Waterport Weekender vs. Yakima RoadShower4 - Which is better in 2021?

[ALBlair17]

Hey All,

So I have the 3.8 Gallon Waterport and I am a big fan. I'm looking to upgrade to either the 8 Gallon Waterport Weekender or the Yakima RoadShower 4 (7 Gallon). Digging into other forums opinions seem to be pretty split. From looking at reviews for the RoadShower on sites like REI, etc. they seem to be pretty poor since Yakima bought them out in 2018.

Has anyone bought the RoadShower 4 since Yakima bought them out and if so, how do you like it both good and bad? Same with the Waterport Weekender; if anyone bought it since 2018/2019 how do you like it both good and bad?

It also helps that the Weekender is $340 from Costco and the RoadShower is $440-$500, but I'd pay more for better quality, working ability, ease of use, etc.

 

[dchurch]

I have a Road Shower 7 gallon. I believe it's a 1999, but there is no "Yakima" branding on it. But in every other way it looks just like what is currently being sold.

The tube is made of welded aluminum rather than Waterport plastic. Ours is mounted on the passenger side of our teardrop’s roof rack. It took a pretty good bump and skid along a low tree limb once. It left a nasty mark that I was able to mostly scrub out. I'm not sure if a plastic tank would have survived the hit. We later moved the tank inboard and added a shower enclosure so I'm keeping a closer eye on that side.

Waterport recommends up to 40PSI. The RoadShower is rated to 65 PSI. That allows us to fill it using full pressure straight from our home water system using the RoadShower inlet/outlet valve. While away we pressurize it to 60PSI using our 12v compressor.

We appreciate the high PSI for blasting mud off gear... It also conserves water using low volume at high pressure. We leave our compressor connected while showering to maintain maximum pressure.

I don’t know about a drop in build quality after the buyout. I would think the same employees and materials... are being used to make these. The welds and finish are real nice. The filler cap/plug is a solid piece of machined aluminum with a built in pressure relief valve. I tested mine and it blew at just over 65PSI. I like that the tank is flat on top. I set the filler cap and a water carrier up there while filling the tank from creeks... This may sound picky but I wish there was a handy place to put the Schrader cap while the compressor is connected. After having it MIA a couple of times I rigged up a zip-tie keeper but I’m on the lookout for the right piece of hardware.

The hose keepers are stout aluminum and do a nice job of keeping the hose snug against the tank. We've learned to roll the hose into the keepers rather than trying to push. The Schrader valve is well protected behind the filler cap. The cap is about 1 1/2" diameter and knurled so it’s easy to grip. The hose and sprayer are good quality. The bottom and back side of the tank features T-slotting.

I’ve never owned or seen the Waterport version in person.

dave