomad famous in 2014. The Portland, Oregon, company built a collapsible hot tub that folds into a box small enough for a car boot, then heats up at the campsite with a coil fired by wood, propane or natural gas.

How the Nomad collapsible hot tub works

The tub itself is a vinyl shell with a vinyl floor held up by a light frame. Set up, it measures about 152 centimetres (60 inches) across the top, 142 centimetres at the base and 60 centimetres (24 inches) deep, and holds roughly 850 litres, about 225 US gallons. Packed away, tub and frame fold into a cube of about 38 by 38 by 15 centimetres.

Heat comes from a separate coil heater. Water circulates through it by thermosiphon: warm water rises out of the coil into the tub and cooler water flows back in, so no electric pump is needed. The heater burns firewood, propane or natural gas. On propane, the maker said a standard 9-kilogram (20-pound) tank would last around four to six hours in winter and six to eight hours in summer.

New Atlas put the weight of the tub, frame and optional heater coil at about 20 kilograms (45 pounds), light enough to carry from the car but not a backpacking item.

Setting up camp with a portable tub

Filling is the slow part. GearJunkie worked out that it takes about 44 buckets by hand, so Nomad recommended a small petrol pump such as a Honda WX10, which fills the tub in around ten minutes. That makes the tub best suited to car camping, RV sites, cabins and private land you can reach by truck or ATV.

A good setup checklist:

• Choose flat, firm ground with room for the heater well away from tents and trees.
• Bring a pump and hose, or camp beside a lake or stream where drawing water is allowed.
• Pack a lid or tarp to hold the heat in between soaks.
• Plan how you will drain the water away from the shoreline afterwards.

Check fire rules before you light the heater: many campgrounds and forests ban open fires and wood stoves in dry summers, while propane is often still allowed.

Prices, colours and capacity

At launch in 2014 the tub and frame sold for US$550 in black, yellow or red. The heater coil cost US$625 on its own, and the pair came as a bundle for US$999. The tub is big enough for a few friends at once, which is exactly how the company's own photographs show it.

Prices and models may have changed since then, so check the maker's site for the current range.

Where a campsite hot tub makes sense

The Nomad shines after a cold day outside: a ski-touring weekend from a cabin, an autumn surf trip or a winter car-camping trip, when warm water is worth the effort of filling and heating. Vehicle campers with a rooftop tent are the natural users, since everything rides in the car.

For more camp comfort ideas, explore Karol Nienartowicz’s mountain camps. For a more permanent small retreat, see Refugi Lieptgas in Switzerland, and for snow shelters browse our dome-shaped design gallery.

Related reading

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• Highline Hammocks in the Italian Alps: The Work Behind the Picture
• The Drinks-Can Burner: A Compact Design Demonstration
• Anton Pankov’s Floating-Ice Camping Film
• The Orange Solar Tent Concept: Shelter with an Energy Budget
• Tentsile’s Suspended Shelter: A Campsite Above the Ground
• How to Stay Warm Outdoors: Clothing, Stops and Sleeping Systems
• Wawhiker’s Snowy Overnight: A Hot Shelter, Ground Insulation and Camp Routine

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