Potty Question

[Cikan Vuz]

I have used this for years. It is a footrest with storage inside and the top flips over to be used as a tabletop (never done that given how I use it) It has a 3 gallon pail inside of it, and uses trash bags, I remove lid, add a trash bag liner to which I add Cleanwaste Mini Poo Powder Waste Treatment to, then set a plastic loo seat on it. tie and toss as allowed by law. and I do not have to hid it, but it will be kept under the bed storage area when not in use.

[OP827]

Here is this topic related question. In addition to own toilet inside, what do you think about playing a white noise rain sounds like this while there are other people sleeping/staying in a small camper's living space? Just thinking outside the box and trying to use distraction method for a family friendly camping experience...

This would mostly be needed during a calm night time since during the day a slightly louder music and other noises would be a good enough distraction or when other people can leave the camper.
Maybe I am going into a little bit too much detail with this topic, but small camper's own toilet and shower have become more of a necessity with recent events. I asked my child about such an idea and received a positive response, no kidding. Of course when it is already raining outside, there is no need to turn the distraction noise on.

[Richard Grotto]

this is what I am going to use, with green compostable bags that can be buried.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083W ... UTF8&psc=1

[OP827]

This thread has a lot of useful information on DIY composting toilets : https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/self-designed-large-capacity-compost-head-104810.html

[rjgimp]

Thanks for the link Oleg. I am a huge fan of composters and am planning one in my build.

[dbhosttexas]

BobHenry, I've perched on one of those home-made buckets. They break, too. Don't ask me how I know.... Keep an eye open for wear cracks.
(Maybe that's why Droid wants to build a wooden one.)

I bet the one that broke did not have the lid in place at the time. I have load tested to 320 pounds standing on them as a foot stool and never had one buckle or fail with the lid on it. Without the lid yes I have been pitched off.

Last time I used a bucket toilet, I came in at just over 400lbs and yes thank you very much I have lost a good amount of weight since then, but back to the issue at hand...

#1. 5 gallon buckets come in various grades. Walmart sells a very light duty model for a couple of bucks I wouldn't trust to hold 5 gallons of water, let alone my weight. The store branded ones at Home Depot and Lowes are nice thick walled units that have held up over the years nicely. MOST that are used for paint, food to restaurants etc.. are of the thicker variety, just be careful of the junk ones. And yes, do watch for stress cracks.
#2. IF you are going to rig a seat mount then be sure that it supports the rim of the bucket. A couple layers of 3/4 ply glued together and a properly sized hole routed into it so the fit is reasonably snug and allows good seat support is VERY hard to beat...
#3. To the original poster. The PETT toilet is great for saving space, but if you boondock, hauling your poop bags out and disposing is space consuming, and a bit more prone to break / leakage compared to a proper port o potty. Plus then tend to be a bit shorter than a regular toilet, so if you have back issues this can be a problem. Others that posted here showed some nice solutions. And if I recall right the weight rating of the PETT is good and high so no worries there unless you have a worse weight problem than I do / did..
#4. I went the other way from a bag system toilet, to a flushing port o potty. Mostly due to my wife. Yes dumping is icky, but so is handling poo bags, and lots of folks want their poo to go away with a flush... Make sure your toilet meets your needs.
#5. No matter the system you use, even WELL OFF the beaten track and into the forest as it were, privacy should be a concern, but even more so, keeping the toilet bug free... Use a proper privy tent if for no other reason than to keep your naughty bits from getting dined upon by flying little campsite demons...

[OP827]

I thought I'd share my second iteration of dry toilet here, which is undergoing real life testing now. This is a vented box with 5 gal bucket inside, no urine diversion, just adding 1:1 mix of peat and pet bedding after each use to keep it covered and dry. No smell. The first bucket toilet version that I have posted on my build thread was rebuilt into this higher end, Mark 2. During the first version testing there could be some smell escaping into the cabin after use. With this box being fan vented outside, there is no smell being released into the small camper cabin, so may keep using it. I've purchased a higher quality Noctua low noise fan to vent the box. I would recommend this fan instead of generic (drone noise) fans I used before.
The toilet box gets moved away to free the space for other uses. Curtain can cover all around the toilet, change room or shower area, all-in-one space.