If you're worried about having to pack in your camping gear until next season due to the cold months up ahead, you might want to think again. The Nomad is a portable hot tub that brings the spa-like experience to wherever you are in the outdoors.
Designed in Portland, Oregon (where else!) by industrial designer Brandon Flores, this unique take on camping gear is held together by a collapsible and sturdy frame. When the included vinyl shell is attached, the resulting tub can hold up to 225 gallons of water, preferably from a nearby water source such as a lake or river rather than your backpack. Once assembled, the hot tub has a diameter of five feet and stands two feet tall, about enough space for four medium-sized adults. When it's time to pack out and head back to the city, the Nomad collapses into a 15-inch by 15-inch cube that fits into a bag about the size of a duffel bag.
So how does it get hot?
The Nomad heating coil is an on-demand heating water heating device that can be heated with propane, natural gas or even firewood (and double as a firepit) and operates using a unique thermosyphoning circulation technique:
"The Original Nomad heater coil is a hot water on demand unit that can be heated with propane, natural gas (typically for permanent tub installations) or firewood. It's constructed from 1.25" stainless steel and uses thermosyphoning to circulate the water, so no water pump is needed. The Nomad heater coil can be purchased separately and can be used to heat most tubs with our universal through wall adapter kit which is included with the coil purchase."
While the makers of the Nomad might have a complete water pump and heating system in the works, for now they are focusing on the tub and heating coil itself.
In order to get the water in the Nomad in a timely manner, a third-party water pump is recommended. Were you really thinking that you would have to lug a bunch of 5-gallon buckets with you? Well you sure could do that if you needed the extra exercise, but the Nomad folks recommend a $399 Honda water pump that is capable of pumping 37 gallons per minute. Considering that the Nomad itself is 225 gallons, that means that it would only take less than ten hard-working minutes to get the tub filled with some nearby lake or river water.
