O.K. I am a bit new to the camping with amenities. Currently in the process of switching from tent camping to a grand Pop Up (If I ever find a used one). I am hearring different things about the potty issue. Have decided that a shower is not a necesiity but the wife would like a potty also have 2 kids 9 and 13. In many of the ads I read that the potty was never used.Here are my questions
1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
Quote from: ronerjonesO.K. I am a bit new to the camping with amenities. Currently in the process of switching from tent camping to a grand Pop Up (If I ever find a used one). I am hearring different things about the potty issue. Have decided that a shower is not a necesiity but the wife would like a potty also have 2 kids 9 and 13. In many of the ads I read that the potty was never used.Here are my questions
1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
OK - I don't have little kids around, and I'm not a woman. That being said - I find the whole idea of a "potty" in popup disgusting. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. No privacy. Smells (chemical or "other"). Having to empty it out. Having to clean it. Dealing with boys with poor aim. Oh, and have you considered how small the dad-blame things are?
Bleah!
-Speak
Quote from: ronerjonesO.K. I am a bit new to the camping with amenities. Currently in the process of switching from tent camping to a grand Pop Up (If I ever find a used one). I am hearring different things about the potty issue. Have decided that a shower is not a necesiity but the wife would like a potty also have 2 kids 9 and 13. In many of the ads I read that the potty was never used.Here are my questions
1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
We have 2 kids ages 6 and 9. When we bought our pup, the previous owner gave us the porta potti with it. I love having it in the pup. The rule is that it is only used at night and only for #1. We have camped for a week at a time and have never had a problem with odor from it. It is very easy to empty, we just dump it in the toilet at the campground. I wouldn't camp without it now!
Same here, the porta=pott is only used for night time peepee ;) . I do not want to find a flashlight and walk to a bathroom at 2am
We use our porta-potti at night mainly. We use it "Full service" and have no issues with smell. My wife and I usually camp alone but sometimes with the grandkids. If the kids are along, there are privacy issues. If it's just my wife and I........we have no secrets or privacy issues. I won't go into it in detail. This is a family show :J
They are easy to dump and rinse out.
we have a porta potti but ours is outside in a utility tent/shower things that we got at walmart... we use it full service for the kids (of which we have 4: 3,5,7, and 9) especially at night as neither myself or hubby want to be dragged out of bed to walk them to the bathroom at 1am! we stick glowsticks inside so they can see and its just outside the trailer by the back bunk... very little odor if any, espec if we empty every few days at the dump station... also very easy to clean. Hubby and I will even use it on occasion (late night) or if it is raining out as it is closer and hey, we don't get wet...as it is in its own tent, there's no worry about lack of privacy.
We have the built in cassette potty and LOVE it. We specifically bought this popup because of the bathroom. We have only used the shower for the kids when they were small. Now everyone uses the showers in the bathhouse.
I would never own a popup without a potty in it. We do primarily use it at night only but there are times when mom or the kids don't want to walk to the restroom. There is no offensive chemical smell and it is easy to dump and clean. The cassette door is on the outside of the camper and you just pull it out and dump it. The nice part is you do not need to break camp to dump it. Just drive the cassette over to the dump station and dump.
So far we have only used it for #1 but we are going to start boondocking with our dirt bikes. It is nice to know we have the bathroom and can take a shower (to rinse off) and use the toilet. Sure beats digging a hole.
Jacqui
My pup has the fold up walls which adds privacy in the bathroom. We use the shower everyday, or we'd stink. And we use the potty more for early mornings and late nights, so we don't fill it too quickly. I love having the toilet and shower. Don't think I'd get a pup without either. Of course with the Niagara, you get a 20 gallon gray water tank and a 9 gallon black water tank. There have not been any odors, nature or chemicals. The wife LOVES the shower/toilet option. And I would think most women would for obvious reason. And its not a huge ordeal to clean.
Each will have their own preference, you need to establish your by looking at your family and their habits, and so forth.
I'll echo the predominant chorus going around. We have a portable toilet that we use for #1. No problems with odors. We normally keep it inside but our kids are all under 5. It has a compartment designed for it's storage on our Bayside. We also have a privacy tent for it as well. Obviously, your kid's ages mean privacy would be more of an issue and I would recommend the tent. Takes about 10mins to put up. we sit the potty on an old milk crate so it is at about the same height as a toilet at home.
It is easy to empty and not messy either. Open spout and pour out. Rinse, close spout, all done. If you have problems with odor, you are either not using enough deodorizer or the seals are going bad and need to be replaced.
If you have young kids or will be camping with ladies, it is a great idea.
travis
Quote from: dcampbell1969The wife LOVES the shower/toilet option. And I would think most women would for obvious reason.
Quote from: tknickIf you have young kids or will be camping with ladies, it is a great idea.
travis
Hey! I represent that ... well at least the kids part. LOL
I will say that not all women are the same (nor are all men ~ not here to start that debate!) Some of us don't mind getting a little dirty and staying that way ... and some of us don't mind a walk to the bathroom. It all comes down to what your own preferences are ~ in my family camping is messy and that's okay.
I'll chime in on the other side of the potti issue ~ I just can't get past the idea of using the facilities in the same space that I prepare/store food. Especially when I have young (or fairly young ~ 12, 10, 7, 6) kids. I have camped alone with them through 3 seasons and I can count on one hand the number of middle-of-the-night runs I've made to the bathroom with them. YMMV
We have a porta-potti I found, brand new, at a yard sale for a GOOD price. Have never been sorry I bought it. Yes, I am a woman but you guys can just go out in the woods in the middle of the night and do your biz, and we can't as easily as you ;) On our previous camper we had an add a room with the privacy panels. One weekend it rained day and night pretty much. I tell you it was SO nice to be able to get up and pee at 4 am without getting drenched and wide awake by having to take that short jaunt to the bathhouse. If you keep a pouch of chemicals (we get them at Walmart, come in a can of little pouches) in it at all times, it will NEVER smell, no matter how hot it gets, etc. Now like a lot of others have said, it is to be used only during the night and only for #1. I have a funny story to tell though: The first time we set up the potty, I told the kids "nothing but number one and at night, OK?" Well, our then 4 year old just couldn't wait to use it, he thought it was so neat. So we all go outside and he stays inside to watch a movie or something. SO my husband goes in and sees him on the pot, in the middle of the day, and reminds him of what I said. He says, but daddy, it is just so neat and I HAD to poop!! LOL! So he broke it in well, LOL!
That being said, I just think most people, especially women and kids, will appreciate it a LOT. And it's really easy to clean, just dump it at the dump station, spray it out a little, then spray it out more when you get home and let it dry in the sun.
Quote from: SpeakEasyOK - I don't have little kids around, and I'm not a woman. That being said - I find the whole idea of a "potty" in popup disgusting. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. No privacy. Smells (chemical or "other"). Having to empty it out. Having to clean it. Dealing with boys with poor aim. Oh, and have you considered how small the dad-blame things are?
Bleah!
-Speak
why you find the porta potti thing so disgusting? How is it any more disgusting than a potty in a big rig? Just wondering...
Quote from: trumpet87why you find the porta potti thing so disgusting? How is it any more disgusting than a potty in a big rig? Just wondering...
Allow me to answer this one...... Dump the black tank in a TT, then dump a porta-potti. As a camper that has done both, I'll take the potti in a big rig anytime. It's a little less...........say...hands on.
And on a side note to Wayne. When we had our pop-up, we had a porta-potti, and as much as I love my family I could not even imagine sitting on the thing trying to do my business with them watching me.
Quote from: TheVikingAllow me to answer this one...... Dump the black tank in a TT, then dump a porta-potti. As a camper that has done both, I'll take the potti in a big rig anytime. It's a little less...........say...hands on.
And on a side note to Wayne. When we had our pop-up, we had a porta-potti, and as much as I love my family I could not even imagine sitting on the thing trying to do my business with them watching me.
Ya Brian...I know.....yer a wuss :J besides...you wouldn't want to offend Jelly Bean. :p
You need to watch "RV" with Robin Williams.....I'll take the porta-potti any day. :sombraro:
Quote from: waveryYa Brian...I know.....yer a wuss :J besides...you wouldn't want to offend Jelly Bean. :p
You need to watch "RV" with Robin Williams.....I'll take the porta-potti any day. :sombraro:
Sorry Wayne, porta-potties are just way too close to the poop for me.
We had one, we had it in the add-a-room, and hung a shower curtain and stored it under the trailer. when we had a tent we had the portable shower/toliet stall, and used that when in state parks. There ez to clean, ours had two openings you flip the nozzle into the dump station opening then open the other side and put the hose to it and it wash clear! then when finished close the ends pop in a tablet in or what ever odor control you uses. so ez a caveman can do it!
Quote from: TheVikingSorry Wayne, porta-potties are just way too close to the poop for me.
So what you are saying, Brian, is that you don't want to be a participant on "Survivor" :J
Quote from: TheVikingSorry Wayne, porta-potties are just way too close to the poop for me.
You guys oughta be nurses or nurses' aides for a day or three. You'll gladly go back to porta pots or whatever your aversion is.
:D
Larry
We have had a porta potty and now have a cassette potty. I wouldn't have a camper without one. If we are close to the bathroom we limit the cassette potty use, but if we are not close it gets used all the time for everything. It is easy to dump and rinse out. I use a folding luggage cart to walk it to the dumpstation when we have an extended stay at a campground.
To answer your questions
1. There is no chemical smell if you keep the flapper closed when not in use
2. Not sure why the camper would smell that way
3. See above
4. 1 very easy to clean out. Unscrew the camp pour the contents into the dump station or toilet. Rinse twice, add new chemical and you are set to go. On a camping trip in April a friend of mine was at the dumpstation before me dumping his grey and black water tanks. I pulled in dumped and was on my way in under 5 minutes. He was there for about 20 to 30 minutes. Also if there is a line at the dumpstation you can dump the tank in a regular toilet.:)
I grew up in a camper without a porta potti. Didn't know any different than having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Then again, as a child/teenager, that was rare.
When we married and bought our first popup, it came with a porta potti. Didn't think it was that nice of a luxury; it was just "extra" that came with the popup.
On our first trip, I was tickled pink to have it in the camper. It soon developed a leak (age), and we tossed it and got another. We love having ours in the popup, and it didn't smell anything up, even those 2 times I forgot to empty it and it stayed in the popup for a month or two. The potty chemicals do a great job of neutralizing odors.
It also didn't bother us having the potti in the camper in close vicinity with the kitchen. We just wash our hands and keep everything clean anyway.
Whatever fears you have, try and work past them because it is nice on those cold/hot nights to not have to get dressed (and thereby get woke up real good) to traipse to the bathhouse.
Larry
Quote from: brainpauseI grew up in a camper without a porta potti. Didn't know any different than having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Then again, as a child/teenager, that was rare.
When we married and bought our first popup, it came with a porta potti. Didn't think it was that nice of a luxury; it was just "extra" that came with the popup.
On our first trip, I was tickled pink to have it in the camper. It soon developed a leak (age), and we tossed it and got another. We love having ours in the popup, and it didn't smell anything up, even those 2 times I forgot to empty it and it stayed in the popup for a month or two. The potty chemicals do a great job of neutralizing odors.
It also didn't bother us having the potti in the camper in close vicinity with the kitchen. We just wash our hands and keep everything clean anyway.
Whatever fears you have, try and work past them because it is nice on those cold/hot nights to not have to get dressed (and thereby get woke up real good) to traipse to the bathhouse.
Larry
I'm proud of ya Larry.....yer a real man....
WHOOO..WHOOO..WHOOO!!!
We dont use the bathroom in the camper. We were tent campers for years so walking to the bathroom is no problem. Dont want to mess with it. Besides we use the area for storage. 3 kids and we make very few nightime bathroom trips. They all go, including the wife, before bed and are good till morning.
My vote is no on the potty.
I echo all those who like and use there potti's. We use ours as well, and use it more when my mother in law comes. Walking the distance to the bathroom is hard for her. We do use it in the Pop Up but we also have a shower tent. It's one from PahaQue.
One side note to respond to the very first poster about boys. One hard and fast rule we have and I know others have as well is, "EVERYONE SITS FOR EVERYTHING", then we don't have any aiming issues.
Quote from: brainpauseYou guys oughta be nurses or nurses' aides for a day or three. You'll gladly go back to porta pots or whatever your aversion is.
:D
Larry
HERE, HERE!!! Boy do I echo that one! I do so tip my hats off to the Med-surg, ICU, and geriatrics nurses (
and anyone else who has to deal with cleaning people down "there" on a sometimes hourly basis) that deal with it day in and day out... thank goodness on OB I only deal with little diapers of newborn poo!
:D I'm proud to be a porta potty user!
Quote from: crazymommaof4boys:D I'm proud to be a porta potty user!
That oughta be a bumper sticker.
:D
Larry
Now we've lost Viking for sure :rolleyes: ........they may never go camping with us again. :(
:p
Quote from: brainpauseThat oughta be a bumper sticker.
:D
Larry
There needs to be a second bumper sticker
"I am proud to be a cassette potty user!" :D
Quote from: mjdfarmWe dont use the bathroom in the camper. We were tent campers for years so walking to the bathroom is no problem. Dont want to mess with it. Besides we use the area for storage. 3 kids and we make very few nightime bathroom trips. They all go, including the wife, before bed and are good till morning.
My vote is no on the potty.
You have a Coleman Niagara, top of the line unit, and don't use the toilet or shower??? We would LOVE to have this model, but don't own a T.V. big enough to pull one. May I ask why you own one with all the amenities and don't use them?
Quote from: trumpet87May I ask why you own one with all the amenities and don't use them?
I have often wondered the same thing. Why pay for something that you are not going to use???:)
I've never had a camper with a potti in it - but when looking for the one we just bought, a potti was not anywhere high on my list. it never bothered me to use the community bathrooms - except at Boy Scout camp, :p and I can't take my PUP there, anyway!
I grew up 'roughing it' in a tent on canoe trips - we usually used the woods, or dug a hole if we were staying in one spot. otherwise, at scout camp it was latrines and cold well-water hand pumps (have you ever gotten an ice cream headache from washng your HAIR????? I have! try washing your hair in ice cold well water! Brrrr! :eyecrazy: )
however, that was many years ago, and I'm not that resiliant anymore. I like my PUP, old as it is, and the comfort it provides. I like having flush toilets in the park and HOT showers.
I don't think I would use a porta potti much, but would have liked to have the outdoor shower option - I can see that being real handy with grandkids, sandy feet and pets. i wouldn't mind having a porta potti for middle of the night runs if it was cold or rainy. I have had a few nights in a tent where I couldn't sleep because I had to 'go' and didn't want to leave my cozy nest. Makes for a very restless night. But that was Winter camping with the scouts - the camper wouldn't have been an option, anyway. Getting to the mid-life age of 2 am potti breaks and stiff joints is one reason I'm not camping with the scout troop nearly as much, and a big reason we got the camper. So maybe well add a potti sometime, especially if we do any boondocking. But I would probably still use the park facilities most.
we had a cassette potty in our old pop up and we just a little bit of the blue stuff in it, now we only used it for #1 but no odors. In our new pop up my dh installed a regular camper potty that hooks directly up to the sewer no holding tank, we use it for both, when we hook up I run some of the blue stuff down and I clean every other day on the day we leave I run more blue stuff and and flush the system well. (If we don't have full hook ups we can use a blue dolly and dump at the dumping station. As long as the seal in the potty itself is good you shouldn't have any odor problems adding the blue stuff is a precaution and a help. We have made our own curtain to close when using the potty and for changing we have 2 dd. I love it and thank dh everytime we set up. Sure beats using the trashcan with paper towels in a grocery bag during a raging storm!
Your wife will thank you. As far as using the potty in the camper, why would that be any different than using my 1/2 bath off my kitchen or my 2nd floor bathroom - it's your home, you don't use an outhouse there? You use air freshener there when the needs arise why would it be any different.
We use our cassette toilet "Full Service" also. We have never had smell issues. I keep the window behind it opened. I wouldn't do without it.
Quote from: ronerjones1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
1. I bought the cassette safe citrus fluid that goes into my flusher and into the canister. I only smell the fresh citrus when we flush.
3. My wife, two daughters and myself, but we only use it for peeing at night or if we're dry camping (full service).
4. I'd give it a 1.5 to 2. The C4 cassette is very easy to dump (even in a standard toilet). Rinsing it is easy, but you know how when you're rinsing something off with a hose, no matter how careful you are, there's always that one drop of water that splatters off whatever your washing and hits you right in the corner of the mouth?
All in all, it's extremely handy. No getting out of a warm bed to put on extra clothes and a jacket, stumbling around outside walking to the toilet in 40 degree weather, and no accidents with the kids who didn't quite wake up in time to make the walk to the toilet.
Leif
My Camper doesn't have anything in it, so I have no problem walking to the bath-house. I actually prefer that than peeing on a tree. I'm privacy concious when I have to go, so the bath house with stalls wins every time.
My Dads camper has a cassette potty, and I don't remember ever using it. Even when I was a kid I was brave enough to walk to the bath house all by myself.
As for the shower, I'll have one before I go camping, and one when I get home... I can survive a few days without a shower, as long as I have a clean change of clothes.
We purchased a pop-up with a shower and a potty because my 5-yo gets up during the night and I thought it would be easier for my 9 year old to take showers - WRONG. While camping, the kids go to bed later and they have yet to use the potty once!!! The shower and potty are a complete waste of space!!! I would buy a pop-up without them and purchase a cheap potty to throw in at night in case of emergencies! I have been so impressed with the state parks in Ohio and the cleanliness of the rest rooms and shower houses!
Good Luck!!!
Vicki
My '06 Fleetwood Niagara has the residential style china bowl toilet, and hard walls. There is no odor when used, flushed. Water in the bowl before and after flushing prohits odor.
Quote from: ronerjones1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
1) Been out on 2 trips in our new-to-us PUP. First one was 5 days total, second one was 2 days. No smell at all.
2) See above
3) My wife, my 8yr old daughter and myself use it for night time and early morning.....but not "full service (yet)."
4) 1.....very easy to clean with the big swing-out spout. Dump, rinse, set out in the sun open for a day to dry. Ready for the next trip.
We like many others here have the cassette potty with a shower. We used like most everyone else only for #1. It was one of the requirements we had we purchase our Palomino Mustang. It has a built in cassette potty with a shower. I use the shower all the time and the potty. My wife still prefers to shower at the campground but does like the potty. It has a shower curtain that goes around it for privacy issues and besides we are family and we have the same issues at home. We have 3 girls ages 11, 10 and 3 (the opps). Anyway it has a valve that you simply open when you want to go to the bathroom, do your business, flush and close the valve. No smells. Its easy to clean and beats late night walks to the restroom.
One thing I haven
Quote from: ronerjonesO.K. I am a bit new to the camping with amenities. Currently in the process of switching from tent camping to a grand Pop Up (If I ever find a used one). I am hearring different things about the potty issue. Have decided that a shower is not a necesiity but the wife would like a potty also have 2 kids 9 and 13. In many of the ads I read that the potty was never used.Here are my questions
1 Does the potty smell up the pop up. Chemical or other smell?
2 looked at one with porta potty, the whole camper had the aroma of the chemicals in the porta potty.
3 how many people actuall use their pottys? and is it just for emergency or convience?
4 rated 1-5 1 being very easy how easy is it to clean out the canister potties?
Thanks
Brand new to the pup scene and our pup has a chemical toilet, wouldn't do without it now. Two kids, 4 and 1. We use it only when necessary: late at night, early morning, or for that 'pee pee' dance when he's waited a bit too long.
Answers:
1) no smell at all, although #2 hasn't been done in it
3) we've used it in the early a.m.
4) 5 - slide out the canister, empty it into the dump station or toilet. even has an air valve to control spills
Never used a porta potty, but love our chem. toilet