The Aimall 18.5L is a big water container for camp, with a tap that swaps with a plain cap and a wide lid for filling. It’s our container for slightly longer trips, when 5 or 12 litres isn’t enough. I paid $60 for it.
What You’re Getting
A beige plastic container with ribbed sides, a carry handle across the top and a grip moulded into one end. It has a wide screw lid at one end, a smaller opening at the other that takes a cap or the tap, and a clear extension tube for the tap that clips into a keyhole slot in the side. “18.5L” is moulded into the base. It also comes in army green, and a sponge brush for cleaning comes with it. On our scale it weighed 985 g empty.
What we like
- Tap extension tube included
- Spare cap stores inside the lid
- Wide lid: easy to fill and clean
- 985 g empty
- Enough for longer trips
- Solid build, grippy handle
What we don’t
- Over 19 kg when full
- Brush that comes with it is poor
- Takes up floor space in the car
Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Aimall |
| Capacity | 18.5 L |
| Colour options | BeigeArmy green |
| Weight | 985 gempty |
| Included | Cleaning brush |
| Features | Swap-in tap and capWide lidTap extension tube |
Build quality
The build quality is good. The plastic is thick and the ribbed sides keep it stiff when it’s full, the lid screws down firmly, and the handle across the top has finger grooves underneath, so it’s comfortable to hold even with 18.5 litres in it.
Lid, cap and tap
The wide screw lid makes it easy to fill from a hose or a bigger tank and to get a hand inside to clean it. A sponge brush comes with it, but it’s the standard one that comes with many of these containers made overseas, and it doesn’t really work well: a proper bottle brush does a better job. A small vent beside the lid lets air in so the water runs smoothly.
The smaller opening at the other end takes either a plain screw cap or the tap, and you swap them over as needed: the cap for driving, the tap at camp. The one you’re not using screws into the inside of the big lid, so it’s stored on the container and can’t get lost. With the tap on and the container standing on its end, the tap sits low, with a knob you turn to open it, so it works best up on a camp table or the tailgate, or for filling smaller containers. A clear concertina extension tube pushes onto the tap to reach into a pot or a jerry can, and when you’re not using it, it clips into a keyhole slot in the side of the container.
Size and weight
Empty, it weighed 985 g on our scale, lighter than the 1.34 kg of the Aimall 20L. Full, it’s over 19 kg, and that’s the catch with any big container: the bigger it is, the harder it is to handle. Fill it where it’s going to stay.
On bigger trips we put it on the floor behind the front seats of the Prado, where it can’t move. From there we use it now and then to refill the small 5 litre jerry cans we keep in the back, so the cans we lift every day stay light and the big one stays put. Next to our other water containers it sits between the two 12 litre jerry cans and the 20 litre Aimall.
Water container comparison
We’ve tested four water containers with a tap. The Aimall 20L holds a little more and has a soap dispenser, but it’s the heaviest. The two 12 litre containers, the 12L Camping Water Container and the cheaper budget 12L, are the ones to carry, and they have the same swap-in tap and cap as the 18.5L. The 18.5L is the one for longer trips, and it’s light for its size. If you value convenience, the Upwoigh 19L comes with a rechargeable electric pump: one touch and the water runs, without lifting or tipping the container.
This review Aimall 18.5L |  12L with Tap |  Aimall 20L |  Budget 12L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swap-in tap | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Soap dispenser | No | No | Yes | No |
| Extension tube | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Capacity | 18.5 L | 12 L | 20 L | 12 L |
| Weight | 985 g | 986 g | 1,340 g | 701 g |
| Price paid | $60 | $40 | $72 | $35 |
| Our score | 8.8 | 9.2 | 8.2 | 9.0 |
Conclusion: Aimall 18.5L Water ContainerConclusion
The Aimall 18.5L water container holds plenty for a car camp, has a tap that swaps with a plain cap, and the wide lid makes it easy to fill and clean. It weighed 985 g empty on our scale, but over 19 kg full, so it’s hard to handle. It’s our water supply for longer trips, riding on the floor behind the front seats and topping up the 5 litre jerry cans in the back of the Prado. I paid $60.
An 18.5 litre water container with a tap that swaps with a cap, a wide lid and a tap extension tube.
It weighed 985 g empty on our scale and comes in beige and army green.
- Car campers
- 4WD tourers
- Caravanners
Yes, for longer trips. I paid $60 for 18.5 litres with a tap and a wide lid, and it saves a lot of stops for water. Keep in mind it's heavy when full.
