advantages/disadvantages shower/porta potty

[gr82bamom1]

I am looking at buying my first pop-up and am looking for some input into whether or not I should get one with a shower/porta potty. I have young kids (ages 5 & . Please share your experience!

[AustinBoston]

With small children, having a porta-potti keeps some things in a more controlled environment.  While most campground restrooms are at least reasonable, some are really bad, and you can't be sure until you walk in the door.

Personally, I have always viewed using a porta-potti as taking care of business in the kitchen, which is a real turn-off for me, but I can clearly see the advantages with little ones.

As far as a shower unit, out out of necessity, pop-up showers are small, and if you are in a humid climate or camp in cold weather, they expose the pop-up to considerable condensation.  But the same reasons for having one apply, namely that the quality of campground restrooms and showers vary, sometimes beyond what is reasonable.

Austin

[wavery]

I am looking at buying my first pop-up and am looking for some input into whether or not I should get one with a shower/porta potty. I have young kids (ages 5 & . Please share your experience!

The PUs with shower & cassette toilet are quite a bit more expensive but they hold their resale value a lot better.

The people that have them are really happy that they do but then again, just about anything goes that way. A person would sound pretty foolish to say, "We have the indoor shower & toilet but are sorry that we do". Especially after spending all the extra $ to buy it.

The whole camping concept is a series of compromises due to cost, space, towing capacity, size, storage, personal taste, etc. I think that it's best to go with what suites you personally.

We have a portable, outside shower. If we have guests, we put the porta-potti in that. I would not want to sacrifice the storage for an indoor shower/potti but we don't take kids with us very often (not as often as we'd like). My daughters are stingy with the grandkids :% .

[mkcom1]

Hello
     We have a 02Niagara and three kids ages 5,3,&1.5.  We find that having as many amenities as home is a great comfort.  The kids use the potti and it makes life so much easier, also makes the late night runs painless.  The shower, however small is almost a must with small kids.  As an adult camping is dirty business even as you take steps to avoid dirt.  As a child dirt and camping go hand and hand and having the shower which we use as a small tub is great.  I have never had condensation problems with the use of my shower as stated above, but we do open up our camper windows etc, as much as we can.  Sorta the point of camping.  
     I would reccommend one of the newer fleetwoods with the high sides walls.  The floorplan is different than mine and the double sinks with an oven would be nice.  Also if you can get an add a room as you will find that having the extra space is great.  Generally we eat in the add a room and use the dinette area as our third bed.  It just makes life easier and more enjoyable which is what you should be doing when you are camping.  Ken





Ken
Mary
Nate 5
Ian 3
Megan 1.5
Jake the magic Lab 10
99 gmc sierra
02 Niagara

Have FUN

[flyfisherman]

Of course, some of us have to begin this kind of a conversation with "when I was a youngster growing up ..."

So let me begin that way -
When I was a young'un, our family vacations were spent usually in state and county parks, staying in an old timey wall tent; and there were always "facilities", some being no more than pit toilets and others C/G flush toilets & showers every bit as accommodating as today's. And my mother was ever vigilante about sanitary conditions as one could be!  The important thing is those memories of my childhood are the best. Personally, for a popup camper, I would'nt consider a shower and/or built in "toilet".  A hardside would be a different matter. But then I'm only dealing with myself and usually one other adult. Therefore, my number one rule is there will be no number two done in MY POPUP CAMPER.  One can high-tail-it to the C/G facilities, grab the camp shovel and head for the woods, or maybe I might have fashioned an outdoor pota-potty shelter ... but it will be outside.

Eh ... what was I doing ...?  Oh, yes, cleaning fish on the picnic table ...





Fly

[OC Campers]

We have a 2001 Westlake with the shower/pottie combo.  This is what sold us on the trailer.  At the time I had a newborn, 5 y/o and a 9 y/o.  I can't tell you how many late night potty trips I did.  Especially in the freezing cold.  

I absolutely would not consider a unit without a pottie.  Now that the kids are older the shower portion is not that big a deal but I was able to bath the baby and the 5 y/o very nicely.  Ever try going to a cg bathhouse and try to give a 5 y/o a shower without getting water in his eyes and soap/shampoo him up also without getting water in his eyes?  It was like trying to catch a "greased pig".  NOT FUN!!  We have never used the shower to bath an adult but it is always nice knowing it is there if you  need it.
 
We also had the same rule as Fly fisherman.  #1 only.  If you have to go #2 you better be maken tracks to the cg bathroom.
 
The cassette pottie is also really easy to empty.  If you don't think you will need the shower part there are a few models with just the cassette potty like the Fleetwood Utah.  
 
Jacqui

[dcampbell1969]

We got the 07 Niagara partly because of the shower/toilet with a black water tank and the flip up walls. We have only camped in the "Nag" once since we hauled it home 3 weeks ago, but we did use the shower and toilet and thought it was wonderful.  No condensation problems at all and we kept it zipped up because it was cold outside.  The wife went on and on about how she loved using our own facilities.  We have set the plan to hold #2's for extreme emergencies, but we'll see how it goes. I believe it was a good investment to move up to the Highwall Fleetwood over the competitive brand highwall I was considering with fewer options. The breathable Sunbrella showed its value already, and I actually almost went with another brand camper.  The tenting on some other brands I believe will hold heat and cooling better, but moisture is a big thing to consider.  Keep in mind when making your purchase, many folks decide to upgrade later, and if you do that too soon, you will take a loss.  So my advice is to go ahead and get what you really want in your camper.

[Toby]

We would not live with out our casset/shower combo, at two in the morning when it hits you or your 10 year old and it's thirty degrees out side, in bear and mountain lion country, I'm not getting out of my PU for nothing.  Cleaning is very easy and it was somthing I was not looking forward to.  I hike on most trips and nothing beats being able to shower and use your own restroom, you will be very greatfull when you are in a full campground with few restrooms with less than respectfull campers and their bad habits.  We make use of camp site facilities when their are clean during day but at night no one leaves the camper unless we go with the buddy system, Boy Scout habits.  Limit the number 2 if you can but it's never been a problem for us the past two years. we have a 2000 Jayco 12usdt cant be any happier.  But we may concider upgrading to the Highlander Niagara some day we still waiting to how every one likes them and saving our money.  Good Luck Toby

[tlhdoc]

I looked for a used PU with a shower and toilet for 3 years and couldn't find one.  I ended up buying new.  We usually camp at state parks/national parks and most national parks do not have showers.  I would not get a PU without an indoor shower (a porta potty would work if it didn't have a toilet).  No getting up in the middle of the night and taking a walk to the bathroom, no going out in the rain/snow/wind/cold to go to the bathroom, always having a clean bathroom.  For some reason people that don't have a shower in their PU think it will cause condensation.  I have never had a problem with that, and I don't know why people say that happens.

[HouseInABox]

when we first started camping we always camped near the bath houses --when storms created gully washers and there was lightening dancing all around there were times with our 3 year old clinging into my neck that we used the trashcan with a bag and emptied it in the morning at the bathhouse not pleasant.  we bought a portable only for #1 we used that with our first pop up but with our 2nd pop up we took out the  water tank under a single seat and put in a camper toilet that hooks up right to the sewer no grey tank if we need it we use a blue dolly if using the later only #1  but we do 1 and 2 for the past 3 years - no problems i clean the potty every morning to keep things in the line fresh --- i wouldn't want another camper without one.  we also left the hinged seat there we have a hook to put the seat up but when we need the extra seat we have it. When you don't feel good it's nice to know its there - kid's can go and you don't have to wonder through the woods!  now that we have one we don't need to stay close to the bath house anymore and can pick a location that we like better say closer to the playgrounds or pools etc or seclusion if thats your thing.   hope this helps

[dougster]

We just got a new Starcraft 2406, and selected the model to get the most camper we could with an inside shower/toilet. We have two girls, 2 and 6.
The two year old isn't potty trained yet, but son-of-a-gun, on our first camping trip she used the trailer potty just fine! I guess we'll just have to leave the pop up raised in the yard to complete the potty training!
just like several other writers, we got the potty/shower with the kids in mind.
The shower's not that easy for me to use, but it sure is nice to be able to rinse off the kids before putting them in their jammies.

[tlhdoc]

Dougster welcome to PUT.

[crazymommaof4boys]

we have a porta potti AND a outdoor hot/cold shower....we put the porta potti in a utility/shower tent for use by the kidlets at night and if needed we take out the porta potti and use the tent as a shower stall next to the trailer so we can make use of the outdoor shower (a must with boys!).  Saves trips to the restrooms/showers, espec if I am camping with the boys by myself....try keeping 4 boys clean as you wash each one up!

[mjdfarm]

Our camper came with a shower/ potty (bought it used).  If I had a choice I would get one without.  We dont use them and could use the space for storage.  They really are impractical- no privacy, no space, dirty, etc.  

I know some people use them but most people I know dont.  After tent camping for many years I say they put them in because the idea sounds good.  Once you see how it all actually works its too much hassle.

Just my opinion.....

[tlhdoc]

If I had a choice I would get one without. We dont use them and could use the space for storage.

You can remove it.  It is not that big of a job.
 

They really are impractical- no privacy, no space, dirty, etc.

Our shower/cassette potty has a privacy curtain.  I really like it because you can split the camper in half when you get dressed.  You are right it doesn't take up much space, but it is big enough for us to use.  Every year we camp several times where there are no shower facilities.  We like to be clean so a shower is a must for us.  If your shower/potty are dirty...well it is your dirt and not a strangers.  It only take s about 2 minutes for me to clean the toilet and shower area at the end of a trip.  Just a couple of Clorox wipes and it is done.